Welcome to the Salon Owners Podcast, Phorest FM Episode 98. Co-hosted by Killian Vigna and Zoé Bélisle-Springer, Phorest FM is a weekly show that puts forth a mix of interviews with industry thought-leaders, salon/spa marketing tips, company insights and information on attending Phorest events and webinars. A new Phorest FM episode airs every Monday morning for your enjoyment with a cup of coffee on your day off.
Phorest FM Episode 98
The Phorest Blog: your trusted resources for all the latest salon marketing & management tips, trends & best practices. This week on the show, Killian and Zoe discuss the top 10 most popular Phorest Blog articles published in 2018, based on how much traffic each post got over time. Cheers to another great year ahead!
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Transcript
Killian Vigna: Welcome to the Phorest FM podcast, episode 98. I’m Killian Vigna.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: And I’m Zoe Belisle-Springer. In this short episode, we’ll be looking back at some of the Phorest blogs most popular articles published in 2018.
Killian Vigna: So grab yourself a cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and join us weekly for all your business and marketing needs. Good Morning Zoe.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Good Morning Killian, we’re down to those roundup, end of year, podcast episodes. It’s crazy, isn’t it?
Killian Vigna: Yeah, it’s mental and I was laughing about this episode because, usually it’s you that covers all the blogs and does the blog recaps and the monthly roundups. But we were sitting here, and we’re kind of like, so do we just let you do the episode alone or? But, no, I’ve been drafted in to give some roundups now, as well.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Oh yeah, definitely. I can’t be talking for the entire time. I mean I’ve been told recently that we have really easy on the ear voices, but I still don’t want to talk for the entire thing.
Killian Vigna: That’s our investment in new microphones.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Exactly [laughs]. Right. So what do we have first? We’re … So, top 10, right? Top 10 most popular blogs of the year. And, coming in at number 10, we have What Are Salon Cashflow Projections And How Can They Help? And this article is written by Gloria Moray. It was published in May of 2018. And essentially, what this article covered now, it was a bit more technical I suppose, because when you’re talking finance, you’re talking concepts that people are not necessarily always familiar with. Even, I myself, learn every time I read Gloria’s blogs.
So, if I just give you a definition of a cashflow forecast before we actually get into any more of this is an estimate of the amount of money you expect to flow in and out of your business and include all your projected income and expenses. A forecast usually covers the next 12 months, but it can also cover short term periods, such as a week or a month.
So then she goes into all the different reasons why you should actually do cashflow projections, what they are for, how they can help your business. So she gives examples, as well, of what is income and cash flow, you know, mainly payments from clients from treatments or services or what’s out-coming cash and she gives examples, like ran to utility bills and all that kind of stuff. And then she digs deeper into, you know, how to put your projections together and she has a few notes there for people who aren’t necessarily super used to doing that. And she has examples of cashflow projection spreadsheets, as well.
So it’s a very good read for people who aren’t super familiar with cashflow projections and I strongly recommend you reading it, because to be honest, it’s kind of difficult to explain this over a mic, but I suppose you can find it on the Phorest blog. It came in at number 10 this year, and like I said, the title is What Are Salon Cashflow Projections and How Can They Help? It was written by Gloria Moray.
Killian Vigna: And a ninth place, it’s more like an open letter to the industry from our very own CEO Ronan Perceval, and it was titled, VAT Increase Highlights Irish Government’s Lack of Understanding of the Hair Sector.
So what’s going on here? Well, only recently, back in October of 2018, the ministry for financing in Ireland, announced that there was going to be a VAT hike. So the value added tax from nine percent to 13 and a half percent for the hospitality sector.
Now we know that the beauty industry has always been 13 and a half percent, but the hair industry here has always been nine percent, and now they’re saying that because hospitality is going up, there’s also an introduction of an increase in the minimum wage, and there’s going to be an increase in the PRSI contribution. So that’s the pay related social insurance.
So all of these increases add up to a lot for a salon owner. So it’s not just the VAT is increased, it’s coupled with a couple of other things. So yeah, it’s kind of a case of where is this extra tax going to come? Is it going to come out of the salon owners own pocket? Or we going to have to hike up our prices? So, a really good read, there was a demonstration at the dail, which is like the Irish parliament here in Ireland, I think it was within a week later-
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Something like that, yeah. I remember you were there as well. And then we had an episode on Phorest FM discussing it further with, was it Declan and Lisa?
