Here are a few key points to running a successful salon given by a 15 year award winning, AND Canadian Hairstylist of the Year Mario Verrilli.

Mario Verrilli has been in the hairdressing industry for over 15 years, and is the owner of Onar’e Salon located in Mississauga Canada. He has created stunning looks for top models, And he’s been featured in the pages of national fashion and beauty magazines like… (Canadian Hairdresser, Glow Magazine, Hidden Gems Magazine, and a host of others.) Mario owns a successful salon as well as an Eco-friendly product company called Saijojo (Sigh Joe-Joe). Interested in Eco-friendly products go to http://www.saijojo.com

Click above to listen

12 Key Points to a successful salon

Leave me a comment below and let me know your thoughts

Glen Andrews

Have you ever wondered how to keep your clients faithful, AND get them spending more with you?

Implementing a simple salon membership program will help keep your client’s loyal, and if done properly will reward them for spending more with you. The more your clients spend, the more they save, it’s a win/win for everyone.

I know you’ve had a Costco card, Barnes and Noble, Grocery, or a Sears’s card at one time or another.

These retailers aren’t handing these cards out because they like the feeling of giving back. They have done thousands of studies and have determined that the card holder will return more frequently, and spend more money if they hold their discount card, or membership card. It doesn’t matter what you call it the cards are all designed to keep clients coming back and spending more money consistently.

Here are 3 membership programs that will add thousands to your salon

1. You can have a simple salon membership card that you hand out to all your clients. When they present the membership card to your receptionist they’ll receive a small discount for holding your salon membership card (A.K.A the customer loyalty card.)

2. You can have a preferred client card that allows your client’s a discount by how much they spend in your salon. If they spend $50.00 they’ll receive a 3% discount, if they spend $100.00 they’ll receive a 10% discount, if they spend $200.00 they’ll receive a 15% discount. This will get your clients spending more money with you consistently.

3. Here’s my favorite way to implement a membership card. Let’s say you have one thousand clients. You would set up an in store flier promotion, and have your staff get your clients excited about this great opportunity to save “big” money through your NEW membership program.

A. You must create scarcity so that your clients feel a sense of loss if they don’t get to join your NEW salon membership program. So you’d offer this membership program to the first 200 clients (out of one thousand) who sign up. Let your clients know that your membership program is on a first come first serve basis.

B. Then set a launch date for when you’ll be accepting members into your new salon membership program (this will help build momentum and excitement.)

C. Your membership will be a “continuity” membership. Meaning, you get to charge your client’s credit card every month regardless of whether or not they use your services. It’s like having a gym membership, you get charged every month regardless of whether or not you decide to “stay home” and pack on the pounds, or show up and take off the pounds.

This is absolutely the best way to have instant and reliable cash flow each and every month.

Implementing a salon membership program keeps client retention high, keeps your client’s spending more, and it allows you instant cash flow each and every month regardless of how hard you work.

This simple salon membership program will add thousands to your bottom line, and create a win/win scenario for you, and your clients. If you need help implementing, or marketing a membership program, please email me at Glen@AndrewsSalonMarketing.com

Contact me if you need further assistance, AND let me know what you thought of this article by leaving me a comment below. Good, bad, or ugly, your feedback is important and welcome.

Helping you increase your salon sales,

Glen Andrews
http://www.AndrewsSalonMarketing.com

In order to market your salon successfully you have to have captivating headlines that are “benefit” driven, OR  headlines that provoke “curiosity” in order to get your prospects interested in what you have to say.

Everyone scans newspapers, magazines, websites, brochures, and mail, then decides whether or not they’re going to take the time to read more . This video will help you market your salon more effective using headlines. Check it out NOW!

