How to beat between appointment lulls

Super Saturday brought on a huge influx of bookings the likes of which aren't normally seen apart from at Christmas. But now clients are on the same booking cycle, how can you avoid the between appointments lull? We asked the experts to give us their top tips to beat the down time – and we have to say, they're kind of genius! Jonathan Andrews, Fudge Professional global brand ambassador " Focusing on hair health has been a big success story for me. A lot of clients took this time to grow out their hair, which has left a lot of split ends and hair that isn't in the best condition. Naturally as a hairdresser we would want to get the optimum finish immediately, but I have found that by doing slight trims instead of what needs to come off I am able to maintain staggered approach to rebooking and breaking the cycle. This has been a benefit to my clients too as it means they get to keep the length they have grown without losing it all in one go. By only cutting what is dead or absolutely essential I have seen better results and more bookings. I am also a big advocate of in-salon treatments. It gives us the opportunity to really boost the health of our clients' hair. With many of my clientele still working from home, I've actually found that it's allowed them to pop out and get a bit of self-care time away from the house. This has not only reduced salon dead time but also makes the client feel better, even more so when it's tied in with a gorgeous blow-dry." Ross Charles, Ross Charles Hairdressing, York "To combat the gaps we've been trying to increase the average ticket. We've been focusing on suggesting appointments to really making our clients feel special. For example, if a client is booked in for a simple root touch up, we would suggest some highlights to them. This would add on to their bill and appointment time. It also demonstrates that we are proactive and actively suggesting different things for their hair. This also applies to haircuts. If a client is booked for a stanard trim, we could suggest more of a restyle. We can therefore charge more for this service. We are also incorporating beard trims for our male clients again. We will ask our clients an open-ended question to encourage them to say yes. For example, ‘let’s do a beard trim today, shall we?’." Tracy Hayes, Fudge Professional global brand ambassador "For your highlight and balayage clients, encourage a visit in between appointments for a colour refresh. After a few weeks’ blondes can become a little tired looking so a toner worked through the blonde ends is a perfect solution to bring back ultimate shine, without spending too much time and money on the appointment. For those clients that are not returning so quickly for their colour, have they found that in recent months without restaurants visit, parties, summer events and of course holidays, that their hair has been far less maintenance and our clients are accepting this new approach? For the last few years the ‘big’ blow dry has been a big focus for salons, so for these clients a brand new approach will be needed, and I would say easier hair to maintain, focusing on colour shine, the most fabulous conditioned hair and hair with premium cuts, so for these, I would always promote hair treatments, regular trims to keep the shape and hair glosses could make a strong return to keep the colour looking its best."