Killian Vigna: Exactly. Yeah, because they both came from the hairdressing industry themselves. So, as far as I know, that took place on the first of January. So anyone using Phorest, those VAT increases have automatically gone up. But yeah, I believe this is still kind of an ongoing issue to get the VAT back down again.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah. And then coming in at eight we had 10 Salon Business Mistakes That Hurt Your Bottom Line, and this one was written by Valerie Delforge. What was this all about again?
Killian Vigna: Yes. So this one I love, it’s got the lists, the list ones, they’re so much easier to go through. Yeah. It’s all about kind of business mistakes that hurt your bottom line. And, like I said, the first one here; failing to update your database.
So think about it. You can have 20,000 clients on your books, but when you’re trying to market to those clients, is there information all up to date? Did I have emails, did it have phone numbers? Are they even clients that comeback to you anymore? Like you could have someone on your books that hasn’t come back to you in the last five years, so is that someone you want to actively be marketing to? Probably not, because again, that’s added expenses you don’t really need. So I’d say go into your database and just strip those guys clear.
And second we have not upselling or providing cross sell and training. So this one, again, we’ve touched on this so much, it kind of ties into retail. Always try and upsell your products. Even if your client’s just coming in for treatment, make sure they leave with a product, or like David Barnett said, make sure they leave with three products. Heather Yurko said the very same thing. Here’s the products that I’ve used for your treatment. Would you like to take them home? Or would you like us to ring them to the till? Little things like that, but it’s all about up selling the products. If someone’s looking at getting a low end product, see if he can get them up to the medium or the high, it’s just all about, kind of, I suppose pushing the boundaries a little bit more – in a cheeky way.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: In a cheeky way, like always informative and, you know, always remaining very professional and acting like the expert that you are, because at the end of the day, you know, what these products do or how they can have an impact on keeping that look or feel longer. You know, so.
Killian Vigna: Yeah. I’m delighted you said treating yourself like the expert you are, because that is what I was going to follow it up with. Like it’s… It is so true. We’re not just saying try and get as much money out of your clients as possible. We’re saying you are the specialists here. They’ve come to you for a reason, so you make the most of that.
And, third, we have given little to no importance to customer reviews. Now, these are like… Think of your online reputation. If you’re going to recommend a salon to me Zoe, the first thing I’m going to do is Google that salon. I want to check the Google reviews. I want to check the Facebook reviews. I know in America, Yelp is a really big one over there. Word of mouth isn’t good enough anymore is how do you look online, so always pay attention to those reviews and don’t be afraid of negative reviews, either because we had a recent podcast air with Louis Grenier, and it was all about customer feedback, like good reviews, yep, they’re great, but negative reviews, that’s where you learn. That’s where you really find out what your business is. But again, don’t be afraid of them, because sometimes it is just a client had a bad day, and it doesn’t really have any impact on you, but you need to dig through and find out.
In fourth we had having no merchandising plan and again that talks… It comes back to your retail, making sure your display looks not cluttered, not disorganised, not messy. It looks nice, clean. A lot of light coming over and I think you’re actually going to touch off lightening in awhile. But, yeah, it’s just making your display look presentable and if there’s dust on your products, make sure you get rid of them.
Okay, so then we have fifth; not providing management for training. Think about your managers. The most obvious example I have here is do they understand the KPIs? Are they able to analyse the reports that you have from Phorest or spreadsheets that you’re using? Are your management able to analyse and interpret that data to help grow your business? And another more recent on, is are your management aware of GDPR? So what’s happening here in Europe with the General Data Protection Regulation. It’s little things like those and then you have HR, payroll, etc.
Now we’re moving onto a not training your staff on retail. Another really good one here is staff education. I think we don’t really need to say anymore on that. Do your staff know the products that you have? The products they’re using and the products that are selling? Because if they know the product inside out, the client’s going to buy.
