the frustrated salon owners guide to marketing - bonus info

8/6/2019 The Frustrated Salon Owners Guide to Marketing - Bonus Info

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2011 Salon Management Studio. All Rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without the express written consent ofSalon Management Studio is prohibited.

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Bonus Material from - The frustrated Salon Owners guideto marketing that gets your diary full and puts money in

the bank


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In the lesson entitled Who is your customer and why does she buy from you? you were taught the two main

consumer purchase motivators. Consumers buy products and services from Salons and Spas for two reasons;

a. To solve a problem

b. To make themselves feel good

In other words, every reason, every motivation for buying a product or service from your Spa or Salon can be

boiled down to those two main purchase motivators. However, the more reasons you know, the better youwill understand your target market. A better understanding of your target market will lead to more sales. Geoff

Ayling, in his superb book, "Rapid Response Advertising," provides Nail Techs, Therapists and Stylists with fifty

reasons why people buy. In reality, there are far more than fifty, but these fifty reasons why customers buy will

help you craft a more compelling marketing message get your creative juices flowing. As you read through the

following list, identify what motivates your particular customers to buy.

1. To make more money even though it cant buy happiness

2. To become more comfortable, even a bit more

3. To attract praise because almost everybody loves it

4. To increase enjoyment of life, of business, of virtually anything

Who is your customer and why does she buy fromyour Salon?


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5. To possess things of beauty because they nourish the soul

6. To avoid criticism which nobody wants

7. To make their work easier a constant need to many people

8. To speed up their work because people know that time is precious

9. To keep up with the Jonesesthere are Joneses in everybodys lives

10. To feel opulent a rare, but valid reason to make a purchase

11. To look younger due to the reverence placed upon youthfulness

12. To become more efficient because efficiency saves time

13. To buy friendshipI didnt know its for sale, but it often is

14. To avoid effort because nobody loves to work too hard

15. To escape or avoid pain which is an easy path to making a sale

16. To protect their possessions because they worked hard to get them

17. To be in style because few people enjoy being out of style

18. To avoid trouble because trouble is never a joy

19. To access opportunities because they open the doors to good things

20. To express love one of the noblest reasons to make any purchase

21. To be entertained because entertainment is usually fun

22. To be organized because order makes lives simpler

23. To feel safe because security is a basic human need

24. To conserve energytheir own or their planets sources of energy

25. To be accepted because that means security as well as love

26. To save time -- because they know time is more valuable than money

27. To become more fit and healthy -- seems to me thats an easy sale

28. To attract the opposite sex never undermine the power of love

29. To protect their family tapping into another basic human need

30. To emulate others because the world is teeming with role models

31. To protect their reputation because they worked hard to build it


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32. To feel superior which is why status symbols are sought after.

33. To be trendy because they know their friends will notice, they want their friends to notice!

34. To be excited because people need excitement in a humdrum life

35. To communicate better -- because they want to be understood

36. To preserve the environment giving rise to cause-related marketing

37. To satisfy an impulse a basic reason behind a multitude of purchases

38. To save money the most important reason to 14% of the population

39. To be cleaner because unclean often goes with unhealthy and unloved

40. To be popular because inclusion beats exclusion every time

41. To gratify curiosity -- it killed the cat but motivates the sale

42. To satisfy their appetite because hunger is not a good thing

43. To be individual because all of us are, and some of us need assurance

44. To escape stress need I say any more?

45. To gain convenience because simplicity makes life easier

46. To be informedbecause its no joy to be perceived as ignorant

47. To give to others another way you can nourish your soul

48. To feel younger because that equates with vitality and energy

49. To pursue a hobby because all work and no play etc. etc. etc.

50. To leave a legacybecause thats a way to live forever

In closing, lets add one more reason that motivates people to make a purchase, and that area deals with pain.

Thomas Jefferson said, "The art of life is the art of avoiding pain; and he is the best pilot, who steers clearest of

the rocks and shoals with which it is beset." Now that you've got 51 ways to win the hearts and business of

your clients I think you'll have an easier job of increasing sales and profits in your Salon.

