Hi All, please forgive the spotty entries - I got to enjoy a weekend in Vegas with my love, who I'm lucky enough to also be married to - and now I'm spending a week in Michigan meeting my new granddaughter, Jaycee. I have several pages of notes for articles coming, don't give up on me!
Elizabeth
27.3.11
16.3.11
Make Today a Splash a Friend Day
Make today a 'Splash a Friend Day.'
Why? Splashing is fun! Come on, admit it, you go out of your way to take on a particularly large puddle with your car, and your kids love it. Remember splashing in the swimming pool as kids? Remember lifeguards or parents taking all the fun out of it? Splashing is still fun; and when it’s done right, it’s fun for everyone.
On Splash a Friend Day, find a way to splash others with sunshine, kindness, joy, love and optimism. Treat clients to something that will make them smile, maybe by doing something fun, silly or unexpected at the cash register—have you ever noticed that the individuals at the doors at big box warehouse stores often punctuate your visit by drawing a big smiley face on your receipt? How can you hit your customers with a splash of something good?
A splash isn’t a soaking, it’s more of a sampling. Enough to know how cold the water is without getting too cold, or how hot it is without getting burned. Find ways to sample products or services to your customers that they have not tried before. Set up a station or point of sale display so that they can touch, smell, taste, hear or otherwise experience a new product. Create an mini version of a service to sample to customers as your version or create an 'appetizer' mini product or service add-on.
Provide samples of products from a business that you partner with for cross or cooperative marketing (and provide samples of something of yours for their customers) to create cross-referrals in an organic way. Accompany samples with time-sensitive bounce back or add-on offers to create a sense of urgency, motivate immediate action or stimulate repeat or future sales.
To “make a splash” is to get the attention of others or leave a lasting impression.
Making a splash personally to improve your social or professional success is of interest to many. Partner with a “Toastmasters” group, a public speaking or other consulting professional and create a workshop for clients who want to improve their interpersonal skills and the impression that they leave on others.
Get involved in your local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Kiwanis or other community service organization and make a splash that will benefit your business as well as others.
Make a bigger splash within your community by joining or even founding a “buy local” cooperative of local businesses, providing education to the local community on the benefits of patronizing local businesses, and creating neighborhood events and incentives to help stimulate local sales. Exchange web site links with other local independent businesses or set up your own neighborhood “shop local” directory and blog or web site. Create your own location-based marketing offers to attract new clients or launch new products or services.
Elizabeth Kraus - 12 Months of Marketing
I hope you enjoyed this one; it's a sneak peek at something coming in the next book -
Why? Splashing is fun! Come on, admit it, you go out of your way to take on a particularly large puddle with your car, and your kids love it. Remember splashing in the swimming pool as kids? Remember lifeguards or parents taking all the fun out of it? Splashing is still fun; and when it’s done right, it’s fun for everyone.
On Splash a Friend Day, find a way to splash others with sunshine, kindness, joy, love and optimism. Treat clients to something that will make them smile, maybe by doing something fun, silly or unexpected at the cash register—have you ever noticed that the individuals at the doors at big box warehouse stores often punctuate your visit by drawing a big smiley face on your receipt? How can you hit your customers with a splash of something good?
A splash isn’t a soaking, it’s more of a sampling. Enough to know how cold the water is without getting too cold, or how hot it is without getting burned. Find ways to sample products or services to your customers that they have not tried before. Set up a station or point of sale display so that they can touch, smell, taste, hear or otherwise experience a new product. Create an mini version of a service to sample to customers as your version or create an 'appetizer' mini product or service add-on.
Provide samples of products from a business that you partner with for cross or cooperative marketing (and provide samples of something of yours for their customers) to create cross-referrals in an organic way. Accompany samples with time-sensitive bounce back or add-on offers to create a sense of urgency, motivate immediate action or stimulate repeat or future sales.
To “make a splash” is to get the attention of others or leave a lasting impression.
- Is your business leaving a positive, retention and sales-stimulating lasting impression on customers, or do they totally forget about you once they leave the building?
- Are you making a splash with clients that causes them to refer others to you or warn others off?
Making a splash personally to improve your social or professional success is of interest to many. Partner with a “Toastmasters” group, a public speaking or other consulting professional and create a workshop for clients who want to improve their interpersonal skills and the impression that they leave on others.
Get involved in your local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Kiwanis or other community service organization and make a splash that will benefit your business as well as others.
Make a bigger splash within your community by joining or even founding a “buy local” cooperative of local businesses, providing education to the local community on the benefits of patronizing local businesses, and creating neighborhood events and incentives to help stimulate local sales. Exchange web site links with other local independent businesses or set up your own neighborhood “shop local” directory and blog or web site. Create your own location-based marketing offers to attract new clients or launch new products or services.
Elizabeth Kraus - 12 Months of Marketing
I hope you enjoyed this one; it's a sneak peek at something coming in the next book -
15.3.11
Leadership: How to know if you are one, who else is, and how to grow them
What’s so important about Leadership, anyway?
According to a 2008 DDI (Development Dimensions International) study called Growing Global Executive Talent: High Priority, Limited Progress, while executives agree about the importance of leadership to the success of their organization, some of their findings may surprise you.
For instance, “Brings in the numbers” came in at the bottom of the priority list, with only 10% of those polled indicating that it was an important leadership quality; in fact, polling revealed that the 3 most important leadership abilities are:
• The ability to motivate a team (34.7%)
• Works well across cultures (33.5%) and
• Ability to facilitate change (32%)
What did they say was holding their organization back? Not the economy, not their competition and not their customers. No, topping out this list is a factor that these organizations actually have complete power over (which is why it’s surprising to me that it is on the top, and is so high!) Those polled said that the greatest barriers to effective strategy execution in their organization is having the wrong person in the role (36.4%).
This one both bewilders and intrigues me. If you have the wrong person in the role, and this is one of the biggest obstacles in the way of your organization’s success, doesn’t it behoove you to either move the person, or change their role? It seems like such an obvious answer – so obvious a solution that it shouldn’t even be on the list, let alone topping it! Also high up on this list were having too many priorities (32.8%), insufficient resources (30.6%), and having a poor business strategy (30.6%).
So how does the DDI study recommend that you create a leadership culture and develop talent management? (For greater detail on each recommendation, read the study online.)
Some of the traits consistently demonstrated by the best leaders is that they are never satisified; they are continually seeking out ways to increase their own knowledge and abilities when it comes to leadership. They are open and fair minded when it comes to the opinions of others. They are able to recognize and learn from mistakes – their own or those made collectively within an organization – without throwing anyone under the bus. They know their own strengths and their own weaknesses, and they surround themselves with teammates who have complimentary skill sets and passions. They are less concerned with who gets the credit than whether the idea or initiative is successful. They get stuff done.
Additional resources and reads when it comes to leadership:
More from DDI: Finding the First Rung, a study on the challenges facing today’s front line leaders. Why are new frontline leaders struggling in their jobs? They’re learning leadership through trial and error—and are blind to their management shortcomings. Read on to discover what organizations can do about it.
Top 50 Leadership Blogs [click here]
Online Leadership Development Guide/Resources for Individuals [click here]
The 6 Steps of Goal Setting [click here]
And some great leadership books and manuals with the disclaimer that there are a lot of great books out there - these are a few that are specific to some of the discussion above.
According to a 2008 DDI (Development Dimensions International) study called Growing Global Executive Talent: High Priority, Limited Progress, while executives agree about the importance of leadership to the success of their organization, some of their findings may surprise you.
For instance, “Brings in the numbers” came in at the bottom of the priority list, with only 10% of those polled indicating that it was an important leadership quality; in fact, polling revealed that the 3 most important leadership abilities are:
• The ability to motivate a team (34.7%)
• Works well across cultures (33.5%) and
• Ability to facilitate change (32%)
What did they say was holding their organization back? Not the economy, not their competition and not their customers. No, topping out this list is a factor that these organizations actually have complete power over (which is why it’s surprising to me that it is on the top, and is so high!) Those polled said that the greatest barriers to effective strategy execution in their organization is having the wrong person in the role (36.4%).
This one both bewilders and intrigues me. If you have the wrong person in the role, and this is one of the biggest obstacles in the way of your organization’s success, doesn’t it behoove you to either move the person, or change their role? It seems like such an obvious answer – so obvious a solution that it shouldn’t even be on the list, let alone topping it! Also high up on this list were having too many priorities (32.8%), insufficient resources (30.6%), and having a poor business strategy (30.6%).
So how does the DDI study recommend that you create a leadership culture and develop talent management? (For greater detail on each recommendation, read the study online.)
- Start with the end in mind, your current and future business needs (implied: You know what they are!)
