It struck me that our bodies can be paralleled to our businesses, or if you like the other way around. When was the last time you detoxed your business? Have you ever thought to flush out the toxins naturally and safely from your Clinic? What about doing a detox of your management style and systems… could your Clinic spending go on a diet? Are you actually spending your profit on the right things for your business and you? Do you really need that new pair of shoes or boots, or could the money go to getting the outside of your clinic or salon water blasted and freshened up with a lick of paint?

We can all probably relate to our bodies being a bit sludgy, slow and downright tired – you know that feeling we as business owners know too well as the staleness of the same old day in day out and in need of a good long holiday to recharge the batteries and freshen up. We know there is a definite need to purge our system of the sapping toxins and bugs that plague us when we don’t look after ourselves as well as we should.

So here’s the point, I thought hell… if we need to do a detox of our bodies regularly (and we should!) then we really should do the same for our businesses.

I challenge you to ask yourself… does MY business need a detox? Could it do with a new diet and shape? Maybe it just needs a minor clean up or a major cleanout?

I would argue that ALL businesses could benefit from a check-up and a detox of sorts… from being maybe a little stale, bloated and weary to the very unfit, sludgy and almost needing some form of hospitalisation to nurse it back to good health. A little dramatic I know, but think about your business… on a scale of one to ten where would you rate it for healthiness? One meaning get me to the hospital quick, and Ten being it could run two marathons in a row because it’s very healthy and at the top of its game?

If you’re having troubles establishing an accurate rating for your Clinic try measuring it against these four areas below…

1. Client Care Systems: Do you know the lifetime value of your client? This is where you calculate how much each client is worth to you over the time they are a client (average 3 yrs). Do you have a standardised bullet proof easy to use system for looking after these clients to keep the returning regularly and having them not even considering a change of salon or clinic? If you don’t have anything standardised for looking after your clients, a detox and/or refresher is in order.
2. Team: Are you happy with your team? Do they love coming to work each day? Are they always motivated to learn more and grow your business all the time? What about how they treat their clients? Are you happy with their client care standards? Could your team do with a detox too? It may surprise you to know that generally the way your team behaves and displays their attitude is a reflection of how you as the owner and leader behaves and displays your attitude.Many owners are waiting and hoping that their team will change… and many team members are hoping and waiting for the owner to change. Take a look at how you view and do things, do a detox and make the first move to change and watch your team transform into the people you really want to work with.
3. Financials: Are you in control of and managing your financials efficiently… or do you hope and pray that there is some money left at the end of the week… This area tends to be the most neglected and in definite need of a detox in many salons/clinics. A detox includes understanding the fundamentals of your P&L or as it is now known … your Statement of Financial Position. Also needing attention for many clinics is the area of KPI’s and measurements of results against targets set. Also knowing your most profitable services, managing your pricing structure, taking care of cash flow and your profitability are all important tasks for the modern day clinic owner. It just takes systems and a basic understanding of where you are financially in your business that enables you to project to where you want to be.
4. Marketing: Do you advertise? What about Newspaper, Radio, Yellow Pages? Possibly fliers, posters outside the clinic, Newsletters etc… If so do you measure the results of these? Many clinics think that marketing is about putting ads in the local paper or sending a photocopied newsletter to their client database… many owners spend good hard earned money on ads and advertising without measuring the success or failure of the promotion. Detox your Marketing, plan for results and test the market and measure everything so you know what works for you and what doesn’t.

There you have a good start on detoxing your clinic…. you decide what sort of detox you need, is it a quick simple cleanout that tweaks your systems and improves your bottom line or do you need a full detox program where you analyse all aspects of your clinic with view to cleaning out, refreshing and improving all the functions to create a higher performing unit.

I bet if you take a long look at…

It comes down to what people want is not necessarily what they need when it comes to advertising. What most people I talk to need, is to have answers to questions that they do not yet know to ask themselves. Additionally, advertising is just one aspect of a marketing plan that a salon must have – and marketing starts well before any advertising gets underway.