For more info on Salon Management Studios software and business training, contact Vaughan on 0827863223

or send an email [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Good Marketing can kill your Salon if you have mediocre customer service. So before I talk about marketing, we

have to talk about customer service excellence because great customer service is the foundation on which a

great Marketing Strategy is built. Here are two awesome quotes that I want you to pay attention to

There is less to fear from outside competition than from inside inefficiency, discourtesy, and bad service! -

Tom Peters

Although your customers wont love you if you give bad service, your competitors will. - KATE ZABRISKIE

Today, in almost every business, the product or service sold wont be much different from any competing

business. Display SlideThink about it, how many other Beauty Businesses within a 15 km radius offer similar

products and services at similar prices to you? Get answersI was at a Spa in Bedfordview recently and the

Manager mentioned that there are 15 other businesses within km from her that also sells the same skincare

products and facials. So, as the business owner, how do you set yourself apart from the herd? You do it

through customer service.

At the heart of a world class Salon, is the ability to satisfy the needs of the customer better than any other

company can, not just by doing what the business is supposed to do but by doing what you are not required

or expected to do. Its the cherry on top. All the little extras things that you do over and above your Nails, isCustomer Service. The purpose of customer service is to keep the promises that your business must to make to

If your customer wins, you can

t lose!


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your customer, in order to differentiate yourself from all the other nail businesses in your neighbourhood who

are trying to do the same thing. Youll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily

copied, but a strong customer service strategy cant be.

People in South Africa dont understand the growth and profit available for businesses that focus all their

energy on satisfying the customer. In our day and age, a business cant rely on traditional resources to stay

ahead of the competition. Let me give you some examples;

Can you rely on unique products? No you cant

Can you rely on price? No you cant

Can you rely on your range of services? No you cant

Can you rely on your location? No you cant

Can you rely on your special knowledge? No you cant

BIG SECRET: All business issues being equal, only customer satisfaction will guarantee the long-term survivalof a Salon in todays competitive environment. In fact, from now on we are not going to talk about customer

service, we are going to use the phrase customer satisfaction. There is a big difference between service and

satisfaction. Dont just serve customers; everyone does that. Satisfy them, surprise them; give them

something they dont expect. Leave them with their mouth hanging open

Over the last three years I have had the opportunity to attend quite a few Spa Open Days and Launches. Time

after time I see the same mistake being made. The Business Owners start with the interior design of the Spa

and the formation of the treatment menu first. It constantly amazes me how much time, money and attention

is paid to how the business looks, the colours, the decorations, the latest machines and newest products. But,

then I also notice how little time, money and attention is invested in the one thing that matters most the

customers - the people for whom the business is being built.

The Department of Trade and Industry basically classifies Nail and Beauty businesses as a part of the Service

Industry. If we are in a service industry, then why is it that customer service is so neglected? Why is it that

customer service policies are the last thing people think about when they open a business?

International surveys into customer service carried out annually by reputable market research companies tell

us that South Africa has a horrible reputation for service delivery. For example, last year the Linda King-Ross

customer care survey conducted in 25 countries placed South Africa 24th

. If the Beauty Industry is like most of

the industries in South Africa, I can guarantee you that your competitors are delivering below standard service.

For Entrepreneurs like you, this is a massive opportunity. All you have to do to set yourself apart from the herd

is to lift your service standards above the norm. Everyone talks about customer service; it is the politicallycorrect thing to do in business these days. But how do you deliver it?

a. Change the way you think about your business:

What is the purpose of a business? The dictionary defines purpose as the reason for which something

exists.

What answer do you think 90% of business owners give me? Most people answer that the function of a

business is to make money. Businesses must make money, but, thats actually the wrong answer. Making

money is not the function of a business! Making money is the end goal of a business.

BIG SECRET: The purpose of a business is to find, satisfy and keep a customer Peter Drucker


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In other words, your business starts, ends, lives and dies with the customer. The quote by Peter Drucker I have

just read to you is the most fundamental business principle in the world. This principle is so foundational that

any business person who doesnt understand it and practice it will not succeed at business. Unfortunately,

most people who are in business for themselves dont know this principle, if you dont know it, you cant build

your business on it. They think that that the primary purpose of a business is to make money. Yes, businesses

must make money, but, they only make money when you find customers, you serve them, satisfy them and

keep them coming back.