Technical note: Trouble watching this video? If the video seems to be starting and stopping, try refreshing your browser. This fixes the problem in about 90% of the cases. For the other 10%… don’t ask me, I only work here:)

Contact me if you need further assistance, AND let me know what you thought of this video by leaving me a comment below. Good, bad, or ugly, your feedback is important and welcom

Here’s to marketing your salon more effectively,

Glen Andrews
http://www.AndrewsSalonMarketing.com

P. S. If you haven’t signed up for my FREE Salon Marketing Tips & Strategies TV Show you’re missing out on some killer salon marketing strategies that will enable you to attract more clients, and increase sales cost effectively.

I was speaking to one of my clients recently, and we were discussing several inexpensive ways to market her salon. One of the first inexpensive ways to market “any” salon is by using your business card “effectively.” If done properly you can attract a lot of NEW salon clients quickly, and very cost effectively.

The biggest mistake I see salon owners make when using their business card is having it look like everyone else (Name, address, phone, web, email) BORING!!!!

If you want outrageous results, you have to be willing to do outrageous advertising. Look at what everyone else is doing, and do something completely different. Let’s face it, everyone is walking around in a trance and the only way to grab attention is to be outrageous with your advertising.

Make your business card “work” for you!

Here's My $100.00 Dollar Bill Business card

I have my salon clients using “hundred dollar bill” business cards because they have “staying” power, and they’re “outrageously” different.

Here’s how to use business cards effectively in your salon

You can get these business cards in 20’s, 50’s, and 100’s. When you hand these out to your existing clients, other business professionals, or anyone else you come in contact with, let them know that your business card is worth real money to NEW clients on their initial visit. So if you hand out a $50 dollar business card, it would be worth $50.00 dollars of salon services.

I know what you’re thinking… “ How can I afford to give away my services for FREE!”

This is where my clients get “sweaty palms” because they don’t realize what their clients are really worth. This is how my “astute” salon marketing clients easily separate themselves from their competitors.

By the way, do you think anyone else in your market is using this outrageous advertising technique to acquire new clients? Not likely!

Let me explain before I totally lose you. If a client visits your salon and spends an average of $100.00 dollars monthly, she would be worth $1,200.00 dollars to you per year. So if I asked you… would you give away $100.00 dollars in services to make $1,200.00…would you? ABSOLUTELY!!!

You can COMPLETELY eliminate your competition by understanding your numbers.

If you attract an extra 100 clients throughout the year using my “outrageous” business card strategy, and each new client spent an average of $100.00 dollars a month, that’s $120,000.00 you’re missing out on with just one simple idea. Oh, I forgot… you have to be willing to give away $5000.00 in FREE services ($50.00 x 100 = $5000.00) to acquire your NEW client in order to pocket $120K.

You give $5K in free services and you receive $120K in return. That’s just the first 12 months; hopefully you’ll have these clients filling your bank account for many years.

97% of my clients are astonished at the money they could be making if they only understood the “real” numbers, and how to outrageously advertise their salon for maximum impact, and profit.

This is just one outrageous salon marketing strategy that will get you outrageous results!

Contact me if you need further assistance, AND let me know what you thought of this article by leaving me a comment below. Good, bad, or ugly, your feedback is important and welcome.

Helping you increase your salon sales,

Glen Andrews
http://www.AndrewsSalonMarketing.com

Having salon marketing and business systems will allow you more freedom to go, do, and have, whatever you choose. If you want to remove yourself from the “doings” of your business, and become a true business “owner,” setting up systems will allow anyone to step in and run the day to day operations WITHOUT you having to be there.

Do you have a salon marketing system for attracting new clients? Do you have a system for bring back existing clients? Do you have a system for your staff to sell more “in-store” products, and services?

Do you have a system to collect testimonials, or before & after photos? How about a system to collect your clients COMPLETE contact information? A system to communicate properly with your clients so your staff doesn’t create their own.

If you don’t create extraordinary salon marketing and business systems, you’ll be at the mercy of your staff, and clients to create their own.

Contact me if you need further assistance, AND let me know what you thought of this article by leaving me a comment below. Good, bad, or ugly, your feedback is important and welcome.