- Craft an integrated talent strategy
- Own talent management at the top, and at all levels; one of the chief responsibilities of the CEO
- Identify leader potential early on
- Accurately diagnose leader skills (Do you see how this could help avoid having the wrong leader matched up with a certain role?)
- Build a strong human resources function (In the survey, only 10% said their HR hiring was effectively aligned in bringing in the right people)
- Take risks and be innovative about employee development
Some of the traits consistently demonstrated by the best leaders is that they are never satisified; they are continually seeking out ways to increase their own knowledge and abilities when it comes to leadership. They are open and fair minded when it comes to the opinions of others. They are able to recognize and learn from mistakes – their own or those made collectively within an organization – without throwing anyone under the bus. They know their own strengths and their own weaknesses, and they surround themselves with teammates who have complimentary skill sets and passions. They are less concerned with who gets the credit than whether the idea or initiative is successful. They get stuff done.
Additional resources and reads when it comes to leadership:
More from DDI: Finding the First Rung, a study on the challenges facing today’s front line leaders. Why are new frontline leaders struggling in their jobs? They’re learning leadership through trial and error—and are blind to their management shortcomings. Read on to discover what organizations can do about it.
Top 50 Leadership Blogs [click here]
Online Leadership Development Guide/Resources for Individuals [click here]
The 6 Steps of Goal Setting [click here]
And some great leadership books and manuals with the disclaimer that there are a lot of great books out there - these are a few that are specific to some of the discussion above.
14.3.11
What Glinda the Good Witch says about swapping out for that new product line
Do you think a new product line will mean more sales? It might, or might not, depending on what else you change.
The Bait-and-Switch of the Profit Promise Lure:
In an industry driven by innovation, trends, style, fashion and forecasts, small wonder that salon and spa professionals are constantly on the lookout for “what’s next,” and you enjoy the new product side of the equation almost as much as you do the artistry, don’t you?
There’s a practical side to that as well; because products that bring innovation and higher quality-performance results to clients can mean less work and higher profits for you and better outcomes for your customers.
There definitely are times that it makes fiscal sense and brings renewal and increased enthusiasm to your business when you expand or change up your retail mix, and sometimes this involves full-scale swaps and requires you to invest thousands of dollars in new retail products, in training for employees, in educating your customers on the benefits of the new products, and in overall marketing. In fact, since they involve the expenditure of considerable, time, resources, and money, you probably don’t make these decisions lightly. And, rightly so, you expect that your investment will pay off in additional retail product and service revenue dollars.
But there are other times when you’re tempted to make a significant change due to the economics of the promise – the manufacturer’s or the distributor's promise – that this product change will result in bigger profits for your salon or spa. Couple this promise with the excitement of new products, and you have a recipe for change that may be irresistibly exciting to you in the short run, but which may result in an even larger return in ‘buyer’s remorse’ than you had bargained on when projected new revenue, profits and retail sales fail to occur.
Increasing the number of clients that you serve and the number of services that you provide to each of them is not dependent upon the product lines that you carry. Regardless of salesmen’s promises, switching to more concentrated, efficient, shorter-process, higher-performing (or other benefit) product lines is only going to change your bottom line in small amounts and will rarely, if ever, justify the time, energy, resources and expense involved in switching product lines. To make matters worse, all too often, the salesperson disappears after the sale and promised support with collateral, leads, marketing and education sometimes fails to materialize.
Despite what may have been the best of intentions of all parties involved, sometimes you find yourself lured into a purchase, only to find that you did not receive all that was promised. You may find yourself right back where you started, only with additional debt for products and education and further depleted of time and energy as well as resources.
The truth is, whether you stick with the products that you have carried for years or completely renovate your product mix for retail, backbar and services, profit and increased sales are only going to follow due to changes in the way that you do business completely outside of the products that you use or carry. For that matter, in a world where distributors and manufacturers are being acquired, merging, going under, and new ones are popping up left and right – don’t you want to increase your sales and grow your business regardless of what lines you choose to carry? (Of course you do!)
As Glinda the Good Witch said to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, the answer lies within you, you have had the power all along! You have the power to effect growth and profit in your salon or spa. It lies in your ability to correctly identify your own core strengths and capitalize on them. It lies in your ability to accurately identify your target client base, to understand what they want and how best to serve them. It lies in your ability to construct an extraordinary experience for your clients. It lies in your ability and willingness to tell your own story on the internet, in your marketing materials, and in your ability to actually tell your clients (and prospective clients) about the benefits of the products that you carry and the services you provide. It lies in your ability to work with other businesses in your community in order to reach out to more prospective clients in joint efforts.
The next time you are tempted to buy in the latest and greatest something in order to improve your bottom line and grow toward the future, be sure that you have first called upon the powers that you already have in order to analyze whether the expense and effort can truly pay off.
Elizabeth Kraus
12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa
The Bait-and-Switch of the Profit Promise Lure:
In an industry driven by innovation, trends, style, fashion and forecasts, small wonder that salon and spa professionals are constantly on the lookout for “what’s next,” and you enjoy the new product side of the equation almost as much as you do the artistry, don’t you?
There’s a practical side to that as well; because products that bring innovation and higher quality-performance results to clients can mean less work and higher profits for you and better outcomes for your customers.
There definitely are times that it makes fiscal sense and brings renewal and increased enthusiasm to your business when you expand or change up your retail mix, and sometimes this involves full-scale swaps and requires you to invest thousands of dollars in new retail products, in training for employees, in educating your customers on the benefits of the new products, and in overall marketing. In fact, since they involve the expenditure of considerable, time, resources, and money, you probably don’t make these decisions lightly. And, rightly so, you expect that your investment will pay off in additional retail product and service revenue dollars.
But there are other times when you’re tempted to make a significant change due to the economics of the promise – the manufacturer’s or the distributor's promise – that this product change will result in bigger profits for your salon or spa. Couple this promise with the excitement of new products, and you have a recipe for change that may be irresistibly exciting to you in the short run, but which may result in an even larger return in ‘buyer’s remorse’ than you had bargained on when projected new revenue, profits and retail sales fail to occur.
Increasing the number of clients that you serve and the number of services that you provide to each of them is not dependent upon the product lines that you carry. Regardless of salesmen’s promises, switching to more concentrated, efficient, shorter-process, higher-performing (or other benefit) product lines is only going to change your bottom line in small amounts and will rarely, if ever, justify the time, energy, resources and expense involved in switching product lines. To make matters worse, all too often, the salesperson disappears after the sale and promised support with collateral, leads, marketing and education sometimes fails to materialize.
Despite what may have been the best of intentions of all parties involved, sometimes you find yourself lured into a purchase, only to find that you did not receive all that was promised. You may find yourself right back where you started, only with additional debt for products and education and further depleted of time and energy as well as resources.
The truth is, whether you stick with the products that you have carried for years or completely renovate your product mix for retail, backbar and services, profit and increased sales are only going to follow due to changes in the way that you do business completely outside of the products that you use or carry. For that matter, in a world where distributors and manufacturers are being acquired, merging, going under, and new ones are popping up left and right – don’t you want to increase your sales and grow your business regardless of what lines you choose to carry? (Of course you do!)
As Glinda the Good Witch said to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, the answer lies within you, you have had the power all along! You have the power to effect growth and profit in your salon or spa. It lies in your ability to correctly identify your own core strengths and capitalize on them. It lies in your ability to accurately identify your target client base, to understand what they want and how best to serve them. It lies in your ability to construct an extraordinary experience for your clients. It lies in your ability and willingness to tell your own story on the internet, in your marketing materials, and in your ability to actually tell your clients (and prospective clients) about the benefits of the products that you carry and the services you provide. It lies in your ability to work with other businesses in your community in order to reach out to more prospective clients in joint efforts.
The next time you are tempted to buy in the latest and greatest something in order to improve your bottom line and grow toward the future, be sure that you have first called upon the powers that you already have in order to analyze whether the expense and effort can truly pay off.
Elizabeth Kraus
12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa
10.3.11
12 Guidelines for Using Facebook to Build Business without Losing Your Friends
Being invited to visit someone’s Facebook page as a ‘Friend’ is no different than being invited into their living room, or meeting them at a party. Behavior that would be inappropriate in social settings face to face, is inappropriate on Facebook and other social marketing sites as well. On the other hand, behaviors that are suitable for establishing new friendships and deepening relationships one on one should make for healthy social media site behavior.
So here are 12 rules for using Facebook to build and strengthen your business without losing your friends:
1) Practice conversation starters. How would you get to know someone at a party? You would ask questions so that you can get to know other people, and you would invite people to ask you questions. You would be interesting. You would be appropriate (and not scary). You would be relevant and you would try to find common ground. Here are a few business-relevant questions you can ask to break the ice and (hopefully!) get some two-way dialogue going:
3) Don’t air your dirty laundry. Don’t allude to problem employees, problem customers or problem vendors.
