Press Room

February 11th 2010 -

If you research Valentine's Day, you will find that there are several stories as to how it came to be. I like the one about the Saint who was in jail and fell in love with a girl believed to be the jailers daughter. She came to visit him every night and just before his death he wrote her a note and signed it “Your Valentine”. Could that be where we got that phrase? It sounds romantic and I like it, so that’s the one I am going to believe!

Though we may not be sure of its exact origin, we do know is that Valentine’s Day creates 14 Billion Dollars in income for retailers! We as salon owners can’t afford to not be on that chariot!

Set up your promotions with a full circle thinking process! What do I mean by that? Start with your promotion objective. Answer these questions…

1. What is it? (service, package, gift certificate, retail special)

2. How would you talk about it? (script it)

3. How are you going to market it?(salon signage)

Create some fun and easy ways to talk about your promotion and create the salon signage and scripting around it!

For example:

Phone Script: “Love is in the Hair at Salon XYZ. This is Shelly, can I tell you about our Valentine’s Day packages?”

Salon Signage: Create mirror clings that describe your promotion, putting them in the bathroom, dressing rooms, nail area, spa rooms and a framed one on your feature product table.

Create some “Hint Cards” that say something like, “Your wife called and told us of a great gift idea from Salon XYZ! Call for her request! We have _________ as our Special Valentine’s Day Offer!”

Every client gets one of these cards when they leave. They can be a fun way to just “plant a seed”. Some gals have left these in their husbands car, or packed them in his lunch!

Feature Product Table: Have fun with your feature product tables! Put out some roses and display your gift cards, and Gift With Purchase offer. Decorate with chocolate Kisses! Have fun and attract attention to your table!

Tracking: Never forget to track your numbers! In the Front Desk Doctor Kit we recommend that you increase your gift card sales by 20% every month! Make sure you know your goals this month and keep track daily! Maybe even create a contest with your Front Desk Staff, such as, if all goals are hit the salon buys them lunch! Sounds fun to me!

Team Synergy: If this is all launched properly at a salon meeting, it will be fun and easy. Think how your staff will embrace it! Even the cool people will want to talk about it!

Let’s not forget how a really Special Valentine’s Day gift makes us feel. Keep it simple and make it fun! Your guest will love to give the gift of a Salon XYZ gift card because it is special, fun to buy and to give!

Send us in your ideas & success we just may feature them on our blog!

Coach Shelly

February 10th 2010 - SALON TODAY…ASKS, “How do you help you salon customers boost their client retention numbers?”

Kristi Valenzuela, Salon Success Coach
Crystal Focus Salon Coaching, owner
Summit Salon Business College, co-owner

Client retention is at a historical low for the salon industry. Studies show that “repeat client” retention is at 79%, and “new client” retention is only 29%, this has dramatically dropped over the past 5 years. Clients are customer service savvy, and they are conscious of what they are writing in their checkbook. In addition to the hardship of keeping clients, existing clients are spreading out their appointments to better accommodate their beauty budget!

It’s time to get focused on a 5 point strategy to build trust, and gain loyalty the clients that are coming through your salon doors.

1. GET BACK TO THE BASICS

• CUSTOMER SERVICE

• Treat them as a guest rather than a client.

• Give them an experience rather than an appointment.

• Be excited when they walk in, and tell them you appreciate their business when they leave.

• FUNDRAISERS / COMMUNITY EVENTS

• Show you care, and they will feel cared about

• Support local fashion shows, charity events
• Get involved in National Campaigns that make a difference

• Breast Cancer Awareness , Help for Haiti

2. ENROLL YOUR TEAM

• EDUCATION

• Every educator you invite into the salon whether it’s a haircutting class, color class, or a product knowledge class should also touch on how to keep your clients longer with these techniques.

• GOALS

• Without a map, you can’t know where you are going! Summit Salon Business College, and the Michael Cole JUMP JOURNAL offer specific recommendations for total monthly client count, repeat business, and referrals. These goals keep your business steady in hard times.

• REWARDS

• What gets rewarded, gets repeated! It’s important to celebrate goals that are achieved. Extrinsic motivators are prizes, cash, etc. While intrinsic motivators, which are proven more effective include recognition, and achievement. A high-five from a salon owner can go farther than a fifty dollar bill!

3. LOYALTY PROGRAM

• STAND OUT FROM COMPETITION

• Like an airline frequent flyer program, or hotel valued guest plan, salons can create preferred client behavior patterns such as retention by offering rewards.

Envision Software has a great program that automatically tracks preset rewards for clients each time they prebook an appointment, purchase retail, send in a new client referral, or buy a gift card. You decide the points, you reward your guests.

4. MARKETING/ ADVERTISING / BRANDING

• IN HOUSE – Make creative use of your marketing budget by using the money to keep the clients you have rather than market to new clients. Do a Pre-book and Win Contest, Retail Contests, Referral Contests, or Additional Service Contests. When clients have fun, YOU WIN!

5. STAY FOCUSED!

• KNOW SALON BUSINESS TRENDS

Stay close to monthly reading in Salon Today magazine as well as industry websites that support and grow salon owners. Look for business trends, reports, and other salon owner advice in the articles. Then compare your reports, and take advice from others that have done it right!

• KEEP TRACK

You can’t win the game unless someone is keeping score! Keep track, compare your yearly revenue and expense reports as well as looking at each month compared to the same time last month. When you are looking for clues in client retention, look at your numbers in monthly client count, new client count, and repeat client count.

