The Phorest Blog

4 Great SMS ideas for CHRISTMAS

2013-12-06T09:59:00.000+00:00

Christmas is the perfect time to use SMS to keep people posted about your packages, hampers, gift vouchers and to introduce them to new treatments and styles. Christmas is also a perfect chance to show your clients the attitude of gratitude for being so loyal.

Here are some SMS template ideas you may use to make this Xmas unique!

Gift Ideas – target a male audience. Give them the perfect gift idea for someone special.

David, your angel deserves the best this Xmas. Our gift vouchers + hampers will keep you off the naughty list! Call @beautytree for more 098765790

Increase your Referrals – Christmas is time for bonding and sharing, don’t miss the chance to increase your referrals.

Anne, Xmas is here + it’s time for the attitude of gratitude. Bring in someone you love + get £100 of extra TreatCard points pp. @beautytree 0653221455

Treatment Push – festivities are always a great opportunity to promote new treatments.

Kate, have you been a good girl this year? Then you deserve the best! Pamper yourself with a revitalizing facial & get a mini manicure free. 02071009290

Rewarding Loyalty – make your premium clients feel special. Reward them with no additional costs; give them extra points on their Treat Cards.

Emma, it’s time for Xmas presents @RightHair. Buy any hair product in December and we'll give you £20 of bonus TreatCard points. 014598223

Giulia works in the marketing department of Phorest. If you have questions for Giulia about this post or SMS in general, email marketing@phorest.com or leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading!

Make Xmas less Stressful - Process Vouchers, Payments and Sales on iPad & iPhone

2013-12-02T10:58:00.001+00:00

MAKE CHRISTMAS LESS STRESSFUL - process payments, vouchers and sales on iPhone & iPad.

You know that Christmas feeling... the bad one! Everybody is tripping over themselves at the till trying to put through payments, process vouchers, make appointments and answer the phone. It just can't be done. Clients can end up feeling frustrated while the team begin to get irate which results in bad customer service. We have something that's really going to relieve the stress during this manic period.

Now imagine this - every person on your team can be a mobile receptionist and no matter how busy you get, they can easily handle all payments from anywhere on the floor on iPhone or iPad. Well that's just what Phorest has just released.

We have an uber-slick iPhone and iPad app that looks great when dealing with clients on top of carrying the professional touch of being ultra efficient and organised. Here's a 30 second teaser video:

3 great reasons you should get this:

Relieve queues during busy periods - deal with clients anywhere on the floor
Price items with your phone right at the retail section of your salon. No more, "Hold on please until I check the price" when asked by a client in a rush i.e. never miss a sale!
Create a cutting-edge image and a new standard of customer service. Be a leader in your field

I'd like more information about the app

There is a once-off cost of £250/€250 for the app and it can be used on as many devices as you wish.

Ronan Perceval is CEO and Founder of Phorest.com, a leading international provider of salon software. UK: 0207 100 9290 Irl: 01 874 7800 e: letsgrow@phorest.com

4 Simple Ideas for a Great Xmas Facebook Competition

2013-11-29T09:24:00.002+00:00

Christmas is a time for sharing and bonding and it’s peak time for you to increase your referrals, spread the word and get people talking about your salon.

So why not do something different? Grab your clients’ attention, create awareness and interest and get noticed by your clients' friends online

Here's some ideas for a Christmas Facebook Competition.

Facebook Competition – run a Facebook competition before Xmas. Come up with an original idea.

My personal advice is “the funnier the better”. It’s Christmas time, people want to smile and relieve their stress. Here's four funny ideas to run a memorable Facebook Competition this Christmas.

“The Best Xmas Jumper” Competition - let your clients upload and share pics of their Xmas outfit on your salon Page.
“Submit your Emoticon” Competition - ask your fans to submit their photos to convey three emoticons such as a smile :), a frown :( or a 'hhummpphhh'. :S
“The Best Xmas Shot” Competition - Encourage your fans to share their best Christmas snaps of snowmen, brightly decorated homes, Christmas trees, and so on.

For the three ideas above, 'The photo with the most likes wins' would work well!

“Make a Christmas Wish List” Competition - encourage your fans to create their own wish list including your products and treatments. Ask them to go on your salon website and list 3 or 4 pf their favourite producst/treatments. One of the participants will get them for free as a winner.

REMEMBER: like and share competitions are against Facebook's terms and conditions. You can however ask them to comment on the competition and like it. If they share it, it's perfectly fine - you just can't make it a 'must' for a chance of winning.

Why not tag Phorest's Facebook page with your competition and we'll help you get it out there! :-)

Giulia works in the marketing department of Phorest. If you have questions for Giulia about this post or Facebook Competition in general, email marketing@phorest.com or leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading!

Why Most Salons Pay VAT On The Gift Vouchers They Give Away To Charities And How You Can Avoid This...

2013-11-25T16:53:00.000+00:00

Most salons give away free gift vouchers to charity. Charities will then use these gift vouchers as prizes in raffles or to auction off in order to raise money.

The problem for salons is that when the voucher is redeemed in the salon it goes towards the price of a treatment, service or product. AND the salon will end up paying the VAT on that transaction even though the salon didn't receive any money for it. This shouldn't be the case...

The reason this happens is that most salon softwares treat these gift vouchers as a normal gift voucher and normally you have to pay vat on a transaction where a gift voucher is used.

The trick is not to enter a charity gift voucher into the voucher section of the software.

On Phorest Cloud, this is what you need to do.

1. Set up a new Payment Type called CHARITY. To do this, go to MANAGER > SETTINGS > PAYMENT TYPES and click ADD.

2. When you give out the charity vouchers, do not enter them onto the system. Instead make sure the value of the voucher is clearly visible on the voucher.

3. When the voucher is presented in the salon don't click the regular voucher payment type, instead choose the new CHARITY one you have created.

4. Finally each month or each you can generate a report of all the charity gift voucher sales by going to REPORTS > TRANSACTION REPORT and selecting charity in your payment type filter. The total of all these charity vouchers should be deducted from your overall turnover and the VAT amount deducted from your VAT bill.

Ronan Perceval is CEO and Founder of Phorest.com, a leading international provider of salon software.

BREAKING - NEW STATS: How are new clients finding out about your salon or spa?

2013-11-16T10:53:00.000+00:00

We all know as salon and spa owners how useful it is to ask, "Where did you hear about us?". It gives you an indication as to how effective your marketing is and which clients are generating the referrals.

The difficult part is tracking it. As part of your client card on Phorest's software, we track the "Where did you hear about us?". Here's a breakdown from over 1,000 salons in the UK and Ireland and the best ways of getting your salon found and building your brand.

The three big WOWSERS:

1) Referrals are actually MORE effective than Google when it comes to finding your salon. Among the salons profiled, 370,000 clients stated Google as the place they came across the salons compared to almost 507,000 who stated they were referred by a friend.

Tip: The point is this - having a website and Facebook page/Twitter account is ultra important but the power of old-school word-of-mouth cannot be taken for granted. Focus on your existing clients and wow them - that's the most effective way to get new clients through the door.

2) Facebook is twice as effective at getting your salon found compared to your website: 92,000 clients stated Facebook vs. 40,000 for the salons' websites.

Tip: Embrace social media! Having a website alone is simply not enough. In fact, if you had to choose one, you'd be better off having a Facebook page. However the combined effectiveness of having a great website and a great Facebook page cannot be replaced by either of them alone.

