The Coaching Chronicles: a Nails Magazine Blog

Booking Bridal Services

NAILS Magazine — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:41:44 PDT

Refreshing our look, our services, and our salon is a great way to get ready for the busy coming season. It is a great reminder, Jill, that we need to periodically look at our ourselves and our workspace with a client’s eyes. Keeping it clean and fresh-looking is very important in building their confidence in us. They always like to try new scents or services while they enjoy the old tried-and-true ones. This got me thinking, spring not only starts bringing in our pedicure clients more frequently but it also starts bringing in bridal parties for services. How does your salon manage bridal parties?

Here at Misbehaven we have a bridal contract that we e-mail to the person coordinating the bridal party. In this contract e-mail we collect the names of the guests, the services requested, and the time of the wedding or photos if the services will be performed the day of the wedding. Then we quote the basic prices for the services and explain the cancellation policy, what the guests may need to bring or wear, and that there are optional upgrades that the person can choose the day of the service. Once the contract is signed by the coordinator, we then schedule the services and get a credit card to hold the appointments.

We have a 10-day cancellation policy for the whole wedding party, and a 24-hour one if just one person needs to cancel. This policy states that if less than a 10-day cancellation notice is given for a wedding party of two or more people, then half of the total service amount will be charged to the credit card reserving the appointments. This has cut down drastically on the last-minute changes to what we originally agreed on with the bridal party coordinator. We used to have problems several times a season with people requesting appointments for six to 10 people and then only two or three showing up the scheduled day. This left us with big holes last minute on our service providers’ books. It was very challenging for our salon until we came with the bridal contract.

Having a bridal contract helps us to prepare for the coming spring/summer season so that we can provide the best service possible, and stand out from everyone else.

— Sandy

Gearing Up for Spring [and Summer]

NAILS Magazine — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:10:32 PDT

It’s spring and everything around us is changing and in bloom. For a lot of us the snow is starting to melt and we can actually see the grass again. The grass is starting to turn green and tulips are coming up. With spring there is a rebirth, a sense of fresh and new. It got me thinking: What have I done to refresh and renew my salon and my services? I thought of a few things that will help us to get ready for spring.

Check your station: Does it need a little spring cleaning? When was the last time you took everything out of your station and fully wiped it down? Was it long ago that you emptied out every drawer and cabinet? Do you remember the last time you dusted off a shelf? Take inventory of your station. Do we really need everything in it? Do we really use every product? Clean out the clutter and get rid of unnecessary items. Remove everything and do a deep cleaning. Remember when you pull open a drawer, your clients can see inside too. Don’t let them see a messy station, where everything is shoved in there. Make sure you don’t have any tip clippings, nail trimmings, or dust visible. It’s unsanitary and looks like sanitation is not a priority. Keeping a neat and organized station helps you to stay on top of your sanitation.

Dress: Is it time to get some new clothes? You don’t need to buy a complete new wardrobe. Just freshen it up with a few new pieces. We work in an industry where a lot of us wear black clothes. Make sure your black clothing isn’t faded and tired looking. Get a few colorful accessories to give yourself a pop of color. Bright colors, if your dress code allows, can brighten you up. A colorful accessory can make an impact on a plain outfit. A new season is upon us; get a few new pieces to touch up your look.

Appearance: Now that we have touched up or clothing, how about updating our look? When was the last time we added a few highlights or refreshed our hair color? When was our last facial or brow wax? Brighten up your face by exfoliating and getting moisturized with a facial. Does your skin need a little hydration and bronzer? I use a self-tanning product and sell a ton of it because I’m wearing it. I get asked often if I’ve been tanning. I haven’t gone tanning in years; it’s terrible for you. However, there are a lot of great self-tanning products out there. Just by using it, I sell it. Improving our look can improve our salon sales. Get the services that your salon provides and talk to your clients about it. It’s a proven fact, when you look good, you feel good about yourself. Imagine what you could do with a boost in your confidence.