And, seven, now I’m going to wrap these up really quick. Seven is not re-booking clients systematically. I think Heather Yurko spoke about this one on the blog. They don’t just book the next appointment, they book their clients’ next six appointments.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, and I mean Katt Phillips has her appointment book filled for 12 months in advance. You know, there’s no, there’s no limit. It’s just how you market it and how you pitch it to your clients.
Killian Vigna: Exactly. Puts yourself in demand. Tell your clients you are in demand. You need to book. That’s how you build demand. Eight then we have a marketing strategy for the year, and we talked about data and the live version as well where it was kind of like analysing your reports and kind of using that to put a plan into place. So what are the pillars that generate strong numbers for bringing clients in?
Nine then is not focusing enough on reception. You better hope that the minute your clients walk into the salon, someone has acknowledged them straightaway. A nod, a smile, anything. It doesn’t matter how busy you are, just acknowledge that there’s someone there.
And then finally, missing out on mystery visits. You had a whole blog on this, like best practices to get people to come in and mystery shop for you. It challenges how your client experience is, how your staff work together, it’s just really good way of getting a holistic view of your business from an outsider’s perspective.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, so that was Valerie Delforge’s 10 Salon Business Mistakes That Hurt Your Bottom Line.
And, coming in at number seven we had What You Need To Know Before Buying An Existing Salon.Â
Killian Vigna: Yeah, so this is a guest article by Gloria Murray, accountant and director of Murray Associates Accountants, as she talks about five things to consider when buying an existing salon. So the very first one is, is a profitable? Obviously you want to hope the salon is going to be profitable. So try and get access to at least two years worth of the salon’s accounts. Make sure it’s making money, because otherwise you’re just going to end up bailing that salon out, essentially.
Number two, what are the monthly income, revenue, and expenses. So what’s the money coming in and what’s the money coming out? Are you just going to end up buying a salon that’s spending more than it’s taken in? Again, that seems like it’s just a buyout, so be very careful of that one.
Third, we have management accounts and KPIs. Take a look at the KPIs, because that’s going to give you a really good insight into how the salon is performing, it’s going to show you what it strongest at and what the salon could do with a little bit more help at. So, it’s strengths and weaknesses there. Look into HR and staff issues. So how has that team jelled in the last few years? Do the team get on well together? It’s the staff retention high or low? Like, do you know you’re going to be able to hold onto this staff? Is there conflict with management? And, finally know what you’re buying. And, the best example she has here is if you buy a limited company from another owner, then you essentially inherit their liabilities, including disgruntled clients who may sue the company at a later date.
I suppose the example there is, it makes it a lot harder for you to create a clean sheet. So that’s a really good blog to look at if you’re buying a salon for the first time, or if you’re even thinking of buying out another salon. So some good points to check out there.
And that brings us into the sixth blog then.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, and this one was Top Insights For Salon Success from the Phorest Salon Owners Summit 2018, which is quite coincidental, because the Salon Owners Summit is literally just around the corner.
Essentially, this blog was a the insights of the main stage. So you know Gavin Hoare’s talk on Acting Like The Expert You Are. Then it covered Steve Martin, Small Changes That Spark Big Influence, so that was all about the science of persuasion and he had some stuff on pricing, on the six principles of persuasion, so reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking and social proof.
Then you Staff Management And Motivation with Valerie Delforge, which was a lot about management and how to engage employees.
And finally we had Tabatha Coffey’s, Rules For Good Business, and Tabitha was our keynote speaker at the 2018 Salon Owners Summit. So it was a talk at that, I want to say pretty much, everyone was very, very excited to hear and she had amazing insights. One of the stats she gave was 75 percent of clients said they’d travel further and pay more if they got what they wanted. Which is just… It makes you think about so many other things right? And how you do business. But she had a lot of recommendations.
Like I said, this blog really covers all of the four talks. It also covers the workshop insights. So we had a few workshops. We had the one with Rowena Doyle on visual merchandising. We had another one with Paddy Monaghan, Product Director in Phorest on GDPR and we had a third workshop with Chris Brennan, also from Phorest, on work life balance.
So all of those insights could even set you up for success in 2019, so you can have a look at that blog. So again, it’s called Top Insights for Salon Success From The Phorest Salon Owners Summit 2018 and it was written by myself who was at the event on the day. I will also be at the event on Monday, so you can catch me there, with Killian doing some podcasting.
