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 wanting become an owner or was it a stylist?

“Judy, slow down. Take a deep breath.  Relax.  Close your eyes and take three slow breaths for me.” I said.

I had been listening to Judy for only a couple of minutes and felt like I had been standing in front of a fire hose.

She had some REAL serious problems with her salon.

“Dan , I only have six months left on my lease and if  I don’t turn it around I will be pulling the plug.  I can’t afford to keep running my salon as I have been losing money for more than two years.”

I shook my head and wonder why do they always call me at last minute when their situation is totally desperate as if they have no-where to turn.  They all think I am a “miracle worker” that can save any salon from the ashes of defeat.

And sometimes I can save a salon from the “jaws of defeat”. I am known as the guy to call when a salon or spa needs to be turned around.

I personally would much rather work with an owner who has recently opened their salon.  They are excited to grow their client base. They are coachable and willing to learn.  It is so much easier to build a solid business  foundation from day one then to try to fix, repair, piece together  and rebuild  a salon has been slowly decaying getting worse and worse month after month.

At least in Judy’s case, she was doing some things right.   I thought to myself, there just may be enough pieces here for us to piece together a solid foundation and turn her nightmare back to her dream of a profitable salon.

Oh, I am getting ahead of myself again.

I asked, “Judy tell me your story and your background?”

“I have been a stylist for 12 years and I love what I do.  I always tell my friends that I am happiest behind my chair. I apprentice for about a year and then I worked as a commission stylist for 6 years or so.  From there I rented a station.  After a couple years of renting I wanted something more I wanted my own salon.

Dan, I have dreamed of owning my own salon since I was 17.  I have always put a little money every side every month knowing that if I stuck to my dream one day I would own my own salon. I got serious about opening my salon six and half years ago.  I started saving earnestly; kept my eyes open and my ears to the ground in search for just the right opportunity.

Every night, as I was doing the dishes I would talk to my husband Rick about my dream to open a salon.  Rick would tell me with a bit of luck if the salon was successful maybe he could work part-time at the appliance store and help Judy out in the salon.  He was tired of selling appliances at the local Sears store.

I found the perfect location on a busy corner with lots of walk by traffic with an office building and strip mall close by. It was a corner unit with big windows on 2 sides that let in a lot of natural light.

I budgeted a $100,000 for the creation of my perfect salon.  100 grand was a big stretch for Rick and me.  I had saved $22,000.  We took a second mortgage on our home for $73,000 ad borrowed $5,000 from my parents.

The renovations took longer than I thought.  It was nightmare dealing with the contractor and all the trades.  That was a life lesson I will not forget soon.”

I told Judy, “I can relate, my salon opened 91 days late and cost me an extra $46,000, why does it always take longer than you think and what is it with all those unexpected surprises and delays.”

“Maybe I should feel a little better Dan.  I opened 38 days late and went over budget by $21,000.  I had to borrow money from my sister and my two best friends.”

“I understand. I’ve been there. Tell me, how big is your salon and how many stylists do you have”, I asked.

“The salon is just under1500 square feet and has 9 stations.  I have two full-time stylists and two part time stylist all paid on commission.

I wanted to probe a little bit so I asked her “How did it go when you opened your salon?”

“Dan, at first it went great.  I had built up a client base over the last ten years or so.  All my clients were excited for me.  There was a lot of energy and hope in the salon.  The first month went great!  I had momentum.  I was getting a few new clients. Once the buzz was gone, my appointment book was not filling up as fast.  I started seeing 2 to 3 hour gaps in bookings during the week.  The energy was becoming flat as my 2 stylist would just drink coffee, look at magazines, chat and wait for clients to walk on.

Meanwhile I started worrying about how I was going to pay the bills. I knew I was a good stylist with a steady client base and I thought word of mouth would spread and my appointment book would be full 80 per cent of the time.  I knew there would be a slow afternoon here and there.  I just never thought I would have 3 or 4 slow days in a row.

The recession hit and business got slower.  The clients that were coming in were spending less.  I was at the salon 60 hours a week, worrying and fretting about how I was going to keep my dream going.  I didn’t want to disappoint my family and friends.  I was stressed. I would only take Sundays off so I could go to church.

Before you knew it, Rick was having to help me pay the rent for the salon.  I couldn’t believe it by the time I had paid my two stylist, bought product, kept the lights on there wasn’t enough left over to pay the rent.  At first it was only a couple hundred bucks.  Lately it has been as much as $800 a month.

Now Rick is stressed too.  We used to have two incomes, now we are living off one income and Rick is also supporting the salon.  He has to take on extra shifts at Sears hoping to make some extra money.

I started to realize that I need to be more than just a great stylist if I wanted to have a profitable salon.  I was scared, when it hit me that I don’t know much about running a business.  Being an owner looked a lot easier when I was just a stylist.”

