The Small Changes That Bring Big Results in Your Salon or Spa

The Small Changes That Bring Big Results in Your Salon or Spa

by | Jan 7, 2018 | Client Attraction and Retention, Increasing Profit, Salon and Spa Business Performance, Staff Management, Recruitment and Retention

Sometimes it can be disheartening when your business is floundering and you don’t know what to do to fix it. Where do you start? What’s going to make the most difference in the shortest amount of time? The truth is that your business may need something entirely different from another person’s business to get it back on the right path. And the reason for this is that there’s no one big solution to fix a struggling business, but, there are loads of small solutions that will do the job extremely nicely. And that’s what this article is all about – the synergy of small solutions, that together, create a big outcome. Let me explain… Unless you are an absolute master of all things business, there’s a very high probability that many areas in your salon or spa could be tweaked to provide better financial results. Areas such as: ~ Gaining more prospects. ~ Converting those prospects into clients. ~ Increasing the number of existing clients you retain. ~ Increasing your profit margin. ~ Increasing the number of services you provide to each of your clients. ~ Reducing your expenses. ~ Improving the quality of your services and customer service. ~ Improving the quality of your team members. ~Retaining good team members. And this list is just a small selection of the many things that most businesses aren’t doing as well as they should. Now if this list makes you feel a little depressed, I want you to think about it a little differently. It’s not just a list of things you don’t do well, but in fact, it’s a fantastic list of opportunities and possibilities. Each item on this list, when improved by just a small amount, can make a significant impact on your business results. And the more items on the list that you tweak and improve, the greater the results will be. Think of it like this… If you can gain 10 additional new clients each month, you should do the happy dance. But it would be even better to gain 10 new clients whilst also retaining 5 existing clients. This automatically makes you 15 clients better off than you were last year. Now, if you can increase the profit margin just a little for all your client services, that is going to add up to even more substantial revenue (plus you now have 15 more clients you’re making a profit from). Add to that, just a few extra services sold to existing clients each day will boost your revenue even higher. And on it goes. The synergy of all these small improvements coming together across your business will make a substantial difference to your revenue and profits. It’s not fantasy – it’s fact! And this is why you must never focus on doing just one thing when it comes to improving your business. Don’t get stuck in the rut of just wanting more new clients. New clients are, without a doubt, necessary for every business, but they are just a small part of your overall growth and success. A savvy salon or spa owner continually looks for ways to tweak all their numbers. A few percent of improvement across many areas can have the massive impact you want. But, you must never take your eyes of your business as a whole. Don’t get too focused on any one area and simply ignore the rest until later. Don’t make the common mistake of zeroing in and trying to achieve a massive improvement in just one area. It’s not the solution to your problem. In fact, it really won’t help your business one iota to gain 20 new clients a month, if you are losing 20 existing clients at the other end. Instead, aim for small, sustainable improvements across all the areas in your business and then you can sit back and enjoy some truly amazing results.
How to Generate Additional Salon Profit with Add-on Sales

How to Generate Additional Salon Profit with Add-on Sales

by | Dec 29, 2017 | Increasing Profit, Salon and Spa Business Performance

Fact – Most spas are missing out on profitable sales every single day.

 

Depending on the size of your salon or spa business, you could be missing out on anywhere between $20k to $100K per year from add-on sales that never happen; the serum with the facial, the brow tint with the lash tint, or the gel upgrade with the pedicure. Simple add-on sales that are simply being ignored.

So why does this happen?

In my experience, there are 5 major reasons why spas are missing out on this substantial additional revenue.
1. Therapists or receptionists miss their opportunity to offer something extra during the booking process.
2. There’s not enough time to provide something extra during the service.
3. There is no formal expectation by management that spa therapists will offer an add-on or up-sell to their clients, and therefore, no motivation to do so.
4. Formal training is not provided on how to up-sell naturally.
5. Spa therapists are not confident or comfortable with the process of recommending something extra to their clients.