So then number five, it was all about Instagram, which was a massive focus for a lot of salon owners out there this year. So 10 Tips to Perk Up Engagement on Your Salon Instagram Profile. This one was also written by myself. You can also catch this article in the Instagram ebook that we released in Phorest, late October, I want to say. You can find that ebook on Phorest.com/resources.
But essentially, it’s a list of 10 tips on how you can increase your engagement. So switching to an Instagram business profile is one, posting consistently, but making sure it’s quality, because we all know that Instagram is probably one of the more polished social media platforms out there. Three is interacting with other users and responding to comments, because essentially the more you engage with other people’s profile and respond to their comments day will actually… Especially if it’s people that don’t follow you, they’ll have a tendency to look at who has been commenting and probably check out your profile and if it’s a salon profile, then you potentially have, there, a new client that could come in, in maybe a week or a month or sometimes it takes more nurturing. But you know there are your potential new clients.
Four, advertise and use relevant hashtags. Hashtags are literally proven to be one of the most valuable tools when you want to reach new clients and raise brand awareness, especially on Instagram.
Five posting at opportune times. So yes, there is such a thing as posting at the right time. And if you have switched to a business profile on your Instagram account, you’ll have access to your analytics and you’ll be able to see, on a day-by-day basis, when your followers are online. So if they’re not online at 9:00 AM, maybe try posting at a time where audience is actually active.
Then, six tag brands and customers. So you can tag people, you can tag brands that’ll send a notification to the user and it can also lead to again, them checking out your profile to see what they’ve been tagged in and why and this and that.
Show off your customers. That’s really interesting, because recent stats show that images showing real customers actually get between 30 and 38 percent more engagement. So I think those stats alone say it all.
Eight, run contests and giveaways. Because I know Facebook has clamped down on the likes and shares and all of that, but Instagram is not exactly the same. You can still do all of those, and they actually do work really well. So if you haven’t yet considered running contests and giveaways, that’s something you can do in 2019.
Nine, use Instagram Stories to drive engagement. To be honest, this is probably the most important tip of the entire list. It is the one that works the best. For some reason with the algorithm on Instagram – Instagram Stories actually drive quite a bit engagement and you’ll often get better results from stories than you’ll get from posts. So that’s something can look into this year.
And then 10, create Instagram ads through Facebook. So you know those little sponsored posts, start doing some of those. Especially if you have something that you really want people to see or you’re advertising for maybe an event or VIP demo, a demo day or something like that, you know, get onto that. Start learning how to do those Instagram ads. You can run them through Instagram directly, or you can also use the same tools you already use to create Facebook ads, because obviously Instagram is owned by Facebook.
So at the end of that blog you have a lot of other strong Instagram resources. So we had a masterclass. You can check out the on-demand video there. There’s a few related articles, and like I said, we have the Instagram ebook that was released in late 2018 that you can check out.
Killian Vigna: It’s definitely been a year for Instagram. Like I think for a while there it was like a battle between Instagram and Snapchat, but Instagram really has just taken off. Like I don’t even use Twitter anymore. I hardly touch Facebook. Snapchat’s basically deleted off my phone, at this stage, but Instagram, it’s just where you spend all your time now, isn’t it? I think it’s the first time, ever, like from having a marketing background, or whether it’s a marketing thing or not, but do you find you never click on ads?
Zoe Belisle-Springer: No, I’m actually a sucker for those.
Killian Vigna: Really? I find Instagram is the only time, I’ll see an ad and I’ll go, “Ooh. I want to check this out.” So yeah, like Instagram, very powerful for getting out there now.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Oh yes. Well, on Instagram I do click on them, on other platforms, not as much, yes. Okay. I get what you mean when you were going there. Yeah.
Killian Vigna: I think it’s that whole thing of someone is getting charged when I click this, so unless I’m committed…
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah. So, then coming up at number four, Top Salon Lighting Tips to Compliment Your Interior Design. If you look for it on the blog, and type in my name next to it, it’ll pop up. There’s literally no way around it, right? Good or bad lighting can make or break your interior design. It’s something that you notice whenever you walk into someone’s house, when you walk into someone’s business. You can feel uncomfortable just because of bad lighting. It’s weird to think about it that way, but it’s true.
