Marketing

6 ways to improve salon customer service

19 February 2019

How can you improve customer service?

Salon success is not just about your technical and creative skills, it’s also about giving your clients an experience that is commensurate with your brand positioning. [that’s a mouthful] But seriously how can you improve your service levels?

Here’s 6 ways to consider.

1. Get your team to experience great service

I used to take great delight in giving my young team members the opportunity to experience great service.

Across the street from one of my salons was a luxury day spa that delivered great service. Occasionally I would book in a young team member for a facial or massage or manicure/pedicure and more often than not it was the first time that they had ever been a client and experienced what it was that I was trying to get them to deliver. 

Don’t assume that just because you have eaten in nice restaurants and stayed in nice hotels, maybe had facials and massages and been on the receiving end of great service that your new 20 year old employee has.

You can’t just teach the theory of great service, you have to experience and feel what it is like.

2. Reward great service!

When someone on your team goes ‘above and beyond’ and demonstrates great service, notice it and acknowledge it.

Pick people on your team out in your daily, weekly or monthly meetings and your annual awards ceremony and acknowledge those that have delivered great customer service.    

3. Practice delivering it!

Great service doesn’t just happen. People are trained to deliver it!

That starts by first defining what the customer service experience is that you want your clients to have. Once you have defined what it looks like then you need to turn it into a written system so that your team can be trained to deliver it consistently again and again, every time, no matter who the client is, or whether you are there or not.

Define it, document it, systemise it, train people to deliver it and practice it… again and again and again until they get it right. 

C’mon guys I didn’t say it was easy but you need to raise the bar and look at what other service industries or hospitality businesses do in order ‘to be’ and to deliver 5 star!

4. Make service your culture 

Think of a great hotel like the Ritz Carlton, or a great airline like Emirates or Singapore airlines or a great restaurant like those bearing the name of Gordon Ramsey. What do they all have in common?  A ‘5 star’ culture of service is part of what they do and it permeates everything they do!

Big business or little business, it doesn’t matter, have a culture of care and genuine service be part of your company culture!

To make it part of your culture is the most difficult thing to create. You can’t just pay lip service to it. You need ongoing investment and constant training of your people to maintain the standards that you want to represent.

5. Great service requires great teamwork 

For great service to be part of your culture it requires great teamwork where each employee acts like a leader, pushing the culture of care and service forward. Sending a message of ‘People like us do things like this’. People like us, care!

6. Get your clients involved 

Get your clients involved, give them the opportunity to give feedback, to acknowledge good and bad service experiences and feed those experiences back into the system.

Review processes and current best practices and always be asking “How can we do this better?” 

Thank you for watching…

Have a great week! 

What can you do in 5 seconds?

22 January 2019

What can you do in 5 seconds?

Most people would say, “not much”. But, what can you do in 5 seconds to give the people you work with and your clients a more positive experience?

Probably the first one you will think of is Smile!. But you could also…

Say Thank-you.

Hold a door open for someone.

Help them with their jacket on or off.

Ask, is there anything I can help you with?

Offer them a refreshment

Offer them a magazines

Ask if they’re comfortable

Listen attentively

Offer encouragement

Send a happy emoji text message

Give someone a hug

Tell someone you like their hair, or shoes, or top, or makeup

Offer any compliment

Many of us, as both individuals, and salons, work very hard at trying to make good things happen for our clients and colleagues and sometimes, ‘it’s giving or doing the simple things that matter the most’.

Don’t dismiss the simple things…

Be careful not to dismiss the importance of the simple things, the soft skills like, patience, kindness, a genuine smile, being approachable, giving encouragement. They can all have an enormous impact on both the giver and receiver.

Whether it’s with your families, clients or team members, it’s in those ‘5-second opportunities’ that each of us have the chance to really make each other feel good.

There’s a famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi who said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. Using those 5 second opportunities to exhibit [and in-turn, encourage] the behaviours we want to see from others is a good place to start.

Imagine what it would be like if everyone on your team always did that.

Thank you for watching…

Should I enter hairdressing awards?