4) Be generous. Be thankful. Congratulate and (honestly) compliment others. Be appreciative.
5) Be responsive.
6) Reconnect with old friends, acquaintances and colleagues.
7) Don’t tell stories and don’t post pictures that you wouldn’t want your mother and grandmother to read and see (because, chances are, they will). And don’t post pictures or tell stories about other people that they might not want their mom to read or see. When in doubt? Don’t.
8) Come dressed appropriately, and make touch ups from time to time. Meaning, don’t allow your professional page to become a free for all. Delete posts that don’t need to be there so that your most important status updates, links, and conversations are what your ‘friends’ will find on your page, and nothing else.
9) Be a real person. Facebook is a social site, not a substitute option for a business web site. Businesses don’t socialize, people do.
10) Weigh in without being overbearing. You can comment and even express opinions on other individuals Facebook pages, but don’t argue with the friends of your friends on your friends pages; not about business, not about politics, not about anything!
11) Take that lampshade off your head. You wouldn’t go to work impaired (I hope!) so if you are engaging in libation, take a break from your business, and that goes for Facebook too. We don’t want to hear from you when you are finally drunk enough to tell us what you really think, and we don’t really want to hear from you on the morning after (unless you owe us an apology!)
12) Don’t be afraid to ‘uninvite’ people who behave inappropriately, from the party. You are not obligated to accept everyone as a ‘friend’ who asks, and if people behave badly on your Facebook page, it’s fine to ‘unfriend’ or even block those individuals. Examples of people who have been uninvited to my Facebook page include business pages that posted ads on my Wall, or began sending me unwanted sales messages.
So here are 12 rules for using Facebook to build and strengthen your business without losing your friends:
1) Practice conversation starters. How would you get to know someone at a party? You would ask questions so that you can get to know other people, and you would invite people to ask you questions. You would be interesting. You would be appropriate (and not scary). You would be relevant and you would try to find common ground. Here are a few business-relevant questions you can ask to break the ice and (hopefully!) get some two-way dialogue going:
- What’s your favorite… (product, service, style, product color, etc.)
- What’s the most challenging… (skin condition, hair condition, style, etc.)
- Are you using an outdated…
- Is your hair… (limp, fine, curly, straight, gray, damaged, thinning, outdated, etc.)
- What’s the best… (hair style, makeup look, haircut, etc.) you have seen?
- What product (did you use to use, that was taken off the market, that you cannot find anymore, that you have not used in a long time, etc.) do you miss the most?
- If you had the ability to wave a magic wand and create a product, what problem would it solve?
- If you had to give up every product but one, what would it be? (Or service, etc.)
3) Don’t air your dirty laundry. Don’t allude to problem employees, problem customers or problem vendors.
4) Be generous. Be thankful. Congratulate and (honestly) compliment others. Be appreciative.
5) Be responsive.
6) Reconnect with old friends, acquaintances and colleagues.
7) Don’t tell stories and don’t post pictures that you wouldn’t want your mother and grandmother to read and see (because, chances are, they will). And don’t post pictures or tell stories about other people that they might not want their mom to read or see. When in doubt? Don’t.
8) Come dressed appropriately, and make touch ups from time to time. Meaning, don’t allow your professional page to become a free for all. Delete posts that don’t need to be there so that your most important status updates, links, and conversations are what your ‘friends’ will find on your page, and nothing else.
9) Be a real person. Facebook is a social site, not a substitute option for a business web site. Businesses don’t socialize, people do.
10) Weigh in without being overbearing. You can comment and even express opinions on other individuals Facebook pages, but don’t argue with the friends of your friends on your friends pages; not about business, not about politics, not about anything!
11) Take that lampshade off your head. You wouldn’t go to work impaired (I hope!) so if you are engaging in libation, take a break from your business, and that goes for Facebook too. We don’t want to hear from you when you are finally drunk enough to tell us what you really think, and we don’t really want to hear from you on the morning after (unless you owe us an apology!)
12) Don’t be afraid to ‘uninvite’ people who behave inappropriately, from the party. You are not obligated to accept everyone as a ‘friend’ who asks, and if people behave badly on your Facebook page, it’s fine to ‘unfriend’ or even block those individuals. Examples of people who have been uninvited to my Facebook page include business pages that posted ads on my Wall, or began sending me unwanted sales messages.
8.3.11
When it comes to social media, stop selling to start selling
Ding-dong! The doorbell rings while you are making dinner and you (reluctantly) answer, opening the door to a total stranger who (you correctly assume) is there to make a pitch. Despite your repeated attempts to (politely) say, “no, thank you,” the salesperson (trained to ‘overcome your objections’ with at least 99 different scripts) continues to pressure, cajole, flatter and otherwise annoy you until you either give in and buy a little something or send them away with a firm rejection.
How do you feel afterward? Would you answer the door to this stranger again or pretend not to be home? Would you seek out the company that trained them in order to make additional purchases, thanking them for preparing the salesperson ‘not to take no for an answer?’ No, my guess is that you would craft a less complimentary message for this company!
While for the most part traditional marketing and advertising is comprised of overt sales and brand messages and a ‘call to action,’ when it comes to social media marketing, one of the keys to a successful strategy lies in the first word: Social. While over time you may include occasional undisguised marketing messages on social marketing channels, your primary goal in using this media should be to establish and further relationships; letting customers and prospects know more about who you are (sharing your values, principles, expertise), and creating opportunities for word-of-mouth marketing relative to these measures, rather than the products or services you sell. Using social media marketing channels as a frequent means of delivering ‘hard sell’ messages is a turn-off that will likely ensure that your sites receive significantly less – not more – traffic.
Why?
In social media marketing you are inviting your customers and prospects to engage with you on a more personal level. You are asking them to trust you enough for an introduction to their friends, family, co-workers and neighbors. How personal would you get with the salesperson at the front door? Would you ever want to introduce them to your family and friends?
When it comes to social media marketing for your salon, remember that this is not just another marketing channel. Before you set up a Facebook page for your business or professional services, set up a Facebook page for yourself. Add “Friends” and review their pages; chances are you will find that they are on Facebook primarily for social purposes and engaged primarily in social conversations.
If you want to start blogging, first do some research and find two or three blogs that you really enjoy reading personally. Make a bullet list of the reasons that you like them, what drew you in and what brings you back.
Before you launch a text-messaging blitz of your customer's phones, think about the types of messages that you would welcome as an interruption on your own phone. Limit your messages to those that really deserve "interruption" status in people's lives, or to those clients who have expressly requested that you communicate with them via text message, and consider whether many messages would be better placed in your monthly e-mail newsletter.
Use social media marketing channels in such a way that it is welcome in the lives of your readers. Craft messages that will be seen as an organic part of the conversation found in the "news feed" rather than blatant sales pitches. Use these sites as if you were invited into the living room of the reader for a visit; yes, you would talk about your business if asked, and you would talk about the things that really light you up, and you would give advice based on your expertise; but my guess is that you would not try to sell them – well, anything!
One of the best aspects of social media marketing is that there is little monetary cost associated with its use; however, it can become a costly endeavor in terms of time, especially when this assignment is one added to a long list in the life of a busy salon professional. Some experts suggest that as much as 25% of your working time should be devoted to social media channels. While the time you need to devote to this aspect of marketing may vary, the point remains that to be effective, it requires that time be consistently invested in updating, blogging, adding photos to demonstrate your work, inviting people to events and providing follow up to questions and comments.
Like any other campaign, your social media marketing cannot thrive without being nurtured. If time is at a premium for you, if you have never ventured onto the internet or if the idea of setting up a Facebook page or Twittering makes you break into a cold sweat, don’t despair! Social Media sites have created interfaces that can – literally – be managed by even a computer novice. If you are still reluctant to do it yourself, you can probably find a high school or college student in your family or even among your clientele aspiring to a future in your industry or in marketing who would be thrilled to work for you for a couple hours each week either to set up and manage your social marketing channels on an on-going basis, or to train you to take over. You may find that once you begin to experiment with these social sites, it’s easy to become addicted to the real conversations that are occurring every day on the “virtual” world!
And remember, as you wade deeper in to viral marketing waters, use these channels to create more “customer love” by sharing stories about your business that you would want to share in your client’s living room, and that they will want to pass on to others.
How do you feel afterward? Would you answer the door to this stranger again or pretend not to be home? Would you seek out the company that trained them in order to make additional purchases, thanking them for preparing the salesperson ‘not to take no for an answer?’ No, my guess is that you would craft a less complimentary message for this company!
While for the most part traditional marketing and advertising is comprised of overt sales and brand messages and a ‘call to action,’ when it comes to social media marketing, one of the keys to a successful strategy lies in the first word: Social. While over time you may include occasional undisguised marketing messages on social marketing channels, your primary goal in using this media should be to establish and further relationships; letting customers and prospects know more about who you are (sharing your values, principles, expertise), and creating opportunities for word-of-mouth marketing relative to these measures, rather than the products or services you sell. Using social media marketing channels as a frequent means of delivering ‘hard sell’ messages is a turn-off that will likely ensure that your sites receive significantly less – not more – traffic.