What I mean by that is marketing is all about what you do, how you do it and how you look and behave whilst doing it – from a salon perspective as well as the individuals within the business.

Most salon owners are trying to gain new clients and some are successful in doing so… but I can guarantee that they are they losing the very same client (or a great number of them) that they spent money on to gain because their salon performance was not up to par. Did you know that someone who visits your business is a customer, even twice… a customer… only when they return for a third (and subsequent) visit can you start calling them a client. Unfortunately many salons are in the business of attracting customers and lose them because of their ‘marketing’ within the salon.

So what am I revealing here? Well – Marketing comes before advertising and part of marketing is how you present your salon to your prospective client. Get it right inside your business and you stand a much better chance of securing a long term client than just a fleeting visit by a customer.

If you are currently feeling harried, stressed, worn out and just plain drained when it comes to your salon, I can bet that your salon will reflect that feeling and so will your team (although at a lesser level) – from how it looks through to how clients are treated, in fact its total performance will be under threat. When was the last time you went outside and looked … I mean really looked at your salon, from a prospective clients view? Is it the image you want it to be? Are there lights that don’t work? Is your signage looking old and tired? Are the windows clean? Ask yourself would you walk through the door of this business and trust the people inside with your hair? If not fix what is wrong with the picture as soon as you can, if yes, then what is the reception like? Does someone greet you immediately with a warm welcoming smile? Are you looked after during the visit? Do you get an experience that you would want to come back and experience again and again or do you just get a haircut/beauty treatment from a disinterested operator?

I could continue here with many of the small (and sometimes large) critical mistakes salons are making every day in their salons and not even realising that it is this that is causing either their very own minor or major recession within the business. However I am sure you are aware of at least some of the areas you are underperforming in. The whole purpose of this article is to give you a wakeup call and help you understand that your Internal Marketing needs to be right before trying to attract new clients, and only getting customers. When was the last time you did an internal audit of your salons appearance, client care systems, staff training programme and management efficiency and effectiveness? If it was ages ago (or never!) then it’s time now to review and if necessary to revamp and rev up your business for keeping clients that your advertising is working hard at to attract.

In fact – have your internal marketing working well and you generally will not need to do extensive external advertising, as the continual flow of new clients through recommendations will keep your salon busy and buzzing for a long time. So take time now to review your salons performance and make those changes for the better. Better client experiences, better staff motivation, better revenue and better profit. Oh and also a much less stressful day, week, month and year at work for you.

The computer age has opened up a world of opportunity for even the busiest clinic owner to have all the information they need (and more) at their fingertips within a few seconds… and that spells success for a lot more people.

If you don’t yet see why you should systemise your clinic with a specifically designed software package have a look below at the five absolute solid facts why you should be considering it soon.

1          More efficient booking system;

Appointments, appointments, appointments … the lifeblood of every clinic, and if the appointments are not managed in an efficient way you are losing valuable time between clients, at the start and end of the day, before and after breaks like lunch etc and you know what I’m talking about… how many times have you gone to your paper based appointment book and found five minutes here and 10 minutes there between clients or a space that’s not big enough to fit a client in just before an operator is to go on a break because the handwriting has overlapped the next time slot, or when they are due to come back, this leads to inefficiency and a loss of time, and time is money in the beauty business. How much money are you losing daily to the little time bleeds that a computerised appointment diary will not allow you to have – go on have a look back at your past 3 months bookings and add up the lost time due to inefficient bookings. Scary isn’t it. When we first computerised our salon we picked up $12,000 in the first year of extra business due to more efficient bookings… and that alone justified the cost of buying the software. Could you do with an extra $12,000 this year?