11 December 2018

Should I enter the hairdressing awards?

I was asked that question recently by a salon owner who was contemplating whether or not to enter the hairdressing business awards.

Over the years I have been both an entrant and a judge in numerous hairdressing awards, so I have experience of what’s involved in putting a submission together and the benefits of entering, regardless of whether or not you win.

Anyway, my answer was that although entering awards and putting the time and effort into putting submissions together can be both a time consuming and a costly exercise there is a hidden benefit regardless of the outcome.

And that benefit is that, putting together a submission for a business award forces you to look at your business, to look at the way you attract and look after clients, to look at how you attract and look after your team, and to reassess all the systems, benchmarks and business practices.

In short, it forces you to step back and take an overview of your business and you probably don’t do that enough, so that’s got to be a good thing.

So, how important is winning?

Obviously winning is always good, sometimes I have won and sometimes not. But, I have seriously always believed that regardless of whether you win or not, the real benefit is actually in the questions that you are asked about your business and have to ask yourself along the way.

Inevitably there is a deadline date by when you have to send your submission in and mine was usually right down to the wire. But, as I put the final package into the postbox, I was always aware that it represented my business at that point in time, and as long as it was in a better place to where it was the previous year, then in my eyes I was a winner, regardless of what anyone else thought.

Are you winning?

You don’t have to be entering awards to ask the questions, so ask yourself; How well are you managing your people?

How well are training your people?

How well are you using social media, from Instagram and Facebook and the other various social media platforms to attract and keep new clients?

How well are you informed of exactly what the productivity benchmarks are telling you about your team, your business, and perhaps more importantly, what are you doing with that information?

When I entered awards whether I won on the day or not, there was one question in particular that used to drive me forward, it’s the most important question of all, which is…

“How could I do it better?”

So, whether you enter awards or not as a follow-on I suggest you sit down with your team and brain-storm “How can we do it better?”

  • How can we look after our clients better?
  • How can we look out for each other better?
  • How can we do our marketing better?
  • How can we use social media better?
  • How can we make our training better?
  • How can we make our award submissions better?

Thank you for watching…

Have a great week! 

How well do you handle the H.E.A.T?

18 September 2018

How well do you handle the H.E.A.T?

We all get complaints sometimes, right? … I mean, sometimes stuff just happens, people complain and we have to deal with it. So, the question is how well do you deal with it?

When we get complaints from clients, staff, or colleagues the ultimate objective is to resolve the situation as amicably and quickly as possible. Lets assume for the sake of the rest of this example that the complaint is from a client. The aim is to get a win:win situation.

Often in the heat of the moment, when someone is complaining our ego’s get in the way and we forget the value of a client. When that happens we risk losing the client because we go on the defence, or even worse we go on the attack and the guaranteed outcome is that you lose the client because you had to ‘win’ you had to be ‘right’ above all else.

It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about making the client happy, resolving the situation and where possible keeping the client. Now, I know there are ‘nutters’ out there that you would rather not have as clients, they are the minority and I’m not talking about them.

I’m referring to your average salon client, the client who is in your chair every six weeks, who perhaps has colour, treatments, buys retail and who can easily be worth a lot of money over the course of the year. Imagine that this client who maybe on average stays with you for 5 years, that’s a client who has a significant life-time value, and perhaps she has referred two friends or family who also have a similar lifetime value. 

All of a sudden your failure to deal with a complaint properly has just cost you and the business a load of money… because you didn’t handle the complain properly.

Complaints are ‘opportunities in disguise’

Everyone makes mistakes. In many professions, for example graphic designers, carpenters or chefs all make mistakes, but when they make a mistake they can throw it away and start again. In other professions, for example the medical profession and hairdressing you can’t throw it out and start again.

Often the mistake is a communication issue, sometimes the mistake is because of technical incompetence and sometimes the perceived mistake and resultant complaint is about the process of how ‘you do business’ for example, ‘a lack of customer service’.

