The Cheapest and Best Advertising – Are You Using It!
If you ask any salon owner today “Where do most of your new clients come from?” without a doubt most will say “just word of mouth”. But if you ask the all-important question “What are you doing (today) to improve this Word of Mouth advertising?” all of a sudden the room gets real quiet.
So today, I’ve decided to explain what Word of Mouth advertising REALLY is – and how it can make a significant difference in your salon sales. Look, we all know that it works. But once we know “why it works” – we can put some simple things into place to improve it every month. And that is the key. Improving it – a little bit every month. But first, let me tell you a little story that highlights what I mean.
A few weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to get my car detailed. It’s only about 3 years old, but if your like me, making car payments every month, it’s always much easier to make the payment when you’re driving a “newer looking” car. So, I remembered this company that I used a while ago called HMA Car Care out of Salem Ma.
What I remembered about them was the “over the top” service they provided. And I’m not talking about the fact that they actually cleaned every nook and cranny in the car. Everybody does that! Some do it slightly better than others do – but you expect that. (Here is the real key) I’m talking about things that nobody ever does!
For example, they call you the day before – to verify the appointment. They pick up your car at work and deliver your car back at the end of the day. They’re on time. They put all the contents of your glove compartment in a separate little bag. They put all the contents of your armrest compartment in another separate bag.
They have a thank you card sitting on your front seat when they deliver it. They have a little bag of goodies sitting on the passenger side seat (candy, key chain, air freshener, etc). They give you a quote for some bodywork that your car could use (can you say cross-selling?). They call you during the appointment to suggest some things that can make a difference today (can you say up-selling?) They follow-up the next day with a telephone call to see how your service was.
Now, if they only did one of those things, I would have never noticed it. But taken collectively, it was worthy of me telling YOU about it. That is word of mouth advertising! When something blows you away, because it’s so different from what you expect, it actually creates its own buzz. That’s what you should be striving for.
Did HMA have to pay for this advertising? No, I gave it to them for FREE! They didn’t even know it. They just know that a certain percentage of their clients are “evangelists” (like me). We tell the world about something that is great. Well guess what? A certain percentage of your clients are evangelists too. What are they saying about you?
So, here are the only five ways to create word of mouth advertising:
1. Product Excellence – now in the salon industry, your “product” is the service that you provide. (I don’t mean retail). Is your service stimulating spontaneous praise? Or is it just slightly above average?
2. Customer Service Excellence – Are you like Nordstrom or are you like Sears?
3. Over-Delivery – Are you just giving new clients what they expect? Or are you giving new clients something that they never expected? Every time you exceed expectations you are sowing the seeds for word of mouth advertising.
4. Buzzworthiness – Are you doing something that’s worthy of buzz? Are you doing a certain service that people are raving about? Have you found a product that nobody knows about yet? These can create “buzz”.
5. Incentive Programs – In the above cases, Word of Mouth happens spontaneously. You can also stimulate Word of Mouth directly by giving your clients an incentive for doing so. This can take the form of additional discounts for referrals, free upgrades or even cash rewards.
By the way, just something as simple as a blog (that provides your clients with great information) can separate you from the pack. Think of just one thing that your salon can implement (per month) and in a very short period of time you will have the “HMA effect”. So remember, it’s not just one thing necessarily, it might be a lot of little things that creates the buzz for your salon!
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 software on the market. It is from a company dedicated to becoming the ultimate VALUE source to the industry.
Once You Do This – Your Stress Level Decreases!
It’s really amazing the level of STRESS people experience every day. You can actually hear it in the person’s voice (if you just listen for it). And judging by today’s fast-paced world – it doesn’t look like stress levels are going to subside any time soon either.
That’s precisely why I decided to write today’s blog post. This story is about how I discovered a FREE little tool that literally changed the way we conduct business. And how you can do the same thing and take a little “stress” out of your life while you’re at it.
It seems like just yesterday – that when a person had a “problem” with their computer or HairMax software – we had to actually picture the problem in our mind. And through a series of questions, we would guide a salon owner or receptionist toward a solution. Sometimes that would be rather quick – or sometimes it would require a “on-site visit” which was expensive and incredibly time-consuming.
Well, through a stroke of luck, I found a product called Logmein.com and our whole world changed. Instead of diagnosing a problem through a series of questions, we could actually log into a salon’s computer (using the Internet) and fix the problem for them!