3) Even flyers ranked higher as a source of getting new clients than some of the biggest daily deal sites including Living Social, showing a real decline in the amount of people buying services on daily deal sites and the amount of salons and spas using them.

Tip: ANYTHING is better than a daily deal. According to our stats, staff have brought twice as many new people to salons since the start of the year as daily deal sites!

Conclusion:

To put this all in perspective, your clients are your most powerful marketing tool. Better than any search engine or social media site. Getting new clients is a pointless exercise unless you can hold onto them. The salons that are performing best are the ones to who are embracing all opportunities to get new clients, but have mastered retention marketing i.e. they have focused on their existing clients and those clients have generated referrals through word-of-mouth and social media.

Another expected trend that's going to rock the boat is mobile. More and more salons and spas are getting apps. It's a smart move. Outside of calls and texts, 82% of peoples' time is spent on apps vs. only 18% of time on mobile websites or browsing the web. It's going to be your new shop front!

Connor Keppel is the Marketing Manager at Phorest. You can contact Connor on

0207 100 9290 in the UK or 01 874 7800 in Ireland or by email on connor.keppel@phorest.com

PHOREST SALON SOFTWARE - FREE DEMO

An Xmas Marketing Idea to Get Your January Appointment Book Full!

2013-11-04T14:40:00.001+00:00

You're rolling up to the busy festive season. It's a great time for your business. Everybody becomes more image conscious with the eagerly awaited Christmas work party looming and the prospect of seeing relatives for the first time in months.

Getting people into your salon at this time of year is not the issue. The real skill lies in getting people into your salon AND getting them back again in the new year. Here's how to make the most of Xmas and get your New Year ready from NOW!

During other months of the year, clients are much more willing to work in line with your available slots. In December, mania can set in and when people can't get that last minute appointment, they take the risk of trying a new salon. If you're prepared this can work to your advantage and you can turn new clients into loyal clients and get regulars back for a booming January and start to 2014.

The idea? Just use the attitude of gratitude!

When clients come into your salon give them a free gift card. Here's the key, the card can only be used in January and it requires a minimum spend if they want to use it.
You set the rules - the value of the card and what minimum spend is required.

Why should I do this?

There's lots of reasons, including these five:

It shows appreciation for the people who've given you business throughout the year. That's invaluable for retention
It's a great way to get new clients back again within a few weeks. Get them back a second time and chances are, you may have a client for life.
The card is transferable so if your clients can't use it, they can pass it onto someone else. Referrals anybody?!
Clients who feel loved and rewarded will spread the word on Facebook and to their friends over coffee. It's a great way to generate word of mouth
It's great for your image. Every salon will be busy during December. Only the best will be busy during January. This gift card ensures your salon looks busy for passers-by and people trying to book online.

Cards must be ordered by the November 11th. --> ORDER HERE<--

Not using Phorest's Software? No problem. You can still use these gift cards anyway.

Details, details!

The card is available in 3 classy colours - black card with silver writing; black card with gold writing or silver card with black writing (see example above).

200 for £145/€170 ----- 350 for £210/€235 ----- 500 for £265/€299

Need more? No problem, just get in touch or let us know when you --> ORDER HERE<--.

Barry Quinn is in charge of TreatCard Loyalty system for Phorest. You can contact Barry on 02071009290 in the UK or 018747800 in Ireland or by email barry.quinn@phorest.com.

BOO! - 3 Simple Halloween SMS Ideas for Your Salon

2013-10-29T16:30:00.001+00:00

BOO! Does the prospect of an empty salon this Halloween give you the ‘heeby-jeebies’? Last week Giulia gave you some SMS ideas to get bums on seats during the scary season.

Here’s some more… Happy Halloween from everyone at Phorest!

Hair:

<<clientfirstname>>, not going for the Medusa look this Halloween? Free product voucher worth £10 with every appointment over £40. Call Hair2day now 02071009290

Beauty:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all? <<clientfirstname>>! Call the Beauty Tree on 02071009290 & get a FREE massage with every Facial.

Nails:

<<clientfirstname>>, we have a Halloween offer that’s so good it’s scary! Get a free eyebrow thread with every manicure. Call Nail Love on 02071009290.

Connor Keppel is the Marketing Manager at Phorest. You can contact Connor on

0207 100 9290 in the UK or 01 874 7800 in Ireland or by email on connor.keppel@phorest.com

Some SMS Tricks to turn your Halloween into a Treat

2013-10-23T10:18:00.003+01:00

Halloween is close. The only thing that should be scaring you right now is having an empty salon for this busy weekend.

Here's some SMS tricks to turn your Halloween into a treat.

Get your clients involved through Halloween-related promotions and themed SMS.

Halloween gives you double the opportunity to show your care for your clients and to let them try a treatment they have never had before at a promotional price. If they go for it in the future at its normal price, you’re dramatically increasing their average spend.

Here are some SMS templates you could send out to your clients - feel free to adapt them for your own Halloween promotions.

<<clientfirstname>> No tricks this Halloween. Treat yourself + a friend. Get loyalty points x 2 when you introduce a friend. Beauty tree. 02071009290

<<clientfirstname>>, shine bright through the darkness of Halloween with our revitalizing facial offers & get a mini manicure free. Beauty Tree. 02071009290

<<clientfirstname>>, put a spell on everybody by fluttering your new eyelash extensions & get a complimentary brow shape & tint. Beauty Tree. 02071009290

<<clientfirstname>>, go on, get out and get up to your tricks! Get a cut & blow dry and get a complimentary hair mask this week. Beauty Tree. 02071009290

And for our loyal readers...

The Real Reasons London Hair Salons Make 20% More Money

2013-10-17T15:45:00.000+01:00

Last week Karolina took a look at beauty salons in the UK, in London and other parts of the country. This week I'm going to take a look at how hair salons across the country compare with the capital.

Hair salons in London have 20% higher revenue since January 2013 compared to salons outside of the capital. In a way it's not surprising and the main reasons we attribute to it are: greater footfall and higher prices. Prices do play a role, but the reality is that salons in London on average have only had 10% more people through their door since January, and slightly LESS appointments.

What are the real reasons?

One startling difference is the adoption of online booking systems. Online bookings account for a larger amount of bookings in London - in fact 12% of (or almost one in eight) clients in the London area book their cut and colours online. Outside of London, it's much lower at just 2%. Why? Simply because far more salons in London are providing the ability to book online.

If you have the ability to take appointments 24/7, 365 you are working to people's busy schedules. Think about it like this: Jane has a last minute work function tomorrow afternoon. She only finds out at 8pm. You're not open. She can't book in. Your competitor provides online booking though and she books in online. You are now at the mercy of that other salon. If they wow Jane, you may have lost a loyal client for life.

Online booking or booking through an app also means you can capitalise on the impulse buy. When people call in, they'll just ask for their regular style or colour. If you list all of your services, you are making them aware of what other services you provide and you can get them thinking about trying something new. If they buy it, you've probably increased their average spend by 30-40%!

Salons in London are selling 20% more retail.

You know how hard it is to sell retail. Stylists are not natural salespeople and that's not necessarily a bad thing. But unfortunately many stylists see retail as being in direct competition with tips. People who book online are spending more upfront before they go into the salon with a deposit. A possibility is that those clients feel like they are spending less on the day and are therefore more likely to purchase a product too when they are actually in there.

