Salon Success – Four Key Elements
I always look forward to the interaction I have with the many salon industry professionals I meet at events throughout the year. Their energy and enthusiasm inspires me to do even more to assist salon owners and their staff in creating exceptional guest experiences and to improve the financial health of the businesses.
I learn more with every seminar I present, and every conversation I have. The more I interact with industry professionals, the better I am equipped to help them. I gain knowledge through every problem I help solve, and every situation I evaluate.
Here we have the four key elements to salon success. These are issues that should be closely and frequently monitored for optimum results.
Salon Success Tip #1: Reception Matters!
Reception staff provide the first and lasting impression to your guests. An investment in time and dollars in your reception staff can have a great impact on your guest’s experience.
Reception staff tend to be the lowest paid, and have the highest turnover rate of any category of spa employee. There are several benefits of recognizing the importance of the role of reception staff through higher wages and more training. Aside from the benefit to the guest’s experience, the most important benefit is that your reception staff will stay in the job longer, and therefor save the owner money by reducing time spent hiring and training a replacement.
The key areas of training include:
- Proper phone and in-person ‘script’ or process.
- Proper dress
- Thorough software training
- Reviewing standards and expectations of the role
Remember that your reception staff really can have a positive impact on both the guest experience and your bottom line.
Salon Success Tip #2: Rebooking Counts!
Rebooking is a key area that often gets missed at the conclusion of a service. If your staff are doing mostly colour treatments then this is something that can easily be booked in in advance to assure the client gets the time and doesn’t have to wait to get their colour done. Does your salon offer incentives for pre-booking?
Salon Success Tip #3: Marketing Plans Get Results!
Many Salon owners have no marketing plan and just ‘wing it’ with sporadic promotions and inconsistent messaging on social media.
Other salon owners do have a marketing plan, yet do not follow it so do not gain the financial benefits of the time they have invested in creating the plan.
A third category of salon owners follow a plan, deliver consistent, targeted messages on a set schedule – and reap the rewards!
Which category do you want to be in?
Make marketing a priority and schedule time to work on it. Plan ahead to have promotions tied in to holidays and things like wedding season. Plan them ahead of time so it’s not a too-late-last-minute-panic-rush deal. You need to target your ideal clients.
Make sure your website and social media pages are up-to-date and that you add new messages and information on a regular basis. Put it on the calendar and get it done. Tweet, post and update. Often!
Salon Success Tip #4: Know Your Business – Know Your Numbers
You can’t survive in the industry just buy hoping you’re making a profit! Do you know what your costs are? Are your staff being paid appropriately? Are you losing money due to product wastage and mysteriously shrinking inventory? Are you missing out on revenue because of under-used space?
Understanding and learning to track your financial information is something you may be able to do yourself, or with the help of a financial or business consultant. Either way, it needs to be done.
Numbers have the ability to reveal what we cannot see by observing the day-to-day activity of the salon. Trends in income and spending can develop over time. Sometimes it takes the examination of months or even years of financial activity to make a problem evident.
These are just a few key areas that will lead your salon success! To book an appointment email [email protected]