Why?
In social media marketing you are inviting your customers and prospects to engage with you on a more personal level. You are asking them to trust you enough for an introduction to their friends, family, co-workers and neighbors. How personal would you get with the salesperson at the front door? Would you ever want to introduce them to your family and friends?
When it comes to social media marketing for your salon, remember that this is not just another marketing channel. Before you set up a Facebook page for your business or professional services, set up a Facebook page for yourself. Add “Friends” and review their pages; chances are you will find that they are on Facebook primarily for social purposes and engaged primarily in social conversations.
If you want to start blogging, first do some research and find two or three blogs that you really enjoy reading personally. Make a bullet list of the reasons that you like them, what drew you in and what brings you back.
Before you launch a text-messaging blitz of your customer's phones, think about the types of messages that you would welcome as an interruption on your own phone. Limit your messages to those that really deserve "interruption" status in people's lives, or to those clients who have expressly requested that you communicate with them via text message, and consider whether many messages would be better placed in your monthly e-mail newsletter.
Use social media marketing channels in such a way that it is welcome in the lives of your readers. Craft messages that will be seen as an organic part of the conversation found in the "news feed" rather than blatant sales pitches. Use these sites as if you were invited into the living room of the reader for a visit; yes, you would talk about your business if asked, and you would talk about the things that really light you up, and you would give advice based on your expertise; but my guess is that you would not try to sell them – well, anything!
One of the best aspects of social media marketing is that there is little monetary cost associated with its use; however, it can become a costly endeavor in terms of time, especially when this assignment is one added to a long list in the life of a busy salon professional. Some experts suggest that as much as 25% of your working time should be devoted to social media channels. While the time you need to devote to this aspect of marketing may vary, the point remains that to be effective, it requires that time be consistently invested in updating, blogging, adding photos to demonstrate your work, inviting people to events and providing follow up to questions and comments.
Like any other campaign, your social media marketing cannot thrive without being nurtured. If time is at a premium for you, if you have never ventured onto the internet or if the idea of setting up a Facebook page or Twittering makes you break into a cold sweat, don’t despair! Social Media sites have created interfaces that can – literally – be managed by even a computer novice. If you are still reluctant to do it yourself, you can probably find a high school or college student in your family or even among your clientele aspiring to a future in your industry or in marketing who would be thrilled to work for you for a couple hours each week either to set up and manage your social marketing channels on an on-going basis, or to train you to take over. You may find that once you begin to experiment with these social sites, it’s easy to become addicted to the real conversations that are occurring every day on the “virtual” world!
And remember, as you wade deeper in to viral marketing waters, use these channels to create more “customer love” by sharing stories about your business that you would want to share in your client’s living room, and that they will want to pass on to others.
7.3.11
10 Creative Ways to build business between St. Patrick's and Mother's Day
10 Creative Ways to build business between St. Patrick's and Mother's Day
There is a steady drum beat of holidays and events beginning with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and other December holidays, the New Year and Valentine's Day (whew! no wonder you are tired, that is at least 6 major observances in only 5 months!); but in the weeks between Valentine's and Mother's Day, it might feel like there is not much going on in your salon or spa (or other service based business). Here are 10 creative and fun ways to celebrate and build business while you are waiting for the next major holiday to arrive.
1. March 14 is National Pi Day
No, not pie, but Pi. Celebrating this mathematical constant will light up the eyes of math-lovers, engineers, scientists, doctors, lawyers and geeks in your clientele. To celebrate Pi Day, hold a spot quiz for clients when they check out. If they can tell you that Pi is 3.14, reward them with a branded tchotchke, sample, add-on for their next appointment, or some other reward. Or publicize this celebration in advance and create $3.14 pricing for added-on products or services or as $3.14 discounts to add-on services, multiple retail product purchases, etc.
(Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, and believe it or not, it is perhaps the most important mathematical constant. It appears in various formulas throughout math and science in fields as diverse as physics, statistics, and sociology. Although pi is defined in terms of the geometry of a circle, most applications of this number do not directly involve circles; it is used in a lot of calculations and is an unresolved number, meaning it has no end. To start out its 3.1415926 but it goes on for millions and millions of decimal places.)
2. March 14 is Learn About Butterflies Day
People that know me know that the Butterfly is my personal logo. Butterflies are about transformation. They are vulnerable, beautiful, strong, capable (hello, they can fly!) and they work to spread not only pollen to help ensure the circle of vegetative and floral life but also produce happy, delighted responses wherever they go. Harbinger of spring and a reminder of the beauty that exists in creation, I love these vibrantly colored beauties!
Celebrate Learn About Butterflies Day by promoting your own butterfly makeover packages and by featuring the products and services that you offer that provide transformative benefits.
Use butterfly trivia and facts to create your own quiz-sheet, or to conduct spot-quizzes for small prizes at the point of purchase or on Facebook (such as, the first person to answer this question will receive... etc.)
Put together four "butterfly eyes" eye shadow and makeup looks and demonstrate to clients, hold a 30 minute butterfly eyes happy hour with instruction and demos, and sell bundled sets of the products used to create each look.
3. March 14 is Everything you Think is Wrong Day
A great reminder to all of us that we need to keep an open mind and an open heart; we need to be open to new ways of doing things, and we need to stop giving power to those obstacles that we believe are standing in the way of our success. To celebrate Everything you Think is Wrong Day, create fun and interesting posts that you can place on Facebook, your Blog, in your Email Newsletter and on Bag Stuffers dispelling popular myths about the salon and spa industry or products; such as the myth that salon and spa professionals do not receive formal education or do not receive continuing education, and myths about there being "no difference" between any hair, scalp, skin care or makeup products as compared to those that can be purchased at any retail outlet. Talk about what is different in the products or services you provide. You can also intersperse your industry-knowledge posts with humorous, fun and pop-culture-related 'myth-busters' on other subjects to keep things light and interesting. If you are stuck for myth subject matter, you can visit www.snopes.com - the unrivaled master of all things urban legend!
4. March 20 is Proposal Day
Join forces with local date-destination spots such as restaurants, recreation facilities, horse and carriage drivers and the like and create options for those among your clientele who may need some help proposing to that special someone. Top the package off with a pre-date appointment for both parties (be careful not to spill the secret!) and follow up afterward by inviting the happy couple to a bridal look demonstration happy hour, tea or other event.
Create your own bridal and wedding service and product menu brochure. Or add engagement-party makeovers to your current slate of services. Create bridal-look display sheets and bundled sets of the products used to create each hair or makeup look.
Make a special "proposal" to your clients of bundled or series services so that you can enjoy a "long engagement" period with them!
5. March 21 is Fragrance Day
Purchase branded room or personal fragrance sprays for gift to your most important clients, as contest awards, as gift-with-purchase premium or to add to your retail at the point of purchase as an impulse buy and then to transition into your regular retail offerings.
Partner with an independent party-style fragrance seller to hold an event at your salon or spa where clients can come and "create" their own personal fragrances; develop a personal fragrance for your salon, or even in honor of each stylist at your salon and give one to each as well as add each of these personal stylist-named fragrances to your retail offerings on an on-going basis.
6. March 26 is Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
As a staff, brainstorm together and create your own salon or spa holiday. Celebrate by holding a special happy hour or open house for clients as well as special holiday-only service or product offers, or series/bundled package offers. Or celebrate by closing early and holding a special employee and guest/s happy hour or all-employee celebration.
Hold a contest for clients to see who can make up the most creative "holiday; " your entry form might include fields for: Holiday name, who would observe it and how it would be observed, fake holiday history, fake holiday song, etc. Reward the winner with a gift card and product basket, and reward runners up with product samples. Everyone that enters should receive a special fake holiday bounce back offer.
7. April 1 is Fun at Work Day
A healthy, happy business begins from the inside out. Partner with local businesses to create special goodie bags for all employees including samples, coupons, and special offers designed specifically for, and offered only to, employees and their families.
Surprise employees on Fun at Work Day with special on-the-spot surprise thank you notes, group recognition and/or rewards. Include client kudos and raves in your employee and client communications.
Partner with a local business to provide lunch for employees or with a local restaurant to hold a special ‘happy hour’ for employees after work.
8. April 7 is No Housework Day
Partner with local housekeeping businesses for cooperative offers or cross marketing. Create packages together to market as PERFECT Mother's Day gifts - including a pampering or makeover service at your salon or spa as well as 2 hours of housekeeping, a series of appointments for both, etc.
Take nominations from clients and the public via Facebook, your web site and in the salon and reward a local housekeeping professional with a day of pampering.