Let’s take a closer look at these 5 fail points and discover how they can be handled to produce better results.

 

1. Missed Opportunities

The ideal time to offer clients an additional service/s is, without a doubt, during the booking process. Not only is the existing client’s service history at your fingertips to quickly review for possible add-ons she may have previously had, but if an additional service is added to the booking at this point, it will eliminate the need to squeeze something extra into the allocated appointment time on the day.

For new clients, or where no service history is available, a relevant extra services list, kept at the reception, can be referred to quickly for suitable up-sells. This list can easily be generated through brainstorming with your team members.

 

2. Lack of Time

Lack of available time can be a real problem if the additional service takes extra time and could cause the therapist to run late for her next client. When this happens, the best up-sell is one that will replace an existing component of the treatment, or be very quick to deliver.

A few strategies that come to mind are:
• Serums applied during the facial to enhance results
• Up-graded masks that will take the place of regular masks
• Gel polish instead of regular polish
• Brow tints while lash tints develop
• Hand peel while the face peel activates

Depending on the services your spa offers, there are loads of various up-sells that can be included when time is tight.

Always look for opportunities to up-ell to a more premium service that requires no additional time.

 

3. Goal Setting

Not setting individual sales goals for team members means no accountability is in place, and this results in a lack of motivation to offer additional services or up-sells.

Make time at the beginning of each day to spend a few minutes with your team members to review their clients for the day and discuss beneficial up-sells for each.

Set a daily goal for each therapist based on the number of clients she has booked in her column and follow up at the end of each day to see if she has met her goals. If she has, congratulate her on her performance, and if not, discuss strategies she could have used to reach her goals.

The important points here are to set goals, create accountability, review performance, and provide encouragement and support.

 

4. Team Training

Your team members need to know not only what is expected of them but also how to achieve it. Keep in mind that training on any topic is not a ‘do-it-once-and-hope-it-sticks’ activity. It needs to be provided regularly and reinforced constantly to keep it front of mind.

The best and most successful training methods are those that are inclusive and fun for the trainee. Training that includes ideas and input from your team members will always have the best outcome.

To facilitate this, ask all team members to contribute suggestions and solutions to every training topic instead of sitting back and turning off while the team leader does all the talking.

Make training a team effort and you will be rewarded with a higher level of participation.

 

 5. Changing the Employee Mindset

I’m yet to meet a spa therapist who loves to sell (unless of course they are the business owner). Selling often feels uncomfortable for therapists and they see the whole process as outside of their real job of providing services and pampering clients. Basically, therapists want to nurture their clients and don’t see selling as part of that process.

The way to overcome this is to change their mindset from selling being just about grabbing some extra money from their clients, to selling as a way to benefit their clients and help them achieve a better, faster outcome.

Good selling in a spa environment is always about strengthening the relationship with the client. It should result in a better solution for their problem. Bad selling happens when a client is pushed to purchase something that won’t benefit her and therefore damages the relationship.

Make certain your team members understand that you only want them to do what will strengthen their relationship with their clients and not the reverse. This will help your team members feel more positive about suggesting extra services or items to their clients, and they will be less resistant to the idea of making beneficial recommendations.

When a client achieves a better, faster solution to their problem they will be grateful.

 

Client Awareness

It’s always a good business strategy to ensure your clients are aware of the additional services you have available for them, as this awareness will help when it comes to suggesting something they may not have tried previously.

Don’t fall into the trap of assuming your clients are fully aware of all your spa has to offer, as few actually are this aware.

One way to create additional awareness is to add your service extras to your Service Menu, grouped with the services they complement. Upgrades such as serums, masks or LED therapy can all be grouped within the Facial and Skin Treatment categories so that clients can easily see what else is appropriate and available to them.

Apply this concept to all your extra options where room permits.

 

The Best Time to Suggest and Up-sell

The last thing you want your therapists to do is chat all the way through a relaxation-based service and leave the client feeling annoyed and deprived of their special relaxation time. This means you need to be strategic about choosing the best time to introduce the idea of a little something extra.