Services: Are you and your salon providing the same old services? We may have some of the same services all year, but we can change them up during the seasons. My salon changes the paraffin wax to a cucumber melon scent during the spring and summer months. We also add a cucumber scrub and lotion to our pedicures and manicures. It’s the same service just spruced up. We’ve added a self-tanning lotion to our pedicures during the summer months. Our clients can add a self-tanning lotion application to their pedicure. We exfoliate their legs and apply a self-tanning lotion. We are already wearing gloves and it seriously only takes a few minutes. (We only do this add-on service if the client is wearing shorts.) We apply the self-tanning lotion on their legs and go up just past the knee. We fan it into their foot, but avoid the toes. We sell a lot of the self-tanning lotion just by doing this. This service is for clients who wear long shorts or capris. This was something a client asked me to do because she noticed my faux tan. Is it time to add new some services to your menu or delete a few that are not going over as well as expected? Maybe revise our services and the salon’s service standards.

Products: What have we added in the form of new products? When was the last time we updated our inventory and the amount of products that we have on the shelf? A good example of a product we stock up on in the summer is the self-tanner product I mentioned earlier. There are some products we just sell more of during the summer months. See what’s new out there and what your distributor sales consultant is recommending. Your distributor may have some new items that are summer-specific. They may some ideas to help you rejuvenate your displays and revive your retail sales.

Ushering in spring and preparing for summer — one more way to help you stand out above the rest and become the BEST!

— Jill

Going By The Book

NAILS Magazine — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:38:42 PDT

We as a salon started going through the book “Over the Top” by Michael Cole this January. We had our monthly staff meeting yesterday morning and we are doing one chapter a month as a full salon team. The idea is that we can all focus on growth and help each other accomplish our goals. We worked through the second chapter yesterday, and the thing I liked the best about it is that we were able to share our success with the other staff members. The chapter went over several things, but the one that struck me was the part talking about referrals. The manager asked us to say the name of someone who we thought was outstanding at asking for referrals and we were able to ask them what they do differently than the rest of us.

It just so happens that our rock star at asking for referrals is one of our estheticians, Kael. She has this wonderful way of asking without hesitation and is fabulous at picking up the little clues that help her to ask her guests to take the referral cards to an event. The neat thing in the meeting about the way we were talking with her about her success is that she volunteered to help anyone who struggles with asking for referrals. She would help them figure out their own way to ask and roleplay with them if needed to help them get comfortable. I think that any of our staff that struggles is going to have a much better time asking after speaking with Kael.

The idea of each team member helping each other with their strengths is really helping to bring us closer together as a team. I am really looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish by using the tools in Michael Cole’s book and implementing them in a team atmosphere. It will really help us as a whole salon to better our best.

— Sandy

The Art of Getting Referrals

NAILS Magazine — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 15:02:17 PST

I am so excited to see all of the comments. Thank you AthenA, Annette, Heather, and Judy! We love seeing your comments and hope that more people will post. As I started responding to the comments, I realized I should turn it into an post so it will reach more of you.

Judy, thank you for sharing your past experience with referrals. You mentioned you were handing out your business card with your client’s name on the back. I think others can relate to you and your experience. I too handed out cards with my client’s name on the back. I didn’t have much of a return either. I find that the business card referral just did not speak as well for me. I found that having a certificate did more for me.

I found that having the referral card the size of a gift certificate made the referral card feel more like a gift certificate. I also found that when the referral card felt like a gift certificate, clients wanted to spend it like a gift certificate. I heard from new referrals that it was burning a hole in their pocket — they wanted to spend it. I also noticed that if the certificate was larger than a business card, it didn’t end up in the bottom of my client’s purse never to be seen again. My clients actually handed them out. Candy is just a little something extra, but who doesn’t like a little candy? Candy or chocolates is just a small affordable perk that is unexpected and makes people happy.

As I mentioned before, including an expiration date is really effective. Adding an expiration date creates a call to action — a reason to use the referral card soon. If you put an expiration date of six months from now, there is no urgency. Clients wait, forget about it, and eventually lose it. I would recommend the expiration date of a month. That gives a client plenty of time to use it. If the new referral calls in a panic and says the card is expired or is about to expire, let them know you will honor it. I simply say, “I will be happy to accommodate you. Let’s look at my books and reserve your appointment now.” Think about it — when you have a coupon that has an expiration date, you make sure you use it before it expires. You don’t want to miss out on a good deal. The same applies to the referral card.

Thank you Judy for your post. Hopefully this gives you some more information. Start a referral program and keep it going; we ALWAYS need referrals. Remember, clients move and have lifestyle changes, and our business keeps changing too.

