The holidays represent a prime time for spas and estheticians. Sure, ‘tis the season for gift-giving. It is also a time, though, when clients have a variety of reasons for pre-booking holiday appointments for themselves–holiday parties, business functions, a break from the stress of holiday planning to name a few.
The issue for many spa owners is that while history says the surge is coming, spa owners’ and estheticians’ calendars often do not reflect that holiday rush until the very last minute.
Why? Their clients procrastinate!< When they do finally book, it often leads to a bottleneck of high demand for the limited time slots in your spa holiday appointment book. Avoid frustrations on either end by learning why clients procrastinate and what you can do to encourage them to pre-book those holiday spa appointments.

Enticing Early Holiday Bookings

You can motivate clients with several strategies. The direction you take will depend on your clientele. Before planning those strategies, do a little research:
Pull trend reporting, both industry-level and for your own business. Note what services sold out and what services seemed neglected, as well as any other strong patterns that emerge.
It might even be worth investing in a consultation with a spa business analyst like Gayle to help decide where to focus your efforts, as well as to craft promotions and schedule them for the season.
In the meantime, here are a few easy tactics any esty or spa business owner can employ to get those holiday pre-bookings rolling in now.

Remind Clients to Plan Ahead

Lots of factors compete for your clients’ attention throughout the holiday season. Self-care is easy to forget. So they may just need a little nudge. Emphasize to clients in your messaging that if they want choices, they need to book early. Some examples:

• Create a holiday-focused email campaign highlighting the products and services you selected as your seasonal focus.
• Set up holiday countdowns on social media to build anticipation and encourage that sense of urgency to book.
• Give away earmarked promotional items like face serum samples or mini Konjac facial sponges as reminders to clients who traditionally pre-book holiday appointments.
• Set up a strategic text campaign to include reminders and/or exclusive LTOs (limited time offers) for new bookings.

Offer Up Your Spa or Salon Space for Client Events

For most people, the holidays are a time to gather with loved ones. Let potential clients know that you could be their next place to congregate!
Most people would not turn down a group spa day invite. Who says no to a spa sesh with champagne and extended spa treatments? So tap into this desire by designing premade spa packages. Focus on a theme that draws on your spa’s strengths.
Share event ideas and promotions through all your marketing channels. Plenty of people are scrolling when they need downtime. So be in the right place at the right time. Your ideas may be the spark they need to book!

Make Pre-Booking Holiday Appointments Easy

People are often in a mad sprint during the holidays. If there is a convenient path to their goal, they will take it. So try and eliminate whatever booking barriers you may have.
Make sure that your services can be booked and paid for in a fluid digital manner. Customers who might hesitate to pick up the phone will follow through to schedule online.
Well before the holidays, equip your business with easy-to-use booking and payment software. Avoid entanglements like a lengthy registration process or limited payment methods. And do yourself and the client a favor. Check that your site is optimized for mobile, too.
Consider working with a payment plan service like Affirm, Klarna, or AfterPay. Some clients balk at splurging on a spa ticket when they are purchasing so many gifts at once, but splitting up payments might help them feel good about splurging on themselves!
In any case, if you are interested in getting ahead on your pre-booking holiday appointments but are not sure how then contact NewMed Concepts for tailored advice!