It’s spring and everything around us is changing and in bloom. For a lot of us the snow is starting to melt and we can actually see the grass again. The grass is starting to turn green and tulips are coming up. With spring there is a rebirth, a sense of fresh and new. It got me thinking: What have I done to refresh and renew my salon and my services? I thought of a few things that will help us to get ready for spring.

Check your station: Does it need a little spring cleaning? When was the last time you took everything out of your station and fully wiped it down? Was it long ago that you emptied out every drawer and cabinet? Do you remember the last time you dusted off a shelf? Take inventory of your station. Do we really need everything in it? Do we really use every product? Clean out the clutter and get rid of unnecessary items. Remove everything and do a deep cleaning. Remember when you pull open a drawer, your clients can see inside too. Don’t let them see a messy station, where everything is shoved in there. Make sure you don’t have any tip clippings, nail trimmings, or dust visible. It’s unsanitary and looks like sanitation is not a priority. Keeping a neat and organized station helps you to stay on top of your sanitation.  

Dress: Is it time to get some new clothes? You don’t need to buy a complete new wardrobe. Just freshen it up with a few new pieces. We work in an industry where a lot of us wear black clothes. Make sure your black clothing isn’t faded and tired looking. Get a few colorful accessories to give yourself a pop of color. Bright colors, if your dress code allows, can brighten you up. A colorful accessory can make an impact on a plain outfit. A new season is upon us; get a few new pieces to touch up your look.

Appearance: Now that we have touched up or clothing, how about updating our look? When was the last time we added a few highlights or refreshed our hair color? When was our last facial or brow wax? Brighten up your face by exfoliating and getting moisturized with a facial. Does your skin need a little hydration and bronzer? I use a self-tanning product and sell a ton of it because I’m wearing it. I get asked often if I’ve been tanning. I haven’t gone tanning in years; it’s terrible for you. However, there are a lot of great self-tanning products out there. Just by using it, I sell it. Improving our look can improve our salon sales. Get the services that your salon provides and talk to your clients about it. It’s a proven fact, when you look good, you feel good about yourself. Imagine what you could do with a boost in your confidence.

Services: Are you and your salon providing the same old services? We may have some of the same services all year, but we can change them up during the seasons. My salon changes the paraffin wax to a cucumber melon scent during the spring and summer months. We also add a cucumber scrub and lotion to our pedicures and manicures. It’s the same service just spruced up. We’ve added a self-tanning lotion to our pedicures during the summer months. Our clients can add a self-tanning lotion application to their pedicure. We exfoliate their legs and apply a self-tanning lotion. We are already wearing gloves and it seriously only takes a few minutes. (We only do this add-on service if the client is wearing shorts.) We apply the self-tanning lotion on their legs and go up just past the knee. We fan it into their foot, but avoid the toes. We sell a lot of the self-tanning lotion just by doing this. This service is for clients who wear long shorts or capris. This was something a client asked me to do because she noticed my faux tan. Is it time to add new some services to your menu or delete a few that are not going over as well as expected? Maybe revise our services and the salon’s service standards.

Products: What have we added in the form of new products? When was the last time we updated our inventory and the amount of products that we have on the shelf? A good example of a product we stock up on in the summer is the self-tanner product I mentioned earlier. There are some products we just sell more of during the summer months. See what’s new out there and what your distributor sales consultant is recommending. Your distributor may have some new items that are summer-specific. They may some ideas to help you rejuvenate your displays and revive your retail sales.

Ushering in spring and preparing for summer — one more way to help you stand out above the rest and become the BEST!

— Jill