Helping you increase your salon sales,

Glen Andrews
http://www.AndrewsSalonMarketing.com

P. S. If you haven’t taken the FREE 7 day salon marketing video series, you’re missing out on some simple, yet effective, salon marketing strategies that will enable you to attract more clients, and increase sales.

To many times as entrepreneurs we get caught up in the day to day minutia of our businesses and forget why we started the business in the first place.

I remember I wanted the freedom to spend more time with my wife, and have the business provide us with the comfort to go, do, and have, whatever we wanted. Isn’t that why we all start a small business, because of what we think the business will do for us?

Then all of a sudden 5 years races by and before we realize it, we’re working harder and longer than ever before. Has this ever happened to you?

We forget that the business should be working for us, NOT us for it.

Here’s a quick road map that will help you get headed in the right direction.

First, you have to know where you’re going, how much money you want to make, how much time off you want, what your perfect salon looks like, what your key roll will be, AND most importantly, what does your perfect business life look like?

If you’re like most people you’ve never taken the time to design your business around you. And it all starts with the “end” in mind. You have to know specifically what you want, and create a plan to achieve it.

Let me give you a simple example of how this might look if you wanted to make a certain amount of money in your salon. This is  not difficult, you just have to take the time to work “on” your business instead of being trapped working in it.

1.    Write down how much money you want to make in the next 12 months. Let’s say your goal is to gross $1 million dollars.

2.    Write down your average sale per client on a daily basis (not including products.) Let’s say your average sale is $100.00 per client.

3.    How many clients will you have to see in order to reach your goal of $1 million dollars? $1,000.000.00 divided by $100.00 = 10,000.00 client’s per year.

4.    Then break it down into small chunks so that the task doesn’t seem so daunting. If we need 10,000.00 clients per years, you’d need 834 clients per month, and only 28 clients per day to reach your target goal. Not such a daunting task after all, is it?

Figure out how many clients that you currently have coming into your salon daily, and then, adjust your marketing to fit your needs. You can either turn the marketing up, or turn the marketing down it all depends on your specific goals.

The challenge with most salon owners is that they’re so busy working in the business that they don’t take the time to design the business to meet their needs, and then suddenly WHAM…5 to 7 years races by, and you’re still working feverishly to get ahead.

You have to decide today what you want next year to look like and design a plan, if you don’t,  your circumstances will look the same year after year. If you want more time off, more money, more clients, or you want to become a business owner instead of a business employee then write down exactly what you want and create a simple action plan.

If you take the time to do this simple task you’ll know exactly where you’re going weekly, monthly, and quarterly, so that you can make adjustments quickly if you get off course.

I also covered this topic in-depth in my FREE 7 day video training series on marketing your salon more effectively. Just fill out the box to your right in order to have instant access.

Contact me if you need further assistance, AND let me know what you thought of this article by leaving me a comment below. Good, bad, or ugly, your feedback is important and welcome.

Helping you increase your salon sales,

Glen Andrews
http://www.AndrewsSalonMarketing.com

P. S. If you haven’t taken the FREE 7 day salon marketing video series, you’re missing out on some simple, yet effective, salon marketing strategies that will enable you to attract more clients, and increase sales.

Do you have a salon system in place that removes the guess work from your staff so that they can run the day to day operations without you constantly having to be there?

Too often we get caught up running the day to day operations of our business to take any real time to “work on our business.”

If you find yourself stamping out fires on a consistent basis, constantly dealing with unruly staff, not having enough clients or in store sales, then what I’m about to share with you will literally change your business.

Have you ever wondered how Subway, McDonalds, or Wal-Mart serves, hires, fires, promotes, attracts, and sells billions of dollars of products and services each and every year?

Every successful small business has an operating system to do for them, what they cannot do for themselves.

Now I understand that you’re not a billion dollar company, BUT you can still set up systems in your business that removes the guess work. A system, once  in place, can run like a well oiled machine. You don’t have to be Wal-Mart or Subway to have a salon system that sets up boundaries and expectations in order for you to create an exceptional experience for your clients, and a system that allows you more freedom.

