4 Salon Management Areas You Can’t Overlook
As a salon owner or manager, you have a lot to keep up with—but someone’s gotta do it! Here are a few salon management areas you never want to overlook and few tips for how you can keep up with all of them when it comes to your salon, your staff, your clients and your retail.
1. On Keeping Your Staff Motivated
Turn Selling into A Game. Here is an idea we got from one ColorProof Evolved Color Care educator at their recent Train the Trainer event: “With upcoming holidays, my owner brings in a boa—for Valentine’s Day, it was pink and for St. Patrick’s Day it’ll be green—and whenever someone makes a retail sale, the boa goes on their station. So the boa is constantly making its way around the salon as stylists sell product throughout the day. Then, my owner has his wife call randomly throughout the day and whenever she calls, the stylist with the boa on their station receives a small gift card. This way, selling becomes fun and super-important to every stylist.”
Encourage Friendly Competition. By setting goals for your staff, you promote healthy competition while sustaining growth and success—it’s a win-win! And if you need a platform that makes in-salon challenges/competitions easier, Meevo, the Cloud Salon Software platform from Millennium Systems has the technology to do it. Their Challenge Chat feature allows your staff to discuss current challenges that they’re participating in—keeping it fun and engaging.
2. On Keeping the Morale High
Praise Publicly, Coach Privately. “For healthy outcomes in the salon, praise your stylists publicly and coach them privately. Acknowledging a job well done is a simple way to ignite passion and motivation for any stylist working behind the chair.” Says John Paul Mitchell Systems Global Artistic Director Robert Cromeans.
Instant Gratification. As a manager or owner, giving a simple high five or nod of recognition for a stylist’s amazing cut or great sell can go a long way in the salon. That instant gratification can be a huge motivator in keeping your stylists upbeat, which can dramatically increase their sales and play into their client retention rates.
3. On Retailing The Right Way
The Right Products. Being a good stylist is all about meeting your clients’ needs. When it comes to retailing products, you’ll have to anticipate what those needs will be. For that highly textured, coiled hair, regular brushes offer a lot of hassle and pain. You might need to look into other methods of brushing—gentle detangling brushes made for all hair types, such as the Tangle Teezer, can offer your client a pain-free brushing experience. Clients can tell when their stylists are trying to respond to their needs, and that reflects in the products that you retail. Tangle Teezer can be used on wet or dry hair, and they’re super convenient for that girl-on-the-go! Plus, they come in all different colors and sizes, so they are the perfect brush for clients to keep in their purse.
Reposition The Retail. Retail is traditionally in the front of salons. At the Aveda Men Shop in St. Petersburg, Fla., it’s in the back. Here’s why: “Men see their products as tools—they aren’t going to shop for them,” says CEO of The Salon People, Tom Petrillo. When clients are about to check out, a men’s specialist will escort the client to the back of the shop and point out the product that will be best for that specific client. Then the specialist will explain how the client can use the product to recreate his look at home. The result? “We’ve doubled our retail,” shared Tom.
4. On Everything Client Related
Get your Clients involved. When testing out new products, Matrix Educator Cori Randall involves her clients…and guess what? IT WORKS. She says, “Tell them you’re using a new product and ask them if they want to be a part of it. Tell them to let you know the following day how their hair held and how it felt.” This will make your clients excited about the product and keep them involved with you and your salon.
Client Retention 101. Today, only about 25 percent of clients are coming back every 90 days. Schedule your new clientele with stylists who have the highest number of prebooks. Always be conscious of who you are giving new clients to, and don’t give them to a stylist who won’t retain them.