“Judy, awareness is the first step.  It is great to realize that you need a different set of skills to be a salon owner.  Now all you have to do is learn and develop the skills of an owner. Just like you became a great stylist you can become a great owner.  It just takes a good teacher, commitment and time.”

Judy blurted out, “But Dan it may be too late”

I said in a slow calm voice, “It may be too late, but if you are coachable, willing to learn and do what I say we can save your salon.  The question is… are you committed to turn this around?”

“Dan, I have no choice I don’t want to lose my baby.  I have my life savings invested in the salon. I will do my best to do whatever you say.”

Fast Forward to 5 Months Later

Today Judy has 5 full time and 3 part time staff working at the salon.  She is always looking for another good stylist.

She no longer has to put money into the salon month after month.  Matter of fact, she is now taking home $3,900 per month and soon she will be able to take home $5,000 or more a month.  She is now working 4 days a week instead of 6 days and is able to spend quality time with her aging parents.

Rick is also back to working only 3 to 4 days a week at Sears. In fact, they just took a 7-day trip to Hawaii.  This is their first tropical vacation. .

Why such a dramatic turn around?

So what did I do for her?  What are the secrets to such a dramatic turn around? I can’t take all the credit. I simply showed her the proven strategies that I’ve used and she implemented them.

It would say it comes down to 4 critical steps.

The moment I started coaching Judy, the first thing we did was put a client attraction system into place. She wasn’t getting enough new clients.  I also got her to stop discounting.  Discounts were eating into her profits and margins.  She was cannibalizing her salon.

I said “Stop discounting Judy!”

Judy came back with “Dan, I don’t know how else to get new clients”.

“Judy you can’t make it up in volume.  Let me teach you how to do client attraction properly.” was my response.

I got my team to build her website using the exact same template, principles and concepts I used to build my highly effective Sweet Nail website.  With-in a matter of months her website was ranked number one in her city in Google.

I also got Judy to set-up a Facebook page for her salon.  I taught her how to do posts and start interacting with potential clients and existing clients.

By doing these two things alone her bookings have gone up almost 50 per cent.

Next I needed Judy to make a shift in her focus and belief system. Because Judy loved being behind the chair so much I needed her to realize that she couldn’t grow or save her salon from “behind the chair”.

She needed to start transforming herself from a stylist to a business owner. In other words I wanted her to focus her energies on working “ON” her business not “IN” her business.

I taught her a few simple strategies on how to bundle her services and up-sell clients. Her average service ticket went from $35 to $83. And her clients stared tipping her more.

Then we implemented a client retention program. I showed Judy that the real profit in the salon business is in the repeat business, in getting the clients to return again and again buying more services and product.

My belief is you need to contact your clients a minimum of 12 times a year.  It is critical to build a relationship with your clients and become not only their friend but more importantly their trusted advisor.

A retention program is critical.  Too many salon owners think their clients owe them something and will always be loyal.  You need to keep you clients attracted and connected to your salon or they will still wandering and getting lost.  Another salon will start giving them more attention and before you know it they will be gone.

I told Judy, not to  be fooled into believing that just because you have known the client for two, three or five years that you don’t have to anything to keep them loyal.  Yes, most of them will keep coming back but what about the 10, 20 or 30 per cent that are looking for someone who cares a little bit more and give them a little more attention.  You can’t afford to lose five or more, even two good clients. .

I encouraged Judy to invest in retaining her clients.  I told her I invest around $20 a year per client to retain them.  It’s expensive getting new clients.

Seeing that each client is worth about $700 to my salon I gladly invest $20 a year to keep them.

I told Judy this simple scenario. If a client comes in an average of 6 times with an average service ticket of $75 the client would be worth $450 after one year.   I then asked her would you invest $20 to get $450 in sales?

Judy told me, “When you say that way Dan, it makes total sense.”

I also gave Judy a 3 step campaign to reactivate lost clients (clients that hadn’t visited the salon in the last five months).   One of the things that Judy was doing right from before I started coaching her was collecting all her customer’s information.  Not just a phone number or email address, she was diligent about also getting their mailing address.  This campaign worked really well as she had a lot of old good clients to come back to the salon.

Judy was collecting all this information in an Excel spreadsheet.  It was a little cumbersome so I got her start using some specific salon software.

The final step was I taught her to become a more effective leader rather than a babysitter. Judy was a great stylist though she didn’t know how to lead or manage.  I showed her how to manage and to be a leader and shared with her my experiences of running my salon.

She had to let one stylist go who had been with her for 3 years. It wasn’t easy for her to do though I am proud that she followed through on what had to be done.  The new stylist she brought in are great stylists and team players.