Interested in getting online bookings? Just hit the link below and we'll be in touch:
I want to learn more about your software and salon branded app
I'm a Phorest client - how do I do online bookings? Simply contact Phorest on letsgrow@phorest.com

Sue Maguire is Sales Director for phorest.com, the UK's fastest growing provider of salon software. If you have any questions on the post, Sue can be contacted at letsgrow@phorest.com or 0207 100 9290.

Beauty Salons with Online Booking have 29% Higher Revenue

2013-10-09T12:29:00.000+01:00

The current issue of Professional Beauty (October) contains a fascinating feature on the state-of-play of beauty salons in the UK. The reality is startling - beauty salons who provide the ability to book online, have on average, a 29% higher turnover...

London vs. the rest of UK

Beauty salons in London are making a third more in revenue than those elsewhere in the UK. The average revenue from January to September 2013 was £93,000, while in London, it's just over £150,000. This is most likely a reflection of the footfall that London salons get with a bigger catchment area and higher portion of tourists plus, the generally higher prices that the city commands.

Phorest's software automatically sends an email to every client after each appointment asking them to rate it out-of-five and leave a comment. Interestingly, while salons in the UK are making more money and getting more clients through the door, the level of satisfaction is lower. The average rating is 4.1 outside of London and 3.5 in the capital.

Online Bookings:

Salons, in London and elsewhere, that provide an online booking facility have on average, 29% higher revenue. The reasons for this are:

You are working to peoples' schedules - they are not working to your opening hours i.e. they can book 24/7, 365 and it doesn't interfere with the busiest hours of their day. Also, if people need a last minute treatment, they can book it at any stage. The reality is, you're going to lose regular clients to other salons if you don't provide online bookings. Even if the standard of your customer service and treatments is higher, convenience will still win in many cases.

When people call in to book an appointment, they will usually just ask for their 'usual'. When people are presented with a list of services, it's much easier for you to capitalise on the impulse buy. The, "Oh I've always wanted to try that!" followed by a click of the mouse can easily increase average spend by 30-40%.

The probability is that salon owners who have online booking and an app are more likely to be savvy marketers among the group which is also reflected in the revenue.

Regardless of the reasons, the correlation between revenue and online bookings is too strong to ignore. The moral of the story is, online bookings are no longer a nice-to-have but an ESSENTIAL tool for any beauty salon in the city or outside it. But... this doesn't just apply to websites. You need an app too. Outside of calls and texts, 82% of peoples' time is spent on apps.

Next time around, we're going to be looking at hair salons. Thanks for reading!

Interested in getting online bookings? Just hit the link below and we'll be in touch:

I want to learn more about your software and salon branded app

I'm a Phorest client - how do I do online bookings? Simply contact Phorest on letsgrow@phorest.com

Karolina Markan is Salon Development Manager at Phorest, the UK's fastest growing provider of salon software. If you have any questions on the post, Karolina can be contacted at karolina.markan@phorest.com or 0207 100 9290.

SMS IDEAS - How World Egg Day and a Dictionary can make your Salon Money!

2013-10-02T09:07:00.000+01:00

Firstly may I wish you a very happy International Vegetarian Day.

I bet by the time you started reading this second sentence you were thinking, 'That actually exists?'. It does. It's today. In fact there are many days out there of importance for great causes or just plain good fun.

The question is though have you been using them for SMS promos as a creative and engaging way to get clients thinking about your salon and its services. Here's some strange days and SMS ideas you can use on them that may even get a laugh!

October 5th - show the love!

National 'Do Something Nice Day'. Maybe you could do something nice for your clients? Good chance to up sell by increasing your TreatCard (loyalty) points.

<<firstname>>, 2day is National Do Something Nice Day. Book an appointment 2day for any day in Oct & get double points on TreatCard. 02071009290 Beauty Tree.

2. October 12th - Eggggcellent SMS idea that's tongue in cheek. . Definitely one for the students!

<<firstname>>, it’s world egg day. Look cracking this weekend wknd with free eyebrow thread (£15) with tan apt. Book b4 Sat. 02071009290 Tanzone

3. October 16th - World Dictionary Day. Not a day to be lost for words...

<<firstname>>, word up! It's World Dictionary Day. Bring a new meaning to 'fabulous' and get half-price shampoo with every cut & colour. 02071009290 Hair 2Day

We'll be covering Halloween SMS ideas later this month of course. Let us know how you get on with the ideas above and... have some fun!

Connor Keppel is the Marketing Manager at Phorest. You can contact Connor on

0207 100 9290 in the UK or 01 874 7800 in Ireland or by email on connor.keppel@phorest.com

HOW TO: Running a Competition for your Salon on Twitter

2013-09-27T10:20:00.002+01:00

We got lots of questions after my last post on Facebook about how to run promotions and competitions on Twitter. So... here you go!

A Twitter competition is a great way not only to generate buzz for your salon but also to increase your customers’ engagement and loyalty as well to grow the exposure of your website.

A Twitter competition is as easy as getting people to share tweets with their followers in return for a chance to win a prize.

However, a Twitter competition must be implemented, promoted and managed correctly to see a substantial amount of engagement.

Here are some good tips to run a successful Twitter contest:

1. Make your Prize relevant – make sure your contest prize relates with your customers and represents something that your salon customers really want.

Bear in mind...

- Better to give away a couple of smaller prizes than a big one - it will help to increase participation and customers will be more motivated to get on board. Plus it keeps the momentum going for longer.

- Consider to schedule your prizes daily. If users don’t win today, they will try their luck tomorrow.

2. Rules come first – it’s very important to set out the rules and regulations of the competition before you start posting about it. You will need to outline the contest terms and conditions, time frame of the contest, eligibility, and how the winners will be chosen.

Most importantly, make sure your contest meets Twitter’s requirements. Does it sound too tricky? Don’t worry, keep an eye on our blog, a post on Guidelines for contests on Twitter is on its way!

3. Generate Pre-Buzz –you will need to create some buzz prior to the launch of your Twitter competition in order to let your customers know that there is a contest coming up. Pre-buzz create awareness, expectation and increases participation.

Wondering how to create the best pre-buzz? Just tell your clients when visiting the salon, send them an email or an SMS announcing the contest and containing a link to the announcement on your website or even just a link to your Twitter account. It's a great way to gain followers also.

4. Choose the right Timing – pick the moment your followers interact more and have more time to get involved.

Our Rule of Thumb..

- As a general rule Friday’s are the best for one-day competitions on Twitter. But if you know that your followers engage better on a different day, then give it a try!

- If you are planning a bigger campaign, then run it for longer. However, since internet users have a short attention span, we wouldn't recommend running it for more than a few days at a time.

5. Put the details up on your website – explain the details of the contest such as rules, conditions, prizes, time frame of the contest, how users can join, how winners will be notified, and so on. If you can't do this on your website do it over the course of a few tweets.

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions.

p.s. Contact Phorest today for Twitter training - 0207 100 9290 or 01 874 7800.

Giulia works in the marketing department of Phorest. If you have questions for Giulia about this post or social media in general, email marketing@phorest.com or leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading!

Competition Rules have changed on Facebook… AGAIN! But for the better…

2013-09-25T12:20:00.000+01:00

Facebook recently announced an update of its Page Terms that makes it easier for salons to run promotions on their Facebook Page.