But you should take into consideration Subway, Wal-Mart, and McDonalds  started out just like you… as a dream that was turned into reality through vision, hard work, and systems.

So what’s your salon system? Do you have one?

Let me share with you some salon systems that will make your business and your life less stressful.

1. Having a simple script that your receptionist can use will help remove your caller’s doubts,  questions, and fears about your salon.

Have you ever called a business to find out more about their services only to be turned off by their receptionist? If you loose just one client a month because your receptionist isn’t out going, friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about your products and services, you’re going to lose thousands of dollars each and every year.

After you have a script in place have a friend or colleague randomly call your salon to see how your receptionist is answering the phone. You might be surprised at what you hear.

2. You must have a salon system for attracting new, and bring back existing clients consistently and cost effectively.

Are you running a consistent ad campaign, postcard campaign, sales letter campaign, or an in store flier campaign? If you don’t have a marketing calendar filled out at the beginning of each year how will you know if you’re hitting your goals?  Are you waiting, guessing, or hoping that your clients and prospects call or return?

As a salon owner you have to take the initiative in order to get new and existing clients spending more with you. Guessing and hoping is NOT a plan! Okay maybe it is a plan, a plan to fail.

Your salon system for attracting clients must have several marketing funnels running simultaneously. I did a post on this prior. You can read and listen by clicking the link below.

http://andrewssalonmarketing.com/2009/09/04/are-you-a-salon-marketing-hero-or-zero/

3. You also need a salon system for hiring staff. I did a prior post on this as well that you can check out by clicking this link.

http://andrewssalonmarketing.com/2009/09/25/how-to-hire-your-perfect-salon-staff/

Setting up salon systems is critical to building and growing your business. However, it’s more important that you set up these systems so that you have the ability to control your business instead of it controlling you.

Don’t be another parent who gets lost in their business because they think they have to do it all themselves. Take the time NOW to set up your salon system, so that your business provides the lifestyle YOU desire, and your family deserves.

Contact me if you need further assistance, AND let me know what you thought of this article by leaving me a comment below. Good, bad, or ugly, your feedback is important and welcome.

Helping you increase your salon sales,

Glen Andrews
http://www.AndrewsSalonMarketing.com

P. S. If you haven’t taken the FREE 7 day salon marketing video series, you’re missing out on some simple, yet effective, salon marketing strategies that will enable you to attract more clients, and increase sales.

Is your salon staff not performing to expectations? Does it always feel like your salon is a revolving door for unreliable stylists, nail techs, or receptionists?

Let me tell you that you’re NOT alone. Eighty seven percent of all small businesses have a challenge when it comes to locating and hiring quality staff.

My wife (Carolyn) is the director of golf operations at an exclusive country club in New Jersey. Carolyn gives me the horror stories weekly about unruly and unreliable staff members who don’t show up on time, make constant mistakes, and gossip about others behind their backs. To be completely fair, Carolyn has inherited these employees. She didn’t hire any of her staff. Carolyn was relocated to this position to see if she could get this mess straightened out. Poor performance (expectations) apparently has been an issue for quite some time.

This is easily rectified. It all comes down to both parties understanding the expectations and understanding the consequences (accountability.)

Have you ever heard a family member or friend ask their child to clean up their room? What usually happens? NOTHING! Why? Because most parents want their child to clean their room but don’t expect them too, and worse, they don’t hold them accountable.

It’s the same for your salon staff! You have to ask yourself…have I been very clear on what I expect from my salon staff about these particular job requirements. If so, am I willing to hold their feet to the fire and make sure that this job is done to my highest expectations? The second your salon staff crosses the line there has to be accountability.

If your dog chews the furniture and you choose to do nothing, guess what? Your dog will continue to chew the furniture, and then maybe move on to your shoes, linen, and clothing, until you draw the line.