So in this blog, I’ve listed quite a few tips on how to choose the right lighting for different areas of your business. So there’s ambient lighting, your primary light switch, right? So the the one that you can’t live or can’t go without. It’s what allows you to work, simple as task lighting. So you know if you’re at a reception make sure that the actual desk as well lit, that your receptionist isn’t killing their eyes just to try and look at what they’re doing. Same for the colour stations as well.
Then you have accent lighting, so bringing your customers’ attention to something in particular, so maybe your retail display or maybe you’re waiting area, where you keep books and magazines. Accent lighting is also actually known as directional light. So if anyone here is familiar with that, that’s also a synonym. And then there’s five rules to remember. So I’m not going to list them all, but you can check it out on that blog. And like I said, it’s called Top Salon Lighting Tips To Compliment Your Interior Design. And I finished a blog on the impacts of good lighting on your salon or spa. So on your interior design, on daily administrative reception tasks, on treatment services, and on retail displays and products.
So if you want to have a look at that, that is available on the Phorest Blog under the display and design category.
Killian Vigna: And coming in to the top tier of blogs, in third we have 9 Subtle Signs an Employee Is Thinking About Leaving Your Salon. And this was done by our very own head of marketing, Connor Keppel. So this was done in about April. Now, I mean like, look, listen, it’s not ideal when you think of an employee is going to leave, but when it does come, it’s always good to kind of know in advance. So a couple of tell tale signs to checkout for here I think… Oh, we have nine tell tale signs. So the first one is tardiness is kicking in. I suppose this one can seem obvious, straight off the bat. Are they coming in later and later? Are their lunch breaks taking longer? Especially if this is someone that used to always turn up to work on time or coming a little bit earlier. This is a key one to look out for. Are they getting later?
Second, we have employees who are thinking about leaving your salon will seem distracted. You know that kind of like glazed over look in their eyes, or they’re working away, but I suppose the lights are on, but there’s no one home. They just seem a little zoned out, distracted. There’s different things going on in their mind rather than the task at hand. So that’s a good one there. They’re starting to talk about the future. Now this one is quite a common one. You’ll hear this from a lot of unhappy people. It’s, “Oh, I think I should change my job, or I should go traveling or I want to settle down.” It all kind of comes around trying to get a job with more money or talking to their friends who are earning this much money, because they did this. Thinking about going back to college to do a different career change, it’s future stuff, it’s a lot of stuff of, “If I wasn’t in the salon I could be doing.”
Then in fourth, we have they update their social media often. So this one is a bit of a funny one because LinkedIn, if anyone looks at my LinkedIn, there’s not a whole lot there. Maybe a few things from the podcast, but I know a lot of friends in college that are always in similar boats when they are looking for jobs. LinkedIn never gets touched until you’re looking for a job, and then all of a sudden everything’s getting cleaned up. Your skills, your portfolio, your work experience, any projects you have, everything gets added in. Posts get shared.
So if their social media is starting to look a lot more active, all of a sudden, and especially with the salon industry is probably a lot more professional Instagram photos going up on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. So things like that to look out for if it’s kinda gone from zero to 60 in the space of a week or two.
They seem colder with their clients and more irate with you. So again, this is kind of, are they feeling distant, are they just agitated by everything you do, everything you ask them to do. Is there anything you ask them to do or request them do seem like an effort for them? Are they not meeting expectations of their clients? Do your clients feel uncomfortable around them? So that’s number five.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Although something to keep in mind, is that something personal, on a personal level, could be affecting them, you know, so it’s a good idea to approach the subject with maybe, you know, with that episode we had with Brid O’ Meara, from Aware to just kind of say, “Hey, you seem, you know, X.” Or whatever, like, and kind of see what their response is, I suppose, because it could be something… We all have bad days and it could be something that, you know, has happened recently and it’s dragging on, it might not be something related to the salon, but it’s good to get a bit of an insight into what’s going on, because it could be that they want to leave the salon, but it could also be something very personal.