Here's the low-down on the new rules...

So far, all promotions had to be administered through apps. The new Page Terms update allows salon owners to run a promotion either from their page, from an app, or by using both.

Here’s what you need to know in a few, easy points:

1. Promotions may be run on Page Timelines and in apps - Facebook removed the requirement that promotions have to be administered through apps only.

For example, businesses can now:

Collect entries by having users post on the Page or comment/like a page post

Collect entries by having users message the Page

Utilize likes as a voting mechanism

2. Accurate tagging is required in promotions - Pages are now forbidden in tagging or encouraging people to tag themselves in content that doesn't depict them.

So, for instance:

It’s OK to ask people to submit names of a new product in exchange for a chance to win a prize
It’s not OK to ask people to tag themselves in pictures of a new product in exchange for a chance to win a prize

3. Like and share competitions are still against the rules though…

You cannot ask people to share competitions. Facebook does not like peoples’ newsfeeds being clogged with competition content.

What’s the benefit of this update? Salon owners now have more chances to run promotions the best way for their business.

Have you ever used an app to run a promotion? Once upon a time, the only way to run a competition and keep within Facebook’s guidelines was to use a third party competition app.

Never heard of this? Don’t worry, we have a post coming soon. We will say this though, if you have been using one up until now… you can continue to do so, but you can also run it using the more old school and popular approach above.

Thanks for reading!

Giulia works in the marketing department of Phorest. If you have questions for Giulia about this post or Facebook in general, email marketing@phorest.com or leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading!

How to Switch a Facebook Friends Page over to a Likes Page

2013-09-19T18:50:00.003+01:00

A lot of salons starting out on Facebook create a 'friends' Facebook page and not a proper page that gets 'likes'. As a Facebook trainer for salons, I get asked a lot of questions about why you should switch over and how.

Here's my guide to switching over a personal page to a salon business page.

If you get lost along the way on your switch over, you'll catch me on emma.farrell@phorest.com. Enjoy!

Why Switch Over?

1. You can have more fans than friends!

While the amount of friends you have on your personal profile page is capped at 5,000, your business page can have an infinite number of fans!

2. Tagging Your Brand

Your fans and other business pages can tag your like page. Only your friends can tag your personal page. You want to show up on as many Newsfeeds as possible, so you definitely want the option to be tagged in photos and other posts.

3. Monitoring how you're doing

Facebook Insights, or analytics are a fantastic way of tracking what you're doing and if it's working. You can track the amount of views a post receives and monitor your weekly reach.

4. It's against the rules!

If you add a person as a friend on Facebook, you have access to information that a business page shouldn't have. In the case of getting reported, Facebook may remove your page without warning as it's against their terms and conditions.

5. Checking-in at Your Salon

Facebook Like pages allow people to 'check in' to your salon. What a great way to promote your brand with clients advertising 'I'M HERE!' all over their Newsfeed for friends to see.

How do I switch over?

Firstly, Download Your Profile Information

Make sure you do this before you even consider starting to migrate as not everything will get transferred in the migration. Your friends will change to Likes ( HALLELUJAH!!! ) and you will also keep your username and profile picture.....the rest I'm afraid will be lost. So make sure to download everything so you can upload again! And here's how...

Click the account menu at the top right of any Facebook page
Choose Account Settings
Click on “Download a copy of your Facebook data”
Click Start My Archive
Then, appoint a New Admin to Pages You Manage
When your profile is converted to a Page, the “old you” disappears. So that means if you were the sole admin of any Pages, they will now be admin-less. YOU MUST DO THIS BEFORE MIGRATION!
Convert Your Personal Facebook Profile to a Business Page
It’s time for the moment of truth..... here's the Facebook link

https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php?migrate and here is how it looks...

It's not a million miles from setting up a personal page, and there are very clear instructions on what to do.

Merge Duplicate Pages

A dilemma a lot of salon owners have is that they have set up both a personal profile in their business name and an existing business Page;......so what now? Which one do I migrate and keep?! Panic stations!! Luckily Facebook will allow you to merge business Pages that represent the same thing. I know, how much easier to simply merge your Profile with the Page from the start? But you can’t.

So here is how to merge two existing, duplicate pages according to Facebook:

Go to the page with the most likes. This will be the one you’ll keep.
From the top of your page, click Edit Page
Select Update Info
From the left sidebar, select Resources.
Click the Merge duplicate Pages link. This link will only appear if you admin two Pages with similar names.
A dialogue will show pages you admin that qualify to be merged. Select the Page(s) you wish to merge. If you’re merging Pages with a location, they must have the same address information.

And there it is, the key differences between the page options and why you really should migrate to a like page. Remember Facebook will continue to change and diversity between the page options will only grow...

As always we are on hand to offer support in any way we can, and I will keep my ear to the ground for further changes, so watch this space!

Emma works in the training department of Phorest and specialises in Facebook, online and app training. If you have questions for Emma about this post or online and social media in general, email emma.farrell@phorest.com or leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading!

JOIN MICHAEL IN A FREE WEBINAR: Giving Your Best Clients the ‘App’-etite to Spend More through Mobile

2013-09-17T09:44:00.002+01:00

In April 2013, Phorest changed how your clients can book their appointments forever.

Smartphone apps take up the majority of how people interact on mobile and Phorest has created the first tailored live salon booking app for hair and beauty salons that talks to your appointment book.

What does this mean? It means that now you can have your own salon-branded app that busy clients can download on the move.

Features include contact details, a google map location, special offers and staff bio’s. Most importantly though they can book their own appointments directly and easily from their phone which gives them a 24/7 connection to you. No no, don’t worry, they can’t see your appointment screen!

Having an app for your business will put you ahead of the competition by offering another great facility to your clients. But, of course, you have to actually get them to download it in the first place.

That’s where I come in. I have created a short and simple seminar to give you all the tips and tricks you need to make the download process for your clients as seamless as possible.

I will show you how to share download links effectively through various mediums so your clients won't even have to search for anything, just click a link to download over Facebook, emails, text messages etc.

This will massively increase the number of app downloads you get and also create awareness about this unique tool that you offer. The beauty of it is, clients actually spend more when they book through the app.

Book your space on an upcoming webinar. Email the training team, training@phorest.com with your details.

This webinar is only for clients that have already ordered the Phorest app. If you would like to get more info on the app, or want to learn more about our software, just pop your details in here.

If your Salon app is live, and you have not yet done the webinar, please give us a call in the Phorest offices to book a place.

Michael Geraghty works in the training department of Phorest. If you have questions Michael about this post or collecting client info in general, email him onmichael.geraghty@phorest.com or leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading!

Being a Star Performer when it Comes to Client Card Info

2013-09-07T16:25:00.002+01:00

The most important thing for your business to be successful is your clients. Obvious right? Without clients you don't have revenue coming in, so collecting information on your customers is imperative to enable you to market to them in the future to grow average spend and increase how often they visit.

Many salons these days, possibly due to bad habits or feeling too busy, tend to overlook effective data collection with their customers. This is made worse by the two ways client info is usually collected:

You fill the clients details in at the reception desk with them (time consuming)

The client fills out a consultation form which you add to your software at a later time (time consuming)

It is true, it takes work and consistency from you and your staff to effectively get client information into the system, but it is one of the most important things you can do. The more information you collect on our clients - the stronger your business will be.

So to help improve your processes for collecting client details we have created the Phorest Cloud Client Card app.