This not only allowed us to solve the toughest problems in a matter of minutes, but it also opened the door to train people remotely, to give people guidance of how to better utilize HairMax, etc. Quite frankly, we couldn’t run our business today if it weren’t for logmein.com.
So, how does this help you?
Well, logmein.com has a free product called logmeinfree.com. This little product will allow you to easily access your salon computer from home. So, when you want to just get out of the salon at the end of the night and go home. Go ahead. With a username and password, you could log onto the Internet and access your salon computer from the comforts of your own home!
Now, this is also helpful when you want to do payroll at the end of the week or check on the sales (when you didn’t stay until closing) or to change your passwords in the system. There are many times when you just want to get a report or change something simple and you don’t want to have to get in the car and travel to the salon.
Or, how about this one? It’s a snowstorm and you want to contact your clients in the morning to reschedule their appointments. A username, a password, and 2 mouse-clicks gets you there! I hear it all the time – salon owners can never find the time to use the computer when they’re at the salon. It’s always being used (even when they have more than one). Well, this little product solves that problem!
So, the next that you have 15 minutes of free time in the salon, log onto the Internet and type www.logmeinfree.com. You’ll come to their web site and select the dropdown menu called “Products”. Select “Logmein free”. Then simply type in your email address (this will be your username) and a password. When you go to login, it will say that you’re not a current user and you can select “create an account”.
Then select the product group called “Logmein Access”, click continue, and the rest is pretty self-explanatory. It will ask you to download some free software, etc. Once the account is established, then logmein will send you an email to your email address (asking you to verify that “you are you”). Essentially you’re just clicking a link.
Then, log back into logmeinfree.com. Type in your username and password, and you will see “add this computer”. You will select this (assuming you’re on the salon computer) and that computer will be added to your account. Now, if the salon computer doesn’t have a “windows password” already established, logmein would require you to set up a “computer access code” so that you can protect your computer.
Don’t worry it will prompt you every step of the way. Just make the computer access code something simple like hairmax123.
Now, these directions might be slightly off if you’re using Windows 7 or Windows Vista but in either case it will only take you a few minutes to set it up. Once you’re home, you can log onto the Internet, type in www.logmeinfree.com, type in your username and password – and you’re in!
P.S. The Logmein Free product will give you full-access to your PC. But if you want to remotely print out of HairMax, you would need their Logmein Pro package. The cost of this is around $70.00/year. I would start out with the free product and then upgrade later if you decide that printing is necessary. Remember that all reports out of HairMax allow you to view them without printing.
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 software on the market. It is from a company dedicated to becoming the ultimate VALUE source to the industry.
Real-Life Psychological Barriers to Salon Success!
I just returned from a 5-day conference on Human Psychology and I wanted to give you the “cliff-notes” version of the lessons that I learned. I have to tell you…it was mentally draining and sitting in a conference room from 9am to 7:30pm everyday… is enough to send a person to the loony bin.
But, there were some real eye-opening things that I did learn from the experience. One being that…I really should attend these seminars at least a few times a year. Like many of you, I was always of the belief that I could never leave my business for 5 days and go to a seminar. What a crazy belief!
Not only did I learn a ton of information that I never knew before about myself – I also learned that my people can survive on their own for a week without me! And here I am thinking (like an idiot) that I always needed to be there. Now, think about it, do you have that same belief? Now imagine if you didn’t. Hmm.
Now, when I got back to Boston, I was still on California time. Talk about jetlag! Well, I was scanning the television, in a brutal state of insomnia, when I came across something at about 1am in the morning. It was more powerful than anything I’d learned all week at the seminar.
It was a taping of a PBS event that was done a few months ago with a famous spiritual teacher named Dr. Wayne Dyer. He was introducing the audience to a new book that he wrote called “Excuses Begone!”. And I have to tell you, it was so eye-opening…because I had just come from the event and it felt like he was actually talking to me.
One of the things we had to do at this psychology event was identify a “limiting belief” that we had and then try to solve it. Well, I had a hard time coming up with one. And it wasn’t because I didn’t have one (as you’ll learn in a minute). It was because I didn’t know what an actual “limiting belief” was!
Well, I have to tell you, this 3-hour “Excuses Begone!” program really provided me with a serious “Ah-ha” moment. We all have these limiting beliefs that we carry around with us like baggage. And these limiting beliefs actually prevent us from realizing our dreams. And the older you get – the more baggage you’re dragging around.
