by Greg Milner | May 29, 2015 | Ask the Experts, Featured, Salon Advertising Tips
Salon Marketing Tools: Why Emotion Beats Logic Every Time
I wear myself out trying to teach salon & spa owners that customers buy based on emotion, which is the most profitable salon marketing tool hands down. It has nothing to do with logic.Yet ad after ad, flyer after dreary flyer waxes lyrical about the features of the product (or service), often using impossibly-technical jargon, and pay scant – if any – attention to the emotional benefit the customer will get, or makes any attempt to even so much as attract the prospect’s attention in the first place with an emotional headline.
Arguably the best ad ever written didn’t even mention a product or service. Far from trumpeting overblown benefits and features, it actually went the other way, in a deliberate, well-planned and brilliantly-executed dare to the manliness of every red-blooded adventurous male in England.
Although nobody has yet been able to track down the original copy of the London Times of December 29, 1913, here is a reconstruction of the tiny ad Sir Ernest Shackleton reportedly inserted to recruit men to his dangerous expedition to cross the Antarctic continent from sea to sea. It attracted 5,000 applicants, including three women.
(Creative Theft Department: I know what you’re already thinking…what has this got to do with my hair salon/day spa/nail bar/laser clinic yada yada yada.)
Here’s what: I’ve just used this very ad to steal the idea for the headline for a big Yellow Pages ad for one of our Inner Circle members. Go on, think. How could you apply this to your business? Inner Circle members should already be dissecting this and using it. For non-members, unaccustomed to my teachings, believe this:
The University of Life surrounds you. Google is your best friend. There is NO excuse for saying “I don’t know where to look for ideas” any more. Truth is, the answer to anything is right at your fingertips. Claiming you can’t find answers is akin to insisting the world is flat.)
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, emotion. The idea that you must offer a rational benefit in your marketing is nonsense.
There IS no rational, logical reason to buy a Porsche. Yet Porsche is THE most profitable car maker in the world. One of the most famous ads for Porsche cars featured nothing more than a picture of the car, and the following text:
Product benefits:
Too fast.
Doesn’t blend in.
People will talk.
Then there’s the famous David Ogilvy ad for Rolls Royce, which didn’t even have a photo of the car, just a clock.
“At 60 miles an hour, the loudest sound you can hear in the new Rolls Royce is the ticking of the clock.”
In the beauty business, a rational benefit might be
Your skin will be 37% smoother.
But more powerful, and much more emotional:
Warning: Men will look at you.
Your target market is uneducated about the relative benefits of one hair stylist versus any of a thousand others. Has pretty much no idea of the difference between one laser clinic and a hundred competitors. Attempting to explain a rational, logical reason why they should choose you as against any and all of your competitors is considerably more difficult that pushing a peanut up the main street of town with your nose.
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| Singapore Airlines didn’t try to compete on price, they made it emotional with the Singapore Girl... |
Faced with such a challenge, most businesses resort to the easiest, no-brainer path: discounting. The airlines are a classic example of this, undercutting each other because they can’t be bothered putting in the hard mental yards to come up with something better.
(Even here, there are examples of airlines actually striking an emotional note with their marketing. Remember the Singapore Airlines ads featuring their emotional icon, the Singapore Girl? They backed it up with the rational proposition, ‘Inflight service even other airlines talk about…’)
Aside: the rebel in me can’t help wondering what would happen if an airline offered a guarantee: We’ll get you there alive, or your money back.
Most business owners, having come up with a compelling offer – which is the rational reason to buy – rest on their laurels and leave it there. But the smart ones keep working at it, chewing away until they come up with that hard-to-define emotional reason to buy. I often call it a Unique Selling Proposition. But it can equally be re-named an ESP or Emotional Selling Proposition.
Either way, these are salon marketing tools that work, and work for you.
The real difference between one hair salon and another, between one day spa and another, is at best small, and certainly difficult to convey to the uneducated. But an emotional difference is – while more difficult to find in the first place – much easier to get across, much easier for the prospect to feel, and therefore much more powerful.
by Greg Milner | Jan 13, 2014 | Blog, Getting Salon Clients Quickly, New Zealand, Salon Advertising Tips, Salon SMS Marketing
It’s less than 2 weeks in to 2014 and our Worldwide Salon Marketing members are already out of the blocks with a roar with emails and phone calls coming in to our office from excited salon owners telling us about their successful campaigns.
This morning I spoke on the phone with Maree Hoare, of Red Hair in Palmerston North. Maree joined us just one month ago and has shown immediately what it takes to be a successful marketer of her business.
She hasn’t sat around waiting for the phone to ring, instead she’s got straight down to business, is creating her own success and taking complete control of her business.
When Maree opened her salon this morning she noticed some gaps in the booking system later in the week. So armed with the tools she needed to fix that problem, she opened up her computer, visited the members only template website and found an SMS example that she could adapt for her own salon.
