Nadine Dilong You may not be able to treat patients, but you can do so much more!
With beauty and aesthetic businesses forced into shutdown due to COVID-19, many business owners are finding themselves stressing about keeping staff occupied while they can’t physically treat clients. Of course, some have had to stand down staff, but with the announcement of the government’s Job Keeper package, it is likely you’ll be able to keep your staff on thanks to the subsidised wages of $1,500 per employee per fortnight.
As the employer, it is up to you to delegate work to your staff during this time, so if you’re struggling to think of things for them to do, don’t worry, there is so much that can be done remotely or by having one person only in the closed salon, spa or clinic.
1. Deep clean your business. With the heightened hygiene measures taken last month to keep Coronavirus at bay, you have probably already kept your premises extra clean, but use this time to really deep clean every nook and corner, dust those top shelves you can only reach with a ladder, and move furniture to clean under and behind it. As tedious as this is, now is the perfect time to do this, so you’ll be sparkling for the re-opening.
2. Re-decorate or paint. Always wanted to paint that wall but never found the time? Been thinking about updating the coffee table but couldn’t be bothered? Thanks to easy online shopping options, you can spruce up your business while it’s closed without interrupting your bookings. You might even want to consider introducing Feng Shui to your rooms.
3. Check every cupboard and drawer and throw away unnecessary items. We know things can get cluttered quickly. You probably have a drawer full of samples from conferences you are never going to try, or products that have expired or are no longer needed. If someone else may use it, gift it, otherwise, throw it away. A decluttered space means a decluttered mind.
4. Check your marketing collateral and update if needed. Are your brochures up-to-date? Maybe you have introduced a new treatment recently or have changed pricing. Now is a great time to design new or updated marketing collateral. You don’t even have to get it printed straight away if you are worried about the uncertain future, but having the design ready to go will free up time once you re-open.
5. Create a social media marketing plan. Involve your team in posting content on social media and have a clear schedule for the type of content that’s going up, e.g. Instagram TV video on Monday, before and after on Tuesday etc. Task everyone to prepare some content and send it to you (or whoever is taking care of your social content).
6. Get your team to educate each other on the treatments they perform. For cross-selling purposes, it is crucial that all your staff know about every treatment and product that is offered in your business. Get them to call each other and explain what they do – this will also improve the team bond.
7. Update your website. Is your website easy for clients to use? Does it have all the information they need? If you’re unsure, you should ask a friend that is not from the industry to find out something specific by going to your website, e.g. ‘can you find out what the downtime for fraxel is on my website?’. If they can’t, it’s not easy enough and you should consider changing things. You can always hire professional website designers and SEO experts for this (they can work remotely).
8. Write blog articles. Consumers want to be educated about your treatments and how they can keep their skin looking fresh until they can come back to see you. Get your staff to write blog articles for your website on different topics each week.
9. Contact your loyal clients. Besides sending e-mail blasts to your entire database, make sure your team are in regular contact with your most loyal clients. This can be a personalised e-mail, a phone call, or a text that you write to them asking how their skin is looking and what they may require from you.
10. Pack and send out skincare parcels. Whether you have an online shop or you get your clients to message you with their skincare orders, chances are you will be pretty busy packing and sending out products for a while, so make sure you involve your team in this. You could get them to include handwritten notes or samples to add to your client experience.
11. Craft a mission statement. What is your business really about? Are your staff able to tell you what you stand for? They absolutely should, so if you don’t have a meaningful mission statement on your website yet, here are some tips on how to create one.
12. Really break down your numbers. Do you know what your most profitable treatment is? How many no-shows you have per month? There is so much to learn from analysing your reports, so if you have someone in your team that’s good with numbers, get them to create a business analysis that can then be shared with your entire team for some important insight.
13. Check in with each other. Having regular video chat meetings as a team is so important during this time when it’s easy to feel alone and isolated. Schedule at least one meeting per week and take some time to talk about other things than work to help build morale and motivation.
Another area of your business you should tackle, is your software and database. We chatted to salon software Phorest for a few of their recommendations on where to start:
14. Refresh your team’s knowledge. Since the COVID-19 situation has started, we have seen a significant uptake of teams joining webinars, podcasts and online courses, like our Phorest Academy, an on-demand, online and on-the-go Phorest learning portal for busy salon professionals.
15. Sort out your inventory. Get those products off your shelf and get your team to do a stocktake to make sure your software reflects the real story. Any good software will also be able to tell you the value of stock on hand, too.
16. Deep clean your database. Now is the time to get your team to help clean, clean, clean! That doesn’t just mean your floors and walls, messy client data is inevitable in every business. Take a look at your client database, are there duplicates? Take the time to tidy this up now, and your marketing will thank you later.
17. Step up your online presence. Do you have some savvy staff who want to take on more responsibility? Get them managing your social media, creating your email and sms campaigns, increase your existing client engagement and even reach new followers who will no doubt be lining up once your doors reopen!
