Here are my tips to get more umph from your promotions this week.

1) Hosting a Mother’s Day event? Make sure you track the names and contact information of everyone who attends. Don’t skip this step because you assume that most of the attendees are already clients or are friends of clients. Ask for permission to communicate with them after the event. Also, assign someone to help you transfer the names from paper to your client database.

2) Donating to a silent auction? Don’t leave the display of your offering to chance. Give the sponsoring organization a proper portfolio of your work  and a complete description of the prize. If you only give them business cards embedded with your logo, guests (possible ideal clients) may walk right past your prize without bidding or even stopping to pick up one of your lovely cards. And more unfortunate,  the charity may not be able to raise as much money.

3) Consider giving a surprise scalp massage. Delivering an unadvertised special gift (of product or service) or an unexpected level of service (maybe handing out a rose for all) is a nice touch. It doesn’t have to be something expensive but something that makes your guests feel valued as clients.

4) Attend a Mother’s Day event with networking in mind. Perhaps, you are already gearing up to take a special mother in your life to brunch, church, or to a community event. Don’t leave your business cards at home; this may be a prime networking opportunity.

5) Schedule time to re-connect with your holiday campaign business partner. Often some of the most effective holiday campaigns involve joining forces with another area business. Before your co-promotion ends, schedule time with the other owner to discuss what worked well and what needs tweaking for next time. If your only communication afterwards relates to coordinating logistics on gift certificate or basket, a precious opportunity to connect on a new level may be lost.

6) Identify Mother’s Day marketing rock stars. Take note of any nearby businesses that hosted a Mother’s Day campaign that you admired. It could be a restaurant, jewelry store, or even a clothing boutique. Next week drop by or send them a note to say that their campaign rocked and your clients would love their goods/services. If you vibe well, consider recommending that you try a joint promotion for the fall.

7) Give men an extra nudge. It’s not too late to send out a last minute email, run online advertising, or post social media messages targeted at men. Make it easy for them to grab a gift card, certificate, or even an online deal. This is not male bashing. For my male readers, you know the truth about your brethren.

The final scoop:

Every time you devote resources to do a seasonal campaign, it is an investment. Make sure you make the most of it.

If you are worried about staying within your marketing budget, it is important to understand your Return on Investment for every marketing expense.

I recently read a  report published by Boston Consulting Group that looked at how small businesses use online advertising. The study found that although many businesses now invest in social media and websites, many did not put much thought into their overall digital strategy.  Sadly, most do not realize when they are leaving money on the table due to their own marketing choices.

Here are a few suggestions to ensure that you are maximizing the return on your budget.

1) Make sure you connect with  current clients on social media. You may think that you do not waste any money when you haphazardly assign a staff member (or even time for yourself)  to spend time on Facebook and Twitter. However, you want to maximize your time of productive not busy work. On social media, you should have at least a rough idea of the percentage of how many actual paying customers follow you. If most of your sales are services delivered in your space, this percentage should be the majority to justify allocating a few hours a week of valuable resources. If not, invest time to remind your real clients to click Like. Note, businesses that actively sell products online typically have more fans but lower percentage but still yield a good return from social media.

2) Target where your potential clients hang out. What do you know about the likes and interests of your ideal clients. Spending money to form relationships and generate awareness where you know they hang out is wise. It is particularly important to think strategically if you are expanding to market new services or to a new demographic. Note, if your social media return seems low because of what I mentioned in #1, you may want to spend more time reaching out to influencers in your target demographic rather than building a raw fan count.

3) Monitor the average spend of a new client by where you find them. Some owners simply focus on getting MORE traffic instead of HIGH VALUE clients. What sounds better, 5 clients who will spend $20 each with you once or 1 client that will spend $120 with you every 6 months for the next 5 years. For each marketing idea you implement, you must track this to ensure you are making the best decision for your business. If it turns out that referrals from your current clients lead to the best clients, then it is worthwhile to invest resources in incentives, such as bonuses, special treatments, etc.