She sent the message out to just 400 people of her SMS list and within 30 minutes had no fewer than 12 bookings.
“With schools being on holiday it gets a bit quiet around this time of year in Palmerston North, I need to keep my team busy and so at this late stage it seemed a text message to my clients would be the quickest option to fill the gaps later in the week. It took me a few minutes to put the message together from the examples on the website and then I sent it out and within minutes the phone was ringing hot! The system says the SMS’s are still being sent out so I am sure I will get even more calls than the dozen we have already had in the last half an hour. But I am really happy with the result.”
The hair offer Maree sent out by text was for $79. Given that a text will cost about 10c per message that’s a $40 cost for a return so far of $948. I would call that a great return on investment.
And the message also saw at least 2 long lost clients make a booking in the salon.
Since joining WSM in December, Maree has already put in to action steps to help her work more as a marketer on her business. Could you imagine earning $948 in 30 minutes if you were cutting someones hair or doing a facial? Not likely unless you are the hairdresser to David Beckham. So Maree is already seeing the value of her time spent marketing rather than being a technician cutting hair.
And in addition to Maree’s amazing SMS campaign she also launched her mini memberships last week which she has already sold 7 bringing in and extra $1400 in income.
A massive congrats to Maree for her great start to 2014 and we can’t wait to hear more from her as the year progresses.
For WSM members, you can see the SMS that Maree sent on our members only Facebook forum. Click her now to check it out.
If you are not a member of one of our WSM programs but want to kick start 2014 the way Maree has done then click here now to apply and one of our team will be on the phone to you immediately. Or call one of our worldwide offices to speak with someone now.
New Zealand 09 476 1592
Australia 08 9443 9327
USA & Canada 250 590 0449
by Greg Milner | Jul 16, 2013 | New Zealand
Over the last 5 years since starting Worldwide Salon Marketing in New Zealand we have seen and heard many success stories from salons owners, some of whom prior to joining WSM have been close to closing their doors, and others that already have successful and established salons but just want to know how to improve their businesses even further and make more money.
It’s fantastic to be part of helping salons achieve great success and reach goals, so when that success is recognized by a third party its even more satisfying.
Which is exactly what happened to Margaret Walsh of Face & Body in Titirangi.
At the recent New Zealand Beauty Gala Awards at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland Margaret and her team at Face and Body in Titirangi, picked up the ‘Runner-up’ prize in the category for Marketing Excellence, an Award sponsored by Worldwide Salon Marketing NZ.
Worldwide Salon Marketing wants to congratulate Margaret for her achievement. Marketing is always evolving and Margaret has shown that her salon has used a great blend of traditional media, whilst embracing new media like apps and social media.
WELL DONE MARGARET WALSH & THE TEAM AT FACE & BODY TITIRANGI!!!
CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF MARGARET WALSH
And I also want to extend a MASSIVE congratulations to the winner of Marketing Excellence, Nicola Quinn from Nicola Quinn Day Spa in Christchurch.
There’s a funny story behind this also. Nicola is not a member of WSM, however I have always been an admirer of Nicola’s salon, even more so since the terrible things that have happened with the earthquakes in Christchurch over the last couple of years.
Whilst in Christchurch visiting some of our WSM members I popped in to say hello to Nicola who was unavailable. So I left her a hand written note encouraging her to enter the Marketing Excellence award, which she obviously did. When presenting her award on the night Nicola told me she still has my note, which I thought was great.
So a BIG CONGRATS to Nicola Quinn and her team at Nicola Quinn Day Spa.
Finally, Worldwide Salon Marketing NZ also co-sponsored the ‘Best New Business’ category to which we would like to congratulate Louise Dickinson of ‘Chrysalis’ in Browns Bay, Auckland.
Well done to ALL the finalists from the Team at Worldwide Salon Marketing!
Christopher and the Team at Worldwide Salon Marketing New Zealand help salon owners chase the dream of becoming more successful and profitable. If you like the sound of that then click here to find out more – obligation FREE. We have packages that can fit ALL salon types and sizes!
by Greg Milner | Apr 29, 2013 | Australia, Blog, New Zealand
If you are part of the statistic that shows Australia and New Zealand salons lose an estimated $423 million per annum (ouch!) in customer no-shows then you will want to read this report.
Stop banging your head against a wall because there are solutions to the problem. In this 15-page in depth report you will find:
- The ‘You and Us – A Beautiful Partnership’ letter, laying down the ground rules and expectations between the salon and customer from the word ‘GO!’
- The actual words you and your staff can use to communicate your salons cancellation policy effectively and confidently to a customer.
- And some great advice on the best ways to remind your customers about their appointments so they don’t forget.
Plus the report also shares our complete findings from the survey.
And the report is already proving to be a HIT with salons who have read it so far, like Trish House from Esthetica in Dargaville, NZ…
“Hi Chris
I just want to say how much I appreciate the help with reducing No-Shows in our clinic. This is something I’ve been “meaning to get to” for ages but just haven’t sat down and nutted out a strategy for it. I finally got the facility for accepting credit card payment over the phone last month, and now with the report I have the impetous and direction to implement this policy properly once and for all!”