So, when should it be done?

The ideal time, in most cases, is either during or just after the consultation phase of the treatment, but before the main body of the treatment begins. The therapist should have completed her examination of the treatment area and asked the client questions about her problems and expectations.

If your therapists are not providing pre-treatment consultations, they are depriving themselves of a great deal of important information that will help them to not only deliver a much better service, but also make useful recommendations for extras.

 

How to Up-sell in the Treatment Room

Once the consultation is complete, make yourself easily seen by the client. If she is already on the treatment couch, then come around to the side and bring yourself down to her level by sitting on a stool.

Place yourself in a position where the clients can see and interact freely with you to reduce any feeling of intimidation.

As you make your suggestions, phrase them in a way that highlights the benefits they will receive relative to the problem they are trying to solve. If your suggestions don’t relate to fixing problems the client believes are important, she simply won’t be interested and a quick ‘no thanks’ will follow.

Here’s an example:
The client has expressed issues around her recurring acne breakouts. She is booked in for a deep cleansing treatment but nothing else.

After consultation, the therapist determines that a suitable serum applied under an infusion mask will reliably provide much better results for the client.

The conversation would go along the lines of, “Sara, it’s great that you’ve booked in the for Deep Cleanse Treatment today. That will definitely get you started on your journey to clearer skin. I’d also like to suggest we apply a healing serum and infusion mask also to give you even better results from your treatment. Are you okay with that? The extra serum and mask will be $20 but the results will be worth it.”
Note: I always recommend you provide your clients with full disclosure on the additional cost to avoid any problems when it comes time to pay for their service. Surprises at the register are never a good idea!

If you have a Client Service Agreement document in place, be sure to add the relevant details outlining additional costs for extra services here also.

 

 

If you follow the guidelines in this article, it won’t be long before you see a real improvement in your revenue. If you’re offering performance bonuses, your team will also see worthwhile benefits. This means that your spa, your therapists and your clients will all benefit from this sales strategy.


Why Some People Thrive and Others Fail in the Beauty Business (or Any Business)

Why Some People Thrive and Others Fail in the Beauty Business (or Any Business)

by | Dec 19, 2017 | Leadership and Personal Well-being, Salon and Spa Business Performance

It often seems that some people appear to have the magic touch when it being comes to being successful.

Everything they do just seems to be the right thing, at the right time – nohting ever seems to go wrong.

Or maybe that’s all an illusion……

[clickToTweet tweet=”The truth is that successful people do things differently from those who try and fail continuously.” quote=”The truth is that successful people do things differently from those who try and fail continuously.” theme=”style3″]

Success is not magical; it’s about making the right decisions, based on the right information, and taking the required action – most of the time.

In this article, we’ll take a look at what sets apart the successful business owners so that you can also implement their winning strategies in your business.

Successful people surround themselves with new ideas.

If you haven’t been investing in your professional business development, then you’ve stopped providing yourself with the opportunity to learn new and better business ideas and strategies.

It may be more fun, but it’s not enough to just attend training that teaches you about new products or services.  These are important, but you mustn’t neglect information that teaches you how to run a more successful business and make a profit.

Those business owners who take the time to read quality business books, undertake business-related courses, or work with a business coach will be constantly exposed to fresh ideas and motivation.

And without a constant stream of fresh ideas, you generally end up doing things the same old way you’ve done them for years – successful or not.  This is not the recipe for success.   Times change, information changes and opportunities come and go.

If you have cut yourself off from fresh and vital information, growth will come to a screaming halt.

Successful people implement the great ideas they learn.

In a room full of learners, there are only a tiny minority who will go away and actually implement the great ideas they‘ve been exposed to.  These people are the Doers.

