How to amp up your salon customer service at christmas

The festive season in salon is no doubt the busiest time of the year. With clients looking to change up their look and turn up the glam will maximum impact from minimum input it can be stressful to maintain a cheery atmosphere. Here are a few tips on how to amp up your salon customer service without stretching you or your staff too much. "Christmas is a great time to show your clients what you can do. The most important thing is to ensure your standards don’t drop just because you are busy. If anything, you should raise your standards as this is the one time of year you are likely to get most of your clients through the door and, potentially, some clients that haven’t visited before. Use the Christmas period to promote what makes you special and secure loyal clients for the year ahead. Introduce clients to backwash treatments that could help keep their hair looking fabulous for the festive season. Offer free treatments to loyal clients - they will appreciate the kindness and, if they enjoy the treatment, it may become a regular part of their appointments going forward. Stick to ‘instant treatments’ that can be applied at the backwash, accompanied by a head massage and then rinsed. It only adds a few minutes to the appointment, which is perfect for this busy time of year." Mikaela Martin, Co-director, Spirit Hair Company "December is a really busy time in the salon but it's also the perfect opportunity to really spoil our clients. We decorate the salon and our junior get dressed up. We ensure clients make appointments well in advance - as far back as September - so there are no disappointments when they can't book in as all the team get fully booked quite quickly. We want all our clients to have an enjoyable festive experience, so offer a selection of festive drinks, including home-mixed mulled wine, which makes the salon smell really Christmassy. We burn scented candles throughout the year in the reception and at Christmas we give them to our clients, it's something we've done for a few years and it's a really nice touch." Paul Ralph, salon manager, Brooks & Brooks