Saturday morning. Full diary. Queue at reception. Card machine playing up. Someone's running late, someone else arrived early, and two clients need checking out at the same time. Sound familiar?

Busy days are where you make your money. They're also where things go wrong. Here's how to keep them running smoothly.

Preparation is everything

The busiest days are won or lost before they start.

The night before:

  • Check tomorrow's column. Any double bookings? Gaps that could be filled? Clients who tend to run over?
  • Stock check. Enough towels? Colour mixed for the first few appointments? Products you'll need for specific services?
  • Equipment test. Card machines charged? Till float ready? Everything where it should be?

Morning of:

  • Team briefing. Who's doing what. Any tricky clients. Any special requests. Everyone on the same page.
  • Stations ready. Everything stylists need within reach before the first client sits down.
  • Music on, lights right, door unlocked. First impressions matter even when you're rushed.

Build in buffer time

Back-to-back appointments with zero gap is a recipe for chaos. One overrun and your whole day dominoes.

  • Five to ten minute gaps between appointments. Not dead time—time to reset, catch breath, handle overflow.
  • Longer gaps before complex services. A full colour after a cut needs transition time.
  • Protected lunch breaks. Even 20 minutes. Staff who don't eat make mistakes by 3pm.

Yes, this means slightly fewer appointments. It also means the ones you have go well.

Stagger your start times

Everyone starting at 9am means everyone needs the backwash at 9:15am. Everyone at checkout at 10am. Bottlenecks everywhere.

Stagger by 10-15 minutes:

  • 9:00, 9:15, 9:30 start times across different stylists
  • Checkouts spread throughout the hour instead of all at once
  • Backwash available when needed, not queued

Same number of clients. Much smoother flow.

Know who takes longer

Not every client fits neatly into your time slots.

  • Chatty clients who add 10 minutes to every appointment
  • Complex hair that always needs more time than booked
  • Latecomers who throw off the schedule
  • New clients who need longer consultations

Flag these in your system. Book them into slightly longer slots. Or put them at the end of the day when overruns matter less.

Reception is command central

On busy days, whoever's at reception is running the show.

  • Greet arrivals immediately. Even if it's just "Hi, take a seat, we'll be right with you." Acknowledgment stops people feeling ignored.
  • Keep the queue moving. Payment first, rebooking second, chat third. Priority order when it's busy.
  • Flag overruns to stylists. A quiet word: "Your next one's here." Keeps things moving without making clients feel rushed.

If you don't have a dedicated receptionist on busy days, you're missing your most important role.

Handle overruns before they snowball

Running 15 minutes late at 10am means running 15 minutes late at 4pm. Unless you do something about it.

  • Acknowledge it. "I'm running a few minutes behind, should be with you in 10." People mind waiting less when they know why.
  • Offer something. Tea, coffee, magazine, phone charger. Waiting with a drink is different from just waiting.
  • Claw back time. Where can you be more efficient without cutting quality? Sometimes that's possible, sometimes it isn't.
  • Don't compound it. Rushing the next three clients to catch up makes everyone's experience worse.

Checkout speed matters

Nothing sours a good appointment like standing around waiting to pay.

  • Card machine ready. Not hunting for it. Not waiting for it to connect.
  • Receipt optional. Ask, don't assume. Most people don't want paper.
  • Rebooking integrated. "Same time next month?" while they're paying, not a separate conversation.
  • Retail waiting. If they're buying product, have it bagged and ready.

A slow checkout at 11am backs up every checkout that follows.

Designate a firefighter

On your busiest days, one person should be free to deal with problems. Not tied up with a client. Available.

  • Client upset? They handle it.
  • Equipment issue? They fix it.
  • Walk-in wanting to book? They take care of it.
  • Someone needs cover for a break? They step in.

In smaller salons, this might be you. Build a gap in your own column specifically for this.

End the day right

Busy days are exhausting. But five minutes before everyone leaves:

  • Quick reset. Stations cleared, floor swept, ready for tomorrow.
  • Flag any issues. Anything that needs dealing with before Monday.
  • Thank the team. Specifically. "Thanks for holding it together when we had three checkouts at once."

How you finish affects how people feel about coming back next Saturday.

The real goal

Busy days should be profitable, not just stressful. The salon that handles Saturday calmly makes more money than the one that just survives it.

Clients feel the difference. When it's hectic but you're calm, they trust you. When it's hectic and you're frazzled, they wonder if they should go somewhere else.

Smooth operations aren't a luxury. They're how you protect your busiest, most valuable days.