We did a lot of little improvements and tweaks along the way, though the four major steps mentioned above are what turned Judy’s salon from a money pit to a golden goose that will keeping making her money as long as she nurtures her salon and takes care of her clients.

I got an email from Judy the other day.  She just renewed the lease with the landlord for another 5 years.  She said she is excited about the future and that she would have never had the confidence to sign the lease without my support and coaching.

I am very proud.

If you are one of my students or not, you can use these ideas to increase your profits.  These are the exact same steps you can use to recession-proof your salon or spa business.

Live in Freedom,

One-On-One Mentoring Program Offered To A Select Few Serious and Savvy Owners

Coaching Availability Update: Due to ever increasing demand and the loyalty of Dan’s existing clients – Dan’s coaching program is always sold out. Once clients sign up, more often than not, they stay with Dan year after year. This means, each month Dan has fewer and fewer mentoring slots available. On occasion a space becomes available and if you want that spot make sure to apply before the opportunity is closed – possibly forever.

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 her thumb so sore that even a slight touch to her hand made her scream. Who  knows what other horror stories your client may have seen in the news or heard from fellow spa goers about staph infections and other maladies? Before you know it, your client  may come to the conclusion that your spa/salon is unsafe and not properly sanitized.

Do not take that chance! Do not give your clients any reason to think that if it can happen to Paula Abdul in her exclusive celebrity salon, then it could happen to them at your business.  Be proactive—make sure that your bathroom reflects that you respect and care about your clients.

Bathroom dos and don’ts

DO: Make sure your bathroom reflects the quality and luxury of the rest of your spa/salon.
DON’T: Be cheap and cut corners. I have visited spas where it felt like the bathroom was an afterthought, as if the owners ran out of money. This is bad business.

DO: Have a signature piece (some type of conversation piece). Even better, have the piece reflect something about the owner. In my case, I chose a very unique and exclusive sink. The
entire sink is made out of glass. Be sure to pamper your clients and make them feel like they are using a bathroom they would not find anywhere else.
DON’T: Be generic or just plain boring. Do not just get a plain toilet and sink from a local hardware store. Make a positive impression with your clients. Show them that you are a proud owner and care about the small details. Let your personality shine.

DO: Make sure your bathroom is impeccable and clean at all times. My staff knows that the first thing to do every day is to clean the salon—starting with the bathroom, and continue to
check it throughout the day. Set a high standard for your salon. Inspect the not-so-obvious places for cleanliness.
DON’T: Accept excuses and tolerate a messy or dirty salon—especially your bathroom! This is a cardinal sin.

DO: Have a clean, elegant look to your bathroom. Make sure it is not cluttered with junk and old, torn magazines.
DON’T: Allow your bathroom to be a storage area for cleaning and other supplies. Extra ‘stuff’ should not be stored in the bathroom. It is not a closet!

DO: Add small touches. Make sure the hand soap dispenser is full. Have plenty of hand towels and toilet paper. In one of the drawers, keep an assortment of female hygiene products. A full-body mirror is a nice added touch. Make sure the mirror is clean, free of smudges or fingerprints.
DON’T: Be lazy about the small details. Think about the little things you would want in your bathroom. Remember, your bathroom is a reflection of yourself and your salon. Do not be boring!

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 your eyes.

The rise of the Internet created a whole new phenomenon called social media. If you have been waiting to see if this whole “social media” fad is here to stay or not, wait no longer. Social media is the biggest game changer to hit the beauty industry in the last 25 years.

How big is big?

How big is social media? It is literally taking over the developed world. As you may already know, the two biggest players are Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook has more than 500 million active users, and 50 percent of these users log on at any given time of the day. The average user has 130 friends and is connected to 80 community pages, groups or events. Facebook is the world’s largest social networking website with more than 500 million registered and verified users from all around the world.

The insane part is that 50 percent of all users log in to the website each and every day, and combined they spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook!

Get exposed

Imagine if you could get your salon on Facebook and in front of millions of people every single day. Imagine what that could do to your appointment book. By February 2010, Facebook had 400 million users and hit 500 million in July. That means Facebook had 100 million people register for an account in just five months.

Find something cool? Have something you want to say? Want to tell everyone what you are doing now? You can tweet it! Twitter states it has one billion tweets posted per week. By March 12, 2011, the
social media website had 572,000 new accounts. Twitter is a social networking website similar to Facebook, but instead of messages, you send “tweets.” Think of it as a rolling conversation.

Twitter experienced massive growth in the past three years, which has led to a paradigm shift in the way companies are marketing and reaching out to potential clients.

“What we really need is a mindset shift that will make us relevant to today’s consumers; a mindset shift from ‘telling and selling’ to building relationships,” states Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer for Procter and Gamble.

Social media for the spa

Social media gives spa owners and skin care professionals alike the opportunity communicate directly with their clients, and more importantly their potential new clients.