4) Take action after reviewing your web traffic statistics. Many owners pat themselves on the back for achieving high web traffic. Don’t stop there; strive for high conversion. High traffic without accompanying sales mean that you have a lot of untapped opportunity to woo visitors into clients. If you want to get the full return from that lovely website, you need to make it easier for clients to make an appointment, buy products, and make referrals from your site.

The final scoop:

Don’t blindly spend or stop spending money without understanding the impact. Take the time to evaluate whether your  collective promotion efforts make sense for where you are today

Bob Farrell (Source: www.weplaydifferent.wordpress.com)

I went to a great seminar yesterday that discussed how you can stand out from the competition with service. The lessons came from fifty-year business veteran turned motivational speaker, Bob Farrell.  After selling his original ice cream parlor franchise back in the ’70s, he became a motivational speaker and customer service guru. He travels across the country teaching owners of service-based businesses the importance of giving ‘em customer the pickle™. Let’s discuss the implications for the health and beauty industries.

Farrell uses the “pickle” as a metaphor for doing the little things that delight your clients. Becoming known for your pickle seals longtime relationship and invites more referrals. It should be something that clearly sets you apart from the salon or spa down the street. It doesn’t have to cost much, just be meaningful for your clients. A pickle example could be providing complimentary rain hats during inclement weather. If this is part of Your Salon Way, clients begin to expect this pickle. If a new staff member forgets to provide it or you suddenly eliminate the practice due to cost-cutting measures, you invite client dissatisfaction.

Here are a few other keys to great service from Farrell:

1. Attitude: How you think about your customer is how you treat them. If in your head you say “clients are clueless” or “clients are a pain,” it impacts the service you provide. Even if you can muster a tight smirk, your hands betray your face. It may sound cheesy but encourage everyone to smile more and notice the difference in the vibe. Recruit staff that can at least play the role of upscale hair designer or customer service rep if your goal is to create a posh environment. Make this a key hiring criteria. It is easier to train for technical skills than attitude.
2. Consistency: Customers notice when the service level slips, even if it “only happens one time.” From my client research, clients may even assume that you are having financial or general management problems.  Since high service standards are a key part of your brand, they must be non-negotiable for you and everyone on your team. Track your service performance along with sales. If you define specific measurable service standards, such as technicians must complete a consultation form for all new clients, you will get a gauge on consistency.
3. Teamwork: Team members should help each other produce great guest experiences. Most would agree with that statement. Farrell goes a step further to say employees at five-star service organizations should go out of their way to make their colleagues look good in front of the employees. It is not acceptable for the in-demand massage therapist to ignore processes that make the front desk clerk likely to look bad in front of guests. It’s not enough to just say work together. Find ways to reward team effort. This does not have to always come from the owner. Allow employees to give formal kudos to each other.

As business owners, we want our clients to swoon over our main service. The stuff that we directly tag with a price. But sometimes, it’s those intangible gestures that really justify our value.

Here are a few tips to use social media to aid in your recruitment process:

• Update your website. Potential staff may evaluate your website just like new clients. Encourage your social media followers to go to your website to get more detail about your business, including employment opportunities. Don’t waste the opportunity to give potential stylists a flavor of  your working environment. Make sure you put information on your website to help them understand your hiring process and even job requirements.
• Promote your existing staff on social media. If all the online accolades focus only on the owner, it may be a turn-off for some stylists. Even in a team-oriented culture, there is room to highlight the individuals that make up the group. A simple shout out for kudos for a job well done or an interesting personal tidbit (for example, a new baby) goes a long way.
• Focus on benefits. When you share job postings on social media, hype up overall benefits of working at your salon. Talk about your culture, your great clients, training opportunities, and your compensation package. Show that you value your staff beyond just robots standing behind chairs. Also, make it clear that you won’t hire anyone with a pulse and a book of clients. Talk about how you can assist to build a career and you will attract higher quality people.
• Connect with other stylists even if they are working in another salon. I understand many owners question the intention of  some stylists that fish for information without inquiring about a job. However, you never know when one may be casually searching for greener pastures. Interacting with stylists through Facebook and other online groups may help you get to know potential staff before you get close to making a hiring decision. Watch for inappropriate posts or signs that potential new hires may be unable to relate to your core clients. On the flip side, be careful of your own comments to groups. You want to portray yourself as a good potential owner and boss.
• Follow the beauty schools in your area on social media. As you build relationships with schools offline, consider connecting with a few online.  The social media savvier schools use Facebook to showcase their top students and highlight activities that make their school special. By monitoring the school happenings online, you can better select which programs or events to support in person.

