Great Minds...

 

Premiere Orlando Beauty Show 2012

      I sat in Larry Oskins class How to beat the recession with customer service driven Marketing Strategies this afternoon and want to share a few ideas he presented in his class. He believes in playing to win by offering these strategies. First, learn to play the game. All games take strategy but with a good one you can win at any game. Think in the box, go back to square one. Remember the golden rule then break some rules and think outside the box. Believe in yourself. Envision success, what it looks like to you, every one's success is uniquely their own. Invest in yourself to grow personally and professionally.
      Too many people don't know what they don't know. Use the knowledge available to you. Hire professionals, utilize salon sales consultants and coaches and mentors. Believe in others. Find and believe in a mentor and hire experts to do what you cannot or don't have time to do. This is funny because I was talking to Jim Nordstrom after the class and he shared with me that at CND he would ask his managers what it is they loved to do, couldn't wait to do and then told them to delegate that down, in order to make room to learn something new and stretch themselves professionally. Wherever you are, be there. Show up and be on time, stay focused on your top priorities'.

      Have a positive attitude to be ahead of most of your competition. Use your salon space as your platform to sell yourself and your business, get rid of the kid photos. You are entrepreneurs You are successful because you dare to be better than others. Build new dreams but don't have your head in the clouds. Set challenging yet realistic objectives like I want to double new clients or double retail sales. Set clear and specific quantifiable goals. Like one product per client per day. To find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow you need a marketing strategy. Don't be afraid to work hard, rarely will you be an overnight success. Earn your clients trust.
      You must understand the importance of image. Dress for respect, dress for the clients you want, always ace and look professional. If you don't have the rights image, it doesn't matter your skill level. Clients are very sensitive to your salon vibe. Make sure it is a good one.
Always offer client consultations.Ask what their likes and dislikes are. Repeat their identified challenges. Make sure they agree with these challenges, ask for confirmation, nod and offer optional service solutions, product solutions and systematize solutions. Offer a long range plan,, share complete product systems, not just one product and always ask why they left their old salon to avoid those same mistakes.
      Value your best clients, understand 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients and make it your business to find out who they are. reward these best clients. When creating offers he prefers a dollar amount to a percentage off, dollars they can relate to, percentages they cannot. Offer prebooking incentives.

      Make your offers value added with maybe a free upgrade or sample product instead of a discount like a Free paraffin dip or toe polish change. Figure out what makes you distinctively different. Offer loyalty cards and rewards programs. Offer gifts and freebies like packages. maybe buy 6 pedi's get the 7th free or get a foot file and foot cream. Never discount your basic services only your upgrades. Change up your menu. Whatever you are trying to promote, put that first in your menu. Cross market with other area businesses. Network with chambers of commerce to have open house or special events. These are just a few of the tips from this great class. You can get more information about Larry here Marketing Solutions