• ASK FOR SUPPORT

You would be crazy if you think you could do this on your own…or want to! There are great resources out there to support you! Utilize your distributor sales consultant for local “what’s working advice”. Reach to the experts…there are many depending on your situation.
My favorites…summitsalon.com, michaelcoleseminars.com, redken.com, pureology.com, crystalfocus.com.

February 10th 2010 - What is your most effective strategy for getting your team to sell retail?

COACHING, COACHING, AND COACHING!

Some team members may not understand that sales are important to the salon, may be uncomfortable with selling, or they may actually have a fear of selling retail. Coaching and training is the best and most effective strategy to creating a motivated and well versed team. Having an extensive training system that really works is key!

When a new hire comes aboard, ask them to listen to “Conquering Retail Phobia” CD, by Coach Kristi Valenzuela. Once they have listened to the CD, list 3 things that they got from the training, and then have them list 3 actions they are going to take immediately! Give them a few weeks to put that into action, while checking periodically on their progress or challenges. Then have a discussion about what they learned.

If one of your experienced team member gets stuck on the importance of retailing, ask them to review the same CD, “Conquering Retail Phobia,” to remind them of why selling retail is important to the salon, and help them get over any discomfort in selling your retail products. If they follow the same procedures of listing 3 things learned and 3 planned actions, and also get some face time with you to discuss this with a positive approach, they will soon be “unstuck” and on their way again!

Keeping a "Salon Education Library" and supplementing your team's training by having them listen to audio CDs makes it easier to coach and train, when, as business owners, we do not always have as much time as we need for training. This system for learning is a great way to get them up to speed faster!

Coach Shelly

January 4th 2010 -

CRYSTAL BALL 2010: PREPARING SALON PROMOTIONS

Take a deep, long gaze into your crystal ball of 2010; what do you see? If it still seems a little fuzzy and hazy, it’s time to order up a tall cup of creativity and clear up your business plan for the New Year!

Over the past year or more of riding out this national recession, many salons that had opened their doors and had been “successful by accident” over the years have lost their dream. Just like the law of the jungle, it is obvious that only the strong or the lucky survive when conditions are unpredictable. But, salons that are creative, focused, and strategic have been able to grow and THRIVE during these hard times…and will continue in 2010 and beyond.

It’s time to buckle down and get your head into your business!

One area to GET CRYSTAL FOCUSED on is planning your service and retail promotions! The objective is to keep your clients loyal, your team excited, and the business building profit on the bottom line! To do this you will want to plan service and retail promotions at least 6 times throughout year – or every 6-8 weeks.

Reach for help…you are not in this alone! Contact your Redken/Pureology Salon Development Manager in your area to help you analyze your business and plan your Redken/Pureology promotions! They can help you with team motivation ideas, and promotions they have seen work in other salons! Call your Redken distributor sales representive to help you as well. Team them up, and you have reached ultimate power! Check out the Redken and Pureology websites – www.redken.com or www.pureology.com

Another resource is Summit Salon Business Center, and Summit Salon Consulting Group. This is the largest consulting company in the world for our industry! They will help you over the phone, or give the information for the lead resources you need to grow your salon and your salon team. Go to www.summitsalon.com for more information

Here are a few ideas to grow three basic and important business areas of your salon; Prebooking, Retail, and Referrals. This can help you prepare for the first 6 months of 2010. Make sure to weave in your product promotions throughout these months as well.

January – February – “Pre-book and Win” client contest/game. Have clients book their next one or two appointments before they leave and their name goes into a drawing to win! Depending on your budget this could be a flat screen TV, Ipod, or a basket full of Redken Products and $100 gift card to the salon.

March – April – “Rev up your Retail” team contest/game. Each week your individual team members hit their weekly retail goal, (example goal: 15%RTS or more) their name goes into a drawing to win! This 8 week contest would give the team members up to 8 chances to go into the drawing! The more they get their name in, the better the chances are to win! Again, depending on your budget, this could be an Ipod, a $150 gift card to the local mall, or a dinner out a five star restaurant!

May – June – “Refer 3 friends” client contest/game. During this eight week period, once a client has 3 friends come to the salon their name would be entered to win the pre-determined prize. This could help breathe life into your standard referral program that team members may be forgetting to talk about. For instance you may already have a program that rewards a client with a $15 gift card for every new guest they send in. The new contest is an ADDITIONAL reward or chance to win.

We have you off to a good start…you can see the above plan can cover the first 6 months of 2010! All you need to do is creatively come up with the next three promotions for the rest of 2010!

Remember stay in budget with your prizes. Go to www.summitsalon.com and purchase the FINANCIAL GUIDELINES binder to help you understand salon spending.

Also you will need additional materials for advertising such as mirror signs, signs at the front desk, newsletters, etc. Go to www.redken.com to check out beautifully designed signage, ready for you to customize, download and print!

Learn how to get your Front Desk involved in successfully offering your specials, sales and promotions, check out www.thefrontdeskdoctor.com – we invite you to take home the most powerful training tool for your front desk! The Front Desk Doctor Kit!

My Mom always says ‘SHARING IS CARING’ …

If you have a successful service or retail promotion that you have completed in the past and you would like to share it with our visitors, we would like to read it over and consider posting it on our website! Email me at coachkristi@crystalfocus.com, many people would be interested in your ideas!!

Hi Everyone!

As you know Salon Today is one of the leading editorials for our

industry, I have enjoyed it as a reader for many years.

Now, I am so excited to be part of the "blog team" at SalonToday.com!

This month will be my third post called

The Importance of Effective Front Desk Training

click here to read this month's post!

And feel free to make a blog comment / or ask a question!

Thanks! Coach Kristi :)

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