Every salon owner works hard to make a sale. And whether you own a beauty salon, a nail salon, a hair salon, or a day spa, there’s no sweeter sound than the ‘ka-ching’ that signals an initial purchase that brings you revenue.

But here’s something far too many salon owners overlook. There’s a difference between revenue from a one-time sale and long-term profitability. They don’t realizethat in salon marketing, the ‘ka-ching’ at the cash register is the beginning, not the end, of a process that leads to profitability.

The first thing you need to understand is that the …

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I still remember the day that Judy called me.  I could hear and feel the anxiety and fear in your voice.

She was high strung on the phone and rattled facts, figures and stories in a hysteretic voice speaking faster and faster as each second passed. She wasn’t making any sense getting confused jumping from story to story.  Going back to her child, then cosmetology school or was it when she started her apprentice, then her first job, then when she was stylist and back to an apprentice. Then her dream and …

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THE BATHROOM IS GENERALLY the smallest room in the spa, which also makes it the most overlooked space. Why is that? Many clients are won or lost by your spa/salon bathroom.  Does your bathroom meet your clients’ standards?

There is nothing as critical as a bathroom. If yours is filthy, you may lose a client forever. They may think you do not care enough about sanitation and are cutting corners or not  cleaning properly.

Because it matters!

Most spa owners recall the news story about Paula Abdul contracting a nail fungus from a salon, which left …

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Social Media Is a Game Changer

I am delighted and honored that LNE & Spa magazine Editor in Chief Denise Fuller has invited me to be a contributing expert author. My article “The Social Media Revolution” has been published in August (http://www.lneonline.com/). It has some powerful ideas and strategies on how to monetize social media. Enjoy!

THE BUSINESS CLIMATE AND THE way skin care and spa professionals communicate with their clients has evolved so much in the last five years that you may be confused with all the changes that have happened before …

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This may be the most important message I’ll share with you this year.

It’s not about attracting more clients or managing your staff better.

It’s about YOU and taking care of yourself.

As you know, I connect with a lot of salon and spa owners.

And too often they are in pain, trapped in their business.

This is how they get to me in the first place.

They want the best for themselves, their family, their staff, and their clients.

They want to grow.

They want to have, accomplish and become MORE than what they are today.

But somewhere along …

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Recently I had a discussion with a salon owner.

Let’s call her Ashely.

She has some REAL serious problems with her salon.

Background

Ashely owns a small salon with 3 chairs in a city of 125,000 in a Midwest state.  There are thousands of salons just like Ashely’s all over America, some in larger cities and some in smaller cities.

They typically face the same challenges even though the prices of their cuts may Ashely vary from $13 to $25.  (I know your numbers might be different depends on your geographic area, but the same principle applies) …

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I had a senior nail artist at my salon who I will call Megan.  Very experienced and has been with me since the day we opened.

Clients love her talent and rave about her work.  She has the highest re-booking rate at our salon.

However, there’s this on-going conflict between her and my fiancée Jennie who manages the salon 3 days a week.

Jennie keeps saying, “I can’t stand her! She just doesn’t listen to me!”

I keep asking her, “What do you mean?”

Jennie with some passion says, “She’s always giving me …

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There are three simple steps to become a trusted friend to with your client.

I thought I’d take a minute and share them with you, since they are so powerful. These steps allow you to bond with your clients quickly and easily.

If you can master these simple three steps, I believe you can connect with and make friends with almost any client you want.

And it can help you build trust with your clients FAST.

The truth be known most people do the things the same way most of the time in a very …

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If you’ve ever watched Seinfeld, you’ll remember the episode of the Soup Nazi. It’s the famous episode where Jerry, George and Elaine go to this new soup stand that Kramer has been raving about. The owner of the joint is referred to as the Soup Nazi, because of his attitude and his short temper. Plus, there was a certain ‘procedure’ you had to follow when you ordered the soup.

If you haven’t, you can watch the best of Soup Nazi here >>

So Jerry explains the procedure for ordering the soup to George, and they go stand …

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I believe in setting D.S.G. – Daily Sales Goal. Now, a lot of spa and salon owners have sales goals. For instance, they want to make $80,000, $200,000.00, or $1 million a year, etc.

What I do is a little different. I have yearly, monthly & weekly goals – but I also have a daily sales goal that I focus on.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say your sales goal is $39,000 a month, which is a decent goal for most salon and spa owners. (That’s also my salon’s D.S.G.) Of course, if you …

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