“The Internet has turned what used to be a controlled, one-way message into a real-time dialogue with millions,”

Danielle Sacks
the Future of Advertising Fast Company

The way we interact with clients has been permanently changed. The Internet represents one of the biggest cultural shifts in history since the printing press. What surprises me is that our industry as a whole is slow to recognize this reality.

The key to remember is that you are in the relationship business, not the spa and beauty business. The term social media can be confusing and misleading, in that it seems to want to imply that it is just like other traditional media: television, print and radio. Social media is not just another form of advertising. Social media is the biggest cultural shift of our time, and it is changing the way our society communicates and interacts with each other using the greatest platform ever invented, the Internet. It has its own set of rules and strategies.

Instead of calling it social media, I suggest we call it social conversation. It is not just a place to do some advertising. It is a place to connect with existing clients, stay in touch with them, nurture your relationships with them and attract new clients. It provides an opportunity for you to connect with your clients to hear what they want, how things went, what they liked and what they did not like. The possibilities are endless.

DAN LOK’S DOS AND DON’TS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

DO: Launch your spa on Facebook with a business fan page.
DON’T: Use a group page or community page. An even bigger mistake is running your spa business for a personal Facebook account. This is a cardinal sin.

DO: Create a custom landing tab (this is the first page visitors see when they are not a fan) with compelling graphics, a powerful video or copy that gets your visitor excited about becoming a fan of your page.
DON’T: Be generic or just plain boring. You have less than 10 seconds to make a positive impression with a stranger (visitor) and get them to see the benefits of becoming a fan.

DO: Use personal professional photos of yourself and your staff on your fan page. Share pictures of treatments in session, treatment rooms and new products.
DON’T: Use photos that make you look bad. You want photos that make you and your spa look great. Don’t post photos that are too casual or suggestive. Use good judgment.

DO: Facebook loves videos, so use video often. Do a virtual spa tour. Many clients like to get a feel and sense of your spa before they book an appointment. This is a like a virtual try
before you buy opportunity; it gives potential clients a sense of familiarity with your spa.
DON’T: Cut corners with your video. You are featuring and highlighting your spa. Plan your video shoot.

DO: Mix your posts up by asking a question or posting a news update. Use video, photos and even music. Behind the scenes, insight is a great way to connect with your fans and
gain trust.
DON’T: Just post links or use other impersonal communication tactics.

DON’T come across as a machine. Mix your content up and keep your fans on their toes. Remember, you cannot be BORING.

LOGGED ON

ZDNet conducted an independent study that showed the percentage of Internet users in each age group in the United States. It is no surprise that 87 percent of kids ages 12 to 17 use the Internet, but the surprising aspect lies in the other age groups. These baby boomers are informed, connected and represent some of the untapped potential customers that
can be reached with the click of a mouse.

• 76 percent of people aged 40 to 44 use the Internet.
• 68 percent of people aged 50 to 54 use the Internet.
• 55 percent of people aged 60 to 64 use the Internet.

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 the path, things got a bit blurry, confusing, and mixed up.

They need help with how to get back on the right track.

“Willingness to learn unlocks the doors of possibility faster than any other key.”

And that’s where my team and I come in… to help and support them in fixing all their challenges.

Most of our conversations revolve around their salon or spa business.

I show them how to attract and keep the right clients. I share tools and systems with them, and we have specific discussions about a particular strategy or tactic that would best suit them.

But there is ALWAYS work to do on the most important foundation of everything… YOU!

YOUR belief system, thought process and actions.

When this work is glossed over or missed… everything built on top of it usually ends up crumbling. If you saw someone literally tripping over themselves as they were walking down the road it would appear comical and ridiculous.

But so many salon and spa owners end up self sabotaging their own goals and dreams by getting in their own way.

As I work with salon and spa owners I have noticed something very strange: You could have two people side by side in exactly the same class learning exactly the same principles and strategies. One person would take these tools and skyrocket to success. The other person sitting right next to him or her…… Nothing!

It reminds me of the famous poem by Dr Orrison Swett Marden

“A lobster, when left high and dry among the rocks,

Has not instinct and energy enough to work his way back to the sea,

but waits for the sea to come to him.

If it does not come, he remains where he is and dies,

although the slightest effort would enable him to reach the waves,

which are perhaps within a yard of him.

The world is full of human lobsters:

men stranded on the rocks of indecision and procrastination,

who, instead of putting forth their own energies, are waiting for some grand billow of good fortune to set them afloat.”

“To achieve something that you have never achieved before, you must become something you have never become before.”

When it comes to running a profitable salon or spa, business owners are like lobsters.  They keep waiting for some good fortune to show-up.  They are not willing to put out the slightest effort to improve their situation.  They would die on the rocks of bankruptcy rather than take some positive action to save themselves.