In the last year and a half I have taken over one hundred Spa and Salon owners through my Business

Management program. One of the questions I have asked every one of these business owners is What

motivated you to go into business for yourself? The most common answer I always get goes something like

this, I was tired of my boss telling me what to do. I wanted the opportunity to do things my way. That kind

of thinking then spills over into the day to day running of the business and it is a known fact that most small

business owners build and run their business to suite their needs first and their customers last. Let me give you

some examples. From facilitating customer focus groups for some of my clients, I have noticed that the

operating hours of most Beauty Businesses are set to suite the owner not the clients. I have also discovered

that nearly every business owner selects the services on their treatment menu because they like the service. I

have not yet met a business owner who selected services for their treatment menu as a result of asking their

clients what they want. I have also discovered that business owners choose their product brands based on theirpreference rather than what their target market wants. Colours chosen for the interior design are usually the

owners favourite colours. When I examine Salons Marketing Material, their brochures are all about the

company and not about the customerCan you identify with this, anyone feeling guilty?

So what I am trying to say is simple your business has to be much more than a money making machine. Your

business must be a customer satisfying machine. The customer is the source of all your cash flow. The

customer is the one who signs your pay check. Display Slide Having a customer is rule # 1, satisfying a customer

is rule # 2 and keeping a customer coming back is rule # 3.

b. Change the way you think about your customer:

If you want your Salon to reach levels of success that your competitors cant reach, then you have to play the

game according to a different, more effective set of rules. You have to run your business according to what Jay

Abraham calls the Strategy ofPre-eminence. The Strategy of Pre-eminence is very simple. It is the ability to

put your clients needs ahead of your own. The word pre-eminent means to lift something or someone above

all others, to make them superior or to place them first.

The Strategy of Pre-Eminence starts with thinking about your customer in a totally brand new way. Let me ask

you a simple but important question, What is the difference between a customer and a client? Get

feedback from the learners.

To help you understand the Strategy of Pre-eminence, lets go to Websters dictionary and look up the meaningof those two words. This is very, very interesting.

Customer:A person who purchases a commodity or service.

Client:A person who is under the protection of a professional.

The difference in meaning between these two almost identical words is massive and it reflects the way a

person who does business with you could and should be treated. If you use the word customer in your business

thats ok, but, from now on, I want you and your staff to always think of them as clients people under your

protection. When you start to serve clients instead of selling to customers, your business success will take off

like a rocket.


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What exactly does under your protection mean? It means that your client has a need, financial, physical,

emotional even psychological need for your product or service. It is your responsibility to uncover her need.

You must understand and appreciate exactly what your client is looking for when she does business with you.

Once you know what her need is, you lead her to that goal. You become a trusted friend and advisor. It means

always doing what is right and best for your customer. It means that you serve her before you sell her. In some

cases it means that you dont sell your client a product or service just so that you can make the largest one

time profit possible. For example, a client comes in wanting a facial that costs R1000. After her client

consultation, you discover that you can give her another facial that will give her a better result for her skin typethat only costs R350. What do you do? Do you sell her the R1000 facial and do whats best for yourself, or do

you tell her the truth? In this instance, you protect her. You become her friend and advisor. You build a

relationship that will last for the next 3-5 years and she will sing your praises and come back every month. If

you make your client and her needs pre-eminent, she makes you and your business pre-eminent.

1. Let me ask you a few direct questions, if a person is under your protection, then how can you;2. Use the cheapest, nastiest product on their nails? In the next lesson, I am going to share a true story

of how using cheap products put a salon out of business.

3. Hire unqualified people? Share stories of Business owners with unqualified staff.4. Cut corners when it comes to training and upgrading your skills?5. Give them anything less than the best set of nails?6. Not provide after service follow-up?7. How can you not educate your client?8. How can you not conduct a Nail Technology specific client consultation?

To Practice the Strategy of Pre-Eminence, you have to understand human nature. How and why people make

buying decisions. Do you know that there are only two reasons why consumers purchase a product or service

from a Spa or Salon? (Or any other business for that matter!) Do you know what those reasons are? People buy

things to;

1. Make themselves feel good.2. To solve a problem.

Consider the fact that everyone you sell to wants to feel good about themselves, and that they do everything it

takes to not look stupid. A successful business doesnt start with an idea of providing a product or a service. It

starts with a concept that provides feelings and solutions to other peoples problems. You need to understand

that you have a higher purpose for being in this business than simply making money. Your purpose is to

understand what you can do to help people feel good about themselves and how you can solve their problems.

