“What are the 3 most important numbers for a stylist to focus on?”
Productivity matters, that’s the harsh reality, and it’s by measuring and tracking your productivity that you get to see how you are performing as an individual and to make comparisons and be able to set goals for future growth.
As a hairdresser, there are many different systems that will determine what you earn and depending on the country you are in there may or may not be a guaranteed minimum wage. But the most common system by which hairdressers are paid is a combination of a guaranteed weekly minimum wage and then a commission over and above a certain figure.
The bottom line is, ‘the more you do the more you get’, so if you’re a hairdresser working for someone else what are the most important figures to focus on?
My number 1 figure a hairdresser should monitor is
1. Total weekly sales in products and services
What you generate in sales each day or week is ultimately what determines how much you get paid, so knowing the total revenue figure should be important to you.
How that total revenue figure is achieved will vary enormously from individual to individual and will be influenced by several variables, from the price your products and services are charged out at, to the range of services you offer, the amount of clients you service and the amount of time you allocate for an appointment.
Tracking the progressive totals of the revenue you generate on a daily and weekly basis, and understanding what it is made up of, and knowing what your targets are will keep you focused on your results and the opportunities that every client presents.
The second most important figure a hairdresser should monitor is
2. Average bill
The average bill is the figure that comes from dividing your total sales by the total number of clients serviced over the same time period. For example, if you achieved a total weekly revenue of $2,000 and had a total of 40 clients thats $2,000 divided by 40 which equals an average bill of $50.
The higher your average bill is the better, as it’s an indicator that your clients are buying multiple products and services.
The lower your average bill the more clients you have to do to arrive at the same weekly revenue. Conversely the higher the average bill the less clients you have to do to arrive at the same figure, so having a high average bill is usually a sign of someone working smarter not harder!
The 3rd most important figure for the hairdresser to know is the
3. Returning client percentage
If you’re in a situation where you are churning through clients and producing high weekly revenue, on the surface that may be impressive. But if there is a low percentage of them returning that’s a problem [unless you are working in a holiday resort].
A good hairdresser will not only have a high weekly revenue figure but also have a high percentage each week of returning clients and new clients that have been recommended.
Having goals in each category and being aware of your numbers on a daily and weekly basis gives you a focus on what you are doing and highlights your ability to influence the outcome.
Using a good software system you can easily access instant reports in numeric and graph form allowing you to see at a glance how you are performing at any point in time.
If you are using a salon software system you will get numeric real time, daily and weekly reports. I also like to use graphs to depict what the numbers are saying, I find that, ‘as hairdressers’ we are very visual in how we take in and process information, a graph is simply a picture of what the numbers are saying.
I know that for a lot of hairdressers numbers can be boring and confusing but understanding them is important as it shows what you are doing well and where you need help.
If you need help with your numbers and improving your productivity I suggest you might want to start by reading or listening to ‘GROW 1 Super Stylist,’ I promise you it’s full of practical common sense ideas that work.