Your Chair Is Empty, but Your Phone Isn’t
Hair salons have a rhythm. Regular clients book every four to eight weeks like clockwork. When a holiday closure breaks that rhythm, clients don’t stop needing haircuts. They just can’t reach you to schedule one. The phone rings during the closure because their calendar says it’s time for a trim and they’re calling to book.
A good holiday message catches that intent and turns it into a confirmed booking for when you return. A bad one, or no message at all, sends the client to whatever salon picks up the phone.
When to Use Each Script
Christmas & New Year Closure is the most important holiday message for hair salons. December is the busiest month of the year: holiday party prep, family photo sessions, New Year’s Eve styling. Most salons close for a few days to a week after Christmas, right when clients are starting to think about their January appointment. The message should capture booking requests, mention gift cards (they sell well during Christmas), and give a clear return date.
Thanksgiving Break is a shorter closure, usually two to four days. The pre-Thanksgiving period is busy too, as clients want to look good for family gatherings. Your message should be concise: dates, online booking link, and voicemail instructions.
Summer Break / Staff Vacation is common at independent salons and small shops. Whether you close the whole salon for a week or stagger vacations by stylist, the message should explain the situation and give clients a way to book for after the break. “We’re recharging” is a better framing than “we’re closed” because it’s honest and relatable.
Easter / Spring Closure is usually a long weekend. Spring is also when many clients switch up their look (lighter color, shorter cuts), so appointment demand tends to be healthy. Keep the message brief and point callers to online booking.
Emergency Closure covers the unexpected: burst pipes, power outages, or a stylist calling in sick when they’re the only one scheduled. The immediate priority is clients who had appointments. Your message should acknowledge those bookings and promise to reach out. Then follow up proactively by contacting affected clients directly.
Preferred Stylist Matters More Than You Think
In hair salons more than almost any other service business, the relationship is with the individual stylist, not the salon. A client who’s been seeing the same stylist for three years doesn’t want to be booked with someone new.
That’s why your holiday message should ask callers to mention their preferred stylist. It helps in three ways:
- You can schedule the callback for when that stylist is available
- You avoid the back-and-forth of offering times the client doesn’t want
- It signals that you understand how personal the service is
If your stylists have different return dates after a holiday (some come back January 2, others January 5), this detail becomes especially important for scheduling.
The December Revenue Peak
December is typically the highest-revenue month for hair salons. Between holiday parties, family gatherings, corporate events, and New Year’s Eve celebrations, clients book more frequently and spend more per visit (updos, color refreshes, keratin treatments).
Your holiday message strategy for December should account for this:
Pre-holiday (December 1-23): Your regular greeting should mention extended hours if you’re offering them. Some salons open early or stay late during the holiday rush.
Closure period (December 24-January 1, roughly): Your holiday message should capture January bookings and promote gift cards.
Post-holiday (January 2+): Switch back to your regular greeting immediately. January is when clients who got gift cards for Christmas will start calling to book.
Each transition is a two-minute message update that keeps your phone aligned with what’s actually happening at the salon.
Emergency Closures Hit Personal Service Businesses Harder
When a restaurant closes unexpectedly, a customer misses a meal. When a hair salon closes unexpectedly, a client misses the appointment they’ve been planning around for weeks. The bride getting her hair done before the wedding rehearsal dinner. The professional with a job interview tomorrow. The parent squeezing in a cut before school pickup.
These aren’t replaceable moments. Your emergency closure response should be:
- Record the message immediately with a return date
- Pull up the day’s appointment list
- Text or call each affected client personally
- Offer to reschedule within 48 hours of reopening
Being proactive about it builds loyalty. Waiting for clients to discover the closure on their own and figure out what to do does the opposite.
Capture Every Booking Request, Even While Closed
A recorded holiday message can ask callers to leave details, but it can’t confirm a time slot, check stylist availability, or suggest alternatives. Safina answers your phone during closures, asks the caller which stylist they prefer, what service they want, and when they’d like to come in. You get a clean list of booking requests when you return.
The Basic plan at $11.99/month covers a typical holiday closure. For salons with high call volume, the Pro plan at $29.99/month handles 100 minutes of year-round overflow.
See our hair salon greeting scripts for daily call handling and after-hours templates for evening coverage. Beauty salons share many of the same holiday patterns, so check our beauty salon holiday scripts for comparison. Browse the full script library for templates across every industry.