Too often their business is broken and they ignore the fact that they need to make changes.

They know they need to but they keep hoping for some good fortune to show-up.

They keep avoiding reality.

They become lobsters stuck in the QUICKSAND OF INDECISION not willing to take some positive steps to save their business.

All I hear are feeble excuses and reasons of why they don’t want to make changes.

These are some of the things I “hear”…

1. I am afraid that my clients wouldn’t like my changes. I don’t want my clients to leave me. I don’t have the confidence in my ability to market my salon or spa.  I don’t think I can attract new clients if my current clients leave.

So I am a slave to my business and submit myself to just serving my clients and my team, regardless of the fact that I’m broke and miserable. I hope that if I just focus on serving them, then maybe somehow things will change or get better.

2. I don’t want my staff to think I’m a money-hungry greedy person. I’m afraid that my staff wouldn’t support my changes and they’ll think less of me. I base my self-esteem on what my staff and clients think of me (crazy, but true). My ego and personal identity are all wrapped up in me being a great boss, stylist, esthetician, massage therapist, etc.

This is also one of the big reasons why I’m struggling with jumping into the role of a “business owner”.

3. I don’t believe in my value. I have some hang-ups about how much value I’m delivering and how much I should be compensated. I don’t believe I’m worth any more than I’m already getting.

4. I don’t believe I’m worthy of success. I think I need to suffer and be a martyr.  I feel better about myself when I just focus on taking care of others and ignore taking care of myself  (this ties in and gets mixed up with #1, 2, 3).

5. I think I just need to continue working harder. If I can just find a way to keep on doing THAT, then maybe I’ll be worthy of success.

Now, I could probably keep on going, listing all the things I “hear” in these conversations, but they are all variations on the themes above, and I think you get the idea.

To Be Fair

In some cases, salon and spa owners understand that they need to make changes and they follow a step by step process that we give them.

Even though they have a bit of fear in their belly (which is always the case when ‘big changes are about to happen’), they proceed to execute the plan we lay out, make the changes required, and everything gets immediately better.

But this is not always the case.

Some clients fight us tooth and nail to “hang onto” their old thought patterns and belief systems.

So as a coach and mentor, I’m always thinking about what I can do to continue helping these “hard cases”.

How can I help them become aware of what’s going on, and “re-program” them for better success?

NOTE: As a mentor and coach I used to really beat myself up when a client would fail here. Part of my evolution as a coach involved me coming to an understanding and accepting the fact that I can’t do this work for the client. THEY have to do it for themselves. It is THEIR responsibility to make these changes required for their success, not mine.

I believe that improving my ability to emotionally ‘detach’ myself from the work I do with the clients has also made me a much better mentor.  It’s certainly helped me become a whole lot happier and healthier in my own life.

Now that is not to say that I don’t get sucked in every now and then. But I’ve learned how to ‘disconnect’ pretty cleanly now, which I believe is absolutely critical to staying healthy and sane.

So let’s talk about how to do that and start addressing the “inner” work required to fix what is you holding you back.

“Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world”

I think we need to start by bringing the conversation back to your FOUNDATION and how you prioritize the various responsibilities in the relationships you have in your life.

So let’s begin that now…

Triangle of Responsibility

I want to introduce you to what I’m going to call the Triangle of Responsibility.

YOU are the foundation of everything. Therefore you must put YOURSELF first and then the rest of the people in your life in the following order. When you get this right everything works. When something is off, I believe you can almost always trace it back to this hierarchy being “out of alignment”.

I believe that understanding the Triangle of Responsibility and learning to better structure and operate your life by it, is absolutely critical to your health, happiness, and success.

Get this right and your potential is truly unlimited.

If you’re struggling or in pain, I think you can just about always trace things back to something being off here.

The good news is the more you become aware of it, and understand it, the quicker you can make course corrections to get yourself “back on track” and in balance when necessary.

So next time you’re in pain, come back and check in with this triangle (framework) OK?

Look at it and ask yourself if you’re putting things in the proper order here.

Because my guess is you’re probably not.

“Mastery of self is the first step towards all great accomplishments”

Now… let’s break this down and talk about it.

1. YOU. The FIRST responsibility you have in life is to take care of yourself. You are the foundation of everything. So when YOU are off, everything you do will be off. You must take care of yourself with the fundamentals like breathing, eating, sleeping, and exercise. Give yourself regular time off for rest and relaxation. Do what you can to keep your stress levels low.

Frankly, we could talk about this one for a long time and both benefit from the discussion. This is the fundamental building block.

Many of you would say that you already KNOW this to be true. But knowing and doing are two very different things.

Until you really start DOING on a consistent basis, I suggest to you that you really don’t KNOW very much of anything at all.

Also, many talk about the concept of integrity.