I was working with a client several months ago. He was struggling to attract new clients. I gave him a clear precise set of instructions as to what he needed to do in order for me to help him change his circumstances. Two weeks later we had a conference call. I had my folder open so I could write down everything that he accomplished. Not one minute into our conversation and he started with the excuses (I didn’t have time, my computer went down,  I forgot the number, etc.)

I quickly interrupted him and said…”Steve, my folder only has room for accomplishments. It says right here at the top of my folder in bold print ACCOMPLISHMENTS, and it’s underlined. There are no spaces in my folder for excuses. If you want my help, and you’re willing to commit I can help you. If not, let’s not waste each others time.”

Two weeks later Steve accomplished everything I asked of him. WHY? Because he understood my expectations, and he knew I would hold him accountable.

So here’s your blue print for hiring a successful salon staff. (I understand that you cannot discriminate, but you still need to have a good sense of who fits, and who doesn’t.)

1.    Write down the perfect characteristics your salon staff must have in order to perform at “your” highest expectations (Out going, attractive, well dressed, well spoken, clean, smiling, able to perform services at a high level, etc.)
2.    Write down your job description in detail exactly as you want it performed.
3.    Write down exactly what you expect from your salon staff daily (cleanliness, on time, out going, helpful, courteous, happy, smiling, etc.)
4.    Write down exactly what you will NOT tolerate (gossiping, tardiness, bad attitude, unhappy clients, etc.)
5.    Write down as many “open ended” questions as you can think of that will get your prospective salon staff talking (what do you like most about the salon industry? What do you like least? How do you feel about working late, or coming in early? Why did you leave your previous job? What makes you a good candidate for this position? How do you adapt to new ideas and instructions? How often did you clean up your equipment, or area? Was cleaning your equipment mandatory or your initiative? etc.) You can weave simple yes or no questions between your open ended questions so that your potential salon staff doesn’t faint.

By asking open ended questions you’ll get a great feel for how your new salon staff will act with your clients, and for you.

In order to have a salon staff that works in harmony will come down to your ability to be up front and honest about what you expect from each of them on a daily basis. And when they decide to test you…and they will… you need to hold your ground and take immediate action.

Once they see that you’re NOT a push over, they will fall into formation and enjoy a structured work environment where everyone is created equal.

I hired and fired a maintenance crew for a country club for 6 years. It took me one year to remove the poisonous staff members, and one year to build it back up. When I was through the country club had the ability to run on its own, without supervision, because each staff member understood their job requirements, expectations, and consequences.

Contact me if you need further assistance, AND let me know what you thought of this article by leaving me a comment below. Good, bad, or ugly, your feedback is important and welcome.

Helping you increase your salon sales,

Glen Andrews
http://www.AndrewsSalonMarketing.com

P. S. If you haven’t taken the FREE 7 day salon marketing video series, you’re missing out on some simple, yet effective, salon marketing strategies that will enable you to attract more clients, and increase sales.

How would you like to increase your salon sales without feeling like an annoying pest ? How would you feel if you could sell more products and sky-rocket your salon sales with zero resistance? It’s easier than you think.

Let’s face it, we all hate to be sold. How many times have you entered a department store and had a store clerk ask…”can I help you”… and you quickly replied…”no thank you, I’m just looking.”

Have you ever avoided a sales clerk because you didn’t want to go through the “selling” process? Last year when I went down to my local car dealership I felt like Elvis Presley. I never saw so many sales people walking towards my car as I pulled in. I felt like a piece of meat thrown over board into shark infested waters. It was such a turn off, I quickly looked at some vehicles and left.

It’s a fact that 97% of us dislike the selling process and avoid it at all cost.

So how do you increase your salon sales with zero resistance?

The times have changed,  increasing your salon sales by pushing products and services on your clients simply doesn’t work. You have to become your client’s confidant.

We all love to do business with people we like and trust. People we feel are like us, understand our needs, and are willing to listen.

I recently had our air conditioner replaced. I had three different sales men come out. Only one took the time to share with me what would take place and how it would benefit me.
He shared with me how my utilities would decrease, how the air would circulate better throughout the house, leaving it cooler or warmer depending upon the season.