2          Reports that tell you what you NEED to know;

When was the last time you sat down and analysed your salon results? Did you manually calculate the average client bill, facial %, massage numbers and types, what percentage of your business did waxing contribute last month? Did you figure your wage percentage out using a pen and a calculator or did you just put it in the too hard, too long and too tired to do it basket?

A computerised system will have all the above information (and much more) in a matter of seconds, which then gives you the time to actually use the data to improve your clinic results as opposed to using all your energy just to find and calculate the information.

A computerised system will provide you with the ability to put your targeted treatment and sales figures in then produce reports based on your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) so you can see at a glance where you and your team are performing well and also highlighting areas that may need adjustment and improvement. Information is important to today’s clinic owner and if you’re not getting it in an orderly or timely manner you are putting yourself behind the eight ball from the start.

3          Tidier client records, Printable client files, Easier recall of past treatments and purchases;

How often are you hunting through your client record cards looking for your next client’s information? Only to give up trying to find it and taking the client through without being armed with her past history… maybe the card has been lost at the back of the cabinet in the beauty room, or you may finally find the card only to see that the handwriting is illegible or worse it hasn’t been updated since June 1961! In any case, this is costing you sales and almost certainly, from time to time, clients! Perhaps your team have a different filing system than you do? The question is: how long are you going to suffer from the same issues before realising that a software system will alleviate them all immediately! Clinic systems will keep your client records in order, all you have to do is print them at the days start and update the history after each client, nothing could be simpler and you save many hours a year (sometimes a month!) from searching for client cards. Also it is a much more professional way to manage your data – and clients are secure in the knowledge that their information is kept safe and not just laying around to be lost and believe me – most of the team actually like updating their clients’ data on the computer so it’s easier to get them to do it.

4          Marketing that gets you new business from existing clients;

Email, Text, E-newsletters, Mail-outs, Promotions, Special Offers, Client invites to special events… the list goes on and on. There is a saying amongst marketers that the ‘Money is in the List’ meaning that it is no good having a great service or product if you haven’t got a list of people’s names to promote it to.

A Clinic system should have a marketing module that allows you to easily and quickly stay in touch with your client base. You can text confirmations of appointments, or fill a quiet afternoon with a great txt only offer. Regular newsletters can be emailed to clients as can promotions and special offers… oh and the only thing more important than a system allowing you to do this is in fact using it when you have got one!

5          Payroll/Accounts/Tax, tidier, faster and easier than longhand and cheaper than an accountant doing it;

Are you spending hundreds (or thousands?) of dollars…

How did I figure this out? Simple really, I just looked at their hairstyles and thought WOW, how much better that lady would look if she cut her style shorter, or longer or asymmetric or added colour… then I wondered to myself, what is her hairstylist doing to her. I bet she gave up a long time ago suggesting a new look, maybe because a client a long time ago said no to her, and mores the pity because one day that lady (and the thousands of others) will get bored (if she’s not already!) with her hairstylist and will probably go to another salon for a change of style, and she will do this because she will assume her current stylist cannot do ‘other styles’ than what she has been doing for years, if she could she would have suggested it… wouldn’t she?

Are you a Hair Salon Owner that doesn’t see the value in communication training or doesn’t make the time available to teach your team how to look after their clients? Are you watching your stylists let clients just go off to other salons to be pampered and cared for? If so what do you do? what do you think? do you do anything? do you want to do anything?

The truth is most clients will not move on if your team look after their emotional needs, as well as their hair needs.

So today’s One kick Butt Fact is: Your clients will not always wear the same hairstyle, I mean gee, do you or any of your team? I bet not, in fact you probably change it at least 3 or more times a year… or a week! So, why do you let your Stylists produce the same old styles week after week? Train them to offer change and watch your clients glow whilst watching your profits grow.

Time to get off the boredom wheel and kick some butt with new styles and ideas for all your Salons clientele, your clients will love you for it and reward you with increased spend and loyalty.