I think integrity goes beyond being congruent in our words and actions. I think it means being consistent in living by your values.

So how can you VALUE beauty, health and vitality, when you are living a life that is unbalanced, stressful and unhealthy?

How can a person teach you how to lose weight when she’s 50 to 70 pounds overweight?

To me that demonstrates a major LACK of integrity.

If you find this discussion makes you uncomfortable, Good. It’s supposed to!

Recognize that it is not ME that is making this uncomfortable for you.  It is me simply calling your attention to the inconsistencies that may be going on for you here.

2. YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS. There are people in your life who depend on you. You play many roles in your life from spouse, to parent, to friend, and don’t forget son/daughter, brother/sister, cousin, etc. Each of them is important. We play these roles for others and they play these roles for us. Each of us making up critical components of the support systems we all need in order to be at our best.

I am reminded of Shakespeare’s All the World’s a Stage when I think of this.

“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts,

If you’re unfamiliar with the full passage, it’s here.

3. YOUR TEAM. In the beginning as a solo owner YOU are your business. You do it all. If you are any good, you will quickly become a prisoner of your own success. But if you ever want to have a life and any freedom, then you must build and develop a team. If you’re willing to allow yourself to evolve beyond your identity and self-esteem of feeling like you are “the best” hairdresser, esthetician, cosmetologist, nail tech, colorist, makeup artist, etc. and the “only one who can do it right” you need to let this go, it just won’t work.  You need to look for and create a team of people who CAN DO IT BETTER THAN YOU EVER DID.

Support your staff, invest in them, and back them up.  You wouldn’t get very far without them.  And how far your reach can go, the amount of value you can deliver to your community,  and the number of people your salon or spa serves will ultimately be determined by THEM not YOU.

There are real limits to what YOU can do. But with THEM you can do more. Much, much more.

Be sure to re-read this section several times until it really sinks in for you.

4. YOUR CLIENTS. You are in the business of serving clients.  To make them look great and feel good about themselves.  The easy clients are easy. They are the ones that are happy go lucky, easy to deal with that everyone likes.  Truth be told, the easy client could have gone to any salon or spa that did an average job and they would probably be happy with the service and results, because their success is more about THEM, and much less about YOU.

Early on in my business career, I started several different businesses, each with the dream of making my fortune, but my results were dismal. I worked my butt off and kept coming up short. I was looking for some external factors that would “magically make” me successful. I kept thinking, “If I just get into the right business, get in on the right opportunity, I’ll make it.” But I was wrong. I was a lousy business person. How do I know? Because there were others who were succeeding in the exact same business I was in and I was broke.

So if it is not the industry, and it’s not the business, then it had to be ME!

Then I threw myself wholeheartedly into studying successful people, their habits, their strategies and how they thought.  I learned everything I could about the inner workings of their minds, concentrating primarily on the psychology of wealth and success.

Using the strategies I learnt and now teach, I am now a multi-millionaire. Virtually, all my investments and businesses seem to skyrocket. Some people tell me I have the “Midas Touch,” where everything I get involved in turns to gold. They should have met me years ago (before I mastered the psychology of prosperity), when everything I touched turned to shit.

The lesson is simple: If you want to take your salon or spa business to the next level, you have to be willing to let go of some of your old ways of thinking and being.  You need to adopt new ways of thinking and new patterns of being.  You’ll be astonished by the results you create.

Live in Freedom,

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) They all have the same math problem.

Alright, here’s Ashely’s story…

On an average day, she does 15 cuts at an average price of $13.  Her average gross sales for a day are $195 (15 times 13).

She is usually open 6 days a week though she takes an extra day off here and there so to keep everything simple on an average month she has 25 business days.

25 business days times her average day gross sales of $195 = $4,875 average monthly gross sales.

Ashely’s expenses are about $4,800 a month.

Which means her business isn’t making any money. There is no profit.

Ashely also owes $83,000 on a home equity loan so took out to build out her salon.

She pays herself $30,000/year salary from her salon.

She wants to grow.

She wants to know how she can “attract more clients”.

But getting more clients won’t help Ashely’s problems right now.

More clients will only dig her into a deeper hole.

Because she has no NET PROFIT in her business.

There is no profit when you are priced too low.

“Salon and spa business is a game of margin, not volume.”

There is an old joke that goes like something like this…”Well, if I have enough gross sales, so there must be some net profit somewhere in there.”

Not true! I’ve seen too many salon and spas that have annual sales of hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases 1 to 2 million dollars that have very little net profit.

At the end of the day, all that matters is NET PROFITS.

Ashely’s reality is she doesn’t have a viable salon business.

Ashely is a slave to her salon business.  Her salon is nothing more than a low paying job with long hours with free little time off.

Ashely has no FREEDOM.