He took the time to explain why it was important to have the air ducts hanging properly without restriction. He also pointed out why some rooms would cool better than others,  and how this would alleviate that problem.

By the time he left my home I felt like he understood what I really wanted from a new air conditioner. I felt as though I had a trusted friend whom I could rely on.

Before he left he also suggested a better filter, which I agreed to purchase. He also said I should have the unit serviced once a year, which I agreed and purchased.

In order for you to increase your salon sales you have to educate your clients about your products and services. Share with them all the benefits that your products and services provide, and then share your recommendations on which products would keep their hair shinier, softer, healthier, and more manageable.

For example – while you or your staff is coloring a clients hair, explain what you’re applying, and what the benefits are to the client. Inform them how your products will keep their hair looking natural longer than store bought products. Explain what the sun and wind does to their hair, and how using your products can combat dry, frizzy, brittle hair. Explain to your clients what happens to their hair if it’s NOT treated regularly with the appropriate hydrating creams. You’re not only building a strong friendly relationship you’re building your expertise in the eyes of your clients.

Then ask them if they’d like to take some home to use on a regular basis. Explain the “benefits” of using your products daily. This will easily boost your salon sales with zero resistance, and removes your staff from the burden of selling.

Contact me if you need further assistance, AND let me know what you thought of this article by leaving me a comment below. Good, bad, or ugly, your feedback is important and welcome.

Helping you increase your salon sales,

Glen Andrews
http://www.AndrewsSalonMarketing.com

P. S. If you haven’t taken the FREE 7 day salon marketing video series, you’re missing out on some simple, yet effective, salon marketing strategies that will enable you to attract more clients, and increase sales.

l want to share with you the pros and cons of targeted salon marketing verses mass salon marketing and then you can decide which is best for you.

Mass Salon Marketing (Radio, Television or Large City Newspaper which cover a wide area.)

Pros…

•    You get your business in front of a lot of different people

•    It’s easy to implement this salon marketing strategy

•    You get to see and hear your name on radio and TV

•    Done often enough will give you name recognition

•    You can attract a wide variety of clients

Cons…

•    Hard to track results

•    Reaches a large audience that doesn’t need or want your services

•    Very Expensive

•    Not a good return on investment (marketing dollars)

•    Reaching prospects that are to far away to justify the commute

•    The producers control what you can, or cannot do in your marketing

Targeted Salon Marketing (Postcards, Sales Letters,  Fliers, and Small Targeted Area Newspaper.)

Pros…

•    Spend less to get your message in front of a specific prospect

•    You can track results and make adjustments quickly and easily

•    You get to decide exactly who receives your message

•    Better return on investment

•    Quicker return on investment

•    Targeted to your specific community

•    Name recognition within your community

•    You can target specific carrier routes, zip codes or demographics with ease giving you a higher response ratio

•    You get to place your promotion directly into your prospects hands via United States Postal Service

•    You get to farm a small area which keeps your salon in front of your clients and prospects consistently and cost effectively

•    You can set up a salon marketing calendar months in advance because you know exactly where your best clients are coming from, and your exact return on investment

•    Easily implemented with the help of a mail house

•    You get to be creative and have fun with your promotions keeping it fresh and new

Cons…

•    You have to understand simple “direct response advertising strategies.”

•    You have to send your marketing piece to the mail house for distribution, or do it yourself

•    You have to come up with a promotion

I was asked this question many years ago by one of the best marketing minds in the world… “If you had to attract 20 new clients every week for the next 30 days, and your marketing had to pay for itself (return on investment) or you’d go bankrupt, which strategy would you employ to save your salon”?

To your marketing success,

Contact me if you need further assistance, AND let me know what you thought of this article by leaving me a comment below. Good, bad, or ugly, your feedback is important and welcome.

Helping you increase your salon sales,

Glen Andrews
http://www.AndrewsSalonMarketing.com