A Coming Boom for Upscale Salons
” Well managed high end salons will be in huge demand.” — Jon Gonzales
I see a coming boom for well managed upscale salons. As our country continues to struggle in today’s tough economy, only well managed salons and spas will survive and prosper. Sadly far too many salons are failing at an alarming rate; a recent study showed that 96% of all businesses failures were due to lack of business management skills on the part of the owner. Another study showed only about 5% salons last beyond 7 years.
As more and more salons fail, the demand for outstanding hairdressers who are well educated and top salons that are well managed and run like businesses will be in great demand.
As the economy eventually improves; consumers know that presenting a professional image will be essential whether looking good for a job interview or just wanting to feel good about themselves.People always want to present a positive appearance.
On the positive side, here in America almost 300 million people need a haircut, almost 300 million people want to cover gray and look younger.
There is an over abundance of customers, our challenge as professionals is to sell the benefits of looking good through powerful marketing concepts, especially with the social media opportunities that offer great opportunities to reach the consumer, and of course positive word of mouth referrals will always be your best and cheapest and best form of advertising.
Follow These Guidelines:
Marketing and Advertising — develop a marketing mind set; focus your energies on keeping and attracting loyal new clients. Social media and email newsletters offer great cost effective resources to increasing salon traffic. Is it not a skill to generate 200 new customers? Yet how many salon owners take the time to develop their marketing skills. Check out the table of contents in my book Growing Your Business, a great guide in helping you develop your marketing program.
Excelling at Customer Service — work hard at exceeding client expectations by giving our customers more than what is expected. Create value in your team and salon services so you can create a demand for your services. Positive word of mouth referrals and your customer return rate will always be your score card and your reward.
Owner’s Ability to Recruit, Hire,and Train Top Professionals — Develop a strong staff development program; make sure when you add a new member to your team, they share your vision and your goals. Make sure you hire people that are compatible with your other staff members. My book Creating Your Salon will be very helpful in helping you grow your team.
High Quality Control Standards— Set high quality control standards so you establish consistency in performance, then monitor your customer return rate. The higher your standards the higher your rewards.
Powerful People and Management Skills — it is your responsibility as leader of your team to take your team to higher levels of excellence. Work hard to improve staff performance and productivity.
Strong Business Management Skills — work hard to become astute business men or woman. Take time to learn all you can about the business aspect of salon ownership.
Strong Leaders — excellence starts at the top. It is your responsibility and challenge to lead,inspire and motivate your team to higher levels of excellence. Work hard to make your team successful.Invest in your salon’s greatest profit potential— educate your team. I will be presenting my personal development success all day seminar for your team in Las Vegas on Monday September 19. Click here for complete information.
Open Minded To Seek Help — don’t try to learn by trial and error,let Hairdresser Career Development Systems be your partner in helping you grow your business and your team. Let me share my 46 years of real world experience with you.
A Competitive Spirit — no one ever said owning a business would be easy, you must stay focused and be willing to make your business a success no matter what it takes.
In spite of all the doom and gloom, I see windows of fantastic opportunities that lie ahead, because most salon owners and hairdressers will continue to be in denial and will not seek out help and continue to follow the glitter and hype crowd and fail.
Your attitude towards adversity will play a great key whether you succeed or fail. Adversity will always present fantastic opportunities.
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Informative article I must say, it is good to see all the important information brought to the table.