Effectively using technology to manage your customer service experience is the difference between your clients thinking that your staff is sweet vs. applauding your smooth operations. Guess which gets clients happy to spend more money? You guessed it; the professional operation will win out most of the time. The holiday season provides new opportunities to pamper your clients with great service.

Here are some quick tips from Mind Body Online on how to use salon business software to support clients during the holidays and save on front desk expenses:

1) Let clients book appointments online. Today, clients view the convenience to book an appointment 24/7 as basic. Many web-based programs allow clients to select from the available time slots, services, and service operators which you add.  Some hair stylists, in particular, may have apprehension about giving control to clients to block out appointment for services with hard-to-predict lengths. If this is a concern, consider giving this option to existing clients (no new clients). Save time with scheduling basic appointments by allowing online booking.

2) Use automated appointment reminders. Clients are prone to forget their scheduled appointments, especially during the hectic holiday season. No-shows and late arrivals mean lost sales. You can make phone calls or send text messages one at a time. Or you can free up time by auto scheduling reminders.

3) Stay open 24/7 with an online store. One barrier to making online gift card sales can be your website. If you do not have a shopping cart on your website, you cannot accommodate impulse purchases for holiday gifts as well as product purchases. You can make some expensive website updates to handle these sales or you can leverage the online shopping cart functionality from your business software. By integrating eCommerce capabilities, your website can be as efficient as your front desk—even around your holiday hours.

 4) Reward your best clients. Yes, you can use a punch card but why limit your options. Your business software can manage loyalty points across a variety of services. You can assign your own dollar value for client to redeem.  Enable clients to use points to not only book their favorite service but also try out new ones.  Reward clients for returning AND referring clients within the same system.

 The Final Scoop:

Don’t think of your business softward decision as only a tool for you. Your clients actual gain many businesses when you upgrade your back office.

Holidays are a good time to test a collaboration since end-of-year sales are important across many industries. Although some may have their own tried and true formulas to reach their sales goals, many may be approachable if you plan early. There are many ways that you could collaborate from lending your physical space, sponsoring a giveaway item, or a co-promotion offer. All require fostering a good relationship for success.

As new opportunities appear for you over the next months, consider these 6 tips to building profitable alliances with other businesses:

1) Connect with the businesses where you already have a personal relationship, such as clients, your immediate neighbors, or suppliers. Determine which ones have quality products and share similar values about running a business. My research with client focus groups has shown that loyalty increases when salons can support clients to meet their personal and professional goals.

3) Consider businesses unrelated to beauty like restaurants, retailers, or entertainment services. While partnering with make-up artists or spas are great, expand your horizons. Clients shop for a wide range of gifts during the holiday season. Gift cards are easy to bundle and implement for a cross-promotion idea.

4) Make sure the relationship will be a two-way street. Think about what you have to give in order to make it worthwhile for your partner.  Volunteer to give a little more (i.e. include a swag bag’s donors information on your flyers or website) even if they don’t ask. You want to create long term relationships that may keep giving long after your first collaboration.

5) Be transparent about your expectations upfront. If you expect the other business to post a display at their front desk, make sure you discuss how you will both participate in promotions.

6) Don’t be afraid to partner with someone bigger than you. With a larger business, you may need to give more advance notice (i.e. no winging it) and more “process” but you will be able to reap huge rewards. Just confidently express the value in your client base (i.e. Tell a potential business partner that 60% of your clients are working moms who likely shop at their store).

The Final Scoop:

You can start slow and still reap the benefits of spreading the scoop about your brand through business collaborations. To leverage these relationships for profit, you need to devote time to nurture, often away from your core operations. Although the returns are not instantaneous, these referral engines can yield dividends over many years to come.

