Front Desk Meetings: Zeroing In for Success
Are your salon meetings zeroed in on the specific needs of your front desk? To have a top-notch front desk, I believe you need a meeting once a month with just the front desk team to discuss sales, growing the salon, building the providers’ clientele, and customer service.
The Change Agent
For more than a decade I enjoyed watching Patricia Owen, owner of Faces DaySpa in Hilton Head, South Carolina, grow her business. I've tapped her business savvy for features on building spa profitability, retailing and developing a an emergency preparedness plan—in her case, the threat was hurricanes. And, I've even had the pleasure of being a client in her spa—best reflexology foot massage I've ever had!
by Stacey Soble
How to Hire the Right Person for the Front Desk
Hiring someone to represent your salon at the front desk can be a daunting task. The front desk professional is the first person your clients see upon entering and last person they see before leaving your salon. Most importantly, they are the person your customers will interact with while booking their salon experience. Should any one of these interactions go wrong, you could lose a client and future business. So, how can you spot who will and who will not work out in this extremely important position? Here are a few hot tips on how to hire for front desk success!
5 Things I Learned About Vidal Sassoon
If you've worked in the hair industry for any length of time, you know that Vidal Sassoon is famous for his revolutionary five-point cut, for creating Mia Farrow's iconic look for Rosemary's Baby in front of press in a boxing ring, and for his wildly successful product line. And if you have some years on you like I do, you can even probably sing the "If You Don't Look Good, We Don't Look Good" jingle.
by Stacey Soble
Lead with No Compromise
Two habitually late stylists slink into the monthly staff meeting halfway through the agenda. As the meeting concludes, the owner asks the stylists to stay after a moment
by Stacey Soble
Digging Out From Blizzaster 2011!
As the Blizzaster of 2011 swept through the country, it left salon closings, client cancellations, staff absenteeism and even broken water pipes in its wake. While salon and spa sales are typically sluggish in January and February anyway, this wintery hiccup is causing a ripple of panic as owners study their monthly sales projections. But we've found many owners won't take it while sitting buried in the snow, and they're actively communicating with clients and extending hours and days to keep guests on schedule, developing special winter promotions and even helping guests dig out their cars. Follow this running blog, as owners share their stories, and owners and salon coaches offer suggestions for recouping lost sales.
by Stacey Soble
Salon Hosts Hair Show to Support Women's Shelter
Located in the heart of downtown Bethesda, MD, Bella Bethesda Salon showcased the stylings of its staff in a unique hair show called Hair & Now, which featured the popular everyday styles of men, women and brides spanning the Roaring Twenties to the 21st century to demonstrate how throwbacks of the past influence the looks of today.
ST200 Cover Contenders
The most challenging aspects of putting together each SALON TODAY 200 issue is the careful selection of cover ‘models’ and the design of the composite cover. Essentially, it’s a big jigsaw puzzle, since we’re taking a number of submitted portraits that were never intended to work together and trying to create one seamless image.
by Stacey Soble
Revolving Clients
It’s a New Year and it’s time to put client retention and returns on your list of New Year’s resolutions! Did you know that product purchases increase client retention?
A Little ST200 Cheer
Shortly after Thanksgiving, salons around the country begin receiving a little, early holiday cheer via the good ole United States Postal Services. Nestled among the magazines, December bills and holiday cards was a discreet envelope holding their congratulations letters for making the 2011 SALON TODAY 200 list. We knew when letters hit the salons because excited emails starting hitting our in-boxes. So we decided to share that good cheer by asking them how they reacted when they first opened those letters:
Impulse Charity
I squeezed in a little holiday shopping one day this week and it didn’t take me long to pick up on a little trend I’ve nicknamed impulse charity. Most likely you know what I’m talking about—it’s that sneaky little add-on during the financial transaction at the cash register.
by Stacey Soble
Coty Inc. Will Aquire OPI
Coty Inc. and OPI Products Inc. announced yesterday that Coty has entered into an agreement to acquire OPI.
Get Control of Your Front Desk
Have you ever thought about setting up a system which guarantees your front desk staff is trained the exact same way on the exact same principle? Setting systems within your salon to ensure a properly run business is absolutely essential.
Finding the Perfect Location
In the ongoing blog series, "Owners Forum," Karie Bennett, owner of Atelier Salon and Spa and Atelier Studio in San Jose, California, helps a future salon owner decide on the perfect location for her new venture:
by Stacey Soble
Head to the Polls
What are you doing November 2? I hope you'll be joining me in exercising your right to vote!
by Stacey Soble
Salon/Spa Successful Retailing Opportunities for the Holidays
I received an article from Ken Cassidy, the Principal behind Kassidy’s Salon Management Consulting Company, about how to properly retail during the holidays. Kassidy is an authority in “Working Options,” for business owners, booth renters, and independent contractor business structures.
A Blogger's Take on September's Issue
The September issue of SALON TODAY focused on the new beauty shopper. Two articles stood out – A Window into the Consumer Mind, by Rosanne Ullman, and 1:1 The New Beauty Shopper, a special advertising section sponsored by P&G Professional. Window is a fabulous article about designing retail environments to influence buying behavior. Both articles have nuggets of information for salon owners to carefully consider. Both also missed the mark.
by Bart Foreman