When dealing with a complaint it’s not about having to be right, it’s not about having to win, it’s not about laying blame, justifying why something happened or making excuses. It’s about resolving the situation quickly and amicably, ideally keeping the client in the process, but at the very least limiting the damage that an unhappy client can do.

That’s where the H.E.A.T or ‘HEAT’ acronym comes in.

The ‘H’ in H.E.A.T.…

The ‘H’in H.E.A.T. is for ‘hear’. Hear the complaint, don’t interrupt, listen, really listen. Listen with your eyes and listen with your ears. Don’t jump to the defence, don’t be planning your defence and mentally rehearsing the next thing you are going to say, just listen attentively to what they are saying.

If you really listen to people you start to diffuse some of their emotion and anger, if you don’t listen you will quickly inflame the situation.

The ‘E’ in H.E.A.T.

The ‘E’ in H.E.A.T. stands for ‘empathise’. It takes courage to complain, be thankful that they have complained because they are giving you the opportunity to respond.

Many people never complain because they are too intimidated, they just vote with their feet and never come back and that deprives you of the opportunity to learn why they were unhappy and remedy the situation so that it doesn’t happen again.

Creating empathy is about your body language, don’t stand above them and talk to them through the mirror, sit down next to them and talk to them face to face.

Creating empathy is about the words you use, say… “I understand you are unhappy…Thank you for bringing this to my attention…”

You don’t create empathy when you are argumentative, angry and defensive. You create empathy  when you ask yourself how would I feel if I were in her shoes, regardless of whether they are right or wrong, how would you feel if you were them?

The ‘A’ in H.E.A.T.…

The ‘A’ in H.E.A.T. stands for ‘apologise’. It doesn’t matter whether it is or isn’t your fault, resist the temptation to apportion blame or make excuses. Just apologise. “My apology that you are not happy… My apology that it is not what you wanted… My apology that you didn’t get what you expected…”

No if’s, no buts, just an apology.

The ‘T’ in H.E.A.T.…

The ‘T’ in H.E.A.T. stands for ‘take action’, offer a solution, a next step.

What might that be? There isn’t a generic one size fit’s all ‘action’ to take, it might be an offer to repair the problem, it might be an offer of a refund, it might just be saying “thank you for bring it to my attention I will ensure that it doesn’t happen again”. But, take some action, take responsibility and offer some solutions.

So to summarise…

We spend a lot of time and money attracting clients and training our team to be able to fulfil their needs. Unfortunately, some clients for a variety of reasons are unhappy and complain.

Many hairdressers have a tendency to get defensive or lay blame elsewhere in order to ‘get the complaint out the door as soon as possible’ instead of taking steps to remedy the situation to a positive outcome.

So next time you get a complaint remember the H.E.A.T acronym. It helps you focus on the positive steps needed to handle complaints and achieve a win:win outcome.

As a coaching exercise, brainstorm with your team

  • How do we currently handle complaints?
  • Is there a specific area that as a salon we need more training in to reduce the amount of complaints?
  • Role play complaint situations using the H.E.A.T. acronym
  • Come up with a scenario of possible action steps for the most common  complaints
  • Ensure there is a clear policy as to who has authority to offer refunds or credits

Finally, there is a great quote from Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft he said;

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

Thank you for watching…

I hope you have got something out of today.

Have a great week!

When did you last really thank someone?

24 July 2018

When did you last really thank someone?

I don’t mean the cursory “thank you” that hopefully we all say many times a day, usually without really thinking about it.

I mean the special note, the email, the card, whatever it is, as long as it is a heartfelt “thank you”… an un-solicited and out of the blue “thank you”, with no agenda or expectations, but purely to express a debt of gratitude, to give your sincere “thanks”

It doesn’t happen every day…

in fact it doesn’t happen every week, but occasionally out of the blue, I get a card, a scrawled note, an email thanking me for having had an effect on someone by something I had said or written or done.

It might have been a day ago a week ago or years ago… but every time it happens… wow! how does it make me feel.

Sure I get paid, and I get great feedback from my seminars, but that un-solicited and un-expected “thank you” is just plain… special. It warms a place that money alone can never reach.