Annette, thank you for admitting you are new at the “art of getting referrals.” We all have to start somewhere and somehow. Marathon runners don’t start by running a marathon, they train. We have to train too. We have to start by making a commitment to implementing a referral program. We have to put together a referral card and then get them printed. We have to assemble the referral bags, have them ready and nearby our station for easy accessibility. Then, we have to work on our approach. We have to be tuned into the cues our clients give us through conversation. “I’m attending a women’s retreat this weekend at church.” The bells should be going off, ding, ding, ding! This is the perfect setting. Now, how do you ask your clients to hand them out? I would say, “I put together some gift bags. Would you like to give everyone a little gift bag at the retreat? How many do you need?” We HEAR cues all the time from our clients, but how many times do we really LISTEN? They tell us all the time about book club, bible study, girl’s night out etc. But, sometimes we don’t listen to the cues. We have to get better at paying attention and responding. Annette, we all have to start somewhere. We all have to run our marathon one step at a time. So, don’t get overwhelmed. Simply take it step by step and you’ll do fine! You’ll start seeing new referrals and you’ll get better at the art of getting referrals.

Heather, I hope this will help you and get you through the complications you have experienced. Please keep us updated and let us know how it is going.

AthenA thanks for sharing and commenting on a few articles! I appreciate you spreading the word and I hope this helps your listeners.

Creating a referral card, implementing a referral program, listening for cues, and gifting referral cards — more ways to help you stand out above the rest and become the BEST!

— Jill

Referrals With a Call to Action

NAILS Magazine — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:09:31 PST

I agree Jill, writing for NAILS has been an amazing experience. It has been an honor and a dream come true to be a part of the Coaching Chronicles. Thank you NAILS Magazine for the opportunity and all of our loyal readers for tuning in to our posts each week. We love hearing from all of you. Your comments help to inspire us to write about the things that you are concerned about.

I really like the different twist on the referral cards that you implemented in your salon, Jill. Listening for clues to activities that the client is involved in and offering the referral card treat bags is an awesome idea. Many of my clients participate in activities like this regularly, and would love to have a little something to take to the other people. Including samples of products as well as a little treat is a great idea too. Not only do they get the information to come and have a service done with you at your salon, but they also get to sample products that your salon carries so you have the potential for a retail sale as well.

We also are focusing on referrals in our salon. We have cards printed up with our logo and the discount clearly stated on the card with room for the technician’s name and the client who is referring a friend. Once one of these cards come in, we note it in our computer system for the referring client to get her discount the next time she comes in. We also use an expiration date as a call to action and to give them some incentive to give the cards out as soon as the can, as well as for the referred person to use it as soon as she can. I think that we will get a huge response to this program if we were to add the little treat bags in as well.

I also keep these cards with me wherever I go and whenever someone comments on my nails I hand them one of my referral cards. This way I am able to refer people to our salon wherever I am. I have had many clients come in to become regular guests just from this simple little action. Working on your referral skills is a must to keep your books full and to make the most of your time in the salon.

— Sandy

Get Better at Asking for Referrals

NAILS Magazine — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 10:36:58 PST

Wow! Thank you for your kind words and comments Sandy, Samaima, and AthenA. My faith, my friends, and family have all helped me through these tough times. 2012 was a tough year. I am, however, excited and glad that 2013 is here! I know whatever is dealt to me I will persevere and make it through. I am strong just knowing that all of you are thinking about me and wishing me well. Thanks, that keeps me going each day!

I did have some great things happened in 2012 — not all of it was bad. Writing for NAILS has been an honor and a creative outlet. In fact, Sandy and I just celebrated two years writing the Coaching Chronicles. Thank you for being our loyal readers and for your comments. We hope in 2013 that many more of you get the urge, confidence, and have the time to leave a comment. We love hearing what you have to say! Please take a minute and write some of your thoughts and ideas; you never know who it may help!

It’s 2013 and it’s time to tackle the subjects you care the most about. What do you need help with? What can Sandy and I do to help you to build and grow your business? We want to help you we’re here for you and want you to give us some direction. Please write down the subjects you need help with in the comment section. We’d appreciate it!

I want to touch on referrals. My salon is in a referral campaign right now. Here are some of the things that are working for us.

> Design and print out a referral card. Have cards readily available for you to pass out. We have found that a referral card with “50% off any one service” is really getting people in the door. You may also do the referral cards for a dollar amount but we have found 50% speaks volumes.