They don’t waste their money on attending conferences, buying books, doing seminars or getting business coaches and then do nothing with the information they’ve received.  They don’t constantly whinge or make excuses as to why ‘they can’t get things done‘, ‘they don’t have enough time‘ or stating ‘it won’t work in my salon‘ before they’ve even given it a go.

Instead, Doers understand that in every bit of business training they receive, there is at least one gem of information.  With this in mind, they immediately pull apart the information they’ve received to find the business gems that they know will improve their business.

Find the gems, make the plans and take action.

Successful people learn from their mistakes.

Yes, successful people do make mistakes.  Just like you and me, they don’t get it right 100% of the time.

However, the successful person can identify a mistake quickly.  How do they know? Well, they closely monitor their outcomes and, because of this, they quickly learn if they’ve had a great success, a moderate improvement or an outright failure.  And this knowledge means they don’t keep repeating their mistakes and suffering the same undesirable consequences.

To grow your business requires trying new things and with that will come the odd bad decision – other wise known as a mistake.

Learn from your mistakes but don’t stop trying new things.

Successful people regularly monitor their numbers.

This is one of the most important things that should be done in any business.  However, in the beauty business, it’s often one of the most neglected.  Knowing, and more importantly, understanding your numbers, means you will see problems heading your way before disaster happens.

As a business coach, I encourage my clients to take time out to actually read and understand the extremely valuable reports their software programs can generate.  These reports can often pinpoint problems with staff productivity, rostering, retail and service sales, client attraction and retention plus so much more.

So, if you’re in the habit of using your computer software simply as a point-of-sale system and a way to send appointment reminders, it’s time to jump in and discover just how much valuable information you can access.  It’s all at your fingertips and available with just a few button presses.

Knowledge is power and knowing your figures gives you a great deal of power.

Successful people understand the difference between revenue and profit.

This is a truly powerful and important point.  Many salon owners are led to believe (by would-be gurus) that increasing revenue (sales) will automatically increase profits.

This is often not the case.

To give you an example, if a salon chooses to drop the price of their facials from $90 to $45 (50% discount), they’re most likely going to generate lots of additioanl revenue.  New and old clients will surface to enjoy tyour fantastic low-priced facials.

Revenue will inevitably increase as clients arrive and depart the salon in droves.  The only problem is that the extremely popular $45 facial actually costs $55  in product, consumables and labour to deliver.

What this means is that every single facial delivered is actually increasing your expenses and not generating more profit for your business.  These extra facial sales could end up costing you a ton of money.

The only way around this is to upsell lots of additional full-priced services (good luck doing that with a client who is only interested in a discount treatment in the first place) or sell lots of retail (ditto).

So the lesson to take from this is that before you jump in and discount your services, in an attempt to increase your revenue (get more sales), be absolutely sure that there is sufficient profit in each sale to help you cover your many other expenses and stay in business.

Naturally, there are numerous other actions that successful people take every day, however the ones discussed in this article are, in my opinion, some of the most important.  These are the mistakes I see struggling salon and spa owners make most often and consequently suffer from the outcomes.

So, if you’d like your new year to be wildly more successful that your past years, think about the points discussed and how you can start to implement more success strategies in your business.  It really is all up to you!

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.”

— Jim Rohn

How to Get a Positive Headstart on Your New Year

How to Get a Positive Headstart on Your New Year

by | Dec 1, 2017 | Salon and Spa Business Performance, Salon and Spa Marketing

As you’re reading this article, you’re probably thinking, ‘I don’t have time to think about the new year yet. I’m barely able to think about tomorrow, it’s just sooo busy’.

Unfortunately, that ‘busy-ness’ won’t last for long, but thinking about and planning for what’s going to happen months from now is what separates successful salon owners from those who struggle during the quiet times.

January and February can be very challenging months in the beauty business. They can feel incredibly busy, especially if you’ve sold truckloads of Gift Vouchers before Christmas. The only problem with this is, most people who redeem Vouchers don’t spend much extra, if anything, and this can mean a very poor trading period when it comes to money in the bank.