With this app, you can provide an iPad to your clients when they arrive at the salon, and while they wait for their appointments they can enter their own details in the app, it is then registered by a staff member with a simple click of a button and that clients' details are entered into the system directly from the iPad, so it cuts out the requirement for you or your staff to fill in the details from a piece of paper!

Its FREE for you to have, all you need is an iPad or Android tablet in your salon for it to work. If you are an existing Phorest client and would like to get your client card app then just give the Phorest support team a call on UK: 0207 100 9290 or Irl: 01 8747800

If you’re not already an existing Phorest customer, talk to us today about getting your iPad app. Just pop your details in here.

Michael Geraghty works in the training department of Phorest. If you have questions Michael about this post or collecting client info in general, email him on michael.geraghty@phorest.com or leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading!

The Salon Owner's Guide to Facebook Advertising

2013-08-30T12:47:00.001+01:00

AAAARRRGH where to start?!! Facebook advertising can definitely be hair pulling material, especially seeing as it seems to be changing constantly.

Worry not! Phorest promises to keep you as up-to-date as possible so watch this space.

Here is a breakdown of some of the advertising options and what they will do for your salon's Facebook page.

1) Facebook Ad

This is probably the option most people are familiar with. The 'right side' ads. These are paid messages coming from businesses with an image. The right side ads can send the user to an external page (like your website) or your Facebook business page. The CTR (amount of clicks it gets) on these ads can often be low, so the need for snappy imaginative pictures and content is advised for best results. These ads are mostly used to:

Get More Page Likes

Promote Page Posts

Get New Users

2) Sponsored Story

These are posts generated because someone interacted with what you're promoting. For example; 'Emma has Liked a post on The Phorest Poodle's page'. The story will appear on the users Newsfeed, so all of their friends can see. People are far more likely to interact with something once they see the validation or 'social proof' that a friend actually Liked it before them. Sponsored stories are found to be quite successful with garnering a lot of clicks and likes.

3) Promoted Posts

This refers to paying to promote a post that is already on your page. By promoting the post it can be seen by a higher percentage of your audience; increased reach means the possibility of increased interaction, which in turn will cause more increased reach...and the Facebook cycle continues!

4) Event Sponsorship

This option can increase the attendance of your event by showing the ad to people who are likely to sign up for your event. This works very similar to sponsored story, or promoted posts.

5) Retargeting (Advanced Option)

If you use IT guys or a marketing agency, this is an option to consider. Advertisers can now use Facebook ads for re-targeting people who view their website. This applies to ads that appear in the right side of a Facebook profile (number 1 above). Put simply, your Facebook ads will become visible to users who only have already been on your website and therefore have at least a remote interest in your salon, and far more likely to A) recognise the ad from being on your site and B) engage with it and hopefully make a booking.

Here's Facebook's guidelines to putting together effective ad content: https://www.facebook.com/business/connect Let us know how your advertising goes!

Emma works in the training department of Phorest and specialises in Facebook, online and app training. If you have questions for Emma about this post or online and social media in general, email emma.farrell@phorest.com or leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading!

Starting up a Salon - 5 Real Lessons to Learn from a Newborn Entrepreneur

2013-08-24T12:40:00.002+01:00

Jennifer Fox started Cherry Red hair salon just over six months ago. Like many salon owners, aspiring or current, she faced great uncertainty and learned some hard lessons along the way. Here is her advice...

* Get the right products

Choosing a brand you know well and trust is very important. Don't just go with any supplier that is going to offer the cheapest deal. Also, taking on a new product line gives you more work than necessary as there are many other aspects of the business you'll need to learn when starting up. Most importantly, you need your clients to feel you are confident in your knowledge of hair as this is one of the main reasons they are coming to your salon.

* Believe in yourself

Trust that you have the ability to make it happen and make it a success. You can achieve anything if you believe in yourself.

* Have Passion

Be passionate about what you are offering. One of our passions at Cherry Red is to provide our guests with not only quality hairdressing, but also the service they deserve when visiting the salon. We pay attention to the little things that make a trip to our salon a pleasurable experience.

* Find the right property/location

I feel from the outset this is very important. Do your research, find the right space and the rest will follow. You may well survive in an area saturated with hairdressers - especially if you have something unique to offer - or, you could find area that is in need of your services and flourish!

* Get by with a little help from your friends

Over the years I’m sure you have done many favours for your friends and family. Free or discounted hairdressing? Now is the time to call upon these people to help you get started while you do your best to save money where possible. Trust me, your family and friends will only be too happy to help. They want the best for you and for you to succeed. My business partner Danielle and I would not have managed as well as we have, had it not been for the help, love and support from our family and friends.

And of course… SMILE. It costs nothing and everyone appreciates one. Especially your clients!

Jennifer Fox is the co-founder and owner of Cherry Red Hair and of course. If you have questions for Jennifer about this post contact her on marketing@phorest.com. Many thanks for reading!

psssttt... Jennifer uses Phorest's Salon Software. Click here to get your Free Demo

Why Do I Need an App if I Already Have a Website?

2013-08-19T11:28:00.004+01:00

Lets all take the time to welcome Emma Farrell to the Phorest Team... WELCOME! Emma takes us through the difference and advantages of having an app instead of just browsing a website on a mobile.

Websites, Social Media, Smartphones and now Apps.... it seems every time we get used to one new technological advancement another MUST HAVE comes sneaking round the corner. It's hard to keep up isn't it? Especially when the latest thing seems nothing more than a mimic of the last...with bells on.

So I totally understand if you feel like smashing the screen when I say... Websites alone just don't cut it any more, you gotta' get an App..... hang on, hang on it's not all bad allow me to explain....

First, what actually is an App anyway?

While smartphone Apps are the next big thing 'Application software', or 'App's for short have actually been around since the early 90's and refer to all the computer software that causes a computer to perform useful tasks.

The smartphone era has simply embraced and marketed the word. In short the App we're on about is an interactive specialized programme specific to a particular theme,topic or business downloaded onto a mobile device.

So why can't people just go to my website on my smartphone?

Kind of, but no.....Of course you are not entirely cut off from the world of hand-held internet users if you do not have an App they can of course access your website. So why bother with an App at all? There are several advantages of having an App over a mobile website, the most prevalent being that Apps are made specifically for interaction – view our pricelist, send an enquiry, and most importantly MAKE AN APPOINTMENT!

Apps unlike mobile websites are built to embrace the native functionality or the hardware of the device (Apple app store for Iphones, Android market for Android smartphones etc...).

Also unlike a live website which needs internet access to display information, an App has the ability to download the content so it can be accessed even when there is no internet connection, later updating content when it is next 'synced' to the internet.

So how will this benefit my business?

A recent study shows that outside of calls and texts, 82% or peoples' time on a smartphone is spent on apps, where's only 18% is spent browsing; and with 46 million Apps being downloaded from the Apple App store every day the stats really speak for themselves....

As regards your salon and how an interactive App can work for you, think of it like a live and open appointment book that everyone has access to 24 hours a day - you could come in one morning and have 5 extra appointments booked over night!

It will also capture contact information through bookings for marketing purposes, along with credit card details which can help deter the dreaded no shows.

Think brand awareness - your logo on the screen of something that's never out of most peoples hands, and there for all their friends to see.

Everyone is impatient these days and having an App on your home screen makes booking appointments a lot less hassle then searching and comparing with other salons on the web.

