How to get ready for the crazy Christmas period

During the days running up to Christmas, salons and spas become besieged by customers who want to look their best around the Christmas table and at New Year parties. So how should you plan your workload to balance meeting customers’ expectations and giving staff time off to spend Christmas with their families? 

Plan ahead

To cope with the challenges of this fraught time of year, you need to get ready well in advance – ideally at the end of October/beginning of November. And don’t forget how vital it is to do things in the right order!

• Step 1: prepare a staff rota that takes into account employees’ holiday breaks. Once you know who’s available and when, it’s easier to plan your work schedule. You’ll also be able to see when particular service providers are available for your customers.
• Step 2: remember about online booking, as this will help you to manage the extra large number of customer phone calls and make appointment booking easier during the mad rush before Christmas. If you’re not using online booking already, now’s the perfect time to start!
• Step 3: start taking bookings - once you’ve established your staff rota, it’s time to let customers know that you’re ready to take Christmas bookings. A good way to do this is using Booksy’s communication tools and via social media. Send a message to your regular customers suggesting that they book early to make sure they will be able to find an available time slot.
• Step 4: keep customers informed about the availability of appointments – for example, by posting information on your salon’s Facebook profile. Let them know when there are only a few availabilities left and when no more bookings can be taken. This doesn’t take a lot of effort and helps you maintain a good relationship with customers.

If your calendar is not completely full…

...you might like to think about organising a Christmas promotion. Use it as a means of showing how much you value your most loyal customers or as a reminder about your salon for people that haven’t been to your business for a long time. Here are a few ideas you can use:

1. A free gift wrapping service – when customers buy beauty products to take home, you can offer them a free gift-wrapping service.
2. A Christmas competition to win an attractive discount or a free treatment to be enjoyed in the New Year when things are usually quieter in the salon.
3. A special offer of gift vouchers – this is a great idea for a present and, for you, it’s an effective way to fill up your calendar once the Christmas madness has died down.

Christmas is a magical time – and that’s how it should stay. Avoid unnecessary stress and make sure both you and your team get time to spend with your loved ones. Prepare your Christmas action plan with the help of Booksy tools and enjoy the magic of Christmas.