Now, I know that if you’re like me, when I start listing the top 15 limiting beliefs that most people have – you’ll have an “ah-ha” moment too. These limiting beliefs “freeze us” in place and prevent us from moving forward toward our dreams. And here they are.
I can’t afford it Never Happened before It’s going to be risky
There will be Family Drama It’s not my nature No one will help me
It will take a long time I don’t have the energy I’m too busy
I’m too old (or too young) It’s going to be difficult It’s too big
The rules won’t let me Personal Family History I’m not strong enough
Now, think about every time you make a decision to do something new, to buy something new, or to change something. When one of these thoughts pops into your head – it’s your limiting belief that’s holding you back. It’s really that simple.
Now, how do you rid yourself of these limiting beliefs? Well, that’s what Dr. Dyer’s book is all about. So, this is what I want you to do. Give yourself a present this New Year. Log into Amazon.com and at least buy his book (it’s about $15.00). But, if you truly want the experience – log into ebay.com and order the DVD copy of the event (it’s about $50 on auction).
This is the best present you can give yourself this year. Just think if you can eliminate one limiting belief. Your whole life could make a dramatic shift.
P.S. Be on the look out for information regarding the HairMax 3-day Salon Growth seminar that I will be holding in late March 2010. It will be bigger and better than last year’s seminar.
Have a Great Holiday Season, 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.
Becoming a Pro!
Ok, I’ve been getting a lot of requests for the reprinting of my “Becoming a Pro” post that I did last year. I read it over again…and it’s more appropriate this year than last year. For all you salon owners that need to send a message to staff members “from another voice”…feel free to send the link to this blog post. This one happened to be sent to salons, but I’m sure if we really think about it – we could send it to many businesses.
Reprint of December 2008 – Becoming a Pro
Let me start out by saying – Stop whining!
You live in the best country in the world, you have a job, you have an opportunity to make a ton of money (if you want it) – but if your like 95% of the people out there – you’re blowing it.
What do I mean?
Look, in every profession in the world – doctors, lawyers, computer people, marketing people, and even salon “professionals” – there are pros and there is everybody else.
That’s right 5% of the people are pro’s – and 95% of everybody else is just trying to look busy.
If you’re a pro – you have more business than you can handle. You have people calling you up every day wanting to do business with you. You can’t fit any more clients in because your day is filled with clients who are eager to see you again.
Clients look forward to speaking with you because you have that certain energy that very few people have. It’s addicting to them! Why? Because it’s rare.
Pro’s don’t worry about whether they make an extra 5% commission. They don’t work for the money (although they usually make 2-3 times as much as the next person) – they do it because they want to be the best. They care about the client because they understand it all comes back in the end.
Pro’s are never late. They’re not stupid enough to think that “being always late = being really popular”. It just means you’re delusional. And that 50% of your clientele walk out the door now muttering “I would leave that jackass in a second if I had a half a brain”.
The truth is that they will leave you. Because within 5 miles (or less) of your salon – there is someone better. They just haven’t met them yet.
Pro’s never stop learning. They’re always looking out for the newest technique that they can introduce to their clients. And they do it. Pro’s are doers – not watchers. They take risks and aren’t so fragile that they crumble when a client is unhappy. They just fix it and move on.
Pro’s don’t show up to work like they just crawled out of bed. They realize that they’re in the Beauty Business! When you see them, they’re always dressed well, their hair and makeup is done appropriately – whether it’s 8am or 9pm. They wouldn’t have it any other way.
Pro’s don’t sit around the break room and complain about being treated unfairly. They don’t need to – because they’re a pro. If you’re not busy – it’s not the economy – it’s you!
You can stick a pro in a new shop and within a day or two every client (that is in somebody else’s chair) wants to suddenly try them out. Why? Because they’re a pro.
Wouldn’t you?
When a client spends their money – they want a result. If your relationship with the client is getting stale – that’s your fault. They’re paying YOU to stay on top of it. And you’re not. They will leave you and you’ll be wondering “Geez, I wonder what happened to so-and-so, maybe they moved.” (Guess again)
Pro’s use everything to their advantage. If they have a salon management software package – they use it. They put little reminders in the client’s records so that when the client walks in the door – it’s like they never left. That’s a pro. They care that the client is impressed when they remembered something about them.