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With this article, I intend to convince you, that just ‘good customer service’ is not good enough. Your customers will disappear as soon as your competitors offer a better service level than you. It is simply human nature to feel good when treated nicely; a customer will go where they are treated well. Most businesses offer good customer service however today good customer service is also simply not good enough. Everything else being equal, good customer service will help keep your business competitive, on the other hand, it will not get your competitors customers to come to you, nor will it assist greatly in increasing your customer base. So, as an SME owner/manager generally with limited a budget, a limited competitive advantage over your competition or maybe a not so ideal location, what do you do? I suggest you compete for your existing customers so as not to lose them and compete for a share of your competitions customers. You may be saying that this is not possible; your competition has a lower cost structure so they are cheaper, you may be concerned about the cost of staff training within your limited budget. I challenge you to create a line of defence to protect your customer base; you will also prepare, develop, test and bulletproof your firms abilities and capabilities. This will prepared you well when you are ready to entice and compete for your competitors’ customer or for that matter all new customers.

By now you are probably wondering or perhaps asking “how do I create a higher expectation of customer service?”

Its much easier than you think by following these key steps:

1: Identify your competitive advantage

This is any area of business where you are better than your competitor, identify your strengths and see where you are better than your competitor.

2: Identify what your competitors advantage is:

Is it price? Are you competitive around the pricing of your products and services? Do they have better delivery systems, delivery of service and product?, Identify your competitors advantage and remember price does not always dictate purchase decisions. It could be better opening hours, or a cast iron guarantee, maybe they handle returns or unhappy customers better.

3: Analyse the customer:

Blanchard and Bowels, the authors of ‘Raving Fans: a revolutionary approach to customer service’ suggests “trying to see customers as individuals and try to understand all their needs”. You should know your strengths and your competitors’ weaknesses. In analysing your customers, identify areas of concern for them and make every effort to exceed the service and delivery expectations of them. The key to this idea is creating a level of customer service in all areas of your business that far exceed the current level offered and be more competitive within your competitors’ weakness areas. Great customer service will contribute to new business coming to your door and sustain the existing customers need for continual recognition. Superior customer service will allow you to meet the market demand for your industries products and services irrespective completely of price or quality.

4: Communicate your ability to deliver:

To ensure that you compete for new customers you will need to communicate your ability to deliver Great Customer Service in a convincing way, which you should be able to do having tested it on your existing customer base. Now all that you need to do is communicate it to prospective customers through various marketing methods. Once they try your service and if it is the Great Service you created there will be excellent reason for them to try you and little reason for them to move on. Your ability to live up to the expectation you create in them from your marketing is needing to be kept up and you need to keep delivering to the standard you have improved upon and using it as a continuous improvement process.

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The biggest complaint I hear from disgruntled clinic owners is that just after providing comprehensive service and ongoing technical training to team members, they up and leave taking all that knowledge with them for the benefit of the next place they work! Unfortunately, there are too many owners with this mindset of scarcity around training.

Looking at the issue, we first must acknowledge that this could be a problem, yes, training someone to perform at their best for your business and having them up and leave can be soul destroying if you are looking at it from a victim perspective.  Training is not the only answer to a successful business; however it is a very important cog in the wheel. It should be included as part of what you offer as a ‘balanced team focussed’ business, and in today’s clinic world we should very definitely be a people (team) focussed business. It was Mary Kay Ash that said “People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.”

So here are five super reasons to offer regular training to your team:

1 Productivity: ‘is a measure relating a quantity or quality of output to the inputs required to produce it’. Productivity training should help the team work more effectively thus helping the clinic to achieve its long term goals.

2 Culture: ‘is a shared, learned, symbolic system of values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes and influences perception and behaviour’. Training helps develop a culture of learning within the clinic, one of my favourite quotes is ‘knowledge breeds confidence and confidence creates sales’.

3 Quality: ‘Quality is a measure of excellence; quality defines desirable characteristics of a product, a process, or a service’. The team will value the added quality they can give to their clients, and clients will love the added quality they receive from well trained, well informed team members.

