Stop leaving $27 BILLION on the Table! Plan this strategy TODAY!

[ 00:00:05

]Welcome to the Hair

Hustle Podcast. I' m Heather Podlesny, your salon coach dedicated to helping

stylists master the business side of beauty. Whether you' re starting your

journey behind the chair or you' re a seasoned pro looking to level up, this

podcast is for you. Each week we' ll dive into the tips and tricks you need to

run a successful salon business with topics that will change the way you work

and earn. From budgeting hacks to help you keep more of what you make, to time

management tips that will keep your schedule stress-free, and the strategies

for boosting your retail sales and nailing that next promotion. Get ready to

build your dream business without burning out. Together we' ll cut through the

noise and get to the root of what makes your salon thrive.

[ 00:00:47

] So grab your shears,

turn up the volume, and let' s hustle. Welcome to episode five of the Hair

Hustle Podcast. Thank you so much for being here with me today. I am your host,

Heather Podlesny, and we are going to talk about one of the most amazing and profitable

strategies that you can have this holiday season, and it is the gift card

strategy. I hope that you are ready. We are approaching November very quickly,

and so I always like to make sure my salons and stylists have their gift card

strategy locked into place by November 1st. Does that mean you have to be doing

your promotion November 1st? No, that does however mean that you have to have a

plan.

[ 00:01:29

] So whether that is a

Black Friday blitz and you are selling gift cards at 10% off one day, or

whether that is an entire week of savings on your gift card or an entire 30

days, whatever that looks like for you, we need to make sure that we have that

plan in place. So let' s get started. First thing that I always like to talk

about is why. So you may be saying, Heather, I' ve never done gift cards

before. I m not even understanding why I need to have a gift card strategy or

why that really even matters for the holidays. I sell gift cards all year long.

Why do I have to create another incentive for that? Okay, you guys, I started

to do a little research and I sort of knew some of this research.

[ 00:02:18

] However, I must say, I

think my mouth was open as I was reading it because I thought, oh my gosh, I

need to share this with people. So here' s a couple of things that I found.

Number one, the average unused gift card amounts. If you' re a salon owner and

you' re multitasking, please start listening right now. Now is the time. We' re

going to go over a couple of whys and we' re going to go over some statistics

on why you want to have an amazing gift card strategy. Are you guys ready for

this? Do you know the average amount of unused gift cards per person in the

United States is $187? That' s right. $187. Just wait. It gets better. So $187

per person in the U .

[ 00:03:04

] S. have, we just all

have $187 gift cards hanging out somewhere. Are you ready for the next one? 6%

of gift cards are literally never even used. 10 to 19% of gift cards remain

unredeemed. Next, I was actually researching and I found this episode on CBS Detroit

here in Michigan. I was in Michigan and they interviewed a retail professional

and the statistic is there are $27 billion with a B dollars in unused gift

cards hanging around. And here' s the other crazy part is that according to the

National Retail Federation, gift cards are the number two given gift. The

statistics are mind blowing and why should you be offering gift cards? Because

it helps your cash flow.

[ 00:03:57

] And also I hate to tell

you, and this is sort of on us as consumers as well, but we don' t always

redeem the gift card. So I' m not saying to like catch people in this or

anything like that. However, this are all really important things to keep in

mind when we start talking about offering a discount on the gift card is that

that doesn' t necessarily mean that every single dollar will be redeemed. So if

you' re offering 10% off gift cards, don' t be scared. Okay. Cause we' re going

to talk about some promotions and I don' t want you to be afraid. So we' re

setting the stage with that next up as we get going, we' re going to talk about

something called girl math.

[ 00:04:37

] We all know all the

girl math rules. And if you don' t know, don' t worry, we' ll get into it. Now

that you know the statistics on why we want to offer some of these extra

special deals for a week or a day. We' re going to talk about why the strategy

matters for the holiday. So first things first, we Re going to create a holiday

exclusive offer. So just like we talked about, you have to decide, is it going

to be an entire week? Maybe it' s Black Friday. Maybe your salon is closed on

Black Friday. Totally. Okay. So maybe you do an entire week as like a holiday

kickoff. Maybe it' s the first week of December and it' s 10% off gift cards.

[ 00:05:20

] That' s the only time

of year that they can get it. So we are going to make sure that you' re going

to make sure that you' re going to make sure they get holiday exclusive, that

they can get 10% off gift cards, or maybe they get salon cash back. So maybe

they buy $50 in gift cards and they get $10 in salon bucks back. What would be

awesome about that is that we could also target new guests to our loyal guests.

So our loyal guests, we c