Partner with a housekeeping service and reward a deserving or contest-winning client with pampering in their home in the form of 2 hours of housekeeping and in the salon or spa with 2 hours of services.
As an employee team, donate volunteer hours to a local senior community and assist residents with common housekeeping and maintenance chores. Leave gift cards for salon services, product samples, etc., with the senior center. Write a press release and submit a great happy-people-picture from the day to local newspapers, city publications, radio stations, etc.
9. April 8 is Draw a Picture of a Bird Day
Hold a coloring or drawing contest for the children of your customers (or any kids) and allow entries in-store as well as via your Facebook, Blog or Email. Reward the winner/s with a joint appointment service or mini-makeover for mom (or dad) with child. Use this opportunity to extend special offers for the children of clients who may be very loyal to you, but who may take their children to a walk-in or other competitor. Extend family rates or multi-appointment booking rates to parents who bring in children for appointments at the same time.
10. April 10 is Scrabble Day
Hold a special Scrabble happy hour event in your salon or spa or in conjunction with a marketing partner bar, restaurant, or other destination.
Print off blank Scrabble-board styled sheets and give clients letters (or simply list available letters on the bottom, clients can x them out as they are used in each word). Ask them to use the letters to build out their own Scrabble Board contest entry with the names of your products or services, and/or words that they would use to characterize their experience in your salon or spa. At the end of the day (or week or month) total up each entry using the points system you assigned for letters, and reward the winner/s with a special service and product prize basket.
If you want, allow people to play not only when in your salon or spa but also make your game sheet available online via your web site, Facebook or Blog, and via Email communications. Ask clients to return the entry personally to the salon or spa in return for a free branded tchotchke or product sample.
As with any event or contest, extend a special offer to all entrants following the event.
There! That should definitely keep things busy in your business between now and Mother's Day, and may provide you with some great extra opportunities to promote your Mother's Day, Bridal and Wedding packages to clients in these months leading up to Mother's Day and the coming Wedding "season."
Get creative! Create more ways and moments where you can interact with clients. Use non-traditional, low-cost, FUN ideas to help generate new clients, referrals, add on services, retail sales, and more. Build a bigger role for your business in the lives of your clients!
Elizabeth Kraus - Author of "Make Over Your Marketing: 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa"
Available on amazon.com and http://www.12monthsofmarketing.net/
Quote of the Day: I base my fashion taste on what doesn't itch. (Gilda Radner)
There is a steady drum beat of holidays and events beginning with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and other December holidays, the New Year and Valentine's Day (whew! no wonder you are tired, that is at least 6 major observances in only 5 months!); but in the weeks between Valentine's and Mother's Day, it might feel like there is not much going on in your salon or spa (or other service based business). Here are 10 creative and fun ways to celebrate and build business while you are waiting for the next major holiday to arrive.
1. March 14 is National Pi Day
No, not pie, but Pi. Celebrating this mathematical constant will light up the eyes of math-lovers, engineers, scientists, doctors, lawyers and geeks in your clientele. To celebrate Pi Day, hold a spot quiz for clients when they check out. If they can tell you that Pi is 3.14, reward them with a branded tchotchke, sample, add-on for their next appointment, or some other reward. Or publicize this celebration in advance and create $3.14 pricing for added-on products or services or as $3.14 discounts to add-on services, multiple retail product purchases, etc.
(Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, and believe it or not, it is perhaps the most important mathematical constant. It appears in various formulas throughout math and science in fields as diverse as physics, statistics, and sociology. Although pi is defined in terms of the geometry of a circle, most applications of this number do not directly involve circles; it is used in a lot of calculations and is an unresolved number, meaning it has no end. To start out its 3.1415926 but it goes on for millions and millions of decimal places.)
2. March 14 is Learn About Butterflies Day
People that know me know that the Butterfly is my personal logo. Butterflies are about transformation. They are vulnerable, beautiful, strong, capable (hello, they can fly!) and they work to spread not only pollen to help ensure the circle of vegetative and floral life but also produce happy, delighted responses wherever they go. Harbinger of spring and a reminder of the beauty that exists in creation, I love these vibrantly colored beauties!
Celebrate Learn About Butterflies Day by promoting your own butterfly makeover packages and by featuring the products and services that you offer that provide transformative benefits.
Use butterfly trivia and facts to create your own quiz-sheet, or to conduct spot-quizzes for small prizes at the point of purchase or on Facebook (such as, the first person to answer this question will receive... etc.)
Put together four "butterfly eyes" eye shadow and makeup looks and demonstrate to clients, hold a 30 minute butterfly eyes happy hour with instruction and demos, and sell bundled sets of the products used to create each look.
3. March 14 is Everything you Think is Wrong Day
A great reminder to all of us that we need to keep an open mind and an open heart; we need to be open to new ways of doing things, and we need to stop giving power to those obstacles that we believe are standing in the way of our success. To celebrate Everything you Think is Wrong Day, create fun and interesting posts that you can place on Facebook, your Blog, in your Email Newsletter and on Bag Stuffers dispelling popular myths about the salon and spa industry or products; such as the myth that salon and spa professionals do not receive formal education or do not receive continuing education, and myths about there being "no difference" between any hair, scalp, skin care or makeup products as compared to those that can be purchased at any retail outlet. Talk about what is different in the products or services you provide. You can also intersperse your industry-knowledge posts with humorous, fun and pop-culture-related 'myth-busters' on other subjects to keep things light and interesting. If you are stuck for myth subject matter, you can visit www.snopes.com - the unrivaled master of all things urban legend!
4. March 20 is Proposal Day
Join forces with local date-destination spots such as restaurants, recreation facilities, horse and carriage drivers and the like and create options for those among your clientele who may need some help proposing to that special someone. Top the package off with a pre-date appointment for both parties (be careful not to spill the secret!) and follow up afterward by inviting the happy couple to a bridal look demonstration happy hour, tea or other event.
Create your own bridal and wedding service and product menu brochure. Or add engagement-party makeovers to your current slate of services. Create bridal-look display sheets and bundled sets of the products used to create each hair or makeup look.
Make a special "proposal" to your clients of bundled or series services so that you can enjoy a "long engagement" period with them!
5. March 21 is Fragrance Day
Purchase branded room or personal fragrance sprays for gift to your most important clients, as contest awards, as gift-with-purchase premium or to add to your retail at the point of purchase as an impulse buy and then to transition into your regular retail offerings.
Partner with an independent party-style fragrance seller to hold an event at your salon or spa where clients can come and "create" their own personal fragrances; develop a personal fragrance for your salon, or even in honor of each stylist at your salon and give one to each as well as add each of these personal stylist-named fragrances to your retail offerings on an on-going basis.
6. March 26 is Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
As a staff, brainstorm together and create your own salon or spa holiday. Celebrate by holding a special happy hour or open house for clients as well as special holiday-only service or product offers, or series/bundled package offers. Or celebrate by closing early and holding a special employee and guest/s happy hour or all-employee celebration.
Hold a contest for clients to see who can make up the most creative "holiday; " your entry form might include fields for: Holiday name, who would observe it and how it would be observed, fake holiday history, fake holiday song, etc. Reward the winner with a gift card and product basket, and reward runners up with product samples. Everyone that enters should receive a special fake holiday bounce back offer.
7. April 1 is Fun at Work Day
A healthy, happy business begins from the inside out. Partner with local businesses to create special goodie bags for all employees including samples, coupons, and special offers designed specifically for, and offered only to, employees and their families.
Surprise employees on Fun at Work Day with special on-the-spot surprise thank you notes, group recognition and/or rewards. Include client kudos and raves in your employee and client communications.
Partner with a local business to provide lunch for employees or with a local restaurant to hold a special ‘happy hour’ for employees after work.
8. April 7 is No Housework Day
Partner with local housekeeping businesses for cooperative offers or cross marketing. Create packages together to market as PERFECT Mother's Day gifts - including a pampering or makeover service at your salon or spa as well as 2 hours of housekeeping, a series of appointments for both, etc.
Take nominations from clients and the public via Facebook, your web site and in the salon and reward a local housekeeping professional with a day of pampering.
Partner with a housekeeping service and reward a deserving or contest-winning client with pampering in their home in the form of 2 hours of housekeeping and in the salon or spa with 2 hours of services.
As an employee team, donate volunteer hours to a local senior community and assist residents with common housekeeping and maintenance chores. Leave gift cards for salon services, product samples, etc., with the senior center. Write a press release and submit a great happy-people-picture from the day to local newspapers, city publications, radio stations, etc.
9. April 8 is Draw a Picture of a Bird Day
Hold a coloring or drawing contest for the children of your customers (or any kids) and allow entries in-store as well as via your Facebook, Blog or Email. Reward the winner/s with a joint appointment service or mini-makeover for mom (or dad) with child. Use this opportunity to extend special offers for the children of clients who may be very loyal to you, but who may take their children to a walk-in or other competitor. Extend family rates or multi-appointment booking rates to parents who bring in children for appointments at the same time.