4 Image: ‘the general impression that something (a person or organization or product) presents to the public’. Ongoing Training and Development helps in creating a better more professional clinic (and industry) image.

5 Profitability: ‘the ability of a firm to generate net income on a consistent basis.’ Training leads to improved profitability and more positive healthy attitudes towards the relationship between educating clients and profitability for the clinic.

Of course there are many additional benefits of team training including the development of leadership skills, higher motivation, loyalty (yes it does happen) and better, healthier attitudes amongst your team.

Look to your suppliers for specific product training and most of these organisations have some great ideas on the art of selling, some even have programs to help you with this. Consider looking at what other organisations are out there for sales training, the chamber of commerce is a good resource for this, also look at programs like Kiwi host for service training, and lastly don’t discount industry specific experts as sources of inspiration, these people are generally experienced in the Beauty Industry and are more than willing to share their knowledge with you and your team.

Raising the knowledge of you and your team regarding service is a step in the direction of raising the knowledge of the industry as a whole. The last few years of technology has somewhat ‘dehumanised’ the buying experience of your clients and your team (particularly younger members) have rarely been on the receiving end of great service, thus have not experienced the warm feelings that great service can bring. The clinics that recognise the value of pleasing the client and embrace this into the future will be the ones to reap the rewards that great service can bring.

Just a quick note on technical training, think about this; better educated therapists means better educated clients, and clients these days that are better educated are more inclined to spend their money knowing exactly what they are spending it on.

Let’s face it, with the availability of the internet with its plethora of beauty advice and knowledge, you better be up with the play or your clients could end up being better educated than you!

Oh and one last thought… Whilst understanding the real fear of clinic owners of when they train their team in giving GREAT service they then leave, Please Consider the implication to your Clients and business of NOT training them and they stay!

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Have you ever thought to ask: “Why should a customer come to us? What makes us different? What are we doing that’s specifically different to my competition?”

If you don’t know, then it’s time to find out…

Try this for your next staff meeting:
Ask your team: “What 3 things do we do at our salon that is different and unique to all the other Salons in our area?”

And if you can’t think of any, try this it works for Hair, Beauty or Spa:

“What 3 things could we do that is different and unique to all the other Salons in our area?”

Brainstorm this for about 10 – 15 minutes, remember the brainstorming rules: no idea is a silly idea.
Write everything down. Then take 2 or 3 of the best ideas and expand on them. Let them evolve, what more could we add to improve upon them.

Example:
USP for a Hair Salon:
We give every client a chair massage at the basin with our massage chairs…

Expanded upon this:
We guarantee a minimum 3 minute scalp massage or your service is free… (Use a salon timer to time this and give it to your client to hold)

This would be a very simple yet powerful USP, how many times have you heard your client say the scalp massage is the best part of their visit and it was not long enough? And how many times do you rush through this part of the service because you are running late? Remember a relaxed happy client is a spending client. Allowing extra time to do this should increase your retail sales, providing you are recommending products for home use.

Whatever you come up with, take the best idea and use it in all of your marketing to let every potential client know why they should come to you and your salon and not your competition down the road.

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I am working with a business owner at present who is just realising that the investment in staff training is just that… an investment, which is something that he should expect a return from… and to this end, his investment is being repaid many-fold with more motivated (trained) staff who he can rely on to do the job whilst he concentrates on driving other aspects of his business. His words: “It is an obvious part to business, but sometimes it takes someone to point out the obvious and thanks to Malcolm doing just that, I am now on track with my targets”.

So Do create and devolp Business Systems and DO schedule and budget for staff involvement and training if you want the system to be worked as you envision it.

Click Here to sign up for my Monthly Newsletter Salon Biz Tips and get FREE copy of my book  ‘7 Mistakes Salon Owners Make that Chop Away at Profits (and sleek techniques to solving them)