How many times have you thought, “If I just had a few more hours a day, I could book more clients and make more money?” Well, how about making more money during the hours you’re already spending behind the chair? Here are five surefire strategies to maximize your time and give yourself a raise.
Pre-Book Your Clients
Smart stylists pre-book every client before they leave the salon to prevent them from “sliding” by not making a timely appointment on their own, or not being able to get in if you’re booked up. Simply say, “In order to keep your color looking the way you like, I’ll need to see you in six weeks. That would be the week of April 9th. Which day is best for you?” The more often a client sits in your chair, the more money you earn.
Boost Your Service Ticket
It all starts with the consultation, and consultations are most successful when you plan ahead. Check your book each morning and think about options for everyone on the schedule. Could your haircut client also benefit from a few brighter and lighter highlights for summer? Would a smoothing service be the solution for your color client’s frizzy hair? Discuss these ideas during the consultation. Even if she’s not up for your suggestion this time, you’re planting a seed for the next visit.
Embrace the Shampoo Bowl Add-On
Professional deep conditioning treatments, color-enhancing treatments, scalp treatments—these all require no more than five or 10 extra minutes and can add $10 to $30 or more per ticket, depending on your market. Best of all, the actual cost of these treatments for you are quite low while the added value to the client is considerable.
Bond with Bonders
When combined with color or texturizing formulas, hair bonding additives help restore the structural bonds that are broken during the chemical service and protect the intact bonds from damage. In this era of clients who love frequent hair color changes, bonders can make all the difference between healthy or damaged hair. Add them to your chemical services and pass the (nominal) cost along to your client.
Raise Your Prices
If you’re booked out more than three months in advance, it’s time for a price increase. Pros recommend a bump of six to 10 percent—enough to make a difference to your bottom line, but well below the “sticker shock” point for your clients. Give customers plenty of notice, so there are no surprises. You can place a sign on your station, send an email to your client list and/or post the announcement on your social media feed.
Photography: Getty Images