Unless you understand this higher purpose, you will never succeed at marketing. If you dont practice the

Strategy of Pre-eminence, if you dont put your customers first, your Salon will be average, ordinary and easily

forgettable and there are so many of those out there. But, if you practice the strategy of Pre-Eminence, your

business will actually impact peoples lives and give your day to day work a sense of worth and significance

beyond anything you can imagine.

One of the biggest mistakes people make in this Industry is that they fall in love with the wrong thing. They fall

in love with their gorgeous looking Salon, they fall in love with their product brand and the services they

provide. Obviously, you must passionately believe in your business, your products and your services, but, you

must fall in love with your customers first. Falling in love with them means taking responsibility for their

wellbeing and putting their interests ahead of your own.

When I work with Spas and Salons, people tell me that they place their customer first, but when I ask them for

some practical, measurable examples of how they do this, their answers are usually very general, vague and

non-specific. Most of their customer service practices are accidental and random. To practice the strategy of

pre-eminence, you have to put tangible policies and practices into place that are intentional, that can bemeasured and repeated. This brings us to the next point in your notes


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c. Change the way you do business with your customer:

In the Nail and Beauty Industry, great service is made up of two inseparable elements;

1. The product: / service. In this case a good set of nails. Your product must be above average and ofacceptable quality to the market. In this program, I am assuming that you are a world class Technician.

If you are anything short of world class, you need to do what it takes to get there.

2. The process through which that service is delivered. This is where customer service takes placeThe point I am trying to make is this, How you deliver what you do is more important than what you do.

And most of us dont spend nearly enough time thinking about how we do things.

In our day and age, the consumer is spoilt for choice and as a result, customers dont just want to buy a product

or service. They can buy the product or service anywhere. How many Spas and Salons are there in

Johannesburg /Durban/Cape Town that sell Gel Nails for instance? The answer is thousands. Because of this,

consumers in our day and age dont just want a product or a service they can buy that anywhere. What they

want is a customer buying experience.

If you can create a unique buying experience so that your customers will remember you, they'll tell their friendsand family all about it. But how do you create these memorable added-value experiences for your customers?

In the Beauty Industry, everyone talks about creating an experience, but how do you actually do it?

There is a simple but important principle I teach in my Business Management program that I want to give to

you this morning. The principle is, Display Slide All work is a process, all processes can be improved.

Whether you realise it or not, the work in your business is carried out in a step by step process. To improve

your customer service, that step by step process needs to be clearly understood so that it can be improved. So

my question to you is, How do you carry out the work in your business?

Every business has what I call a customer pipeline. In a service industry like ours, this pipeline is probably the

most important process for you to understand because it is only when you understand this process that youcan you create a customer buying experience. The customer pipeline is a step by step process that your

customer flows through from the time of her first contact with your business until her treatment is finished,

she walks out the door and beyond. Unfortunately, in most beauty businesses, this pipeline is a random

happening that is unintentional, accidental and very inconsistent because nobody ever takes the time to think

about it. What I want you to know this morning is that creating a customer buying experience is something that

you as the business owner are responsible for creating, even before it happens. Before you even have your first

customer, you are responsible to create an intentional, pre-meditated pipeline that you control. This way you

can purposefully and confidently lead every customer through from start to finish.

We are going to do a three step practical exercise right now.

Step One To help you evaluate the service you provide through your customer pipeline, I am going to give

you what I believe are the nine essential steps in a Beauty Business Customer Pipeline. Compare the steps on

this pipeline to the work you currently do in your business.

FirstIm

pression

FirstContact

AppointmentBooking

Welcome

&Reception

ClientConsultation

TheTreatment

Reebook

ing&P.O.S

Fa

rewell

AfterSaleService


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1. First Impression contact with your Marketing Material.2. First Contact: This generally happens in one of two ways. Via phone call or walk in.3. Appointment booking via phone, sms, email or walk in4. Welcome and Reception5. Specific Client Consultation6. The Service / Treatment. This has a start, middle and end.7. Rebooking / Point of Sale8. Farewell9. After service follow up

At each step, there are opportunities to deliver exceptional customer service. One thing I have observed about

the Nail and Beauty Industry is that when it comes to the work Spas and salons do, there is too much imitation

and too little innovation.

I want you to draw out that step by step process of how the customer flows through your business. Until you

draw it out and you see it, you cant work on it. In your notes on Page 21 is a sheet of graph paper. In the form

of a flow chart, I want you to diagram your customer pipeline. Focus on the big picture for now, not on every

little detail. What are the major steps your customer flows through from the time she phones to book her

appointment till the time she walks out your door and beyond. Write out what each step is. Then in brief point

form, write out what you do at each step.