Killian Vigna: Absolutely. Like it could be something personal completely unrelated to you. Don’t just focus on that they’re going through a bit of a stage this week. Does it last longer than two weeks? Because usually… like everyone has a bad day, everyone has a bad couple of days. It could be anything outside of work or something that someone said to them on the way in to work, like a housemate or a colleague or a family member and it just rubs them the wrong way.
So after about two weeks, if they’re still in the same situation, it could be bigger. It could be the fact that they want to leave your salon or something bigger. So yeah, like get to know your staff member, sit down and have a chat to them and just make sure everything’s all right. And that kind of brings us into… So just to finish off the last few points, I suppose actually, you’re getting zero feedback or input. So they might feel like it’s all take, take, take from them, try and get them a bit more involved. Again, take them aside, see what’s going on. Get them more engaged in your team meetings and feedback.
Their client reviews are lower than usual. Again, are they irate with the clients and they’re socialising more often? This is actually a big one. You’ll see people coming over a lot more. That’s usually a very big sign that there’s something going on. It’s not just that they’ve gone out Thursday and come into work Friday, like one night a week. If they’ve done this a couple of nights a week, there’s something there that needs to be brought up.
And then finally just kind of touches back what I was saying about the future. They’re talking about other people’s salaries. They’re not happy with their salary, and again, the grass is greener on the other side. They might think leaving your salon is what’s going to get them there. But at the end of the day, we can make all these assumptions, you don’t know if it is that they want to leave the salon, this is just tell tale signs for that. Sit them down, chat with them, see if there is something that you can work out. If not look at it as an opportunity to hire new talent. If there is something you can work out, excellent. You’ve retained your staff member that little bit longer.
And the last blog that aren’t going to talk about is in second. So the second most popular blog this year is 25 Salon Conversation Starters To Use With New Clients, and this is actually by Zoe, back in April, again. So we’ve had a few from April, it must have been a popular month. This one, now, it’s quite a long blog but that’s because it gives you loads of different bullet point things to talk about. But I’m just gonna summarise this in a couple of seconds because I know everyone’s eager to find out what number one is.
So you’ve got 15 get to know your client conversation starters. These are things like if you had an extra $100 to spend on yourself every week, what would you do? What do you do to get rid of stress? And, what is one of your favorite smells? I was actually looking at that going, what is one of your favorite things to smell? And I realised I was just reading it wrong. What is one of your favorite smells? Interesting.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: It’s true though, because when you think about it, when you go into a treatment room or for candles, like if you have something that really irritates you, it can have a negative impact on your whole experience. So if you know about that beforehand, you know you can tailor for it.
Killian Vigna: This is true, this is true. And then we have 10 random questions about travel, music, books, movies, or TV shows. So an example here is what song always puts you in a good mood?. What song does always put you in a good mood, Zoe? Then we have where is the most interesting, beautiful place you’ve been? Actually, you’ve been to loads because you’re always traveling. So we’ll probably have a list from you there.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Definitely, but I think I will actually say something about that. It was definitely the National Park that’s across Germany and Czech Republic. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and yeah, definitely.
Killian Vigna: Oh yeah. Actually you have an Instagram account where you have photos from all over and that’s the one where it’s like a mountainous forest, isn’t it?
Zoe Belisle-Springer: I mean it looked like the Star Wars scene. It was incredible.
Killian Vigna: Skellig Michael.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Something like that.
Killian Vigna:Â Just out of Kerry… or Cork!
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, I know! I haven’t actually been. I know.
Killian Vigna: But yeah, I suppose to round this blog off, the three most important things to remember to avoid for a good conversation starter is avoid talking about politics, religion, and finances. So that’s just to, I suppose, to end that blog there. So let’s give it to us, Zoe, what’s number one?
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Number one, 10 Tips to Raise Your Salon Prices Without Losing Clients. And this was in… This was published in May. It was just off the back of the #30Days2Grow challenge. So helping people raise above the discounting culture in the industry.