What does this low paying job really pay Ashely?  She pays herself $30,000/year.   Let’s estimate that she is working an average 50 hours per week.  I am being really generous here as Ashely admits she works 6 days a week 10 -12 hours a day which averages out to 60-72 hours a week. I hope that Ashely is taking 2 weeks off a year when you count holidays like Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as weekend getaway or two.

If we take 50 weeks times 50 hours we get 2,500 hours.  Divide the 2,500 hours into $30,000 you get $12 an hour. In reality when you add in all the 60-70 hour weeks Ashely is really making less than $10/hour.

She is better off working for another salon.   She would make more money and probably have more fun.

“Be a business owner, not a worker!”

She could make the same salary working at the local Super Cut, Sassy Cut, Magic Cut or any other local discount hair chain.

She would probably get some nights and weekends off.

Ashely wouldn’t have to stress about the risk and liability of owning a salon, managing employees, and being on the hook for a lease, etc.

Essentially what she is running right now… is a nightmare.

Not a salon business.

“The main reason salons & spas go out of business is not enough margin.”

So I said the first thing that needs to happen is she needs to raise prices.

And she needs to do this NOW.

You see if you keep expenses the same, at $4,800/month… and just raise the average price of a haircut to $17.00 or at least $14.25 (about 10 %) … now we are starting to get a bit of margin.

Let’s run these 2 scenarios:

15 clients per day times 25 days = 375 cuts

375 cuts times $17.00 = $6,375 gross sales

$6,375 gross revenue- $4,800 in expenses = $1,575 net profit

$1,575 net profit/ $6,375 gross profit= 25% margin (we are starting to move in the right direction)

OR

15 clients per day times 25 days = 375 cuts

375 cuts times $14.25 = $5,343.75 gross sales

$5,343.75 gross revenue- $4,800 in expenses = $543.75 net profit

$543.75 net profit/ $5343.75 gross profit= 10% margin (this is not enough to survive on)

The reality is even at 25% your margin is still too tight.  I would like to see her at least 35%.

Because when she gets more clients she will need to hire a salon coordinator (front desk manager) as she doesn’t have one. She needs to raise her salary to at least $36,000/year she isn’t paying herself much.

When she does raise her prices she is going to need to attract more new clients as she will lose some.  To get more clients she needs a client attraction (marketing) budget as right now she only gets new clients by word of mouth.

Let’s not forget that she still has to pay off the $83,000 home equity loan she took out in the first place to build out her salon.

By raising her haircut price to $17 she has a fighting chance to build a viable business. She will need to raise her prices again in 6 to 9 months again by 10% or so.

Raising her haircut price to $14.25 barely gives her any margin.  She would need to raise it at least by another 10% in 3 to 6 months to have a chance of building a successful business.

Staying with her current pricing… it won’t ever happen.

Ashely will continue to suffer.

And in a year from now, we’ll have the same conversation over again.

If she even makes it that long, which I wouldn’t count on, because really this is an unsustainable business model she’s trying to run.

I didn’t even ask if Ashely has a family.

But I would bet not.

Because generally when gals like Ashely become a mother they are forced to breakout of their comfort zone.  They just can’t physically do everything on their own anymore.   They are motivated to a better provider to their family and child which many times is a greater motivator then just providing for themselves.

Single gals sort of just ‘get by’ with just paying a few bills and convince themselves that life is OK.

Even though life is tough and no fun.

Raising Prices

So I think we all agree that Ashely needs to raise her prices… right?

Attracting more clients won’t solve her problems.

Because the ECONOMICS of her business/revenue model are flawed.

Not making any money… and just getting more clients… and then having your costs go up as you have to invest in more staff, equipment, supplies etc… is just going to make a bad situation worse.

I of course challenged Ashely to raise her prices.

And at first she gave me a bunch of reasons why she couldn’t.

1. She is not sure her services are really “worth it”.

2. Her salon is small, her location isn’t great, the place looks a little worse for wear (could use a fresh coat of paint and freshening up). A/C is broken so it can get pretty humid and hot at times.  Of course there is no money to fix the A/C and she makes no profits.

2. Other salons in the area charge the same rate and there are even a couple salons that charge less.  Ashely reminded me about the typical discount Supercuts places in the area that charges $8 and that she would be charging twice as much as SuperCuts.  She is concerned she will be charging more than her competitors and pricing herself out of the market.

It is a shame that we are intimated by these discount chains and allow the value of our service and professional skills to be devalued to a measly $8 hair cut. It is truly a shame.

So I asked her, “Do you make your clients look and feel great?  Are your clients happy with your salon’s work?”

She answered yes.

I asked her, do you provide great service and build a relationship with your clients?

She answered yes again.

Well, that’s all that matters then!

Nobody is buying from you right now because of the flowery scented potpourri in the bathroom.

Or because you provide herbal and loose leaf tea.