Clients want to feel important. Pro’s know this.
Unfortunately, 95% of workers, just think about themselves and want to blame everybody else for their troubles. It’s time to grow up. There is no Santa Claus – and nobody’s going to hand you a million dollars.
You’re pay right now is directly proportional to the value you bring. If you want to get paid more – bring more value. Become a Pro.
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 software on the market. It is from a company dedicated to becoming the ultimate VALUE source to the industry.
The Best Tip I Could Ever Give You On – Life!
This post is a little out of the ordinary but if you stick with it – you’ll learn a very valuable lesson near the end. But first, a little story…
I was speaking with my 70-year old mother the other day and if you’ve ever called my office over the years – you may have spoken to her. She works part-time for my company and when the phones are a little crazy – she may pick up from time to time.
Well, on this day she was feeling a little down. In her mind, she thought the world was going to hell in a hand basket – and when I asked her what’s wrong. She started telling me about swine flu, and how President Obama was ruining the United States, and how the greedy Insurance companies were ripping everybody off. I think you get the picture.
Now, you have to understand – she is one of the nicest people in the world. But, a person’s reality is shaped by what they do (or don’t do). Anyway, when I tried to explain to her that she was watching too much television and listening to too much “talk radio” – she said something really profound (even though she really didn’t know it).
She said “Stephen, you isolate yourself from the rest of the world. You don’t watch television and you don’t listen to how bad it is out there. That’s just not normal!”. Just then, I had an ah-ha moment.
You see, we start out in life (as children) with very few worries. As the years pass, we start accumulating things. And that’s where the problems begin. We then think – if I could just get some money, all of my problems would be solved (and we think this because no one ever taught us what money really is all about).
We get a job and start the process of earning some money. Then we start buying things. Cars, houses, clothes we don’t need, etc. The more we get – the more complicated our lives become. We get into debt – and our stress rises. We think “if I could only get some more money”.
Then we watch TV and realize that we have to start saving for our retirement immediately – otherwise we’ll be out in the street when we get old! We start having kids and our life gets even more complicated. We work all-day and then go home and relieve our stress by watching “Mad Men” or “Grey’s Anatomy” or something else.
We get up the next day, and start all over again.
By the way, if you don’t already know, TV is designed to “program” your brain into thinking that you need all this stuff. Take it from me – you don’t. And the quicker you get away from having the television “relieve your stress” the better. Try it out for a few months – you won’t go back.
Then start by eliminating one stress issue a week. Your life will turn around pretty quickly. Oh, what is the lesson you ask?
Here it is. Don’t think of money as something that you need to get. Money is an effect of creating greater and greater value in the world. Really think about why your clients come to you. Don’t think about them as dollar signs.
Salon owners always want that “silver bullet” to get them over the top. They think “If I can just sell more retail to my clients or get them in here more often – everything would be great”. Wrong thinking!
Stop thinking about new ways to trick your clients into buying more or visiting more. Start treating each client as a person that is coming to you for help. Help them! And they will return and refer their friends if they believe in you!
Think about how you can add value to their life. You master that – and the money will follow. There’s really no secret to it.
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.
When Automation BLINDS You From Reality!
This is not a post that you would expect to see from an automation junkie – but it’s probably more important than anything else I can tell you. When salon owners get computers, they often feel that all “manual” systems are inefficient and no longer work.
And I’m here to tell you that – this is flat out wrong thinking!
It would be nice, if all our salon employees did their jobs perfectly. But, you and I both know, this is not the case. In fact, you’re probably entrusting your most important view of your business to the weakest link in your salon.
What do I mean?
Well, the two most important pieces of information about your salon business are
1) How many New Clients did we get this week?
2) How many Regular Clients did we lose this week?
That’s really it. The health of a salon is nothing more than of function of these two pieces of critical data. In fact, while most people focus on the “sales” from week to week. It’s really all about the clients! The sales are nothing more than the effect.
So, what do I mean by “When Automation Blinds You From Reality”.
Well, your salon software generates a lot of great numbers. In fact, you learned in my last post, that HairMax can give you these two numbers in very short order. But, don’t make the mistake of concentrating on the numbers and forgetting that these numbers are actually clients.
Let me explain.
When you first got HairMax, we supplied you with these little client forms to have your clients fill out. This was the means to build your initial client list. And it worked great. But usually after the salon runs out of the client forms – they make the mistake of “just putting the information in the computer”. Let me tell you a little story.