And we had David Barnett gives some tips into this article, as well. So there’s a step by step guide to raising your prices. And this is where David Barnett’s technique is listed, so know what you’re worth. He has this specific formula for that. Make sure that the numbers show that you’re ready. He’s also got some, some tips to figure that one out, that are listed there. And then aim for added value rather than profitability. So this one essentially, if you’re increasing prices for profitability, you know, that’s not exactly the message that you want to send or convey to your happy and loyal customers. You want to actually tell them, you know, we’re doing this and this and this more to make your experience even greater… that kind of vibe. Instead of saying we’re just raising our prices and that’s it.
So then you have find your communication strategies, like this comes back to negative reviews and complaints. They, especially online, they can quickly get out of hand and they can hurt your overall online reputation. So the first thing you really want to consider when you raise your prices is that yes, like it’s yes, your current costs, but any other cost increased probable to happen in the next year or so. And to make sure that you’re not doing just a price increase every other month, you know, and have like a proper communication strategy around it. Send a message or a general announcement to your clients, post it as a press release on your website. Do something about it. Just make sure that your clients do know.
Five think numbers and packages. Sometimes it’s just easier to, you know, create different sized or additional packages. You can make old packs seem like a bargain, even at the new price. So there’s loads to think about that.
Six, just do it. You know. There’s this quote I read when I was reading writing this article and it said, “Don’t beat yourself up. Don’t lose sleep over your decision. Here’s a secret, your best customers will be surprised that you didn’t raise prices sooner, because they value your work.” And to be honest, I thought about myself, when I read that quote, and I was like, you know what? Whenever I go to my hairstylist or my barber, I’m always just so proud of the work that they do and how, like, how their career is advancing and the trips that they take and all the education to getting into. And whenever they say, “Hey, my prices have changed.”
I’m just like, “Hey, congrats.” I see it as a job promotion, like, I don’t see it as something that’s going to cost me more. I’m just delighted for them and proud of their achievements. So yeah, don’t lose sleep over that. If you’re loyal clients really cared and appreciate your work, and you’re always delivering an exceptional service, your clients will be… They won’t even second think about it.
Seven, explain but don’t apologise. You don’t need to apologise. You can explain. If people are asking questions, feel free to, you know, actually take the time to answer them, but you don’t need to apologise to your clients for raising your prices.
Eight, thank your clients. Celebrate with your stylists/therapists. This came also off the back of, you know, David Barnett, it ties back into what I was just saying there with when I go to the barber’s or hairstylist. But then you also had Sarah Shuppe from University Parents who explained the first thing she does when she increases price is that she says thank you to customers and she suppresses her appreciation for the risk they took on her. Then she’s transparent about why she needs to raise prices, and then she makes sure that they understand why she’s asking for more money and how the product is worth more than when they started and stuff like that. It doesn’t always work, she says, but most customers tend to be understanding.
Then nine and 10 make yourself available to chat, which ties back into the point that I was just mentioning earlier, and ten, offer transition option. If you can afford this, sometimes you can possibly create slimmed down versions of your, you know, rethought or repriced service and it can help ensure that your customers on a tight budget stay with you, even if it was just for like a certain transition period. But not all salons can afford this and I’m very aware of this, but it’s just a think outside the box idea. So there you go.
That’s those 10 tips to increase your selling prices without losing clients and that came in at number one this year, so I guess the #30Days2Grow, all our education and all the work that we’ve been putting with our guest contributors and all of that is actually helping you see that you know, this discounting culture has to stop, you know, it’s time to… It’s time to get on with it and you know, to what you need to do to grow and have a successful business.
Killian Vigna: Yeah. It’s all about taking that leap. Like we see people are becoming more and more brave and it is a hard thing to do but just do it. And like when you said just do it, I pictured that, like Shia LeBoeuf GIF, where he’s just yelling at the camera. But, it is true. It’s kind of like you just have to take that leap… It is… It’s a tough road to take but you’re gonna feel so much better and your clients are going to respect you for it, too.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Absolutely, and I mean that is essentially 2018 blogs wrapped! If your top favorite blog wasn’t featured, let us know what it was. Hit us up through, you know, any social media platforms review on iTunes or on Stitcher, and if you have any feedback, generally, on the show, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We’re always looking for ways to improve Phorest FM. Otherwise, have a wonderful week guys. We’ll catch you at episode 99 for a Best of The Podcast, 2018.
Killian Vigna: All the best.
Thanks for reading! #LetsGrow