> Have two lines on the front of the referral card to write:

Current Guest________________________________________

Referred Guest_______________________________________

When I hand these out, I have my client’s name already written on the card where it says Current Guest. Explain to your client that she will get 50% off her next service when this referral card is redeemed by her friend.

> Add an expiration date to create a call to action — a reason to use the referral card soon. If you put an expiration date six months from now, there is no urgency. They wait and eventually lose it. I would recommend the expiration date of a month.

> Listen for hints on who to give referrals cards to. Most nail technicians simply hand out the card to clients and say, “Please hand these out to your friends and family.” Try to be more specific and listen for hints. Ask your clients what they did over the weekend or what they have going on for the upcoming week. If they mention bible study, moms groups, girls’ weekend, book club etc., ask them to hand out the referral cards to their activity.

> Take it to the next level by making referral bags. If your salon doesn’t provide bags for you, you can find them cheap. Head to the dollar store. They have small cellophane treat bags with snowflakes, hearts, flowers, etc. They are anywhere from 12-20 bags for $1. I also purchase some curling ribbon there. I tie off the top of the bags with a little coordinating ribbon. It dresses up the bags more than the little twisty tie it comes with. Fill the bags with your salon menu, referral card, a few samples, some candy or chocolates, and your business card. Ask your client how many they will need for their event. You can make up the bags ahead of time and ask how many your client will need. You can drop them off or have them stop back and pick the bags up.

We have to get better at asking for referrals. Give your clients specific ideas of who they can give the referral cards to. Typically, clients think they don’t know anyone they can give it to. They will have a better idea with a little help from you. We’re not getting the kind of return on referrals we want by just asking our clients, “Can you hand these out?” Make referral cards and be sure to include your address, phone number and website. Don’t forget to add your name. Print the cards up, hand out two to each client, and start looking for ways to get new referrals through your clients. Try it for a week and be diligent about it — you’ll be amazed at what happens. Let me know how it goes. Helping our clients to help us with referrals, one more way to help you stand out from the rest and become the BEST!

— Jill

Sharing Just the Right Amount

NAILS Magazine — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:51:24 PST

It has been quite a year for you, Jill. I know it must have been difficult to write honestly about how your highs and lows for last year. I am humbled and reminded how easily we can slip into the trap of getting too cozy with our clients. Firstly I celebrate with you your success and congratulations on becoming Jazzercise certified! I know that you put the same dedication and focus into the good things you manifested in your life last year that you do with your business. You are a very inspiring person to know. For me, I know that I often look to you for guidance and you have never steered me wrong. I want to thank you for that.

My condolences on your brother’s passing and your divorce. I’m sure that both events were devastating to you and your family. I imagine that your clients had very little idea what was really going on in your life. You have always been very good at steering the conversation to neutral topics and professional conversations about the service and the products you recommend.

I know that last year for me was exciting and I accomplished many long term goals that I had set for myself many years ago. It would have been extremely easy to gush about how excited and happy I was to have done those things. And in fact I did find it a daily struggle to dial it down and answer my clients questions about the things going on without letting it take over the conversation. It was an exercise in learning to focus better and redirect my thoughts when they started to drift towards the next trip or competition. My clients were excited for me and so they naturally were curious about what I was doing. I had to constantly self-talk to remind myself to only give a couple of minutes attention to those questions and then turn the focus back to them.

This is a good reminder to all of us that we all have triumphs and trials that we go through on a daily basis. Ultimately we should remember to ask more about the client rather than over-sharing our lives with them. They are paying for an experience with you and that has nothing to do with what you are facing in your own life. They are often facing similar challenges and don’t need to hear about yours. And if they do want to ask about your life, be sure to keep those details to a minimum and redirect the conversation back to them.

— Sandy

2012: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

NAILS Magazine — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:22:58 PST

Happy New Year! Are you so glad to be done with 2012? I am! I have never had a worse year than 2012. So, since it’s a new year, I want to remind you of what we should be talking about with our clients.

We sit with our clients and we have a lot we can talk about. We need to build a relationship with our clients to gain their trust. We also need to get to know them and engage in some small talk. What should we talk about with the rest of the time? Here are some examples of something good, something bad, and something ugly.