I was in a salon on Newbury Street this past week (who will remain nameless) and this salon does a fair amount of marketing. But the salon owner was frustrated because he couldn’t get the right information into the computer. So, his report with regards to which marketing was effective was essentially non-existent.
And guess what?
This happens at most salons! And it’s because you’re entrusting the job of gathering the information to your least paid employee. Your receptionist! Who has one thought in their mind – get the client paid and out the door as fast as possible.
And I’m not blaming them – that’s just reality!
So, do yourself a big favor. Re-implement the manual system that really works. Have all “first-time” clients fill out a client information form. Then have the receptionist enter the data into HairMax – and keep the form. That’s right. Keep the client information form so that at the end of the week – you can see all the new clients.
They become more real to you when you get a stack of 25 client forms rather than a report that says 25 new clients. Review the forms. Understand where the clients came from. Get the feel for your salon clients again!
Then run a HairMax report (out of your mailing system) and print off a list of the 25 new clients. Double check that the information was entered correctly and don’t assume that it was. It will take you 5 minutes at the end of the week to do this. Make it a habit and you will be thanking me later that you did this.
By the way, I put up a brand new client form that you can download for FREE and make copies of at Staples or Pip Printing, etc. Print it out, make copies, cut the forms and start the program this week. And if you’re a salon that’s not using HairMax yet – do it anyway. Start building your client list!
This client information form is perfect. It asks the right amount of information without overwhelming the client. Here is the link
http://hairmaxsoftware.com/onesource/Client_Information_Form.PDF
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.
Beware – Don’t Run Your Salon — Like an Ostrich!!
I remember, some time ago, I used to be one of those business owners that never kept track of the numbers. For me, it was always more exciting just tracking the bank account. I knew that if my bank account was going up – I was selling enough salon software. It didn’t matter why or how – it just mattered that it was rising.
Well, walking around a business with blinders seems to be just fine during boom times. But when the economy gets a little “squirrelly” it definitely pays to know what’s really going on in your business! And you know what’s pretty tragic? I think most small business owners don’t really know what is going on in their businesses. Like me, they look at the bank account to determine how well they’re doing.
I came to this conclusion a few weeks ago when I was talking to a group of accountants (who have salons and other small businesses as their clients). They flat out told me that 95% of all small business owners are surprised at the end of the year. And truth be told – I was one of those businesses not so long ago!
But these days, I know everything about my business by tracking just a few numbers every week. I have to tell you it’s LIBERATING! And not only that, I know when a problem is arising way before it becomes a nightmare.
Look, we’re all in business to make a profit. Doing your best impression of an ostrich is not going to help you. So, in this post, I’m going to give you the 8 things that you should be tracking every week. I read, some time ago, that if you simply start tracking the numbers every week – they will improve just because you’re focusing on them.
I’m proof positive that this is true. So here are the numbers that you need to focus on every week. And yes, they’re already in your HairMax salon software. And it will take you only a few minutes to get them.
Total Number of Active Clients – you determine this by going into your mailing system and pulling the number of clients who visited the salon in the last 6 months. This is your base. It should be rising every week.
New Clients to the Salon Last Week – again you can get the number in a few seconds thru your mailing system. This number will tell you just how good or bad your marketing efforts have been (when you subtract the new client referral number which is the next number that you need).
Total New Clients by Referral Last Week – you can get this by running a simple client referral report out of HairMax. This will tell you if your referral program is effectively adding new clients to your salon every week.
Retail $ per Client - This can be obtained from the Salon Activity Trend report out of HairMax. This tells you if your staff is actually selling retail to clients getting services in your salon. It strips out walk-in retail.
Rebooking % – This also is on the Activity Trend report. It tells you if your staff is trying to re-book client appointments and how successful they are.
Average Client Ticket – This is also on the Activity Trend Report. This number tells you how successful your staff is in “up-selling” the clients or selling them additional services.
These six numbers should be posted in your salon so that every staff member can see them. Basically, every salon owner’s sales are directly related to some combination of the six numbers above.
The other two numbers that you need to focus on, but will not broadcast on a weekly basis, are your Payroll percentage (of service sales) and your actual cost of product (as it relates to service sales). These are the biggest “controllable” expenses.