10. April 10 is Scrabble Day
Hold a special Scrabble happy hour event in your salon or spa or in conjunction with a marketing partner bar, restaurant, or other destination.
Print off blank Scrabble-board styled sheets and give clients letters (or simply list available letters on the bottom, clients can x them out as they are used in each word). Ask them to use the letters to build out their own Scrabble Board contest entry with the names of your products or services, and/or words that they would use to characterize their experience in your salon or spa. At the end of the day (or week or month) total up each entry using the points system you assigned for letters, and reward the winner/s with a special service and product prize basket.
If you want, allow people to play not only when in your salon or spa but also make your game sheet available online via your web site, Facebook or Blog, and via Email communications. Ask clients to return the entry personally to the salon or spa in return for a free branded tchotchke or product sample.
As with any event or contest, extend a special offer to all entrants following the event.
There! That should definitely keep things busy in your business between now and Mother's Day, and may provide you with some great extra opportunities to promote your Mother's Day, Bridal and Wedding packages to clients in these months leading up to Mother's Day and the coming Wedding "season."
Get creative! Create more ways and moments where you can interact with clients. Use non-traditional, low-cost, FUN ideas to help generate new clients, referrals, add on services, retail sales, and more. Build a bigger role for your business in the lives of your clients!
Elizabeth Kraus - Author of "Make Over Your Marketing: 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa"
Available on amazon.com and http://www.12monthsofmarketing.net/
Quote of the Day: I base my fashion taste on what doesn't itch. (Gilda Radner)
4.3.11
NEW Salon Connect makes finding a salon a match made in heaven!
A former colleague of mine recently launched a very relevant and highly innovative new salon and spa resource in February called Salon Connect, [click here] to go to site. Here is an excerpt from the press release:
"Join the beauty industry's first social network inspired by online dating sites that matches individiduals and beauty industry practitioners with one another based on relationship personality criteria. Salon Connect provides a forum to establish relationships between stylists, clients, and salons that is a great match - from the start!"
Take out the guesswork and stop choosing a salon by closing your eyes and letting your finger fall down somewhere on the yellow pages listings:
"Salon Connect's unique MatchMaker program works to meet your needs as a salon or spa client by utilizing personality profiling, interests, and specific search criteria to get you connected with your ideal salon or stylist. Clients who join will able to find Salons and Stylists that meet their needs while stylists can connect with salons that are looking for new hairdressers. With completion of the Salon Connect’s Personality Profile and your profile interests and information, members will discover not only their own personality type, but the compatibility level between other members."
Salon Connect launched in February 2011, founded by Marci Brown. Marci is already a well-respected member of the professional beauty industry, both as a professional esthetician herself and as a distribution sales and business consultant and regional manager. This is not from her press release, this is a personal endorsement from me, as an individual who worked alongside her for a period of time: Marci knows her stuff, and her heart and soul is truly in the mission of this organization. This is not just another web site looking to take advantage of advertising dollars or pay per click results, this is a site that delivers on its promises. I know from experience that you will enjoy being a part of any endeavor that involves Marci!
So check out Salon Connect and get connected - it's going to be a great year!
"Join the beauty industry's first social network inspired by online dating sites that matches individiduals and beauty industry practitioners with one another based on relationship personality criteria. Salon Connect provides a forum to establish relationships between stylists, clients, and salons that is a great match - from the start!"
Take out the guesswork and stop choosing a salon by closing your eyes and letting your finger fall down somewhere on the yellow pages listings:
"Salon Connect's unique MatchMaker program works to meet your needs as a salon or spa client by utilizing personality profiling, interests, and specific search criteria to get you connected with your ideal salon or stylist. Clients who join will able to find Salons and Stylists that meet their needs while stylists can connect with salons that are looking for new hairdressers. With completion of the Salon Connect’s Personality Profile and your profile interests and information, members will discover not only their own personality type, but the compatibility level between other members."
Salon Connect launched in February 2011, founded by Marci Brown. Marci is already a well-respected member of the professional beauty industry, both as a professional esthetician herself and as a distribution sales and business consultant and regional manager. This is not from her press release, this is a personal endorsement from me, as an individual who worked alongside her for a period of time: Marci knows her stuff, and her heart and soul is truly in the mission of this organization. This is not just another web site looking to take advantage of advertising dollars or pay per click results, this is a site that delivers on its promises. I know from experience that you will enjoy being a part of any endeavor that involves Marci!
So check out Salon Connect and get connected - it's going to be a great year!
3.3.11
Style, Strategy and Marketing Savvy - March 2011 Newsletter
Hot off the press and ready for your reading enjoyment, the March 2011 'Style, Strategy and Marketing Savvy' newsletter. As always this issue is packed with original content plus links to great marketing, leadership and personal development resources. In this issue:
Original Content by Elizabeth Kraus 12monthsofmarketing.net
:: 8 ways to build business for St. Patrick's Day
:: 10 tips for improving tips in the salon or spa
:: Free for download and use - prescription forms for the salon, spa, or nail salon
:: What's in the newest book: Make Over Your Marketing, 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa - now available on amazon.com or 12monthsofmarketing.net
Success Strategies
:: 7 keys to a healthy P.R. (public relations) strategy
:: On the horizon: Stay tuned for new 'Facebook Deals'
:: "Real Salon" marketing that works
:: 5 steps to superb delgating
:: Delegation tips for control freaks
:: Why every leader needs a Vulcan sidekick
:: Silence your inner nay-sayer
Original Content by Elizabeth Kraus 12monthsofmarketing.net
:: 8 ways to build business for St. Patrick's Day
:: 10 tips for improving tips in the salon or spa
:: Free for download and use - prescription forms for the salon, spa, or nail salon
:: What's in the newest book: Make Over Your Marketing, 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa - now available on amazon.com or 12monthsofmarketing.net
Success Strategies
:: 7 keys to a healthy P.R. (public relations) strategy
:: On the horizon: Stay tuned for new 'Facebook Deals'
:: "Real Salon" marketing that works
:: 5 steps to superb delgating
:: Delegation tips for control freaks
:: Why every leader needs a Vulcan sidekick
:: Silence your inner nay-sayer
2.3.11
10 Tips for Improving Your Tips (and Building Business) in the Salon or Spa
Last week I came across a link to the "60 Best Restaurant Industry Blog Sites" and on the site www.tipssquared.com I found an article by blogger David Hayden posted in April 2010 titled "Tips for Improving Your Tips" that featured 10 rules geared toward restaurant wait staff.
1. If you worry about the client, the tip will take care of itself
Notice I did not use the plural form of client(s) or tip(s); this is because it's important that you view each and every individual customer experience as singly and uniquely important. You may be providing services and selling products to 10, 20 or even hundreds of people in any given day; however, for your client, there is only one experience that matters: Theirs.
Set some time aside at the beginning of the day, before you ever begin facing clients, working behind the chair or selling retail products to review your schedule. Think about the specific clients that you will be seeing that day. Review their client file or card. Think about what you know about their personality and interests. Being mentally prepared to interact and engage with your clients personally, and showing them that you do care about them individually by remembering who they are and what is important to them in their lives makes them feel that they are important to you, and this is one of the most powerful ways that you can make yourself important to them as a professional and as a person. This is a priceless aspect of their experience in your salon or spa!
Of course it is possible to create a truly exceptional experience for your client and still fail to receive monetary acknowledgement from any given client - for many reasons. They may not be able to afford it, they may not have planned for it, their child might have taken the last of their cash for a last-minute school project, they may not be aware that tips are appropriate or may not be aware of what constitutes a fair gratuity; however, as the author of the original article says, " The only thing you can do to control how much you make, is to make every client as happy as you can. Client counts per service hour, per ticket spending, and client gratuities are beyond your control. Instead focus on the clients and trust that this is the best way to make the money work out in your favor."
And beyond thinking about just one or two clients, what can you do within your business to create true points of difference? What is it about how your client feels while at your salon or spa or after their appointment that is different (and better) than how they would feel if they received services elsewhere? There are many touch points where you could add something special or improve the environment in order to create a unique and engaging client experience:
3. Generic stylists produce generic tips
I know it sounds the same, but it isn't. You may or may not have the ability to alter the client experience in your salon and spa overall, but you do have the ability to make sure that the experience that you, personally, provide to your clients is not generic. If you view your job as "just a job," roll out of bed, put on a baseball cap or just pull your hair back into a 'do' more suitable for working out in the gym than the workplace your clients will notice. In fact, you probably wonder why some of your co-workers are booked 2 months out while you struggle to fill your books each day. Renew your investment in yourself and let your inner sense of style and personality show up on the outside at work.
