How to incentivise sales

what works best for salons? How to run a staff sales competition − what are the best ways?

The most effective way to incentivise staff is to know what motivates them individually. One single incentive will not work for everybody. Once you know what works for each team member then the next part is easy! Communicate the targets and the deadlines clearly and ensure that they are understood! Keep the promotion/competition short and simple.... Hairdressers have short attention spans. Lastly, daily reminders of how well each individual is performing means you will guarantee better results. Praise success publicly and offer any training to assist performance privately!

Do loyalty schemes work to boost retail? If so, what initiatives have salons done?

Loyalty schemes work.

Finding out what will incentivise the customer (your target audience) is key. Just look at 2 very successful loyalty schemes such as Tesco and Waitrose. Tesco gives you money back and / or vouchers in restaurants and days out.

Waitrose offers their customers great coffee while they shop, at every visit with some money off! 2 very different schemes but chosen to suit their customer's needs.

Salons can make their loyalty schemes as simple or involved as they wish. Many salons work with bonus points when customers buy retail with points leading to free product at the end. Others find connecting service points with retail points works better because customers tend to try new services as well. Innovative salons find tying new customer recommendation points to retail and services points advantageous! Bottom line is salon managers need to decide what they wish as a result when designing their loyalty schemes!