We want you to reach your goals and love what you do because, let’s face it, we love this industry. It’s the greatest industry in the world. As beauty professionals, we get to make people look and feel great every day. As a result, people look forward to seeing us. There is so much potential for success. But getting started is the hardest part. In this series, “Business Advice from Eric Fisher,” we tap into Eric’s wealth of knowledge and share advice that will help you reach your goals. Without further ado, here’s the latest business tip.

utilize the power of gift cards

‘Tis the season of giving and the holidays are a great time to promote gift cards for both new and existing clients. With more and more people turning to social media for holiday gift ideas, advertise them on social media or post about any gift cards you have available. Gift cards can be sold as is or you can run a gift card promotion, such as ‘spend $100 and get a $25 gift card free.’ Whether you offer gift cards as is or run some type of promotion on them, make sure that your clients and potential clients know about the gift cards you offer.

Click here to see how Eric Fisher Salon promoted the sale of gift cards on their Instagram.

If you’ve never offered gift cards before, here are some different ways you can utilize them.

1. Use gift cards as a referral tool. A word-of-mouth endorsement is one of the best ways to get new clients. Encourage this type of behavior by offering people a small gift card when they refer new people.
2. Gift cards can be used as a drawing prize. Businesses in your local community are always doing events and sweepstakes. Take advantage of the buzz they are creating by offering up your gift cards as a raffle prize. This helps raise awareness for your business — and also makes the winners new customers.
3. Try running a gift card promotion, especially this last part of December! Many people are looking for last minute gifts and gift cards are an awesome choice. You could offer promotions like “Buy a $50 gift card and receive a free product.” Or $50 gift cards for $25 and include some usage limits, such as exempt from sales or promotional priced services.

Did you know?

Research shows that over 70% of clients with gift cards will spend more than the value of the card – on average, 20% more!

55% of gift card recipients make more than one trip to the business to deplete the value of their card.

81% of consumers purchase gift cards for birthdays. 67% percent purchase gift cards for holidays.

the challenge

No matter HOW you decide to do it, utilize gift cards as a way to increase your business.  Use them as is or consider running some type of promotion such as ‘Buy a $50 gift card and receive a free product’ or ‘Buy a gift card and receive $5 off your next service.’  This is not only an incentive for customers to get something for “free,” but it also helps to ensure they will come back to you again!

For other great business tips, click here.