Note: When you draw the process out, I want you to draw it out as it currently is, not how you want it to be. I

want you to take an honest look at how you are doing things. Diagram the process. Use a box and arrow

format to make a simple diagram of your customer pipeline.

Step Two: Evaluate what you do at each step.

Did you struggled with this exercise? It is because we dont spend enough time thinking about our business.

Take a look at your pipeline and answer the following questions;

1. On a scale of 1 10, how well are you doing things? Evaluate how well you perform at each one of thenine steps. Write your score in on your diagram.

2. As you examine your pipeline, are you really creating a customer buying experience throughexceptional customer service or are you just going through the motions? Note: Lack of value is

especially felt in the steps before and after the treatment.3. Why are you doing things the way you do? Is it imitation or innovation?4. Can you see areas that need improvement?5. Are there any steps in the process that you have left out?6. Can you identify areas that are too complicated?7. Does your pipeline work? Does it flow seamlessly from one step to the next?8. Does each step work hand in hand with the step before and after it? Is each step the result of the

previous step?

Step three: How can you improve what you do?

When your customer walks in the door for the very first time, what is it that you want her to experience? Howwould you capture this moment? This is experience is something that you as the business owner are


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responsible for creating, even before it happens. The experience is in the details. It only takes a customer 7

seconds to size up your business and then decide whether or not to do business with you.

I believe that every Salon should strive to provide the ultimate salon or spa experience. Whether you are a one-

woman show or have a chain of 5 star day spas, the tools for delivering the ultimate spa experience are the

same. Your customer is your number one priority as soon as he or she walks in your door. The welcome,

reception, appointment-setting, the treatment, the sales transaction, the farewell and the whole experience

from start to finish should be pre-planned and executed. This is how you standardize your spa experience andbuild an identifiable brand for consumers. Lets get some ideas. Break the class into groups, assign each group

a step and get them to come up with three ideas to improve that particular step.

As you come up with ideas, there are four guidelines that you must follow;

1. The pipeline must make it easier for your client to do business with you.2. The pipeline must simplify, not complicate, life for your clients and your staff.3. The pipeline must work for your unique business. It must take into account your business setup,

layout, concept etc..

4. The pipeline must be as cost effective as possible. It must make you money, not cost you money.Big Secret: The best solutions to the customer service problems you face are not found in the Beauty

Industry. Display slide

Homework Exercise 1:

When your customer walks in the door for the very first time, what is it that you want her to experience? She

walks up to your door and she walks up to the counter or what? What does she then do? What do you want

her to do? What would be the best, most natural thing for her to do?

What do you want to happen here? What would be the perfect thing from the standpoint of both the customer

and your business? Think about this creatively for a while.

What would you imagine could happen that would move your new customer to the next step of doing business

with you in a way that would captivate her? I want you to make a list of the possible steps. They range from the

obvious to the exceptionally creative.

Does your new customer want to be invisible? Does she want a lot of attention? Does she want to do business

and just get out or does she want an entire orchestra playing her favourite song?

Can you see the room for opportunity to differentiate yourself from the competition? Think about the

frustration people have when they first walk into a business for the very first time? Think about the negative

experiences they have. Pursue the answer to this question as if your life depended on it. Write down any andevery idea that comes to mind.

Side Note:

From this point in the program on, every time I share a practical customer service idea or even a marketing

strategy, keep your customer pipeline in mind. As you spot something that will work in your business, the first

thing you must do is ask yourself where does it fit in my customer pipeline and then write it in.

6 Customer Service Musts:

1. Never say no to a customer. Everything is negotiable.


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2. Make customers feel good about YOU not just your product. Do this by sending thank you notes, birthday

cards and promotions etc

3. Meet customers requests, even if it means breaking company policy.

4. Solve your customers problems.

5. Know your competitors products better than your competitors do.

6. Be early for all meetings. Make sure your nail desk and treatment room is ready before your customer gets

there.

6 . Dress and groom yourself sharply so that you and your staff look like a superior product.

For more info on Salon Management Studios software and business training, contact Vaughan on 0827863223

or send an email [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

the frustrated salon owners guide to marketing - bonus info

Documents