Unfortunately, whether you are making money or not, rent, wages and all the other normal business bills still have to be paid, and this is why it’s absolutely essential to think about, and plan for, making money in the early months of the new year.

 

Salon and Spa Marketing Ideas to Get You Through the Slump

So, what can you do to increase your cash flow for January and February in your salon or spa? Here are a few ideas to consider.

Have a Salon Membership Drive.

Membership sales can give your cash flow a much-needed boost as clients are required to pay a lump sum up front to enjoy the long-term benefits a membership program can bring.

To make the most of membership packages you’ll need to offer services that are popular with your clients (to generate interest) and are also based on value-adding rather than discounting, so as not to damage your services pricing integrity.

To generate interest from your clients, use the two good old marketing strategies of ‘scarcity’ and ‘urgency’ by making it available for January and February ONLY.  You also want to cap the number of packages you sell.  Once clients realise it’s a very limited offer, they’ll be more inclined to jump in and make the purchase.

Consider a few different Membership levels to hit different price points.

 

Promote your Prepaid Treatment Programs and Packages

Prepaid Treatment Programs and Packages are a little similar to memberships, but can be done a couple of different ways.

1.  Prepaid Treatment Programs that are designed to produce a definite outcome (think anti-aging/clear skin, pigmentation reduction, etc).  These programs are comprised of a varied selection of treatments that are designed to generate the best possible outcome for a particular skin condition.

The great benefit of these types of Treatment Programs is they introduce a variety of services and modalities to your clients.

Avoid the urge to discount your primary services, and instead, value-add to build out the value of the program.

As an example, if you are offering anti-aging or clear skin programs, you could include several LED treatments at no charge within the program.  This increases the value of the program without adding any real strain on your product or wages cost.

2. Prepaid Treatment Packages consisting of several (generally between 6-10) of the same treatment is also a great way to get a quick cash injection and for the client to get great value.

Packages of IPL/Laser with a bonus treatment area included at no extra charge, or Packages of Facials with free upgrades or bonuses are typical of what you can offer.

Be sure to package up your most popular services and create a value-add deal that your clients will find impossible to resist.

 

Have a Retail Sale

Too much stock sitting on your shelves after Christmas simply soaks up your money, which in turn, prevents you from investing in fresh seasonal stock which will turn over more rapidly and make you more profit.

An excess retail product sale is an easy way to shed excess stock purchased for Christmas and get back your financial investment.

Unlike services, you can occasionally discount retail stock without it hurting your business. With this in mind, consider having  either a straight percentage off the retail price on selected slow sellers (how big a % off will depend on the markup you’re enjoying) , or bundling a slow selling item with a top seller and selling for the price of the top seller only, or just a little more – almost like a gift with purchase.

 

Offer Clients a Salon Voucher as a Christmas Gift to be used in January or February

It’s nice to say ‘thank you‘ to your clients at Christmas and what better way than with a salon voucher.

When deciding what value to give, consider the amount the client has spent with you over the past year and base your gift amount on that.  Obviously clients who spend large amounts in your salon or spa regularly, deserve to receive more than the client who has the odd brow shape or lash tint.

Also, the idea is for the client to spend additional money when they redeem their voucher, so make it clear what the voucher is redeemable against.  As an example, if you give a $30 voucher to a client, you might want to stipulate that it can only be used on services valued at $90 or higher.

Most importantly the voucher must have a clear expiry date.  I suggest around the end of February to maximise your promotion.  When you give these vouchers to your clients, point this out so there are no issues around clients trying to redeem them after that date.

Make the voucher fully transferable to another person (this might introduce a new client to your salon) but don’t allow it to be used against retail purchases.

Once you’ve decided ‘what’ you want to offer to your clients, you need to decide how to get your marketing message to them.  Consider the following ways:

  • Add the information to your website
  • Have signage and hand-out information available in-salon
  • Send an email to your clients outlining your special offers
  • Include the information in your December Newsletter
  • Include the information in your January Newsletter (and get it out early in the month)
  • Be sure to include the information about your special offers in a team-meeting and ask your team members to talk to all their clients about what’s on offer.

