Why Some Stylists Can Actually Think Like – Monkeys?
Have you ever tried to run a special, to try and bring in new business, and you were met with a whole heap of resistance from your staff? “Why are we giving away x percent?” “I don’t want to cheapen my skills to the clients”, “The client is already getting a great deal because I am so talented”. Sound familiar?
Well, this blog post is aimed directly at you because unfortunately that “special” usually dies a quick death when that happens. And that’s usually because you don’t know what to say to the employees (especially when they gang up on you during the staff meeting). The “special” then gets watered-down and ultimately fails (to the delight of the quibbling stylists).
Why is it that employees cannot see the benefit of giving away some VALUE?
The answer is selfishness. Ok, that sounds harsh. So, let me explain.
Some people are of the mindset that they don’t want other people to take advantage of them. And they feel that their “time” is worth “x”, therefore they should be paid “x”. The problem with this mindset is that it’s very small-minded. Let me ask you a question?
Have you ever heard of a “fist trap”? A fist trap is a trap that they use to catch monkeys in Africa. The hunter cuts out a small hole in a tree and places a nut in the tree. The monkey then grabs the nut and tries to pull it out. But the monkey can’t pull out the nut because when he grabs the nut – his hand is too large to get it out of the small hole.
The monkey will actually stay there, trying to pull out the nut, even when the hunter approaches to kill it. That is because they are small-minded – they can only see what is right in front of them. They cannot see beyond the nut.
Well, when a stylist can’t understand how giving a brand new client “a great value” during their first visit is important – they are being like the monkey. Why? Because we are not interested in their first visit – we are interested in their future visits!
If a client comes back every six weeks for the next three years, do I care that I gave away the first service for FREE? Of course not! Do I think that this person “took advantage” of me? No, it was simply the “cost” of acquiring a new client.
Now, will you get people that come in and get your FREE service and never return? Sure you will. But even if I gave away two free services (one for every person who never came back and one for every person who became a loyal client) aren’t I much better off with the new loyal clients?
A rich person’s mindset is to give away a ton of value and they will be rewarded many times over because of the principle of reciprocity. A poor person’s mindset is to give away nothing and be selfish with their value.
Now, when is this not the case? Well, if the person has no “value” to give. A stylist’s “value” is their time and talent. If a stylist is 100% booked – they have no additional “value” to give. But if a stylist is not 100% booked – they really have no excuse.
So, before you run your next “special”, forward this message to your stylists and maybe it will explain why “discounting” services for new clients is really a value proposition to build future business. Think like a rich person – not like a monkey.
Best regards, Steve Sampson
HairMax Salon Software is a product designed to be the best investment your salon has ever made. It is not only the easiest and most powerful salon management software on the market. It is from a company dedicated to becoming the ultimate VALUE source to the industry.
Interested In What Your Clients REALLY Want?
I felt the need to write this blog post because of what happened to me just this past week. I was in a salon and I overheard two stylists talking about what their clients wanted. One stylist said that most of her clients wanted just a “great cut”. The other stylist said that most of her clients wanted a “great color”.
I then realized that many salon employees need some education on what their clients REALLY want. By the way, there is a very important marketing lesson hidden deep within the answer that almost every salon owner is making.
Nobody wants a “great cut” nor do they want a “great color”. What they really want is to get noticed, look younger, attract someone, make someone jealous, feel hotter, look thinner, etc. In other words, they want to satisfy some emotional need or feeling.
Look, most clients have zero idea about how good the cut is. Now, don’t get me wrong, everyone knows a “butcher job”. But the average person doesn’t know the difference between an exceptional cut and a very good cut. They really don’t! And the same is true for a color. Most clients can tell when it is garbage. But almost nobody can tell the difference between an “A” color and a “B” color.
But what is really funny is that most salon owners continue to make the same mistakes when they try and “attract” new clients. Let me give you an example.
Take a look at your website. Is there anything on your home page that tells a potential client why they should choose you? Now put yourself in their shoes.
What is the difference between these two messages?
Message #1: We do high quality work, our stylists were trained in New York with the latest techniques, our salon looks great (hence the pictures), you will leave happy and satisfied. Come on in and give us a try.
Message #2: Are you sick and tired of the same old look? Are you interested in turning some heads? Maybe it’s a guy or girl at work, maybe it’s your significant other, or maybe you just want to look and feel 5 years younger. We can help.
Which message is more powerful?
This next statement, I will need to give full credit to a brilliant marketer named Eben Pagan. Why do you suppose a diet book like “Skinny Bitch” was at #56 on Amazon a few weeks ago whereas a book like “A Thinking Person’s Step by Step Guide to Weight Loss” was at #437,317?
Was it because “Skinny Bitch” had better methods or techniques for weight loss? I don’t think so. Or was it because one author was thinking like a CUSTOMER whereas the other one was not.
Well, if you want to attract more new clients into your salon, you need to put together a message that hits their emotional hot buttons.
Now, I know some of you are saying to yourselves “I can’t convey that kind of message!”. To which I say – “Why not?”
I will leave you with a line from a scene in the movie “No Country for Old Men”. You may remember that the movie won Best Picture a year or so ago. When the killer in the movie was talking to Woody Harrelson (another killer in the movie) just before he shot him.
He said “If the rules that you followed brought you to this point – of what use were the rules that you followed?”
Best regards, Steve Sampson
HairMax Salon Software is a product designed to be the best investment your salon has ever made. It is not only the easiest and most powerful salon management software on the market. It is from a company dedicated to becoming the ultimate VALUE source to the industry.
The Easiest Way to Add More Sales with Same Clients!
Have you ever noticed that most of your clients only get one type of service in your salon? Maybe you haven’t, but the fact remains – hair clients only get hair services, nail clients only get nail services, etc. And the reason behind this is really very simple.
Most salon owners never try “cross-selling” on a consistent basis to their client base. Their idea of “cross-selling” is putting all the services they offer into a salon menu. Here is a news flash – nobody ever reads the menu after the first visit! In fact, most salons never even update the salon menu after they add a new service. Why? Because nobody reads the salon menu!
Well, I just put together a new video describing how you can use your HairMax salon software to increase sales using this proven technique called “cross selling”. And like most things I bring to you – it will require almost no effort on your part to take full advantage of it. I describe a simple technique that can bring an additional $42,000 to your salon sales. And that’s just cross-selling a simple service like waxing!
Think about how much additional sales you could be getting from the same number of clients if you could just get them to try one more service in your salon. Learn how you can use a simple postcard to make it happen.
To access this new cross-selling video simply click on the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oj8W_vAP0A
HairMax Salon Software is a product designed to be the best investment your salon has ever made. It is not only the easiest and most powerful salon software on the market. It is from a company dedicated to becoming the ultimate VALUE source to the industry.