Not convinced that it matters? Let's say that you are the new prospective client and you've just walked in the door of a salon or spa. Two stylists are waiting and both are beckoning you over, one with that 'just out of bed' no makeup and no style look sporting stretchy pants and flip flops while the second got up in time to wash, blow dry, and style their own precision cut, custom-colored and highlighted hair, has flawless makeup (or, if male, flawless grooming) appropriate to their own personal style and in accord with the overall "style" of the salon or spa, and chose to wear clothes appropriate to their workplace that still reflect their personal sense of style and a distinct dash of current fashion. Which way do you go? Who do you most trust to provide you with renewed style and beauty? What other means do you have to make a decision? What is more powerful than this first impression?
4. Clients don't care how much you know until they know how much you care
No doubt you have tried suggestive selling and scripted promotions to help support retail sales in the past to mixed results. Or maybe you tried once or twice, failed, and let the initiative die a quick but painful death - painful because you really do want and need the additional revenue represented by acquiring new clients, selling add-on services and moving through more retail. You probably have a strong consultative side and over time you have become skilled at identifying hair or skin conditions as well as the reparative products or services that can best address them. But you have to remember that your clients receive scores of marketing and selling messages every day; not hundreds - but thousands - every day. If your client consultation, service and product recommendations come across like just another sales pitch in a sea of sameness, you will be fostering the attitude of skepticism that we - as consumers - have come to have based on the overwhelming number of people out there just to make a buck, who will say anything in order to get us to buy something. The next tip tells you how to build trust so that your clients will listen:
5. Always recommend what is in the client's best interest, not yours
What is the quickest way to lose client trust (and clients)? Lie to them. Push them to embrace unneeded products or services. Why? While they may 'bite' for a while, eventually they will receive information from another salon or spa professional, a friend, or some other source that reveals how you misled them. They'll be resentful of the money they spent needlessly and they will be mistrustful of future recommendations. They'll be unlikely to refer any of their friends or family to you, and may not be willing to return to you or even to your salon or spa again.
And you can dial this down to each client experience as well. Let's say you are running behind or you want to leave early, so instead of doing what a client asks, you take shortcuts in the process that produces lackluster results or you even talk clients out of receiving the extended services they want. You are cheating your business and yourself out of revenues and out of the long-term benefits that client satisfaction produces.
6. Never spend money you haven't made
You work in an industry where your salary is not guaranteed. It is dependent upon many factors, some of which are under your control, but many of which are not (such as the economy, layoffs at local businesses, taxes, holidays, weather, competitors, etc.) If you spend money that you have not yet made, or spend money on what you anticipate that you can make in the next month based on the last month, you may find that you have overspent. This may drive you into a bit of a panic, where you then become tempted to push clients to do what is best for you (not them) or where your panic spills over into the customer experience in some other way (overbooking, being over-eager, hard selling of add-on services or products, etc.) Your life has enough pressure; proper financial planning and saving can help ensure that hiccups or slower-than-expected times in your business don't throw you into a tailspin.
7. Be the co-worker you want to have
Ah.... the golden rule for the workplace! You may have slipped into a rut when it comes to being a co-worker; you might work with a real jerk (or two, or three) who cause you to lose your religion in the workplace. You may have taken so many hits from others or been on the receiving end of gossip, slander, and deceitful actions of others. You may have had clients stolen away, walk-in customers diverted, client tips or commissions from retail products swiped, products or tools "borrowed" without return, your workstation left dirty or damaged by others; in other words, you may have good reason for the state of permanent paranoia, defensiveness or stinginess from which you operate in the workplace, and you may have even decided to return evil-for-evil yourself. But I'll bet you're not happy!
And to the point, are you crazy enough to believe that all of this is not having an incredibly negative impact when it comes to the experience you provide to your clients? Even if they don't see you misbehaving, chances are a majority of your clients are aware of the tension and negativity that pervades your salon or spa. They might not be able to put their finger on why, but they feel it!
The negativity you mistakenly believe is confined to out-of-client areas is fully impacting the environment in your business. It is diminishing the sense of luxury, escape and pleasure that you want to provide for your clients. It is dampening the spirit of excitement and joy that you want to characterize your initiatives, promotions, and events. Businesses with low employee morale lack the employee enthusiasm needed to support the pursuit of goals; they don't grow, they have high employee turnover and lack consistency in the customer experience.
When your co-workers check the schedule and know that they'll be working alongside you, do they look forward to it? Can they count on you to have their back, to help support the recommendations they make to clients, to be honest when it comes to commissions, add-on services, walk in clients and referrals? Can they trust you to provide their clients with a great experience on their behalf if for some reason they need you to cover for them? Do they worry about what you say behind their back to other co-workers or the boss?
You can't control the actions of others, but you and you alone control your own actions and decide who it is that you want to be; the person that you want to see when you look in the mirror every day, the person you want to be in reputation with co-workers and clients, and the person that you want to be in your personal and family life. Be the co-worker that you want to have. Do favors. De-escalate tense conversations. Save discussion of problems for private times. Be honestly complimentary of co-workers relative to their strengths in front of both clients and other employees. Look for the good in others!
8. Exceed expectations
For years, businesses have claimed that they provide "exceptional customer service." This claim has been done to death; if everyone makes the claim, can it be true? If everyone is "exceptional," isn't it true that no one is? Most of these companies don't understand what exceptional means. It is not exceptional to meet customer expectations, it is not exceptional to produce the results that clients expect and request. This is not only not exceptional, it is the definition of ordinary. As customers, it's reasonable to expect that a salon or spa will deliver on its promise of service, experience and results. To be truly exceptional, you have to go over and above. You have to exceed - not just meet - client expectations. Something about the experience provided in your business has to be so uniquely different that it cannot be found anywhere else. Is there anything about your client experience that fits in that category?
9. "Count things up" at the end of each day
Just as you began by thinking your day and each client experience through with intention, set aside time at the end of the day to take account of each experience. Think about what went right, what went wrong, what needs to change tomorrow and what needs to be addressed in the long term, or with co-workers. Write thank you notes or emails to express your appreciation to the most important or most loyal customers that you saw that day. Post a note on Facebook about something that rocked your day, about one of your employees who went over and above the call of duty or exceeded client expectations, about something a client did that made your day, etc. Ending each day in a spirit of gratitude and taking the time to tell people about it is extra-ordinary; so few people do it!
10. Pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy
Several years ago the book and video called "The Secret" generated a great deal of buzz; I watched the video and really appreciated a couple major concepts. One was the advice given to live in a spirit of gratitude. When you are thankful for what you have, and thankful for the people in your life (co-workers, clients, friends, family, etc.) and appreciative toward others, God and the universe, you will find that you are happier. The second concept I really appreciated was the idea that you get more of what you focus on the most. If you spend your time worrying about problems, you'll probably get more problems. If you spend your time worrying about the negative actions of others, you'll continue to experience and attract them. If you spend your time thinking about how bad the economy is, how bad business is, and how hopeless the future is, it will be. However, if you spend your time focused on thinking about following your dreams, building business, developing your career, and being and becoming the best "you" you can be, then your actions will follow. In other words, by focusing on the positive things that are already in, and those that you want to come into your life, you will then pursue actions that lead to positive results. When you pour out thanks to others, your own soul is nourished. You are happier because you better appreciate what you have, and you are happier because you are pursuing what you most want. You appreciate other people more, and as a result, other people enjoy being with you more. Your 'attitude of gratitude' results in a better sense of personal peace and well-being within yourself, and as a result, you are better-able to be a good life partner, companion, parent, child, sibling, friend and co-worker.
It's not really existential, or maybe it's all really existential? It's going to be a great year!
Here's an adaptation of the original list, re-tooled for salon and spa.
Notice I did not use the plural form of client(s) or tip(s); this is because it's important that you view each and every individual customer experience as singly and uniquely important. You may be providing services and selling products to 10, 20 or even hundreds of people in any given day; however, for your client, there is only one experience that matters: Theirs.
2. Generic client experiences produce generic tips
Taking the time to review your schedule for each work day before it begins gives you the opportunity to see where you may have breaks in your schedule that would give you the additional time needed to enhance a customer's experience by sampling products, providing free consultations or makeup touchups, writing out a 'prescribed' home care plan to address a client condition that you noticed, writing out a thank you note to give to the client as they leave (or mail out to them), providing a free mini add-on service or even suggesting (paid) add-on services that could enhance a client's overall results or introduce them to a service they have not previously tried. - Client arrival and greeting
- Client waiting area environment and experience
- Client consultation
- At the back bar and/or client hair or skin preparation experience
- During the service, during a basic service, during a more time-intensive service, as a reward for an add-on service
- In your retail merchandising presentation
- In your retail home care sales efforts
- At the point of check out
- As the client leaves
- After the appointment (follow up, thank yous, rewards, rebooking, additional offers, etc.)
