I'm the "ONE"

I was going through my files today and I came across this very apt short article and I thought I would share it with you. 

You know me. I'm the one who never complains no matter what kind of service I get.

I guess I just don't think it's worth wasting my energy confronting bad service.

I'm the one who goes into a restaurant and sits for 30 minutes until I get waited on.

The waiter is rude and impatient while I'm deciding on what to order. Then when I get my order it's 25 minutes later and it's wrong.

But I don't complain as I pay my bill.

 I'm the one who goes to a store to buy something, but I never throw my weight around.

If I get a snooty salesperson who rolls his/her eyes because I want to look at several things before I make up my mind, I'm still polite as can be.

I'm the one who bought a toaster which burned out in two weeks.

I hated taking it back, but I knew it was under warranty.

All the time they were telling me it was my fault.

At that point, I couldn't think of anything to do but leave.

It wasn't worth getting into a yelling match over a toaster.

I smiled and said, "Thank you. Goodbye."

I'm the one who wouldn't dream of making a scene in public as I've seen others do at times.

But I'll tell you what else I am

I'm the one who never comes back...

(Writer: Anonymous)

Wishing you prosperity and success
Pam

Are You Paying Too Much For Staff You Don't Need?

Well, we are very close to the end of 2010.  A pretty disasterous year for many with not much happiness on the horizon for 2011.  Clients are still holding on tighly to their precious money and it is becoming harder than ever for many salons to increase sales or simply keep pace with previous years' income.  So, what can you do about making things better for your business?

The fact of the matter is that if you have exhausted at all the other ways to reduce expenses and increase income, it might be time to look at your roster.    No-one likes the idea of putting off loyal team members but the reality is that you have to have enough profit after the cost of providing your treatments to pay the rest of your bills.

Simon Howden

One of the biggest expenses in any service based business is in it's wages, so this is one area that needs to be monitored very closely to ensure that your wage to turnover ratio has not gone through the roof during these difficult times.  For instance if your wages to turnover (exc GST) used to be around 35% and has now crept up to over 40%, you need to take action to get this back under control.  Reducing rostered hours may be the only way to do this if you cannot increase your income.

Now is the time to prepare for 2011 and  for whatever it may bring.  Reducing expenses is one area that simply cannot be ignored for most salons.  This is a good time to evaluate your roster to ensure you are not paying staff to simply stand around.  Tighten up your appointment taking, get rid of those expensive gaps that have crept in between each service and make your employees time more valuable to your salon.

If you need help to get your expenses or roster under control for the new year, give me a call and let me help you improve this area of your business.

Salvatore Vuono

Wishing you prosperity and success in 2011
Pam


Season's Greetings from me and my family to you and yours.

10 Tips to Make You More Money by Keeping the Clients You Already Have

Did you know that in most salons, client retention after the first visit sits at around a paltry 25%.  That means 3 out of 4 new clients never return to that salon. (that's pretty shocking!)

Do you find it appealing to know that you can make more money without spending another red cent on expensive (and often  ineffective) advertising?  Well if I were in your shoes, I sure would. 

Unfortunately lots of expensive adverts simply don't give you a good return on your investment.  Do you even know what it cost you to run your last advert and how much additional business it brought into your salon?  If you are like most salon owners you probably didn't bother to measure your return on investment and can't answer that question.

The good news is that while times are tough, there are ways to make more money from your existing database and they are just waiting to be tapped into by you.  The guaranteed way to make more money is to find ways to do more business with the people who have already done business with you in the past.  These are the people who will do business with you again.

So, if you are wanting to tap into this goldmine of profits, then you need to look at a few important things that need to be done in your salon.

Think about these things in your business and how you can either introduce or improve on them to help you become more profitable.
1.  Give your clients a reason to keep coming back to you.  Introduce a simple loyalty program that rewards the client for returning regularly
2.  Teach your team to LISTEN to what the clients are asking for and then deliver it in a way that will WOW them
3.  Introduce a consistent approach to all things that affect your clients especially in the treatments that they receive
4.  Ensure EVERY client is offered a rebooking for their next appointment before they leave your salon
5.  Stay in touch with your clients regularly with a worthwhile newsletter and have special offers that will make it worth their while to keep reading.
6.  Say thank you when your clients refer a friend by giving them a small gift and an acknowledgement  letter or email
7.  Make your salon client friendly and get rid of useless and offensive rules that make the client feel uncomfortable  (you know the ones I mean....Turn off your mobile phone or you will be shot and fed to the crocodiles!)
8.  Be unique.  Stand out from the rest of the salons in your area by offering something that they simply can't get somewhere else.
9.  Acknowledge your client's birthday with  small gift certificate.  We all love to have our birthdays remembered
10.  Be the best at everything you do.  If you are not the best at something either stop doing it or become the best.

Now while this is by no means an exhaustive list of how you can get more money from your existing data base, you can start implementing these ten simple tips straight away and they won't cost you a cent in expensive marketing campaigns.
 
Wishing you prosperity and success
Pam