By Nina Tulio
One of the best things you can do right now to grow your business is to take a step back and look within your business. When it comes to growing your business, your first instinct may be to spend all your time, money and energy into finding new clients. Don’t get me wrong: You should always be looking for new clients. But here’s the truth—attracting new clients takes so much time and money. So why not utilize the clients you have to help you take your business to the next level?
[1] Increase your average ticket with add-on services. Translation: Spend time educating your clients on services they need or never had. For example, say your client has been swimming for the past two months and you can see her hair has a tint of green and is very dry. It’s your job as the expert to educate her on a clarifying treatment and a moisturizing mask. But let’s dive deeper before you go down the “I don’t want to come off like I’m selling” rabbit hole. The key to educating your clients is to identify their problem and provide a solution. Be sure to also share two to three benefits to receiving these treatments. Remember: Clients want to know what they are spending their money on and why. (Hot tip! If you increase your average ticket by $10 and see 20 clients a week, you will increase your revenue by $10,400 for the year.)
[2] Increase your FOV: Frequency of visit. For instance: A client comes in every six weeks, sits in your chair and says, “I wish I was here two weeks ago.” That’s your cue to initiate the conversation as to why you want to see her every four weeks as opposed to every six weeks. In this case, you will see that client 13 times a year as opposed to eight times a year. Depending on your average ticket, that can increase your sales by $500 per year. But if you do this with six clients, you have now increased your yearly revenue by $3,000. Also consider prebooking your lived-in looks and balayage clients for a gloss or treatment as well as a haircut in between their regular services.
[3] Increase your prices. This is another way to increase your average ticket. There are many aspects to consider when raising prices. The one that you can assess right now is how long has it been since your last increase? If it has been at least a year or a year and a half, now is the time. It’s difficult to operate your business off of prices from two to three years ago and expect to make a similar profit with inflation. Another sign it’s time for a price increase: if the demand for your services is high and you find yourself booking out three to five weeks.