The truth is that many salons struggle to clearly articulate their brand in a way that truly distinguishes them. “Doing good hair” will not make your staff or salon remarkable. Clients expect a baseline of technical competence when they come to a professional salon. Running a traditional salon that has the predictable service menu and amenities will not have guests raving. Your goal is to produce a personal grooming experience that clients are willing to pay a premium for over and over again.

And, once you have locked in on what makes your salon or barber shop special, you need to make sure that your clients experience this “Your Salon Way” every single time. This means not just when you are there. Or when someone is NOT working that day. But every time. If not, your clients may think that the positive experience is just a fluke.

Remember, your salon brand is a function of:  1) You, the owner, 2) Your staff, and 3) Your salon amenities (If you hate math, I am sorry but I always love an equation. It is the former math geek in me).  If you compromise in any area, you run the risk of damaging your brand in the eyes of your current and potential clients.

Here is a little more about what I mean.

As an owner, it is up to you to continue to educate yourself to run a better business no matter how long you have been an owner. Get complacent at your own risk. There will always be new resources available to help you increase sales and minimize your costs. You are either growing or falling behind.

Your staff, including your front desk, assistants, and stylists, can make or break the salon experience of your clients. No matter how fabulous you are, your brand is larger than you if you have staff. The longer you settle to employ people that pose more harm than good to your retention rate, the slower you will be able to turn the corner with your business.  Invest in the development of your people so that they can live up to your vision.

Clients differ on what they value in salon amenities. Not everyone needs to serve wine by the shampoo bowl but it is important that your amenities match your brand mantra. One memorable quote from a salon client sums it up best, “Don’t expect me to pay top dollar prices if they don’t even have the decency to use clean towels.” When you start to procrastinate about completing improvement projects or replacing equipment, remember the image you would like to convey.

The Final Scoop:  Take time to clearly define your salon brand in a way that your clients and staff understand. Once you are clear on your vision for Your Salon Way, make sure your entire team is diligent about living this brand every day.

Hyperlocal sites are news websites that focus on the happenings of one particular town or neighborhood. Typically, these sites allow businesses to post a descriptive listing in a directory, submit press releases about your community outreach, recruit staff in a classified section, and share details of upcoming events in an event calendar. Often, the business directories includes a beauty/barber/spa section that allows consumers to leave ratings and reviews.

Hyperlocal sites are great because they:

1) Focus on readers that have a higher probability of supporting your business. Investing a lot of money to attract site visitors that will never book an appointment is not effective. The more you know about the background of your clients, the better you can smartly direct your marketing dollars to online communities that your target clients read. Although the local news sites do not have the same national brand recognition, they do have a more targeted email list of readers.

2) Generally lower cost. Many of the promotion opportunities on hyperlocal sites are free. There are also paid options to creative banner advertisements. The ad rates vary by the online publication typically but are much cheaper than the same ad printed in the traditional local newspaper or magazine.

3) Help with your own site’s SEO. The more places that you can post your website url, the higher you can rank within search engines like Google and Bing. Also, Google gives your business more credibility when you have more published articles about you as a business owner or your business.

Here are a few examples of hyperlocal websites across the country:

http://patch.com (the largest network of over 800 sites across 22 states and Washington DC. It is owned by AOL)

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/

http://houston.culturemap.com/

http://www.arlnow.com/

The Final Scoop:

Review the hyperlocal websites that covers the neighborhood for your business as well as where many of your clients live. Don’t miss out on free targeted advertising.

As a hair artist professional, you enjoy a very personal relationship with your clients. That is why clients actually have to break up with you to walk away. And, many want more advice from you than you could feasibly convey within a single appointment setting. For any good relationship, it takes good communication to be successful. In this case, success comes in the form of high client retention rates if you can master nurturing your client relationships effectively.

Remember the old Bell telephone commercials that encouraged you to “reach out and touch someone.” Today, the good news is that you have plenty of cost effective options (beyond the phone) to connect with your guests. You can send clients offers in the mail, email, across social media (including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and blogs), and via text message.