There you have it. Measure these 8 simple numbers every week and you will know (well ahead of time) whether your business is stable and growing or it has sprung a leak that needs immediate attention. Don’t wait until the end of the year to determine if you have a problem.
P.S. The ostrich has never been a good role model for any business. Make up a big board and post these numbers in the staff room.
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.
A Can’t Miss Way To Resurrect Lost Clients!!
Even the best salons lose clients. It’s just a fact of life. The average salon will lose 20% of its client base over the next 12 months. Now, most of those “lost” clients will be replaced by “new” clients, however, that doesn’t mean that you should just wave the white flag and go home.
Think of it this way, if you could just save 20% of those lost clients – that would mean a pretty substantial impact on your salon sales. For instance, if you have a base of 2000 clients (which is not a lot) – that would mean about 80 clients. How did I get there?
If you take 2000 clients and do nothing – 400 will leave the salon this year (2000 x 20%). If you can resurrect just 20% of these clients, that would be 80 clients! Now, 80 clients is probably worth about $24,000 a year (80 x $300/yr). So, think of it as the price of a full-time receptionist.
Now, what if I could also give you a really easy way to do this? Sound appealing?
Look, you and I both know that we hear good ideas all the time. The problem is that – if we don’t do them so they become habit – they get done once or twice and then we forget about them. Well, that’s the beauty of this new idea. You do it every 10 days, it’s very easy to do (takes about 10 minutes), and you do it the same way every time. This is what you do.
You get three sets of postcards. We’ll call them set 1, 2 and 3. All three sets of postcards have the same front. There will be some image that says “We haven’t seen you in a while, etc, etc”. The only difference between the three sets will be the back of the postcard.
The first set will say on the back that its been a while since we’ve seen you and we want to get you back. Then it will have a really good offer to get them to take action. The second set of postcards will say on the back that you sent them a postcard about 10 days ago and you still haven’t heard from them yet. Then it will restate the original offer. And the third set of postcards will say on the back that you’ve tried twice already to get them back so you’re going to try one last time to get them back. And you’re going to double the original offer.
So, three sets of postcards – all with slightly different messages. The messages should also be in a “Hand-written” font. This is very easy to do and any postcard company can do this for you. In other words, we want the messages to appear like someone wrote them by hand.
Now, once you do this, you’re going to let your HairMax salon software do the rest. Basically, you do a simple mailing every 10 days. Why 10 days? Because, we want to form the new habit, and we want to do the same 3 mailings every month. Let me explain.
We’re going to target clients who visited the salon four months ago but who have not been back since. We want to mail to them three times and then not mail to them again.
So, for the purposes of this example, I will pick June 2009 (because I will start this project on October 1st, 2009).
You would create a list out of your HairMax mailing system that meets the following criteria
All clients who have been in since June 1st, 2009
All clients who have not been in since June 30th, 2009
All clients who have no appointments after October 1st, 2009
Mail to these clients using the first set of postcards. Then 10 days later, do the same exact mailing (with the second set of postcards) with the only change being
All clients who have no appointments after October 10th, 2009
Then 10 days later…do the last mailing (with the 3rd set) with the only change being
All clients who have no appointments after October 20th, 2009
Now the next time you do the mailing (it’s November) you would do it for July 2009 clients. This simple mailing will target Inactive clients for a total of three times…spaced out every ten days. The chances of a client being ready to make his or her decision on coming back will be highest during this cycle.
Try it – it’s a really “low cost” way to stay on top of inactive clients and bring more of them back into the salon. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to afford two more receptionists!
P.S. If you need some ideas on a good postcard company – just email me back and I can pass along a few ideas. My email address is ssampson@hairmaxsoftware.com.
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.
Market Like A New Salon – Even When You’re Not!!
When salons first open their doors, they market aggressively using guerilla warfare to get new clients in the door. They may not know it – but they do it none the less. So, what is “guerilla warfare”? Well, if you look it up under Wikipedia it says the following: “the unconventional warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army”.
A good example of this was when this country was founded. The Americans used “guerilla warfare” against the British and won the revolutionary war. Well, whether we like it or not, we’re in a war as well. Although our enemies are not the Brits this time, it’s other salons, other distractions, client complacency, and the lousy economy.
So why do salon owners, who use “guerilla warfare” successfully at the outset, abandon the practice once they open their doors?