3. Generic stylists produce generic tips
I know it sounds the same, but it isn't. You may or may not have the ability to alter the client experience in your salon and spa overall, but you do have the ability to make sure that the experience that you, personally, provide to your clients is not generic. If you view your job as "just a job," roll out of bed, put on a baseball cap or just pull your hair back into a 'do' more suitable for working out in the gym than the workplace your clients will notice. In fact, you probably wonder why some of your co-workers are booked 2 months out while you struggle to fill your books each day. Renew your investment in yourself and let your inner sense of style and personality show up on the outside at work.
No doubt you have tried suggestive selling and scripted promotions to help support retail sales in the past to mixed results. Or maybe you tried once or twice, failed, and let the initiative die a quick but painful death - painful because you really do want and need the additional revenue represented by acquiring new clients, selling add-on services and moving through more retail. You probably have a strong consultative side and over time you have become skilled at identifying hair or skin conditions as well as the reparative products or services that can best address them. But you have to remember that your clients receive scores of marketing and selling messages every day; not hundreds - but thousands - every day. If your client consultation, service and product recommendations come across like just another sales pitch in a sea of sameness, you will be fostering the attitude of skepticism that we - as consumers - have come to have based on the overwhelming number of people out there just to make a buck, who will say anything in order to get us to buy something. The next tip tells you how to build trust so that your clients will listen:
What is the quickest way to lose client trust (and clients)? Lie to them. Push them to embrace unneeded products or services. Why? While they may 'bite' for a while, eventually they will receive information from another salon or spa professional, a friend, or some other source that reveals how you misled them. They'll be resentful of the money they spent needlessly and they will be mistrustful of future recommendations. They'll be unlikely to refer any of their friends or family to you, and may not be willing to return to you or even to your salon or spa again.
You work in an industry where your salary is not guaranteed. It is dependent upon many factors, some of which are under your control, but many of which are not (such as the economy, layoffs at local businesses, taxes, holidays, weather, competitors, etc.) If you spend money that you have not yet made, or spend money on what you anticipate that you can make in the next month based on the last month, you may find that you have overspent. This may drive you into a bit of a panic, where you then become tempted to push clients to do what is best for you (not them) or where your panic spills over into the customer experience in some other way (overbooking, being over-eager, hard selling of add-on services or products, etc.) Your life has enough pressure; proper financial planning and saving can help ensure that hiccups or slower-than-expected times in your business don't throw you into a tailspin.
Ah.... the golden rule for the workplace! You may have slipped into a rut when it comes to being a co-worker; you might work with a real jerk (or two, or three) who cause you to lose your religion in the workplace. You may have taken so many hits from others or been on the receiving end of gossip, slander, and deceitful actions of others. You may have had clients stolen away, walk-in customers diverted, client tips or commissions from retail products swiped, products or tools "borrowed" without return, your workstation left dirty or damaged by others; in other words, you may have good reason for the state of permanent paranoia, defensiveness or stinginess from which you operate in the workplace, and you may have even decided to return evil-for-evil yourself. But I'll bet you're not happy!
For years, businesses have claimed that they provide "exceptional customer service." This claim has been done to death; if everyone makes the claim, can it be true? If everyone is "exceptional," isn't it true that no one is? Most of these companies don't understand what exceptional means. It is not exceptional to meet customer expectations, it is not exceptional to produce the results that clients expect and request. This is not only not exceptional, it is the definition of ordinary. As customers, it's reasonable to expect that a salon or spa will deliver on its promise of service, experience and results. To be truly exceptional, you have to go over and above. You have to exceed - not just meet - client expectations. Something about the experience provided in your business has to be so uniquely different that it cannot be found anywhere else. Is there anything about your client experience that fits in that category?
Just as you began by thinking your day and each client experience through with intention, set aside time at the end of the day to take account of each experience. Think about what went right, what went wrong, what needs to change tomorrow and what needs to be addressed in the long term, or with co-workers. Write thank you notes or emails to express your appreciation to the most important or most loyal customers that you saw that day. Post a note on Facebook about something that rocked your day, about one of your employees who went over and above the call of duty or exceeded client expectations, about something a client did that made your day, etc. Ending each day in a spirit of gratitude and taking the time to tell people about it is extra-ordinary; so few people do it!
Several years ago the book and video called "The Secret" generated a great deal of buzz; I watched the video and really appreciated a couple major concepts. One was the advice given to live in a spirit of gratitude. When you are thankful for what you have, and thankful for the people in your life (co-workers, clients, friends, family, etc.) and appreciative toward others, God and the universe, you will find that you are happier. The second concept I really appreciated was the idea that you get more of what you focus on the most. If you spend your time worrying about problems, you'll probably get more problems. If you spend your time worrying about the negative actions of others, you'll continue to experience and attract them. If you spend your time thinking about how bad the economy is, how bad business is, and how hopeless the future is, it will be. However, if you spend your time focused on thinking about following your dreams, building business, developing your career, and being and becoming the best "you" you can be, then your actions will follow. In other words, by focusing on the positive things that are already in, and those that you want to come into your life, you will then pursue actions that lead to positive results. When you pour out thanks to others, your own soul is nourished. You are happier because you better appreciate what you have, and you are happier because you are pursuing what you most want. You appreciate other people more, and as a result, other people enjoy being with you more. Your 'attitude of gratitude' results in a better sense of personal peace and well-being within yourself, and as a result, you are better-able to be a good life partner, companion, parent, child, sibling, friend and co-worker.
1.3.11
Make your own luck! St. Patrick's Day marketing ideas for salon, spa, restaurant, bar and others!
Here are 8 ways to build business and engage your customers this St. Patrick's Day:
1. St. Patrick's Day Parade
During March, hold a "parade" of featured products and/or services in a series of Facebook, Blog and Web Site postings where you highlight a specific product or service and point out its most important benefits to customers. Depending on how many products or services you want to feature, this could be done daily, twice a week, or once a week. To incentivize purchases, create a time-limited, compelling special offer in conjunction with each item on "parade."
2. The Wearin' of the Green
Fill a fishbowl with shamrock-shaped cards that contain "luck"-oriented quotes, Irish blessings, special offers from your business, special offers from businesses with which you cooperatively market, etc. When clients arrive and are wearing green during March, have them dig a shamrock-shaped card out of a bowl. You can also publicize this on Facebook, your Blog, E-Mail and/or Web Site for additional traction.
RELATED ARTICLES:
365 Day of Marketing: St. Patricks Day Marketing Ideas for Small Business
3. Help Customers Avoid the "Pinch"
Create offers with "Don't get in a Pinch" language; such as:
- Don't get in a pinch sale, booking incentive, new client offer, bring a friend offer, etc.
- Don't let your style get stuck in a pinch
- Don't get in a pinch massage or stress or aromatherapy services
- Look good in a pinch manicure
Fill a large glass container with inexpensive gold chocolate coins and hold a customer guessing contest during March. The winner should receive the container with the coins as well as a complimentary service or product gift. Or fill a pot with gold coins and send one home with each customer at checkout (or during their appointment).
5. Irish-or-Not Happy Hour
Many St. Patrick's Day traditions and Irish lore itself almost begs for a special St. Patrick's Day happy hour celebration. Either hold a happy hour in your business, or partner with a local bar or restaurant to create a bigger, broader-reach event. Be sure that you collect the contact information of all attendees and extend a special new client and/or other bounce back offer at the event and another one in follow-up e-mail and/or direct mail communication.
6. Brush Up on Your Irish Trivia Contests
Create 'shower' style trivia question sheets for customers to see how much they know about Irish terms, history, or the history of St. Patrick's Day. On March 17th (or the end of March) reward a winner with a complimentary service and/or product package. Reward runners up with service offer, free samples, etc. Or do daily/weekly "Did You Know" posts on Facebook, your Blog, Web Site or in E-Mail marketing. Ask questions on Facebook/Blog/Web Site and reward those who come in to your business to answer the question with a free sample and bounce back offer.
7. Shamrock-Lucky Offers
Create shamrock-shaped cards with special offers and deliver them for redemption by employees of local businesses, employees of city offices, police, fire, etc., employees of your local school district or local public and private schools, employees of local hospital, etc.
8. Shamrock-Shaped Coasters
Order Shamrock-shaped coasters featuring your business contact information and a special offer for use as bag stuffers and for placement at local bars, restaurants, wine shops, coffee shops, etc.
RELATED ARTICLES: 365 Day of Marketing: St. Patricks Day Marketing Ideas for Small Business
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Elizabeth Kraus is the author of Make Over Your Marketing: 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa as well as the 2012 Salon and Spa Marketing Calendar and The One to Watch - your salon and spa marketing blueprint for 2012!
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