by Greg Milner | Feb 23, 2011 | New Zealand
Monique Porter of Monique Beauty Therapy, North Shore, Auckland
Setting yourself goals and targets is so important in both your personal and business life. Without having an end result in mind, how will you be able to visualise and achieve your desired outcome?
Let’s take ‘losing weight’ as an example in your personal life. When you set yourself that goal did you have a specific number of kilo’s in mind that you wanted to lose? Did you write that number down somewhere or have a chart on the wall plotting your weight loss over a number of weeks? Was there a timeframe you wanted to achieve it by? Did you reward yourself for meeting certain weight loss targets and was there a consequence if you didn’t make your goal? Come to think of it, did you even weigh yourself to find out what your current weight is – or was the whole idea a wild stab in the dark?
It’s crucial to set goals and targets in your business life too.
In a coaching call just over a month ago with Inner Circle Member Monique Porter of Moniques Beauty Therapy on Auckland’s North Shore, she explained how she was having real problems selling retail to her customers. In fact, so much so that Monique, who is a sole operator, was selling no retail at all to her clients.
We talked through the retailing strategies in the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit® ‘Selling Like Crazy Manual’ and put in place some targets. The target set was to sell just 3 products per week over the 4 weeks (12 in total) by the time we spoke next. Baby steps to start with, but as you’ll hear Monique surpassed these targets with ease…
“I’ve gone from selling no product at all, to selling 18 products in just a month. I Sold 3 starter packages at $65.50 each, 9 bottles of product for in-grown hairs at $21 each, 4 flax seed oil products at $32 each and and 2 nail polishes for $10 each. That’s a total of 18 products for the month and $532 in extra revenue!”
Now that Moinque has achieved her first target, she can and has set new targets to keep this momentum going. If every month she got 18 different clients using her products, that’s 216 clients by the end of 12 months using her product ranges at a current average sale of $29.55 each. Of course, this doesn’t take into account that many of these client will also start purchasing more than just one product.
It’s also worth looking at what would have happened if Monique had NOT sold product to these clients, apart from missing out on the obvious extra income?
These clients would have left her salon and more than likely walked straight down the road to the supermarket or chemist (a salon’s biggest competitor) and bought their product from there. Now the products you get from a supermarket or chemist are generally not the best, so when the client found that their skin or hair wasn’t improving, the first thing they will do is blame the salon or therapist, not the products. So it’s unlikely that you’ll ever see them in the salon again.
So it’s extremely crucial that as experts in your industry, be it hair or beauty, you need to share your knowledge with your clients and give them the products to keep looking after themselves at home, in between their visits to your salon. That’s what your trained to do after all!
And don’t be afraid to sell people stuff! Let me ask you a question. You love to shop, right? So why are people so afraid to sell other people stuff, be it hair products or whatever. Whether you like it or not, you and your staff are sales people in your salon.
Well done Monique on your great product sales and looking forward to hearing more success stories from you!
by Greg Milner | Feb 22, 2011 | Done for you Newsletters, Shop
If you put a gun to my head and told me I could only use ONE method of marketing to my clients, I’d always give the same answer – NEWSLETTERS!
Not once every six months, not once every quarter, but every single month. Nothing puts an ‘iron fence’ around your clients like a regular hard-copy newsletter, in an envelope, with a stamp on it. (Email? Sure – it’s efficient, but it’s nowhere near as effective.)
Now, there are THREE ways to do a monthly newsletter.
1) The HARD way. Sit down at your computer and write the whole thing yourself, lay it out so it looks attractive, and get it printed.
2) The EASY way. Download the many templates for newsletters in the Members area, sit down at your computer, and write all the content for it.
3) The REALLY EASY way!
Long-time IC member Susan Vincent has set up a brilliant ‘done-for-you’ newsletter service for salon owners who know the value of a monthly newsletter, but just don’t have time to do it themselves.
For just $97 a month, Susan will do everything for you, and email you the complete newsletter, in Word format, every month. All you need to do is insert your own details, and send it off to the printer.