Where do you start…

In our hectic achievement driven lives we often forget to stop and reflect on the people who have made us who we are both in the past and in the present.

Often at the time we perhaps didn’t realize just how significant it was “that comment, that advice, that recommendation or helping hand” that someone had said or did that had an effect on how we think and act. Perhaps at the time it was even advice we resented and initially rejected. 

We all have people in our lives who contribute to our mental, spiritual, emotional and creative well being, sometimes they are friends sometimes family and sometimes complete strangers who contribute to our happiness and well being.

Make their day, thank them.

It’s not just good to get… but good to do as well.

So, who started you in this industry? Who gave you your first job? Who inspired you? Who went out on a limb for you? Who has taught you something…anything? Who makes a contribution to your life to make you the person you are? Who raised you? Who looks up to you? Who pays you? who, who, who…

When did you last thank them? did you ever? if not now…when?

Thank them, put pen to paper.

Thank you for watching…

Have a great week! 

How do you make people feel?

19 June 2018

How do you make people feel?

Don’t just gloss over that question… When a client comes to your salon, ask yourself ‘How do you really make people feel?’

When clients come into your salon they get a haircut and maybe a colour and an experience. Part of that experience is, ‘how you make people feel’.

When you go into a store and buy something you walk out the door with a product but you also walk out the door with a ‘feeling’.

For example, I am sure that you have some designer label possessions 

Why did you buy that designer label?

Why do some people, maybe you did, spend inordinate amounts of money on watches, sunglasses, handbags etc when the market is saturated with “copies” of almost every luxury item out there that are often almost indistinguishable from the originals and available at a fraction of the price?

It is not just the quality and practicality of the product itself, it is because of “how it makes you feel.” That is the component that differs the most when you buy the copy the feeling that you get, not just during the experience of buying it but every time you wear or carry it.

What is that feeling? It depends on the product in question, but maybe the original will give you an added feeling of confidence, authenticity, beauty, desirability, success, power, recognition etc

What ever it is, that intangible, invisible emotion is what you paid for every bit as much as the product itself because you simply don’t get that feeling with the copy.

As a hairdresser your services are your product…

Just as prices vary enormously for handbags and watches when buying originals versus copies, they vary enormously for haircuts and colours from salon to salon.

Just like the handbags, what the client is buying when they come to your salon is how you make them feel, how you treat them, the relationship, the experience that gives the client that added feeling of confidence, beauty, desirability, success, power, recognition.

That intangible, invisible emotion is what your clients pay for, every bit as much as the haircut/colour itself.

Your haircut doesn’t have a label attached to it

Unlike brands like the Louis Vuitton bag or the Rolex watch your haircut doesn’t have a label attached to it that subtly endorses the wearer and advertises the manufacturer.

Your brand, is a brand experience that you deliver, an emotional journey, and how you make people feel in your chair, your salon determines what value they put on you how much they are prepared to pay for your serveces and how they endorse you…or not.

Coaching Clinic

Brainstorm with your team:

  • What is the feeling your salon brand projects?
  • Do your clients associate that feeling with you?
  • How do or can you market that feeling?
  • As individuals how do we deliver that feeling?
  • How can we train people to deliver that feeling?

Thank you for watching…

If you don’t already subscribe to “The Two Minute Salon Manager” you can do so by visiting growmysalonbusiness.com

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook @growmysalonbusiness

Have a great week! 

How can you create ‘moments’?

15 May 2018

The power of moments…

Why do certain fleeting moments and experiences have a lasting effect on us? And from a business point of view how can we develop ‘moments’ in our salons that will have a positive effect on our clients and our team? 

Last month I visited cafe chain ‘Pret a Manger’ and picked up a juice from the display cabinet. When I went to pay for it the server said “That ones on me!”

Wow! I have never had that before, but apparently instead of having the traditional loyalty card to reward clients, what the management at ‘Pret a Manger’ have done is give each server what is essentially a budget that they can use to reward clients at their own discretion.