So, in conclusion while I'm not for one second suggesting we dump the websites altogether, quite the contrary,as your App will in fact complement your website, it does seem these 'Apps' are the new MUST HAVE that we simply must have if we're to stay ahead of the game.

Emma works in the training department of Phorest and specializes in Facebook, online and app training. If you have questions for Emma about this post or online and social media in general, email emma.farrell@phorest.com or leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading!

Interested in getting a branded app for your salon? Talk to Phorest today.

Being Educated Just Isn't Enough for Therapists or Stylists in the Information Age

2013-08-12T10:47:00.000+01:00

Margaret Kelly of Nu Essence talks candidly about what clients expect and why there's no escaping the need for constantly building knowledge and not relying only on qualifications.

I want to start by asking you a question, “Would you let an untrained hairdresser cut you hair?”. “Absolutely not!” is more than likely the answer on most peoples’ lips. For the majority of us we want a hairdresser with experience, qualifications and know how before letting them loose on our hair. A bad meal is a once off – a bad hair cut is the last thing anybody wants because it lasts with you forever. Now let’s have a think about a similar situation; would you let an untrained therapist carry out a skin treatment on you?.

Again, I'm sure the answer is more the likely no. What could be more uncomfortable or off-putting then having a treatment with a therapist who is unsure of her products or unable to identify or diagnose skin conditions or concerns? Okay, I know a bad skin treatment is never going to be as disastrous as a bad hair cut; you have to wait for hair to grow back. However with a bad or below average skin treatment you can be left feeling frustrated, disappointed or 'short changed'.

Clients expect and deserve the best and it is up to us as salon owners and therapists to ensure they are getting it. Now not for one minute am I suggesting that any salon out there is employing unqualified therapists, but there are most definitely ones that expect their staff to work with products that they have not been formally trained in. Think back to you college days, we learned cleansing routines, massage routines, full facials steps but what’s the point in knowing all these steps as therapists if we can’t identify skin concerns, diagnose conditions, devise a professional treatment to deliver targeted results for our clients, ensuring they will trust our professional judgment and ability and most importantly… return to us.

As salon owners we have a duty to ensure our therapists are 100% trained and knowledgeable with each and every product they use in the treatment room. Today’s clients have access to an endless world of information, many of them not only researching your business before visiting it but also researching the products. When they book a facial they are expecting us the professionals to give them more then they are getting from the products sitting at home in the bathroom.

Skin care and facials are not about using a sweet smelling cream to gently massage your client till she dozes off, they should be focused on consultation, diagnosis, treatment and results. Our client is paying for a professional treatment from a professional therapist… let’s keep it professional!

Margaret Kelly is Founder and MD of Nu Essence Beauty which provides over 10,000 treatments to clients every single year in Dublin, Ireland. If you have a question for Margaret, leave a comment below or simply email marketing@phorest.com

Using Facebook Reviews to Increase Referrals

2013-08-05T12:30:00.000+01:00

The Phorest training and marketing teams get asked a lot about Facebook referrals. This is a tricky one! Facebook is all about your network right? The more people who like your page, the greater the audience you have. Remember though only 20% or so of people will see any post you put up. That applies to business pages only though, so if you get clients sharing your content, you’re reaching all of their network and that could be hundreds of people!

Creating sharable content isn’t always easy. There is no hard and fast rule. The same applies to people posting glowing reviews about your salon.

Phorest Salon Software Special Feature:

People do love the ‘sound of their own content’. If you’re lucky enough to have Phorest’s Salon Software you have a review feature i.e. when someone books through your Facebook page, through your iPhone app or on your website they are automatically sent a review straight after their appointment asking them to rate it out-of-five and leave a comment. If it’s ⅘ or 5/5, they can share it on their page, recommending you to hundreds of their friends. You can share it on your salon’s Facebook page too or through your salon’s Twitter a/c. This is like word-of-mouth on steroids. Absolute gold.

Having people naturally review you and tell friends about your salon is gold. You’re not asking them to review you so it’s being not being pushy; however, it’s way more credible than most other forms of marketing - real people, telling a real story about your salon to their real friends. How can even the cleverest and most creative forms of marketing compare? Generally, they can’t, won’t and don’t!

What if I don’t have Phorest Salon Software?

It’s really hard to do it without our software and that’s just being honest. Other methods you may have see implemented can be damaging, such as:

You can tell clients to recommend your salon to their friends. Hardly foolproof plus people don’t like being told to do your work

You can run a competition and ask them to leave a review. This is a really bad idea though. It completely lacks credibility!

One reasonable way is if you’re keeping an eye on your salon on Yelp or on local directories out there, people may have left some positive reviews which you can share on Facebook. Nonetheless, if you’re based in Ireland, or outside any major city in the UK, you’re going to struggle to get any traction or comments at all on such platforms and websites.

Don’t forget, people may indeed be recommending you without tagging you so you don’t always know about the positive things being said about you. Of course you know the flipside to this.

The one sure way to increase referrals through Facebook (and Twitter) is by providing an amazing service that people actually want to talk about. If clients feel like they’ve spent hard earned money well, they want to tell their friends on the social platforms. Also, what you provide is so visual - clients who feel great because they look great will only be too happy to share photos. Even if they don’t mention you, people are likely to ask, ‘You look amazing hun! Where’d ya get it done?’. The tough thing about this is the uncertainty. Not knowing who’s saying what (unless you’re tagged) and how well you’re doing.

However Facebook has just launched hashtags, a bit like Twitter. Stay tuned for a post on that soon!

Interested in learning how Phorest salon software increase

Facebook referrals? Get a Free Demo...

Connor Keppel is the Marketing Manager at Phorest. You can contact Connor on

0207 100 9290 (UK) or 01 8747800 (Irl) or by email: connor.keppel@phorest.com

How to Inspire Your Team to Work Towards Salon Success

2013-07-27T09:54:00.001+01:00

John Maher is Director of Queen Academy in Dublin and has over 25 years of continued success in managing and mentoring teams. Phorest recently sat with John and asked him the ingredients to building a productive, motivated and inspired team working towards salon success. John puts it down to thinking outside the salon. Here’s what he had to say...

I still remember the first time someone let me cut their hair. Granted, it was inspired by keeping the money given by her Mum for a professional to do the job so we could spend it on cigarettes instead. II will never forget the brilliant feeling of getting that shape to work and how good it felt when others admired my work. It remains one of the most rewarding feelings I enjoy even after 25 years in the industry.

What is that good feeling we as hairdressers get when we do something we enjoy? It comes in many varied ways and its hard to tie down or define but one thing's for sure, I miss it when it's not in the room.

Lately I have been working with my team towards making inspiration something that we feel more and more in touch with. It's amazing how just spending a little time outside our usual routine has grown our ability to work together and share ideas more, during our workshops and through the rest of the working week.

In today's climate we feel time is difficult to find, given the current need to maximise our workload and minimise the hours that we are not directly generating money. If we step away from the short-term view, it makes so much sense to allocate time and effort into feeding the core energies that got us all into this business in the first place ... enjoying making people feel good by delivering a service that we are proud of!!

How do you find the way to inspire your team, that's unique to you ?

Think about it!! What's your favourite thing to do? Is it all about the industry? Or for example, does music or film inspire you? Maybe are you a gym bunny or a foodie? All of these and many more pursuits can be adapted to team-building exercises that allow us to share who we are and where our passion lies outside the usual day-to-day routine of the salon.