Here’s a sample newsletter you can download (Right click and ‘save as…’)
Frankly, it just doesn’t get any easier than that. For $97 a month, there’s no way I’d be sitting down at a computer for hours on end!
Here’s what Inner Circle member EvaTzschaschel says about her experience with Susan’s newsletter service:
‘Hi Susan,
I just wanted to let you know how excited my clients are about the newsletter. I know I would have never gotten my act together if you didn’t offer your fabulous service. Here are some comments of my clients: “I enjoyed reading your newsletter”, “It’s a really good read”, “Very professional”; and a few people asked me for the next issue. I think it’s a good way to stay in front of clients without being pushy. Thank you so much for your help.
Kind regards,
Eva Tzschaschel
Face Body Wellness
4/3 Julius Ave
North Ryde
NSW 2113′
And here’s what Claire Mason of Integrity Paramedical Skin Practitioners in Seven Hills, Queenslandsays:
“During November for marketing I released 4 newspaper ads, Glossy DL clinic package promotions inserted into envelopes and home delivered, Email’s sent out to the data base (I had purchased a beauty salon prior) and hand delivered DL cards. Nothing sold more clinic packages than the newsletter.B ecause of the style of your text, even clients of 11 years can’t tell it’s not me talking. Thank you Susan for your passion. Integrity is growing with you on board.”
by Greg Milner | Jan 14, 2011 | Salon Goalsetting
Just before Christmas, I took a call from a young salon owner who was clearly in some distress. It soon became clear why.
“I’m due to have my first baby in 6 weeks,” she said. I congratulated her and said she must be excited, wow, wonderful and other such supportive small talk.
“More terrifying than exciting,” she said. “I’m still working 5 days a week behind the chair, I’m the main money-earner in my salon, and I don’t know how I’m going to survive when the baby comes. I just don’t know what to do….”
Crikey. Six weeks to go, and no back-up plan? Without wishing to state the bleeding obvious, childbirth isn’t something that kind of sneaks up on you without warning. Like, about 9 months warning.
But this young lady’s story of woe is hardly unique. Thousands of salon owners – who are, by nature, mostly women – face this (very) common problem. Yet so few seem prepared for it.
So this week I interviewed three prominent Members of ourInner Circle Marketing & Mentoring program who are, or have recently, faced and solved that precise problem.
Rachael D’Aguiar is not only a very successful salon owner, she and husband Chris Sanders own the WSM business in New Zealand. As of the time of writing, Rachael is 10 weeks away from the birth of their first child (a girl) and is passionate about ‘being organized…’
Amy Mitchell already has two-year-old Macy. As she picked up the phone to join in on this interview, she was literally a few days – even hours – away from the birth of her second child. As she reveals here, a year ago Amy’s business was on the brink of failure. But suddenly, there was a light at the end of the tunnel – and it wasn’t an oncoming train.
Tegan Messineo gave birth to twin boys two years ago. She still under the age of 25, yet now owns two successful salons, and like Amy, decided to open the second business after the birth of her boys. Here she describes how the arrival of babies can actually be a spur to working smarter, and more productively…
Below is the first 7 minutes of an exclusive CD of the Month all members of the Inner Circle Premium program receive in the mail – just one of the many benefits of Inner Circle membership….
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by Greg Milner | Oct 28, 2010 | Australia, Canada, New Zealand, The Right Mindset, UK, US
If you’ve ever felt down about your salon business, if you’ve reached the end of your tether, on the brink of failure, the bailiff knocking at the door, the bills piling up so high you can’t see over them….
You need to read this.
If you’re in up to your ears, like this WSM member, you’ll probably find it uncomfortable. I make no apology for that. Sometimes, I’m regarded as a bit of an ogre. I make no apology for that either.
“Woe is me…”
Last week, the following pathetic email arrived in my in-box, from a long-term Inner Circle member. I won’t identify her (I’m not that cruel) but she’ll recognize this story. In fact, she gave me permission to publish it. I’ve edited the letter for clarity.
“Hi Greg,
I am in dire straits. I owe the taxman money, suppliers, super, rent and many more.
I have even picked up a 2nd job to start helping me pay back debt.
