Professional Salon Concepts

Category: Business Coaching

The Playbook

The Playbook

We consistently emphasize the influential role of numbers in shaping behavior, not only for service providers but also for leadership.

Leadership is tasked with two primary responsibilities: celebrating successes and promptly responding to our initiatives. Celebration is warranted when our efforts align with our objectives, while responsiveness entails taking action, seizing opportunities, and implementing ideas that steer us towards desired outcomes. This strategic approach is ingrained in our playbook, guiding our decision-making processes.

 

What does this playbook entail? It involves meticulous planning, such as determining the number of weeks in the upcoming year and aligning our strategies accordingly. We must be cognizant of factors like projected weekly traffic and the targets we aim to achieve. Despite the allure of immediate gains prevalent in the beauty industry, it is imperative for individuals to transcend the present and engage in forward-thinking practices. This involves diligent forecasting and goal-setting, actions that require time and effort investment. It is paramount that we dedicate ourselves to this essential task by proactively planning and strategizing for our future success.

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Decluttering Your Mind and Your Business

It Is Time

to declutter your business and to declutter your mind.

I am thinking about all of the business owners that are struggling with a little bit of stress right now. Especially during the busiest quarter of their business.

 

One of the things you need to look forward to and what I would make a habit of every January is decluttering your business and your mind. You have to plan for it. I always like to say that we don’t miss a plane and we don’t miss a wedding because we can’t negotiate off of those dates and times. However, we negotiate off of things we want to do for our business all of the time and a lot of the time, we put ourselves second.

 

Decluttering is what your staff needs you to do as you prepare the future for them. They are looking to you for guidance. January is the time to purge. You are not just purging stuff, you are purging information, you are purging change and you are getting to the piles. You will feel so much better afterwards.

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The Playbook

We consistently emphasize the influential role of numbers in shaping behavior, not only for service providers but also for leadership. Leadership is tasked with two primary responsibilities: celebrating successes and...

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Don’t Tolerate Distractions

Don't Tolerate Distractions

I recently had a conversation with a salon owner about two really loyal, long-time employees. These two employees were at odds with each other. The owner told me that as long as it doesn’t come in and cause a distraction in the business, she was okay with it.

How could it not be causing distractions within her business?!

 

Business is hard enough when everyone is getting along and things are running smoothly. When you have people at odds, don’t think they are not going to try to build camps to prove that they are right. I don’t know that I could tolerate a distraction like that in my business.

 

I once had the honor of being in the presence of professional basketball player, Magic Johnson. He spoke to a crowd of around 200 and I had the opportunity to ask him a question. I asked him how he would have handled a rookie or someone that had all of the God-given talent but their ego and head got in the way.

Magic responded without hesitation, “We got rid of them as quickly as possible.”

 

You cannot afford to have distractions in your business. You cannot let the distraction have more presence and energy in your circle than what you are trying to accomplish. Distractions are barriers. Our job as leaders is to remove barriers that keep us from becoming what and who we want to become.

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The Playbook

We consistently emphasize the influential role of numbers in shaping behavior, not only for service providers but also for leadership. Leadership is tasked with two primary responsibilities: celebrating successes and...

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Always Ready

Always Ready

Hospitality is all about being absolutely prepared to wow your customer. Everytime you walk into your business you should be asking yourself, are we ready?

When I walk into the business, I have to make sure that everything we want to extend to the guest is visually in place. You listen for the energy. You listen for the music. You look at the lighting. Are you ready?

 

It is that “grand opening” commitment. Everyone has it when they start their business. Why then two years down the line, for example, do we begin to slack off and get comfortable? Why isn’t music as important? Why isn’t the scent of the business as important? Where is the hustle in your step? How did we lose that? It’s not the same anymore.

 

Our job as leaders: to protect the “grand opening” commitment to our businesses.

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The Playbook

We consistently emphasize the influential role of numbers in shaping behavior, not only for service providers but also for leadership. Leadership is tasked with two primary responsibilities: celebrating successes and...

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Going Above & Beyond

Going Above & Beyond

Steve and I are reading a book that we absolutely love called Unreasonable Hospitality.

When we do something extra for the guest experience at PSC, some people wonder why we do the things we do. Some even say that it is not necessary to go that far above and beyond what the guest is expecting. Yes it is.

 

Going above and beyond is huge in keeping loyalty and keeping guests where they need to be, in your business. Doing just what is required or being generic will not help you achieve this. Every business says hello and smiles. Implementing intentional and specific steps in your business will differentiate you from the masses. “We use essential oils for this reason. We have scent air to create an environment. We do this step of the service for your pleasure and enjoyment. In our business, it is necessary to do these things”.

 

We start with the customer and work back to the team. We do not start with the team and work back to the customer. That is what creates remarkable service.

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The Playbook

We consistently emphasize the influential role of numbers in shaping behavior, not only for service providers but also for leadership. Leadership is tasked with two primary responsibilities: celebrating successes and...

