Are You Cashing In On Cupid?

Christmas is over for another year; you’re successfully managing a steady stream of regular appointments through January and you’ve planned for the next 12 months. If you have, then well done! But don’t for one second think it’s time to take your foot off the gas.

The next big event on the horizon for us is St. Valentine’s Day. It creeps up fast at the start of the year and, if you’re not on the ball, the best of the business will pass you by on its way to the florist round the corner. It’s essential to start planning your campaign at least a month in advance – which means Right Now.

It’s absolutely worth the effort. In 2012, Brits spent £880 million on Valentine’s Day. A share of that sounds nice, right? Well that’s nothing. Just three years later, that more than doubled, to a staggering £1.9 billion.

Now have I got your attention?

Get the guy

Promoting your business to be the first place everyone thinks of, especially guys is key to your success. Make yourself highly visible with posters and striking window displays. Produce flyers, loaded with Valentine’s gift ideas and not-so-subtle hints about vouchers, so that your clients can take them home to ‘accidentally’ leave on the coffee table.

Use your social media accounts to full effect, targeting local men through Facebook and Twitter. Give them no excuse to forget about you – your physical marketing needs to be in place by February 1st at the latest.

Your business is in such a strong position to take advantage of the enormous sales opportunity St. Valentine’s Day presents. Think about it: there are all those gorgeously packaged, scented and indulgent products on your shelves. Which of them would go well together as a special, romantic gift set? Perhaps you can repackage luxury products left over from Christmas.

It’s a wrap

Always be sure to attractively gift wrap presents in paper, ribbons and bows to boost their appeal even further. Add a little something extra by including product samples too, wrapping them as part of the set. Gift vouchers may only be flat pieces of paper or plastic but you can still give them added appeal by wrapping them nicely.

In fact, gift wrapping is such a critical part of your sales pitch that you should advertise the service on all your promotional materials. The easier you make it for customers to offer their loved ones something immediately beautiful, the better your chances of wooing them in to buy.

Romance for two

Don’t neglect treatments either. The average man spent nearly £55 for St. Valentine’s Day in 2015. You can tempt them to be that tiny bit more generous if you give them good reason.

What are your bestselling treatments? Make it obvious, even for the uninitiated new visitor. Shout about your wonderful couples’ packages. What could be more romantic than sharing a pampering visit with a partner? Especially if you lure loved-up visitors with a free glass of fizz as part of the package.

While I’ve focused mostly on men as gift givers, remember that they need a treat sometimes too, so do try to think up his and hers ideas and displays. It’s also a terrific way of getting new clients through the door – men’s grooming is officially one of the big boom markets of the decade!

Here’s to your great business this St. Valentine’s!

Susan. x

Your Salon, Spa or Clinic Business Plan for SUCCESS!

susan routledge business planningOne of the biggest mistakes that business owners commit these days is to believe that a business plan is something you would only do for your bank manager.

Creating a working document that will serve as road map is always USEFUL for your business – it’s your plan for success!

Can you imagine how hard it would be to get on holiday if you didn’t know where you were going? Even if you did know the destination, but you haven’t planned or booked how you were going to get there then it would be virtually impossible to get there and really hard work!

People run businesses like this though. They usually don’t have any clear plan or thought of where they want to go and it costs them dearly in time, effort and money.

There is a well-known saying – “fail to plan and you plan to fail”.  And it is very true.

The direction you want your business to go in needs to be clearly charted with both yourself and your team on a clear path of that journey. You simply cannot experience a profitable business without a plan for success.

Your plan may be to stay the size you are now or it may be to be double the size in 2 years. Whatever it is you envision for your business, you need to have a plan.

Your plans may change and you may end up taking a detour, but you should have markers or steps to get your business running on a good solid route. Written down plans are always more effective than thoughts in your head, so get a plan done and down on paper as soon as possible.

Your markers could be things like the next piece of equipment you want, a course you want to do, or monthly targets for growth in turnover. They will always be things that you can strive to achieve and then you will naturally move on to your next challenge.

You should also have a long-term plan for success in place too.

  • How long do you want to have the business for?
  • Do you want to sell it eventually?
  • If so how much would you like to sell it for?

These are all key parts and elements to your business and don’t forget, this should be a fun exercise and updated regularly.

Happy planning!

Susan Routledge works with salons, spas and clinics to help them to get the most out of their businesses. You can contact Susan here>>