The No-show report is available now on the Salon Finder App website. To claim your FREE copy of the report it’s quite simple.
First, click here or visit www.salonfinderapp.com
Second, either register if it’s your first time here, or log back in if you are a returning user.
Third, once registered and logged in you will see the report on the left hand side of screen, you can click on it to download.
I hope this report goes someway to helping you reduce costly no-shows!
Chris D’Aguiar-Sanders
+64 9 476 1592
0800 029 668 (Within NZ)
P.s Industry groups Worldwide Salon Marketing, The Salon Staff Coach and Salon Finder App collaborated to bring you this ‘money-saving’ report.
P.p.s Click here to find out how you can join hundreds of other salon owners as Members of Worldwide Salon Marketing
by Greg Milner | Mar 20, 2013 | Featured, The Smell of Success
New Survey Reveals the Shocking Cost of ‘No-Shows’
Hair & Beauty salons are losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year because of no-shows, and the lack of deposit-taking policies for fear of upsetting clients.
In a new survey conducted by Worldwide Salon Marketing, the vast majority of 130 salon owners questioned revealed they had no policy of taking deposits to secure appointments, and even it they did have a cancellation policy in place, it lacked ‘teeth’.
Telling figures that show most salons are letting clients get away with murder
According to WSM founder & CEO Greg Milner, the results are a wake-up call to the industry. “If salons want to be taken seriously by their clients and stop hemorrhaging money, they have to take the lead from industries like travel, hospitality and entertainment, which simply refuse to take bookings without payment,” he says. “Customers accept those policies completely. Try booking a concert ticket and telling them you’ll pay when you get there. It just doesn’t happen.”
The survey of 125 salons reveals
- 88% do not take deposits.
- The average annual loss through no-shows is a whopping $10,000 per salon, with one salon reporting a staggering $52,000 – even though fully 80% of salons claimed they sent appointment reminders by text message.
- Extrapolated across Australia’s approx. 25,000 hair & beauty businesses, the losses represent $250 million annually.
- Of the 12% of salons who insist on deposits for appointments, the average annual losses dropped to less than $2,000
- Asked ‘How many times must a client ‘no-show’ before you no longer take bookings from them?’, 31.5% said three times, while another 32% said “I always let them book another appointment because I’m too scared to lose the potential business.”
It appears the industry is beset by fear. According to one respondent,
“We do have a cancellation policy, but rarely enforce payment, as so few other beauty clinics do so. Clients will not come back.”
And this from a salon in Melbourne:
“I would like to put a cancellation thing in place but I don’t have credit card facility nor any way of safely storing peoples numbers. And yip I am scared of scaring people away.”
But that fear appears largely unfounded. Said another salon owner,
“We started taking credit cards or a cash deposit on February 1st this year, for the first time. It works a charm, no more no shows, the clients now know we’re serious.”
The survey shows that among those salons which insist on deposits or pre-payments, the rate of no-shows drops dramatically across the board. “It also positions the salon as a business to be respected,” says Mr Milner. “It’s just plain rude to book a one or two-hour appointment and simply not turn up. You wouldn’t dare do that to your doctor or dentist because you respect them too much. It’s about time hair & beauty professionals swallowed a small teaspoon of cement, and hardened up,” he said.
Those who have ‘hardened up’ and imposed a strict cancellation policy backed up with deposits report dramatically-improved results.
“We’ve had a 100% Cancellation Policy in place for almost 6 years. It has virtually eliminated no-shows and forces clients to respect our business. EVERYONE in this industry should do the same – it will educate clients that they are visiting professionals whose time is valuable,”
says a Sydney salon owner. And a West Australian salon owner agrees, with impeccable logic:
“It should become common practice in all salons to take deposits, like the hotel and holiday industry, people will just accept it as common practice. Nothing is gained from those who are scared, and just end up hurting the industry with their fear. Even Spreets and other common daily deal sites do it, so why not the salon itself?”
Here’s how veteran WSM member Marnie Kallmeyer describes her deposit-taking and cancellation policy:
[cf]Marnie[/cf]
BONUS GIFT for salon owners who want to eliminate ‘no-shows’ forever!
Want to stop no-shows? Join the Lite marketing program and get this proven client letter FREE – a Bonus Gift valued at $297 – but PRICELESS!
This is the first page of a 2-page, proven client letter that stops no-shows dead. Carefully setting out what your client can expect of you, and importantly, what you expect of your client, this letter has been used successfully by hundreds of WSM member salons around the world – and you can easily edit it to suit your own salon.
Join the Lite program FREE for the first 14 days – and you’ll get to download this letter as a Bonus Gift worth $297 – but priceless when you consider how much no-shows are already costing your business every year!
