As we continue our way through the Holiday season, our student salons tend to get busy and a bit crazy at times. Clients are trying to get those last minute appointments before their Holiday parties and it can make for a stressful student salon. To help your students and staff cope with the influx of clients, why not incorporate a fun contest in your student salon?

I saw this student salon competition on the Facebook page of State College of Beauty Culture in Wausau, Wisconsin and reached out them to find out more about it. They said their students were having a blast with it and had really increased their retail sales and upsells in the school.

Thanks Andi, Liz and the rest of the team for sharing this fun idea!

Trim the Tree Competition

Objective

Encourage students to sell retail and make service recommendations in the student salon.

Number of Students

Divide your student salon into 2 or more team.  Teams should have around 10 players each.  But any number of students per team is acceptable.

Materials Required

• Paper Christmas Tree to be posted in the Student Salon.
• Paper Christmas Bulbs
• Paper Christmas Packages

Preparation

• Each team should select a team name.
• Assign one Christmas Tree to each team and have them put their name on the tree.
• Determine how long you will run the contest.
• Prepare paper Christmas Bulbs and Presents.

How to Play

• When a team member sells a retail product, they receive one Christmas Bulb (1 bulb for every product sold). The student will write their name on the bulb and the date, then place the Bulb on their team’s tree.
• When a team member adds on a service for their client, they will receive a Christmas Package (1 present for each add on). The student will write their name and date on the package and then place the present under their tree.
• The team with the most bulbs and presents at the end of the time period, wins!

Offer a fun prize for the winning team, such as a pizza party, jeans day, no dress code requirement for a specific day or simple bragging rights!

Considering not only tracking the winning team, but also acknowledge the student who sells the most retail or has the most add-ons.

Make it educational by having students track how much extra money they would have made in the salon with their retail and upsells.

For additional fun, assign one instructor to each team and let them cheer on their team.  This makes a friendly competition not only between students, but between staff members as well.

Happy Trimming!