Most business owners are aware of “how” (or which method) they could communicate but get stuck on “what” to say. Here are a few topic suggestions to use in your online and printed communications:

1. Be the beauty pro: Clients crave the real hair truth, especially with the amount of misinformation available online. Take the opportunity to remind your clients of your staff’s expertise in hair care and style. You can discuss new style trends, basic home hair care maintenance techniques, and how to maintain the in-salon styles with your clients.
2. Share special salon moments: Did the salon staff just do an AIDS Walk? Did you just celebrate a business anniversary? Did you recently attend a hair show or seminar? Help clients connect with your overall business on a deeper level.  If your salon won a neighborhood or industry award, let your clients know. Sharing photos can go a long way.
3. Highlight special clients: Clients love shout outs to acknowledge special salon visits (i.e weddings), to celebrate personal achievements (i.e. promotions) or to show simple gratitude for referrals.
4. Inform about new products: Another way to show that you care is to recommend new services that will meet their needs, which also helps your upsell rate.
5. Give last minute reminders: Let your clients know about last minute appointment availability that will also help you manage capacity.

The communication topics that I shared really work well across the various forms of communication (including email, social media, or even direct mail). Blogging is great for client education and you have a number of choices. Be prepared to experiment to see how you can yield the best response. You may need to stick with an approach for 4-6 months before you can decide that something is not effective. Keep in mind, you need to continue long enough that your clients build up an expectation to receive this kind of information before you evaluate whether or not it is working.

If you are serious about moving the needle on retention, it is best to develop an ongoing communication plan that nurtures your relationships with your clients. An example of a schedule could be: daily social media updates, monthly blog posts/newsletters, and annual direct mailings (coupon or newsletter). You don’t get the same impact if you do it haphazardly.

The Final Scoop:

Communicating with clients outside the salon goes a long way to generate more loyalty from clients and increase your retention metrics. Ensuring that all clients leave your salon with a consistent consultation experience is important. However, you can add more value to the client’s overall salon experience by continuing to communicate helpful information that will further connect clients to your business.

Special note:  This post is featured in the Hair Artist Association newsletter. Read the latest Hair Artist Association newsletter here for more tips to build your business.

Now, many woman have become accustomed to searching for reviews on multiple websites, especially if the salon is on the small side. However, many women are hesitant to go to a salon that they never heard of before with zero online reviews. A thumbs up from a kindred online sisterfriends can be just as valuable as a cosign by girlfriends, family, or co-workers. Some women may exhale when an online review validates the endorsement of a girlfriend (who may have slightly different level of tolerance0.

The bottom line is that you don’t want a potential client to see your fabulous portfolio of work, read about the great amenities of your salon but feel nervous about picking up the phone to book an appointment.

It is okay and a good thing to ask your clients to post reviews. Of course, you can ask them while they are sitting in your chair. But don’t forget, you can ask them on Facebook and or in your email communications as gentle reminders.

Here are some signs that you may need to ask for more reviews.

 1) Your last review is more than 6 months old. You should aim to get at least one new review each month. If you are a high traffic salon, this should not be difficult to achieve.

2) Your best reviews are for stylists that no longer work in your salon. If your best reviews are for former staff members, it sends the signal that your best days happened in the past. It makes visitors feel less confident that the salon experience will be the same without your former star.

3) If you are a stylist, your best reviews are linked to one of your former salons. No one can erase your good reviews. However, you want to make sure that your best praise is associated with your current salon location. You want to be able to go full throttle to promote your current business without worrying about driving business to your former salon.

4) You recently got a less than favorable review. It happens. Besides, posting a high road response, you should also use this as an opportunity to remind clients to review you. Most sites (except Yelp which uses a unique filter algorithm for displaying reviews) will show the most current review first.

5) A recent client left the salon on Cloud 9. Ask your happy client while it is fresh in her mind and she is still doing America’s Next Top Model poses in the mirror. She won’t flinch at your request. And, you will have immortalized another great salon experience.

The Final Scoop:

Lead the process for collecting fresh reviews. Don’t get complacent after getting just a handful. Continue to build your online word of mouth by encouraging your happy clients to share the scoop.

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