If you can do this you will allow a new form of relationship building and motivation to work for all the group working together on a new project - even a day every 6 months can create a greater team spirit and deliver better cooperation, more cross-selling and higher sales without ever going near a flip-chart. It's a worthwhile exercise and it adds up when you consider how powerful the experience of sharing something you enjoy works to encourage others to find their passion.

What team building exercises we’ve done in Queen...

It's contagious, enjoyable,effective and free, not to mention a crying shame to miss out on! Inspiration is all around us and by taking time as a group to acknowledge and validate the skills we have and the work we do. Couple this with the practical steps to connect with inspiration and you have the tailor made answer to refuelling the passion in the individual allowing them to drive and deliver the benefits of the shared motivational experience to their clients.

If this can be achieved and sustained we know it's the key to all the elements of our business performing with the strength it should.

Be inspired, share your passion and reap the rewards. Best of luck!

John Maher is Director of Queen Academy. A leader in the education field, Queen provides a range of comprehensive hairdressing courses with a unique blend of theory, practice combined with 25 years of John's success. If you want to ask John any questions, drop an email to enquiries@queen.ie or if you too are interested in contributing to the Phorest blog, contact Connor Keppel on connor.keppel@phorest.com.

7 Ways To Help Your Clients Spend More ... More Often!

2013-07-22T16:17:00.000+01:00

About four weeks ago in my last Phorest blog post I opened
your eyes to the best way to grow your business which was to
focus your attention on your existing clients and ...

1. Help them to spend more and

2. Visit the salon more so they can spend

their money more often.

Why does putting your focus on these two things work so well?

Because of what you'll have to do to help clients spend more and come in more frequently.

You'll have to educate your clients better, so they understand the benefits AND SEE THE VALUE of what you're offering them.

You'll have to communicate with them as human beings better as well, so they REALLY know how much you care.

You'll have to focus on delivering what you promise to them more consistently as well.

This is fine in theory, but I know from experience you'd like some practical steps to follow to help you achieve higher average bills and increase the frequency of client visits to your salon ... so today as the title suggests we're going to look at 7 simple ways to help you do it.

1. Prepare the Team:

To create a successful shift in client buying habits you first have to create a successful shift in the thinking and behaviour of your team.

The reason for this is summed up beautifully by my favourite saying.

"If you (and your team) keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got!"

You want your clients behaviour to change ... YOU HAVE TO CHANGE FIRST!

If you thought you could avoid this first critical step, you'd be making a HUGE mistake because although you 'could' implement everything else I'm about to suggest you'd soon discover that ... if your team and the culture of your salon don't change to support it, you simply won't see consistent growth in your average bill.

How do you shift the thinking and behaviour of your team?

First of all at a team meeting I'd sit down with them and paint the big picture. Tell them about your change of focus from finding new clients onto your improving the performance of existing clients and why you'll be measuring average bill and client visit numbers closely in future.

In other words show them following your plan is easiest, most effective, most fun way to secure their future pay rises and create increasing job satisfaction!

Then I'd do a brainstorming session to encourage them to come up with good ideas for increasing average bill and the frequency of client visits.

Take their ideas, work with your team to test and polish them and you'll be amazed at the results you see.

2. Add A Silent Sales Team

Once your team and their ideas are ready, you can introduce their secret helpers ... 'Your Silent Sales Team.'

I bet you didn't know you could have one ... but you can.

Your silent sales team members come in many disguises.

They can be disguised as mirror stickers, flyers, posters, window displays, newsletter articles, blog posts, pages on your your website, videos posted on You Tube your website and Facebook.

As you've probably realised your silent sales team is the marketing collateral you create to generate interest in the ADDED VALUE you're offering you're offering your clients if they trust you enough to spend more.

Most salons don't do enough work on their silent sales team or if they do they do it badly ... this is an expensive mistake.

I could write a whole book on marketing (and knowing me I probably will one day!) but for some hints on how to create stronger marketing material you'll find these 2 articles useful. Just click on the titles below to see them.

The Lesson We Must Never Forget
8 More Power Words Your Clients Will Love!

If you can't wait for the book and you want more specific advice on creating powerful salon marketing collateral, tailored to you and your salons needs, just contact me by clicking here and I'll be happy to help you.

3. Make Impulse Buying Easy

Garages, Chemists and Supermarkets are past masters at this, but there's no reason why your salon can't take advantage of the same principles.

What are we talking about?

We're talking about all the impulse buy items they put within easy reach of their customers as they stand at the till waiting to pay. They put them there because they know that their customers are more likely to choose something extra at the time of paying than ANY OTHER TIME IN THEIR VISIT.

We're talking about tapping into basic human instincts here ... so what could you stock?

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Tangleteezer brushes, Professional combs, Invisibobble bands, Hair accessories, Umbrella's or Rain hats, Headache tablets, Hand wipes and Tissues, Make up and Nail varnish remover.

As I said those simple ideas were just to get you started. I'm sure a brainstorming session with your team could come up with loads more. You could even ask your clients what they'd like you to stock!

Just make sure that whatever you choose is well displayed and within easy reach!

4. Add Premium Versions Of Existing Services

This one is simple and SIMPLY EFFECTIVE!

Create a tiered price structure for your services, by adding premium or luxury levels at a higher price. Give them ADDED VALUE with extra time, give them ADDED VALUE with higher quality ingredients, give them ADDED VALUE with attractive extras, give them what you like, just make sure it gives them ADDED VALUE.

The final touch is to create an exciting name for your premium or luxury services ... and charge more for them!

By the way, the secret to getting this right is to make the ADDED VALUE of the more expensive options look really obvious. In other words give them what looks like loads extra for not a lot of money.

You'll be amazed by the number of clients who say yes, if you promote this properly and it all adds up to higher average bills!

5. Introduce New Non-Competing Services

This is an obvious strategy, but it needs to be thought through properly.

If you want your clients to spend more, you've got to give them more to spend their money on.

So far so good!

If they're already buying shampoo or moisturiser from you and you simply give them a new brand or variant to buy instead it's not going to make a massive difference, is it.

BUT ...

If you give them a totally new product or service to buy that doesn't compete with or replace ANYTHING they are currently buying then it's win win for you and your client.

The important thing to remember here is that if you want someone to buy something totally new that they haven't tried before, you have to sell it in a different way.

You have to talk about the problem your new product or service solves and the price your clients are currently paying in lost time, lost money, living with stress or feelings of insecurity because of not having an answer to that problem.

In other words SELL THE PAIN OF THE PROBLEM and they'll happily buy your new solution to their pain. Try and sell the solution without building the pain of the problem first and your results will probably be disappointing!

6. Create 'Price/Time' Menus

If you've read 'The Salon Owners Guide To Beating The Recession' (and if you haven't you can download it for free by clicking here) you'll know I'm a big fan of pricing services by the minute using the 'Pence Per Minute' formula.

Some salon owners, 'mainly beauty salon owners because of the wider range of services they offer', have recently been having a lot of success creating what I call price/minute menu's for their clients and they've seen their average bill figures soar because of it.

First they make or create versions of services that can be delivered in 20 minutes. They then create a menu of 6, 7 or 8 of those services and say to clients "you can pick any 3 treatments for a set price of X" (with X being a figure they are happy with for an hours work.)