The Good: This year I already shared with you that I lost a lot of weight going to boot camp, running, and attending Jazzercise. I was a cheerleader back in high school and sometimes some of the dance moves at Jazzercise cause my inner cheerleader to come out. You got it, I’m that girl in the front row! The Jazzercise studio owner asked me if I ever thought about becoming an instructor. I actually have. So I started the training and went though a lot to get certified. I was dancing three hours a day to learn the 10 songs required for auditions. At auditions — yes I had to audition to become certified. I had to know all 10 songs, but at auditions I would randomly pick two from the mix. I would have no idea which songs I was getting until that moment. I also had to take the American Fitness & Aerobic Association exam and get CPR certified. There was a lot that went into this. I was practicing, leaning how to cue the next move, counting with the music, doing opposite moves with my right and left…it was overwhelming. After all that, I made it and became a Jazzercise Certified Instructor.

This is something that was good that was going on in my life. However, not every client wanted to hear how exhausted I was from practice, working hard, and studying. Five of us auditioned that day and only three of us made it, but all of my clients don’t care to know about the entire process.

The Bad: My brother Steve passed away unexpectedly just before Christmas this year. My family was devastated and I had a hard time focusing at work. I found myself daydreaming and thinking about how his kids will continue without their dad. But my clients really don’t want to hear about the funeral arrangements and the sadness I feel.

The Ugly: My husband and I decided to end our marriage after eight years. So, since February, we have attended counseling and been trying to work on repairing our marriage. We came to an agreement and have decided that life is short and we are no longer happy together. We are adults and feel that we have exhausted all possibility of reconciliation. Now again, I could have shared all of the details with my clients and discussed how we are dividing our household. But do they really want to hear it?

I learned while working with Redken a few years ago not to clutter my work area with personal pictures. The reason they suggest not putting all of that on your station is because it can make your clients associate feelings with you. For example, you may have your wedding picture on your station and maybe the client sitting in your chair is going through a divorce. You may have pictures of your children and maybe the client lost a child, had a miscarriage, or is struggling to get pregnant. It can make the client uncomfortable sitting in your chair and think about her situation. She can associate you with that feeling. This is also why Target doesn’t play music in its stores. Songs can stir up emotions and make people feel bad; they don’t spend money. This is good advice and I don’t have anything personal on my station.

We can and should be talking about retail items, current promotions, additional services, pre-booking the next appointment, etc. Before commenting, know that I understand what you’re thinking. We can’t always talk about the business constantly and we do build friendships with our clients over the years. We all have a handful of special clients that we share more than our weekend plans with. I know that clients ask us about our lives too — they care about us too. I just want us to be aware that we don’t have to disclose all the details all the time. We don’t have to bring our personal life to work with us every day. I am sharing this with you because I want you to know that everyone goes through some good, bad, and ugly times in their life. I did last year and you, my readers never knew it. I just keep on with life and all of its ups and downs. I also broke my foot last year which debilitated me for awhile and I did manage to write about that. Breaking my foot was another bad, but I am healed. We all heal over time and we also have to count our blessings. Look around you, life is full of them!

Focusing on the business instead of our personal business — one more way to help you stand out above the rest and become the BEST! Wishing you all a successful, healthy, blessed, and abundant 2013!

Taking Inventory as the New Year Begins

NAILS Magazine — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 11:53:27 PST

I hope that all of our readers had a wonderful holiday both personally and professionally, and that you were all as busy as you could be. My wish for all of you is that you all have an extremely profitable, busy, and successful new year. Many of the topics we have written about over the last year will be the perfect tools to help you to become the best you can be.

The holiday open house sounds like a great idea, Jill. I’m sure it was as successful as you had hoped it would be. It was well planned out, even though you stated that you were putting it together in less than a week. It is really great that you and your team were able to accomplish it in such a short amount of time. It is also a great way to get everyone excited about the holidays and build new business for after the start of the new year.

We spent the last couple of weeks running our end-of-the-year product sale. The sale prepares us to clear away the old and start with the new. It also prepares us for our year-end inventory of all of the retail products and back bar supplies. It is the time of year that we clean out our stations of the things we haven’t used in months, and really take a look at what has been working for us over the course of the last year. We are able to plan ahead the types of products we are going to continue to offer and reevaluate any that have not been either used or selling well. It’s time to reorganize everything in our drawers and cabinets so that we can start the new year as we intend it to go.

