Wednesday 25 April 2012
Do your members of staff get on well?
Just like in any team or social circle (sports, friends, societies), working together will usually achieve better results than working against each other. When is the last time you saw a job description that didn’t require “Applicants to be good team players”?
The difference between a working relationship and a social one is that the best person for the job is not always going to be the person you like the most personally or the person who is most similar to you. Similarly the person you work with will not be the person you enjoy spending most of your time with. It's a difficulty but if everyone would be the same how would new ideas come about?
Monday 23 April 2012
Beauty through the eyes of a man
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Thinking about it, I would consider myself an anomaly. Why? Because I ask questions, spark conversations, give feedback unprompted and take interest in minute details. I'm not claiming to be more diligent than anyone else, but I simply like hearing people's opinions and letting them know mine to constantly improve what already exists. I'm also not afraid to share my cosmetic, health and hair tips.
Saturday 21 April 2012
From Me to We
You have learned your trade and by god you are good at it! So you have opened a salon and business is booming! You are working your socks off and have already given up your weekends, Christmas holidays and Easter breaks...so it’s time to expand from a Me to a We... Simple right?! (maybe not)
I am writing this blog because my humble business has grown in size over the past couple of months and I have seen first hand the benefits and heartaches that are caused by relinquishing full control of your business and sharing it with someone.
Hopefully this will be the first recruit of many, but never the less, this first step, moving on from a 1 man band to a duet, is always going to be a big deal and a business milestone!
Thursday 19 April 2012
10 reasons why I won't follow you on Twitter
If you have your own Twitter account, you probably have noticed that there is a constant "race" between every member to get as many followers as possible. I'm not against the idea of having more followers, isn't that the point? But it's essential to follow and be followed by the right people. There's no point following somebody just because you know he's going to follow you back.
So you want more followers AND you want them to be relevant, simple? In theory. Easy? Well if it was there would be no need for specialist social media marketers!
When I started working for SalonHero, the first thing I've done was to "clean" the company's twitter account. I began this process by unfollowing every irrelevant account and then extended my search with other criteria. I've listed below the main reasons that resulted in me unfollowing people and hope it can help you with your Twitter account daily management.
Tuesday 17 April 2012
Why feedback is always a good thing
As a salon owner, your aim is to run the salon as smoothly as possible and maximise customer satisfaction. After all, that's the reason why you opened it! But how do you know if you're doing it right? The most common way is to look at some indicators such as your monthly turnover or the number of return clients. If the numbers are high then it probably means your customers are happy and your salon is doing well, happy days!
But what if these indicators show you that something is wrong? What if your turnover decreases and your customers book appointments less frequently? How do you identify the source of the problem so that you can fix it? Good managers make good decisions but great managers can objectively look at a decision they have made, critique it and learn how to improve on it next time. Even if it often takes a fresh pair of eyes to do this.
There are two groups of people that are interacting with your salon all the time, who you can ask for feedback from: your staff and your customers.
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Recommendations are the key to get more customers
I don't think you'd be surprised if I told you that regular clients are those who generate the most revenue for your salon. There are two simple explanations for that. First, they bring you stability and ensure you a constant turnover every month which is essential if you want your salon to survive and sleep well at night. But even more important, they are also the best way for you to extend your network and grow your business. These customers are indeed obviously satisfied with the treatment they receive and are therefore more inclined to recommend you.
Some salons only count on promotions and marketing to attract new clients. But by acting this way, they don't make the most of their regular customers and miss a great opportunity to promote themselves for free! Recommendations are essential because they can bring you potential customers who are as likely to turn into regular ones than those you attract using discounts. Moreover, getting recommendations have a big impact on the image of your salon and its reputation. It is therefore vital to ask your customers to spread the word after any treatment received.
Thursday 5 April 2012
Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice...or Not?
For those of you who know a bit about Manchester, I was walking down Market Street this morning when a young girl (probably aged twelve) caught my attention. Apart from the fact that it is freezing outside and she was wearing the shortest shorts I have seen in a while, I have to say her general look shocked me. Along with her shorts she was also wearing high heels, false eyelashes, red lipstick, and a huge quantity of foundation cream.
I guess her objective was to look very pretty, just like those models on TV, but the truth is that she just looked vulgar. It couldn't be less natural and was frankly disturbing.
So I asked myself why did she do that? What can lead you to believe that, at age twelve, you need all those tricks to feel and look beautiful? I personally started using make-up when I was fourteen and don't think that you really need it before. You are naturally beautiful and (still) have nothing to hide! I perfectly understand that you want to change from time to time or look at your best for a particular event, that's normal. But for me make-up should just be used to make yourself more attractive, not to turn yourself into something you're not.
Talking about this with my male colleagues, we think that three main reasons can explain this behaviour.
Tuesday 3 April 2012
SalonHero visits ProHairLive 2012
As you may know, Professional Hairdresser Live took place in Manchester this weekend. It was the second edition of the show and, although we did not exhibit we were invited along anyway to check out the show.
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