 

Running a successful business always involves looking forward and planning in advance. This is especially true for those cash-strapped months after Christmas.  It’s not too late to plan for a healthy start to the new year if you start working on your promotions now.

 

What To Do When Your New Recruit Really Sucks

What To Do When Your New Recruit Really Sucks

by | Oct 12, 2017 | Salon and Spa Business Performance, Staff Management, Recruitment and Retention

Your salon has been getting busier, and so, you decide it’s time to hire an additional person to reduce the load and, hopefully, generate more revenue.

After much planning and consideration, you find the ‘right’ person and offer them the job.

Things look promising initially, and you breathe a big sigh of relief…and then the problems surface.

As a business owner, chances are you’ve been in this position already, and if you haven’t, then I take my hat off to you for your amazing recruitment skills or sheer good luck.

The fact is, sometimes, no matter how much research you do and how many questions you ask, you’re going to hire a lemon.

But once done, what do you do about it?

Well, naturally, prevention is always better than cure, so although this advice may be a little late for this hire, better recruitment skills might help to avoid a recruitment disaster in the future. One mistake is painful but repeating that same mistake borders on sheer craziness.

But once you’ve hired, there are things that you can do to resolve a difficult situation.

Let’s start by looking at where your new recruit is failing, because there can be two different outcomes, depending on where the problem lies.

Lack of Technical Skills

If lack of skills is the problem, then the problem is actually your fault. A big part of your recruitment process should always be vigorous skills testing.

Yes, you have to pay the prospective employee for their time, but let me be brutally honest with you, this is a cheap investment compared to what it might possibly cost you in lost clients in the future.

It’s not enough for your new recruit to look good on paper – they must be able to follow through with the delivery of the high-quality treatments your clients expect from your salon.

But the good news is that skills can be taught or improved. It may be that your new employee did things differently at her last salon or that she learned a different technique at her college. Either way, if the only problem you have with your new employee is skills-based, then it may be well worth your while to persevere with them and to develop a training program to bring their skills levels up to your standards.

Yes, it will come at a price, but it’s not a lost cause entirely.

Bad Attitude

No matter how skilled or experienced your new employee is, if she has brought along a bad attitude with her, then you really do have a problem on your hands.

It’s pretty easy to conceal a poor attitude throughout the recruitment process. Most people know how to answer your questions with the words you want to hear, and most past employers don’t want to say bad things about their past employees when you check job references.

But here’s the thing.

You can change skill sets, but it’s almost impossible to change a bad attitude – it seems to come built-in.

These people have a heavy chip on their shoulder about something and they’re determined to make as many people as possible suffer because of it – and that includes you, their co-workers and their clients.

Believe me when I tell you that the longer your persevere with this type of employee, the more you and others will suffer.

Trying to be ‘fair and reasonable’ with these people or trying to ‘understand’ the reason why they are the way they are is akin to bashing your head against a brick wall.

You are not their mother, sister or psychiatrist and it’s not your job to ‘fix’ them and turn their lives around.

What your job as a business owner actually entails is to protect your clients, your other employee’s well-being and, of course, your business and livelihood.

Now what you do from here will depend on how they’ve been hired and from where you operate. You must make sure you are completely within the law before taking another step. Some countries or states allow you to put off a new recruit if they were hired for a trial period and it’s clearly stated in their contact. If that’s not the case, you may need to go through a process of warning letters and meetings to try and resolve the issue.

Either way, ALWAYS adhere completely to your legal requirements, but don’t persevere with bad employee behaviour.

It will cause you untold stress and possibly have a negative financial impact on your business  also.

When it comes to recruitment, I always recommend never to hire in haste, no matter how urgently you may need another employee. To do so may result in long-term issues that will affect every part of your business