Now, that has a cost to the company for sure. But think about the upside! Think about the loyalty that that small act creates with their clients, think about the feeling that it gives the employees being able to reward customers spontaneously and the ecstatic responses that that would undoubtedly get from surprised customers.

But, that costs money!

But creating small spontaneous moments of fun or service doesn’t always have to be at a cost, for example, this morning I was on a train on my way to the airport and I went to the dining car for a coffee. This was at 6.30 in the morning and in my experience railway cafeteria staff are not usually renown for light hearted fun or great customer service especially at that time of the day.   

But after he gave me my coffee and was taking my money he said “Would you like a momento of our time together kind sir?” Maybe That doesn’t translate to the written word so well but said in a fun Shakespearian voice he was asking if I needed a receipt and made a very mundane experience a moment that bought a smile to my face.     

Creating moments… 

When I had my salons, I would send a card signed by all the team to new employees welcoming them to the team before they started. It was a small gesture that meant a huge amount, but cost very little. 

People used to ask me why I did that, and I answered “Because no one else does”  That’s what make moments special, they’re unique special moments that no one else does.

Some moments need to be spontaneous where you are relying on the individual team members to do some small act of kindness, service or just create a moment of fun that creates a memorable experience for the client.

Other ‘moments’ like the ‘Pret A Manger’ experience can be planned as part of  the ‘service systems’ that you train your team to deliver as part of your Branded service experience.

So what can you instigate in your salon to create special moments for your team and clients?

6 ways to improve your salon service level.

10 April 2018

How can you improve customer service?

Salon success is not just about your technical and creative skills, it’s also about giving your clients an experience that is commensurate with your brand positioning. [that’s a mouthful] But seriously how can you improve your service levels?

Here’s 6 ways to consider.

1. Get your team to experience great service

I used to take great delight in giving my young team members the opportunity to experience great service.

Across the street from one of my salons was a luxury day spa that delivered great service. Occasionally I would book in a young team member for a facial or massage or manicure/pedicure and more often than not it was the first time that they had ever been a client and experienced what it was that I was trying to get them to deliver. 

Don’t assume that just because you have eaten in nice restaurants and stayed in nice hotels, maybe had facials and massages and been on the receiving end of great service that your new 20 year old employee has.

You can’t just teach the theory of great service, you have to experience and feel what it is like.

2. Reward great service!

When someone on your team goes ‘above and beyond’ and demonstrates great service, notice it and acknowledge it.

Pick people on your team out in your daily, weekly or monthly meetings and your annual awards ceremony and acknowledge those that have delivered great customer service.    

3. Practice delivering it!

Great service doesn’t just happen. People are trained to deliver it!

That starts by first defining what the customer service experience is that you want your clients to have. Once you have defined what it looks like then you need to turn it into a written system so that your team can be trained to deliver it consistently again and again, every time, no matter who the client is, or whether you are there or not.

Define it, document it, systemise it, train people to deliver it and practice it… again and again and again until they get it right. 

C’mon guys I didn’t say it was easy but you need to raise the bar and look at what other service industries or hospitality businesses do in order ‘to be’ and to deliver 5 star!

4. Make service your culture 

Think of a great hotel like the Ritz Carlton, or a great airline like Emirates or Singapore airlines or a great restaurant like those bearing the name of Gordon Ramsey. What do they all have in common?  A ‘5 star’ culture of service is part of what they do and it permeates everything they do!

Big business or little business, it doesn’t matter, have a culture of care and genuine service be part of your company culture!

To make it part of your culture is the most difficult thing to create. You can’t just pay lip service to it. You need ongoing investment and constant training of your people to maintain the standards that you want to represent.

5. Great service requires great teamwork 

For great service to be part of your culture it requires great teamwork where each employee acts like a leader, pushing the culture of care and service forward. Sending a message of ‘People like us do things like this’. People like us, care!

6. Get your clients involved 

Get your clients involved, give them the opportunity to give feedback, to acknowledge good and bad service experiences and feed those experiences back into the system.

Review processes and current best practices and always be asking “How can we do this better?” 

Thank you for watching…

Have a great week!