Clients love the choice, control, certainty and ADDED VALUE an offer like this gives them and they buy, buy, buy!

By the way, the real beauty of this offer format is its flexibility.

Clients can choose different combinations to suit their needs and every few weeks you can change the items on the menu, change the number of items on the menu, change the price you charge for the hour.

Remember ... Every time you change something you just give your menu a different name and clients feel like you're giving them a new offer ... even when you're not!

7. Create 'Improved Result' Packages

This is another simple one to implement.

The results of nearly every service you offer will work better and last longer if your client follows the right aftercare regime.

This would normally involve your clients buying aftercare products to take home.

We all know that only a percentage of our clients will take us up on our aftercare recommendations, but we can increase that percentage substantially if we include the aftercare products in the service price.

Obviously we can't afford to give the products away but we can create a 'full service' package with its own package brand name and a fabulous silent sales team to promote it, that offers your clients conspicuously good ADDED VALUE!

To bring this article to a close I want you to remember that clients have a habit of going where the ADDED VALUE is, which is why I've stressed the point all the way through.

This means, if you want them to spend more, you and your team have to create real ADDED VALUE propositions ... AND ... get your team with the help of their silent sales team to bring the ADDED VALUE to your clients attention.

One final tip. Keep things simple. if your ADDED VALUE offers get too complicated or you have too many on at the same time your clients will get confused and CONFUSED CLIENTS DON'T BUY!

A message from Simon: "This article was originally published on my blog at www.simonlotinga.com. If you liked it you can find more just like it by clicking here."

Only 20% (If Even) of Your Facebook Fans are Seeing Your Page Updates

2013-07-18T10:23:00.001+01:00

Yes you read the title correctly. If you have 500 Facebook ‘likes’ on your salon’s business page chances are, if you’re lucky, 100 people will see an update at any given time. Why? Simply put Facebook doesn't actually want your posts to get to everyone... without paying for a ‘promoted post’ that is of course. It's a revenue stream for them.

Beating the system is possible though and your posts can go further if you understand the 'how' and 'why' of social media reach.

Let’s put this in perspective. For every five people that like your page, only one-in-five will actually count as a 'member of the audience' at any given time. Now if lots of people share and like your posts and you produce exceptionally engaging content, you can break through the barrier. It's not easy to always produce this though - if it was, it wouldn't be exceptional then would it!

The Good:

Here’s an example - we recently did an update about this very topic on our Facebook page:

On this post, we reached 1,054 people. A total of 1,271 people had liked our page at the time of the post. Therefore almost 83% of the people who liked our page saw the post right? Nope. The 1,054 people that like the post are not actually all made up of our fans. The post was shared, plus it shows up that they liked our post too on their page. So a post like that had a viral effect.

The Typical:

Here's a pretty typical post we recently did asking people to fill out a 45 second survey on our blog:

This ain't so hot. 162 people saw the post. That's less than 13% of people.

There is one sure way though...

You can see from above that engaging content gets into more people's feeds i.e. if people like and share your post, it goes further on Facebook. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you're hitting the people who've actually liked your page. They're the most important and most likely to take you up on your services.

SO HOW DO I GET MY UPDATES TO MY FANS??
There is a way though to be guaranteed of getting into more of your fans' feeds. Post the text below on your Facebook page every so often. Also, incorporate it into email signatures and tell people about it if they ask about your Facebook page. Of course if you're lucky enough to have Phorest's Salon Software you can incorporate it into the automatic thank you emails with a link to your page or indeed just do a targeted email promotion on the system. If people who like your page do it, they will not miss out on any of your updates. Here it is:

"Hey everybody! We hope you're having a great day. We hear Facebook's clever developers have been up to some dastardly tricks that may just keep you out of the loop on some great news, gossip and offers. Worry not! Look for the button that says “Liked" at the top of this page. Hover your mouse over that button and a menu will appear. Make sure “Show in News Feed” is checked, and then click on “Settings” and select “All Updates”. Thank you!

p.s. if you haven't already liked our page you will need to click 'like' first."

Best of luck! Remember, in order to get as many people as possible doing this, you must be persistent without being spammy or annoying!

Let me know how you get on and as always, drop me an email to the address below if you have a query or contact us via our Facebook page.

Talk with Phorest today and learn how our Salon Software can grow your business

Connor Keppel is the Marketing Manager at Phorest. You can contact Connor on

0207 100 9290 (UK) or 01 8747800 (Irl) or by email: connor.keppel@phorest.com

Salon Owner Guest Special: How Sue Carter Created her Online ‘Image’

2013-07-16T10:12:00.001+01:00

Salon owner Sue Carter is no stranger to success. Her salon ‘Image’ based in Ipswich is going from strength-to-strength and has won many awards over its 12 years in business.

Phorest caught up with Sue this week. We asked her if she’d put pen-to-paper and share her experience and guidance in building a fantastic website and social media presence with other salon owners. Here’s what she had to say…

It’s naïve to think your website will stand the test of time:

I’ve actually had five websites for image since its establishment. Five! Admittedly when I started I was a little naïve and thought ‘Great, that’s the website done!’ when it first launched. It’s not like that at all.

For example, one year ago, Image moved into a new premises. We developed a new brand and I was conscious that the website needed updating. I was trying to be resourceful with our cash supply as the move was a BIG investment, so I thought we’d just update the colours and logo. But that wasn’t going to cut it. More and more of our clients at the time were buying products and booking services online and through mobile. Phorest’s online booking system integrated with a mobile-friendly website was not a nice-to-have, but an essential if we were going to grow the salon.

A good website is informative. A great website is a discovery tool!

The core objective of our website was to bring people into Image before they actually darkened our doorstep. People can be intimidated when they go into a salon and perceive that therapists or stylists will look them up and down. While they may be wrong, it’s that preconception that will stop people from coming to your salon in the first place.

We’ve used Youtube videos to introduce people to the team for instance. It’s a great way to break the ice and people almost feel like they know everybody when they come in. It works! Another way in which we introduced people to our salon was through a virtual tour. We got a professional in to take photos and then string them together and create a virtual tour. It cost us £280 and was worth every penny. I suggest you you do the same and showcase your salon at every opportunity you get.

You will never know what you are missing out on, unless you make a move

You can run a profitable salon without a website or social media presence. The reality is this though – you simply won’t or don’t know that your business is suffering until you actually get it together online. If you’re starting out and money is tight, Facebook and Twitter are free. What you may not realise is that there’s so many off-the-shelf websites that you can buy now that are mobile friendly and really nice to look at and VERY reasonably priced.

If it’s time you’re worried about then get the team or family involved. I have such an amazing team. They love to get involved in ALL aspects of the business including updating the Facebook and Twitter. It makes their job more enjoyable as you’re taking their ideas on board and giving them the trust they deserve.

Sue told the Phorest blog that increasing Facebook interaction (even more) is on her list but her next upcoming and exciting online project is her Phorest iPhone app. (see here for more – http://phorest.com/app )

Sue Carter is the owner of Image Salon in Ipswich Suffolk which has been open for over 12 years. The salon recently won the prestigious award of nail salon of the year voted by Scratch Magazine. If you have questions in relation to this post, please send them to marketing@phorest.com.

Interested in doing a salon owner quest special on the Phorest blog? Just contact Connor Keppel, Phorest's Marketing Manager on connor.keppel@phorest.com