Have you ever thought about the impact you will have on your community over the four months and the impact the next four months will have on your business? If you haven't, it's amazing to realize that 100% of your active guests will be in your chair for up to 50% of their visits in just a third of the year! This is powerful and NOW is the time!

When we think about guests that visit our salons, and we look at the year from January 1st to December 31st, we start to realize that even though our year is divided into 12 months, all months are not created equally. And, I'm not talking about the number of days. Guests on average visit salons every 6-8 weeks, but that doesn't necessarily mean 6 weeks for some guests and 8 weeks for others, and maybe even every 5 for some. Sure, we have some guests that are like clockwork, but today with all of our lives going at what seems like supersonic speeds with hardly a moment to rest, flexibility is a fact of life.

How many of our guests visit the salon in January? Why? Because we saw them ALL in December! From Hanukkah to Christmas, Kwanza, New Years, Winter Solstice, company parties and more, everybody seems to be celebrating something and they want to look good. Heck, with everyone carrying smartphones today, we need to make sure we look good at every angle too, nevermind the group pictures that will be taken.

Today, thanks to social media, our picture can be taken at anytime and shared with the world, and if we don't like it, too bad, just ask Prince Harry. And guests know this too, or they will figure it out after this year’s company party and family celebrations, because you either look good or you don't, and they know we can help. It's funny when we realize weather and holidays drive and slow our business. When you have hat-head because it's so cold or you’re going on vacation and will be outside in the sun for 1-2 weeks of the year and in salt or chlorine water, making sure your hair is great before you jump into the pool just seems counter intuitive.

But, seeing your stylist as soon as the summer is over? It's time to get your hair in shape!!! That makes the first appointment late August or September, then 6 weeks later seems to be perfect in October…and with family and friends getting together for Thanksgiving (most likely celebrated with others because large segments of our population have a 4 day weekend) they want their hair done. Then we have December, which is a gift of holidays for all of us, which means they want to see us to make sure they look great again! That means 4 out of 8 visits in just 4 months and on average the other 4 visits are spread out over 8 months.

So, now is the time to plan for big things, because the guests are going to be coming in, let's look at some things we can do: 

#1 Promote your Facebook page and make sure 100% have a reason to LIKE it. Be aggressive, use discounts on product purchases, product minis or samples and upgrades to get everyone LIKING your page. This is key to being successful with social media, because if less people like your Facebook page then you’re not even going viral to your clients, never mind your community. But, once all your guests have LIKED your page, they have the opportunity in their newsfeed to keep up on all the great offers, services, products, people and educational activities you and your team do.

#2 Great time to upgrade! The best time to fish is when the fish are biting, and the best time to grow your business is when your guests are coming in. So, from new retail items to new service options, now is the time to introduce them.

#3 Raise your prices, if it's time, now is the time.Cost of living is going up, food, milk, not even counting gas, healthcare and taxes. Reality is that every year costs go up and our prices don't, so we need to work that much harder just to make the money we need to have the same amount of money as last year. Think about it this way, every dollar your taxes, healthcare and food increase is how much more money you need to make in haircuts, colors, texture services. So, if you don't want to raise your prices, get ready to work harder next year, because everything else is costing you more.

Now is the time to realize that this is your moment and plan for success, create new opportunities and inspire your guests. From the end of summer, fashion week, Thanksgiving and all the wonderful things we celebrate in December, not only do our guests want to see us, they are also spending money for joyful reasons and they love us.