The Ultimate Guide To Building Your Books

As we begin a new year, many hairstylists are hitting the ground running aiming to build their books and grow their businesses for 2025. A successful beauty business is comprised of maintaining current clients, growing with new clients, and maximizing all clients, to ensure you’re thriving this season keep reading to learn how to build your books this season.

Maintain

Maintaining current clients is all about finding the perfect fit and fostering the relationship. Creativity and communication are the key elements to maintaining your clients this year.

To begin, communicate with your clients via social media or email blast talking about the latest services and skills you’re offering. For those whose budget may have changed, suggest services that fit their new lifestyle better. Clients are so appreciative that they will continue to refer friends and coworkers your way, which helps with our next building block.

Grow

While it may feel as though growing your clientele is a challenge, now is actually the best time to boost your books. Use this time to set yourself and your salon apart. To stand out from the crowd, use social media to showcase what you’re doing daily.

A few great examples are:

• Offer a referral program. Give an incentive for every referred client who books an appointment. This can be a percentage off of future services or if discounts aren’t in the cards, offer ‘thank you’ products with travel sizes of your favorite retail items.
• Promote specialty services. Run a special for low overhead services (ie. a blow-dry) as a complimentary add-on for booking a specialty service. These services could be perms, keratin treatments or extensions. Even if the special isn’t a hit, it will let the community know what services you offer.

Maximize

Maximizing each client’s time in the chair is key. While respecting a client’s budget and desired end result, get creative by offering small add-ons during processing or drying time. Refresh a client’s ends with the addition of balayage during a full foil, add a gloss during a grey touch-up, or a sun-kissed face-frame. If your salon offers services outside of just hair, makeup or nails, this might be a good time to add these on. Additionally, newer stylists or assistants can make use of their extra time by training in services like basic mani/pedi’s or even brows! A head or hand massage can go along way to enhance the experience and add to your tip.