The JASON Playbook for Your Salon

As we enter August and traffic starts to die down, the industry is entering its yearly phase of evolution. Extra time on our hands leads to new discoveries that will make next season even more impactful, from equipment manufacturers and lotion vendors to salons and right here at Heartland. If you aren't using this time wisely, you're wasting it.

Here are a few things you can focus on over the next few months to prepare for next season!

Employee Training and Empowerment

A good training program is the best way to give your staff the platform they need to do their job and represent your salon according to your standards. The next few months are the perfect time to revisit your curriculum for new hires and refresh your current employees' sales and service skills.

Training shouldn't end when the new-hire phase does. Many of your employees are not planning to make your salon their career, meaning they are likely not going to put in extra effort on their own time. Having systems in place, such as regularly scheduled sales games and lotion ingredient facts of the day, are great to implement right now. These activities will help push your team's knowledge and skills to the next level heading into the 2027 season.

This will empower your staff in their roles and enable them to perform their responsibilities more effectively every day.

Have Salon Maintenance You've Been Putting Off?

I know you have a door somewhere that has literally been screaming for some WD-40. The next few months are a great time to look at your salon and ask, "Where can we make an upgrade?"

This can be anything from replacing a worn-out rug at the front door to rearranging entire rooms to make way for exciting new offerings next year.

In addition to obvious bed maintenance, here are some ideas for off-season projects around the salon:

• Replace or deep clean rugs
• Update all internal and external signage
• Upgrade shelving for a fresh, engaging look
• Apply a fresh coat of paint
• Grease or repair anything that squeaks, grinds or sticks

There are countless ways to freshen up your business, and the hardest part is deciding where to start. Choose one or two projects to tackle over the next few months, and when 2027 arrives, you'll be glad you did.

Setting Better Goals for Your Salon

Raise your hand if your goal each season is simply to have a better year than the one before.

While that's certainly the outcome we all want, what happens if you miss that goal and find yourself significantly off track? For 2027, let's switch gears a bit.

Identify a few key areas you want to improve, such as higher gross profits, stronger customer retention, or lower employee turnover. Then, define a specific, measurable goal for each area so you can easily track your progress.

For employees, that might mean refining your training program and tracking sales performance metrics or becoming more selective during the hiring process. For customer retention, you could focus on promoting wellness packages that encourage year-round visits and monitor retention rates. For higher profits, you might reduce overhead expenses, create more profitable packages, or increase product sales, all with clearly defined goals attached.

These efforts will strengthen your salon while providing measurable results you can see in everyday business operations.

Let's Take a Look at Your Current Pricing

To piggyback on the earlier section, the off-season is the ideal time to evaluate your pricing strategy. You'll have plenty of time to review your numbers and find opportunities for improvement.

Which packages perform the best, and could you implement a price increase? Which packages perform the worst, and what can be added to improve their value, or should they be eliminated?

This is also a great time to identify gaps in your offerings. Do you need more wellness services? If you already offer wellness, should you diversify by adding services such as saunas, PEMF, or teeth whitening? Do you need to add more retail items and take-home care products?

Making these decisions now gives you ample time to properly train your staff on any changes before business picks back up.

Reimagine Marketing

When it comes to marketing, it's important to remember that you get out of it what you put into it. It's also important to understand that marketing has many different sides, and you don't need to master every single one.

As a business owner, your primary focus should be reaching your target market. The first step is identifying exactly who that target market is. Based on demographics and the services you offer, this can vary from salon to salon, so take the time to figure out who you should be marketing to.

Once you know who you're trying to reach, you can focus on how to reach them.

We'll be diving deeper into that topic in an upcoming blog, so stay tuned!

 

 

The next few months will be gone before you know it.  With holidays and school back it session, the last quarter flies by. Now, you have to decide how to use this time. And remember, your Heartland rep is always available for you to reach out to and bounce ideas off, whether it be paint colors, service ideas, or holiday promotions to run.