I think it may be that we have this preconcieved notion that once the salon has been open for a while – we cannot use simple marketing ideas anymore. Well, I’m here to tell you that you should be using these tactics at least a few times throughout the year – even if your salon has been around for the last 20 years! Let me give you an example:
Remember, the simple flyer? You know, that thing you used to use when you didn’t have any money to market your business? Well, guess what? It still works even though you’re not using it. You should be using a flyer at least a few times a year to promote your business. And there are a few rules that you should be using to maximize the effectiveness of the flyers.
Rule #1: The flyer should have more than one coupon on it. In other words, if you’re a day spa and you offer hair services, nail services, etc. You should have a flyer with maybe 6 coupons on it (1 promoting a hair service, 1 promoting a facial, 1 promoting a free manicure w/pedicure, etc.). If you’re just a hair salon, maybe you can promote waxing as well, or hair extensions.
Rule #2: The flyer should be distributed where your “ideal” clients might congregate. So, if you’re catering to affluent women between the ages of 30 and 45 – maybe you distribute the flyers at a Whole Foods market. If you’re going for a younger crowd – maybe you distribute the flyers at a gym parking lot. In other words, be specific in choosing your target audience.
Rule #3: Don’t be cheap with the offer. Remember these are “new” clients that would not go to your salon if they didn’t get the flyer. Give them a good reason to go to your salon.
Rule #4: Make sure you put on the coupons that this is for “first-time” clients only. There is no need to cannibalize your existing business to attract new clients.
Oh, one last thing to remember, offers and deals are only good when people actually “see” them. Flyers are effective because they’re put on people’s cars (usually) and the person is forced to look at the offer. If you go into a business and the owner places the flyers at the front desk – it will likely not be as effective.
Remember, it’s war out there! Don’t worry if a few people complain. Develop a thick skin and do everything you can to promote your business. Develop a habit of putting together a new flyer every quarter. Sometimes, old marketing works just fine in this age of technology.
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.
Finally – A Retail Sales System That Works!!
I hear it all the time from frustrated salon owners “If only my staff could sell more retail products” or “Our retail numbers are low – if I could only get my staff to even talk to the clients about retail products, my numbers would be higher”. Well, guess what? This battle has been going on for the last 40 years! Ever since “retail” was made part of the salon environment back in the late 60’s.
Now, I know that most of you were probably not around in the late 60’s. Or if you were, you probably were not salon owners yet. But, the “reason” that your staff cannot (and will not) consistently sell retail products to any great degree has been around for at least a thousand years. And unless you can solve this (or at least address it) – you have no shot in making a dent in higher retail sales for your salon.
Look, we all know that today – most retail sales are generated by clients actually looking for the products themselves (right off the street) or by national brand recognition. The reason behind this is simple – if stylists don’t sell anyway, why not just carry the products that are well advertised that literally sell themselves. Seems pretty logical right?
Well, that strategy can only get you so far.
Most salons need to build up their average client ticket these days. One way to do this is by increasing your prices. Another way to do this is by selling a client additional services. And the third way is to sell the client – retail products. But how do we do that? Understand this:
Stylists don’t sell retail products consistently because they don’t want to be salespeople!
But what if you could create an environment – whereby the client sold themselves – and the stylist was simply the mouthpiece that answered the questions? I mean, we all know that stylists like to talk about things that they’re excited about. If the clients “ask them” then they’re not selling the client (salesperson) – they are simply answering the client’s questions (consultant).
All stylists want to be considered “experts” and consultants are thought of as experts – not as salespeople.
So, this is what you do at your next staff meeting. Have each person get up off their chair and go to the retail shelf and pick out their “favorite” product. Then have each of them tell the group “why” that particular product is their favorite. Then you set up their stylist station so that their favorite product is displayed with a sign that reads:
Ask my WHY this is my favorite beauty product?
A client will see the sign (while they’re getting their service performed) and be curious as to why that particular product is their “favorite”. The rest will be easy. The stylist will start raving about the product because they “believe” in it. The client will sense that believability and buy the product. Simple as 1-2-3.
You can also create a contest each month for the stylist who sells the most of these “favorite” retail products. You now have solved the biggest reason why most retail systems fail. You have taken out the “rejection-factor” that cripples a stylist’s psyche once they hear that first bad response from a client.
Try it – it really works. Just have them change their “favorite” product every 4-6 weeks to keep the idea fresh to the clients.
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.