Read More

Show Up Words

Show Up Words

So many times, we start out the new year with one BIG goal.

One of the things that we can have a goal in is how we are going to carry ourselves throughout the year.

To guide us to this goal, it is important to create what we call, “Show Up Words”.

 

  • What are your show up words for this year?
  • How are YOU going to show up?
  • What are the things you are trying to protect?

 

One of our show up words for this year is “Peace”. Creating more peace, more quiet, more commitment to bringing it down a notch.

Your show up words can be things such as Kindness, Purposeful, Discipline, Teamwork, etc.

 

This really ties in to the reputation we want to have with our teammates, our leadership, and our guests. It guides us. It’s a word that we can have framed that says, “This is how we are going to show up this year.”

For more on this, be sure to dive into the book you should have received from us, “One Word” by Jon Gordon. It will give you tremendous background on this topic and help you turn the page on a fresh new year.

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The Playbook

We consistently emphasize the influential role of numbers in shaping behavior, not only for service providers but also for leadership. Leadership is tasked with two primary responsibilities: celebrating successes and...

Read More

Holiday Display Setup

Holiday Display Setup

Holiday is great time to be creative despite the few that say that they don’t have the time because the season is so busy. Take an area that is usually not used or even an area that is already at capacity and mix it up. Below is a cheap, creative solution to create magic in your business.

No excuses

The display can feature one or multiple lines and brands. Either way, make sure it something you would want to buy from. This display is an easy way to make noise about the brands you represent. There are no excuses for not being creative during the holiday season. Take this one example, brainstorm and look for the opportunities to create romance with the guest.

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The Playbook

We consistently emphasize the influential role of numbers in shaping behavior, not only for service providers but also for leadership. Leadership is tasked with two primary responsibilities: celebrating successes and...

Read More

Holiday 2022

Holiday 2022

As we near the end of the year, there are already great examples of preparation for the 2022 Holiday Season such as what the big box stores are doing. About 19.4% of business is conducted in the fourth quarter. It is time to begin planning, preparing, and involving all of the different areas of your salon in the process so your salon can have its best year yet.

Prepare

  1. What product do you need prepared/ordered?
  2. How will you treat the different holiday offers differently?
  3. How will you setup your displays?
 

Timeline for Holiday; plan it out!

  • Holiday Hours
  • Celebration Nights
  • Holiday Shopping Preview
  • Gift Certificate Station/Hours

Giveback

Gift certificates are becoming more and more popular as the years go on. Why not capitalize on that in you salon. Not only offer gift certificates but give back to the customer buying one. For every $100 spent, the buyer will get a $25 gift certificate for themselves. Use lower priced holiday offerings to give to the guest who is buying the certificate. Give the retail size if possible because everyone believes you get the small sizes free, despite it being untrue.

 

This is the time to dig in and say what could we do this year to expect a bigger return, more fun, and less stress. Capitalize on the fact that people think about beauty and beauty services during the holidays.

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The Four Cornerstones

The Four Cornerstones

The four cornerstones in business are never going to change. Rather, they are just going to get more attention as businesses continue to mature and grow.

1. Service

The customer wants great service. What steps of the service can they bank on when they’re in your hands?

2. Product

What kind of product are you putting out? 

3. Atmosphere

This is the music, lighting, temperature, the scent.

4. Sanitation

What does your business look like?

Is it poised and ready? 

Is there an effort to make sure that your customers are comfortable?

These are evaluated either consciously or subconsciously every time someone spends their dollars in your business. Additionally, these cornerstones can be used to set goals based on your business and what your standards are.

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The Playbook

We consistently emphasize the influential role of numbers in shaping behavior, not only for service providers but also for leadership. Leadership is tasked with two primary responsibilities: celebrating successes and...

Read More

The “E Gap”

The E Gap

The “e gaps” in business are simply defined as this:

What the guest expected vs what they actually experienced.

For example, if a guest expected an appointment at 3:00 but you didn’t take them in the back of the house until 3:20, that’s an “e gap”.

A few things on this opening example:

  1. How do you recover?
  2. How do you apologize in a positive way for the guest not to feel a breach of service?
  3. How many “e gaps” is your salon experiencing on a daily basis?

If we have a front desk team or a staff that is constantly apologizing, that isn’t enough. We need to make corrections to eliminate the “I’m sorrys” in business.

 

What we want this to be is effectively a guide to determining what your “e gaps” are.

 

It all begins with the customers perception, not ours. One great example is from the Ritz Carlton: there’s no elegant way to apologize for poor service or poor performance. 

 

So, we have to catch it when we hear it. We hear it when we hear, “I’m sorry”.

 

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Holiday 2022

As we get closer towards the end of the year, there are already great examples of preparation for the 2022 Holiday Season such as what the big box stores are...

Read More