I now work all day in the salon, get home at around 6pm or later make dinner for my little girl and then leave the house to get to my second job at 8.30pm to start at 9pm and finish at 2am, then get home sleep for about 2hours and then up again to start all over again, just going through the motion as a zombie.
I no longer see my 4 year old, have no zest for life due to being so exhausted day in day out. So I guess this email is a cry for help.
I want to have a successful business. I want to be a successful woman so I can have my daughter look up to me and say, ‘wow my mummy is such a successful person.’ Not to say ‘my mother lives day by day or even worse, has become ill from exhaustion.
I am even considering selling the business to try and cut the debt, but I have two young girls who work for me and depend on me, and I love my salon (even though its in need of a face-lift). I love being a member of the community. I love my work; it’s the only thing I can do well.
I even bought tickets to come to the (Salon Profit Secrets) seminar in Sydney, but my mother got ill and I was then unable to attend.
So I guess I am asking, what steps I should take in my marketing to become the business/role model woman I want to be.
Please, I am so dedicated to change my life. I just need you to be my light.
I have been a member of your (Inner Circle) program for around 2 years. The tool kit has sat on the shelf collecting dust, and I have forgotten about it.
Kind regards, Mary…”
After I regained my breath, and retrieved my dropped jaw from the floor, I wrote back to her. I could have written some molly-coddling crap, soothed her troubled brow and told her everything would be okay. But frankly, I was too bloody annoyed.
“Good grief.
You admit ‘the tool kit has sat on the shelf collecting dust, and I have forgotten about it‘….
What??? If all you did was get off your backside, take the thing off the shelf and USE IT, you wouldn’t be in the situation you are now in.
If you won’t take action to help yourself, with the tools you ALREADY HAVE, then what on earth do you expect us to do? Drag you kicking and screaming to the success trough? Show me you are prepared to do something, then do it, and then I’ll help.
Take the Toolkit down, start using it. Get onto the members site, start using what’s in there. But don’t just expect somebody to wave a magic wand and ‘fix everything’ for you, without you lifting a finger!”
Now, I fully expected this member to immediately collapse in a flood of tears, instantly resign her membership of the Inner Circle program and flounce off into a self-righteous cloud of failure, forever more blaming everyone and everything but herself.
But no. She thought about it for a couple of days, and wrote back thus:
“Hi Greg,
I want to thank you for your quick response back to my email, I know you are a very busy man.
All I can say is that you hit the nail on the head with your comments about me.
I have spent the last couple of days reading the emails WSM has sent and using the members site and taking marketing ideas from the site and other salon owners.
Your email back has made me think of my past actions and also I took a step back and thought ‘what can I lose if I work the program, seeing you have made many people successful (they have also wanted it too).
So I have turned a new leaf so to speak. I have designed up a newsletter to send out to my guests with my ideas, and also ideas I got from the Members Only site.
Your response was truthful, which made the tears flow. I am now taking control of my life, business and family, and so want very hard to succeed to be a role model in the industry and for my daughter.
And I have not only taken the Toolkit off the shelf and dusted it down, I’ve opened it and used templates for future marketing.
Fingers crossed for me, and hopefully I will be one of your guest speakers one day, that came out of financial despair to running a chain of salons. I thank you again….”
It could have gone either way. Mary could have just as easily rolled over and curled up in a corner, hoping the world would go away. It took bravery to do what she did.
Too many business owners go under because they fail to take control, and therefore responsibility. The two are inextricably linked.
To quote Dan Kennedy, ‘being broke is just a temporary circumstance. Being poor is a state of mind’.
Are you a poor salon owner, or merely broke? If you’re poor, there’s not much I or anybody else can do for you. If you’re merely broke – like Mary – then you know what to do. Get off your butt, and take action.
And one day, soon, I expect we’ll hear more from Mary. She’ll be on this website, proudly telling the story of how she dragged herself from the depths of depression, resignation, despair….to success. I’ll be the first to applaud.
by Greg Milner | Oct 5, 2010 | New Zealand, The Smell of Success
I’m a firm believer in attitude playing a big part in the success or downfall of your business, whatever industry you are in. Winston Churchill once said “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference” and when it comes to Inner Circle member Heidi Morton of Bodyscape in Wellington, NZ, her positive, massive action taking attitude has made a world of difference to her business.
