Off-peak pricing without cheapening the brand
A discount on a service teaches people your price was negotiable. A discount on an hour teaches them when to come.
Every service business has the same shape: Saturday is full, Tuesday morning is not, and the fixed costs are identical on both. The instinct is to discount the quiet service. The better move is to discount the quiet hour, because that is the thing you are actually trying to sell.
The distinction is not pedantic. “20% off colour” is a statement about what colour is worth, and it is very hard to walk back. “20% off before noon, Tuesday to Thursday” is a statement about when you have capacity, and it costs your brand nothing — it reads as a scheduling preference, because it is one.
A worked example
Four chairs, $60 average bill, Tuesday-to-Thursday mornings running at roughly 40% utilisation. Twelve empty slots a week. At a 20% off-peak rate you need to fill about four of those twelve to be ahead on revenue — and every one you fill also removes an empty slot from a client who would otherwise have taken a Saturday appointment your regulars want.
The second effect is worth more than the first: off-peak pricing does not just fill mornings, it frees Saturdays.
Set it as a rule on the booking page rather than something the front desk offers. A price that is visible before booking moves demand; a price that is offered on the phone is a negotiation, and you will end up giving it to the people who would have paid full price anyway.