We have brought on new branded merchandise that we can use to promote the salon. We have some of the usual things as well as a couple of unique ones: tumblers, shirts, hoodies, pens, our own honey (the owner’s family’s bees provide that for us) and we also are trying a new approach this year. We had coasters made with our salon logo and information, with really fun photos on them. We then took them to restaurants around the area to ask if they would let us leave them there and use them on the tables. It is allowing us to reach out to local businesses and make connections that we can use throughout the year for mutual benefit. Partnering with other small businesses in your area is a very good way to increase your word-of-mouth referrals. We are hoping that this will allow us to not only be able to partner with them for events but that it will help us build a relationship.

We are starting the new year off well stocked, organized, and with a plan to be as successful as we can be. I can’t wait to see what it brings.

— Sandy

Host a Holiday Open House: Here’s How

NAILS Magazine — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:33:12 PST

Our “Practice Now, Shine Later” series continues with another business building idea: host a holiday open house. It’s not too late. Really you can pull it together in a week. One of my employees Kimberly suggested that we have a holiday open house for our clients. We thought, “How can we pull this off?” We did and so can you. Here is what we did. You can plan this with your salon owner and coworkers in a hurry by following these guidelines. Keep it simple and get all the employees involved.

Pick a Date: Our holiday open house is next week. We picked a Thursday instead of a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. We thought the weekend was too busy with scheduled clients. Our Thursday hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. This offers a longer day than our weekend hours, which means more clients can attend.

Get the Word Out: Get a flyer and signs made ASAP and put them up in your salon. Post signs on all stylist mirrors, in the restroom, etc. Give every client a flyer when they arrive. They can read all about it while they are waiting for their service. That way if they have any questions, they can ask while they are here.

Arrange for Refreshments: We decided to keep it simple and serve holiday cookies and hot cider. We placed an order at Sam’s Club for large cookie trays. We also placed an order for several gallons of cider with the grocery store. We also decided where the table will be set up and that the front desk staff will make sure the table is well stocked. We purchased a large hot beverage dispenser and picked up holiday napkins, plates, and cups.

Complimentary Services: We decided to give away complimentary brow waxes, pumpkin paraffin wax treatment, and mini manicures. You can upgrade to Shellac for $5. All services are based on availability and no appointments will be taken to reserve spots. We thought this was an excellent way to introduce clients to some of our services.

Door Prize: In order to get client info and get people here, we decided to have a drawing for a door prize. Clients can enter to win a year of shampoo and conditioner. (That’s four liters of shampoo and conditioner.)

Limit One Per Customer: What can we sell that will be a special offer that will entice clients to rush in and get one? Gift certificates! Clients can buy a gift certificate for $100 and get a $20 gift certificate free (limit one per customer). This is a great way in increase your gift certificate sales.

Post it Everywhere: Get the word out — not only in the salon but out on the Web. Post your flyer on Facebook. Put it on your Web page, text it, Tweet about it, and e-mail it to your clients. Have your staff talk about it and invite their Facebook friends. Have staff put the flyer on their page. You can also do an “Event” and invite clients on Facebook. The more you get the word out, the better the attendance.

Special Offer: Book any service that is new to you and get 50% off. This means the day of the open house you can get 50% off any service you book that you have not had in our salon before. Example: You have never had a pedicure here, book it during the open house and you’ll get 50% off your pedicure when you come in for your appointment. (Be sure to make a notation on the appointment to honor the discount.)

Gift Pack Incentive: We have many of the holiday gift packs available from Pureology, so we put them on special for that day only. We also have all of our holiday items displayed and offer a complimentary gift bag with any gift certificate or retail purchase. Just a little something to make it easy to shop and no wrapping at home required.

We are also doing something fun for the employees. We are having a pot luck. Everyone is bringing a dish to share. (This is for staff, not the clients.) We are wearing jeans and UGLY Christmas sweaters or holiday shirts. This will help with our holiday theme and the employees like perks too!

This is part of the “Practice Now, Shine Later “series because a holiday open house is the best way to break into client events. If you get the logistics worked out on this party, you can follow the same steps to do other events like a Teen Night or Girls Night Out, etc. This is the easiest and best way to get started. It can be simple and great without the headache.

Talk to your boss and get going! You can make this happen — there is still plenty of time. Get your team together, brainstorm, and delegate. It’s a lot easier if each department has a job and can take some of the responsibility. I gave you an outline, you just have to fill in the blanks. Copy what we did or make up your own. Tweak it and make it yours. Hosting a holiday open house — one more way to help you stand out above the rest and become the BEST!

— Jill