Heidi joined the Inner Circle program in the midst of a global recession (July 2009), but this didn’t stop her from growing her salon by over 40% and being so busy that she had to move to a new premises that was double the size of her previous spa!
Here’s an email I got from Heidi just yesterday….
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“After a full year of being involved in Worldwide Salon Marketing the results for our business speak for themselves. Whilst I had a good grasp of business and marketing options prior to becoming involved, Chris, Rachael and the team certainly made sure that I didn’t forget how important it is to ensure MASSIVE ACTION means MASSIVE RESULTS. I am now a firm believer in all wheels of the spoke.
Just over a year ago I had a profitable business that was making ends meet but certainly not a retirement plan. Being a busy Mum and a non beautician partner in the business I often neglected the marketing aspect of our business, focusing too much on the numbers at the other end. We had no trouble attracting and keeping clients but I knew we could do better, a lot better.
12 months later we have a brand new spa on Lambton Quay in Wellington, double the size of our previous spa, all paid for out of the increased turnover in our business. I would not have the courage to do this if I didn’t know of all the tools we could use that could generate us money.
We try everything and anything that WSM throws our way or we think can think of. Our Queen of Referrals competition run during 2010 (a version of the Queen of Referral program, but our Queens are competing for $1,000 of prizes by referring the most new clients and the most spend) has so far bought in over 200 new clients in 8 months whose first visits have spent over $10,000 let alone what they have spent after that. This doesn’t count referrals outside the Queens competition we run.
We have a monthly package deal that normally sells over 30 packages a month with add ons not discounts! We regularly do the Wellington Women’s package (our version of Hollywood women’s ? yes I like to put my own touch on everything!) and bring in 20 or so new clients when we do it. We sold over 100 of the packages on a voucher site when we ran it. 100 new clients in a day, $10,000 in a day – fantastic.
We put our karma cards on car window wipers outside the shop a free 30 minute service. The recipients of this love it and rave about how we have made their day. They refer their friends and we get more new clients. We use the yellow pages to advertise a package, not how pretty we look. Over the last 12 months we have had over 500 phone calls from our yellow pages ad (last year about 100). We display our packages everywhere , have a montly newsletter, weekly e-specials (always with add ons now not discounts). The only time I discount now is with our txt-a-deal days, whereby we may have a quiet day once in a while and then it is a discount to get them in the door today. Of course we don’t forget the basics, new client letters, raise the dead postcards, birthday vouchers, referral thank yous. These basics keep your current clients happy. Funny enough we recently moved from a $10 to a $20 birthday voucher and doubled the number we are getting back in the month, and a larger percentage of these back were clients we have not seen for a long time. At Christmas we wanted to up our retail sales so packaged together the retail products with free gift vouchers for treatments, this went down a treat. From December to February we always offer a deal for rebooking a free ad on service or product. We find if we can get the client 3 times monthly in a row then they won’t shop around elsewhere for a while.
Numbers wise, our turnover is up over 40% year on year, month on month. I have employed more staff and we are still growing. We have not gone backwards in over 15 months. I want to double over two years and we are on track for this to happen. Our staff love that they are more busy and have more $’s in their pay packets.
WSM is not an easy fix, it takes time and effort. I love the way it prompts me to think outside the square, I have some great ideas to implement in 2011 (2010’s move took up too much of my time!) and can’t wait to see what happens with my business.
By the way, this year I have had two overseas holidays, won another trip overseas (karma coming back to get me!), spent more quality time with my kids and have felt a lot happier about where I and the business is heading. However I never lose sight of the customer, our most important asset and whilst I know I can get new clients easily I still look after our current clients with quality, friendly service with value added services for them as well. They love it and complain to us if they are not getting enough deals or promotions like last month, which was our best ever and contained no promotions other than our monthly special as we were too busy all our rooms busy all the time. Now if only I could find some quality staff to expand!!”
Cheers, Heidi
