As a salon studio owner and hair stylist, most of us don’t even consider taking a vacation let alone think it would be our ticket to long-term salon success but I am here to tell you it just might be true!!
Especially as a salon studio owner, we have a difficult time checking out at the end of the day. I commute on a train to work from where I live. I spend my commute home checking my emails and responding to clients, going on social media to post and interact with my followers and I brainstorm new ideas for the salon.
It’s my passion and I love what I do so I do not mind doing this at all. In fact, I enjoy doing it!
It is, however, hard work and the need for turning things off every now and then is very important for not only our health but for our personal relationships and happiness!
When I decided to take my first real vacation I wanted to go big. I mean first real, like, seriously I had never taken a real vacation!
I have had plenty of staycations or long weekends to places within a few hours drive. I decided though it was time I went on a real trip!!
For a long time, I thought vacationing was out of the picture because not only did I still have to pay my rent during the time I was gone but I would actually have to tell my clients I wasn’t going to be available for…a few weeks in this case….eeek!!
Telling someone I wasn’t available always made me fearful of losing the customers business. I have always been the type of stylist that doesn’t say no to much. Although I have learned over the years how and when it is appropriate to say no a few years ago I hadn’t yet and ALWAYS bent over backwards to accommodate!
When you travel out of the country you have to take a considerable amount of time to do it. Getting somewhere alone takes a day or two so a week would only give you 3 days where you are going. Definitely not enough time to check out and unwind!
I began talking with my clients about this about 3-4 months in advance. I was taking off 3 weeks and there was no flexibility so getting everyone into a spot was essential!
Some of my clients wanted to book their appointments for just right before I left but others not only wanted their appointment for right before I left but each appointment leading up to it and the next one after I was back.
At this point I had a few light bulbs go off!
Not only did this mean they were actually coming in slightly more often because of the strict time schedule they put themselves on but they were so dedicated to sticking to the appointments they made because they knew if they lost their spot they would not get another one!
I also had a rough estimate of what I would make leading up to and after the vacation and I was certain my clients wouldn’t forget to book and end up “trying out someone knew” because they couldn’t get in. Let’s take a second and look at those pros and cons of this one:
On one hand, it could send the client running back after a disastrous experience elsewhere and keep them in your chair for years and years to come. On the flip side though, it could be that the customer has actually stumbled upon their newest soulmate stylist and/or a location that is slightly more convenient than yours!
It’s obviously not worth it to even chance this going the wrong way SO getting your clients on your books for their next appointment is the single most important part of any time they are in your salon but especially important when you are taking any time off. This includes maternity leave, medical leave and like we are talking about here… VACATIONS!
Before my vacation, I ended up being the busiest I’ve ever been and had so much good energy flowing in the salon. I was receiving more referrals than ever and so many of them came in already knowing I was about to leave on a trip which tells me maybe my excitement led to them talking to their customers about my excitement.
I decided to extend my hours to try and raise as much money as I could before the trip and fit everyone I could in. We run our own businesses, we GET to do this (might not be possible in a regular salon with working hours and bosses)!
My clients were enjoying hearing about my plans and would come to their next couple appointments with stories from friends who visited where I was going and had seen an ad somewhere for something I “had to try” while I was there. It was honestly incredible!
Every single client I spoke with was so happy for me to be taking time off. I didn’t get any negative feedback about limited availability or being out.
Taking a vacation not only helped me get new clients from my existing customers being excited for me but it helped me get my clients in the habit of prebooking their appointments. As business owners, we know that pre-booking appointment helps us maximize each customer and gives us more steadily growing income!
We not only provide our clients with services, we are a part of our client’s lives. When we vacation we give ourselves a much-needed break and have the opportunity to do new and exciting things. When we do new and exciting things we are more alert and creative.
Now we know that taking a vacation leads to more referrals and more clients prebooking their appointments not only before the vacation but after. Think about it if you took a regular vacation you consistently saw this growth every year what that would add up to in 3, 5, 10+ years! Small growth eventually leads to long-term Salon Success.
Our clients not only get to chat with us about where we are about to go but they get excited to hear about it when we are back. They can feel the excitement when they talk to us and that feeling of excitement vibrates off of us onto them. Next thing you know your client is booking a vacation to some cool little corner of the world and now you get to do the same with them.
Now instead of having a relationship that exists within the salon or in their work or home life we have traveled with our customers and created an even stronger relationship with them. That my friend is the real key to long-lasting salon success!
If you are needing help when it comes to learning how to speak to your ideal client or even if you aren’t sure who your ideal client is and creating goals for your business and actively working towards them, you should definitely check out my 5 Day Workshop, Attracting your Ideal Salon Clients and Mastering Momentum! I know this 5-day workshop will not only be used once but over and over as you and your business continue to evolve and uplevel!