They are buying because you make them LOOK and FEEL GREAT and your SERVICE.

And if you are focusing on THAT, and OVERDELIVERING VALUE then you have earned the right to raise your prices accordingly.

I don’t care where your location is at.

And it doesn’t matter what the other salons are charging… AS LONG AS YOU’RE PROVIDING GREAT SERVICE AND YOUR CLIENTS SAY YOU ARE MAKING THEM LOOK AND FEEL GREAT!

In a perfect world, all those extras are nice. Sure.

But don’t get all messed up.

You are selling the RESULTS of LOOKING and FEELING GOOD as well as GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE.

If these aren’t the pillars you have built your business on … then you are in a really weak spot.

Because then all I have to do to put you out of business is open up a salon down the street with a more modern look, a fancy Italian espresso machine and sweeter smelling air fresheners.

BEFORE YOU KNOW IT.. you are out of business!

Seriously, kinda silly when you think about it that way, right?

Not only that, but I KNOW Ashely is a great stylist.

She’s being doing this for seven years now and invests consistently in her own education.

Her services are well worth it.

Listen there are stylist out there with as little as 12 weeks training charging $39 and more for a cut and blow dry that get it.

I told Ashely that according to a report by American Salon, the average women’s haircut in the United States costs about $21 for a cut in a salon with fewer than 6 chairs, up to $44 for a salon with more than 13 chairs.

So even at $17 she is still $4 (19%) below the national average.  My goal is not only to get Ashely the national average in 12 months; I want her to be above the national average.  Who wants to be just average?

What would Ashely’s profit margin be if she was got up to the national average of $21 for a cut.

15 clients per day times 25 days = 375 cuts

375 cuts times $21.00 = $7,875 gross sales

$7,875 gross revenue- $4,800 in expenses = $3,075 net profit

$3,075 net profit/ $7,875 gross profit= 39% margin (Now we have a profitable healthy business)

So Ashely and I discussed this for a few minutes, and she agrees.

She’s gotta raise prices.

And she understands she needs to raise prices but she is too scared to move forward on raising prices.

Then I decided to blow Ashely’s mind.

I told her about an article that I had read many years ago in the New York Times.  The article was all about celebrity hairstylists battling it out in Manhattan to see who could charge the most for a cut. The price started at $500 and soon went to $600.  Orlando Pita raised the stakes by having the courage to charge $800 for a cut.  One of his cuts takes 80 minutes on average.  That is $10 a minute.  At the time haircuts had become the new luxury item.

(Many of my private clients pay me $2,000 for an hour long private consultation. If you think this is a lot to pay for profit-making advice, then you might like to know that my clients — when they follow my advice – always end up making a lot more money than my paltry fee costs them. You see, it’s never about the price, it’s about the value)

The article taught me a valuable lesson.  The lesson being…

“Don’t project your struggles onto your clients.”

Have you ever caught yourself thinking or saying…

“Oh, I’ll never spend that much money on facial or nail or hair cut or _______ ”

“Oh, I can’t afford _________ ”

“Oh, that’s what everyone ELSE is charging.”

Just because you can’t afford it doesn’t mean your clients can’t or won’t.

In fact, if most of your clients aren’t wealthier than you, you are attracting the wrong clients!

At my salon, most of our clients are affluent.  They wear Gucci, LV, and Chanel.  They drive luxury vehicles like BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, Porsche, etc.

We attract affluent and sophisticated clients because we built a reputation by design that our salon is a place where affluent women hang out.

After Ashely heard me tell the story of Manhattan salons charging between $500 and $800 a cut and that my salon charges some of the highest prices in our city she was finally ready to raise her prices.

Time For Action

And even though Ashely was mighty scared she knew she had to raise her prices.

With fear in her belly (which is always the case when ‘big changes are about to happen’), she proceeded to execute the plan we lay out and raised her prices.

The Irony

Ashely was shocked that her clients didn’t give her a hard time about raising her prices.  See Ashely’s fear was that her clients were going to make a big deal out of her raising her prices. We all assume clients are going to ask why we are raising prices.

Some of Ashely clients even said, ‘Well it’s about time!’”

If done right, my experience has been that clients typically accept a price increase. For them prices are going all around them, like the price of gas and groceries for example.  Other services are costing them more so they are not surprised that prices are increasing. Matter of fact, many clients will have been waiting for you to raise your prices.

I told Ashely not to make raising her prices into a whole production.  Just keep it professional and short and let your clients know that your prices will be increasing in 6 to 8 weeks. No story or long explanations about the five reasons why you are raising your prices.

To soften the blow of the price increase, Ashely offered a free deep conditioning treatment on a client’s next visit.

Of course, Ashely lost a few price sensitive clients which was actually a blessing.  I told Ashely before she raised her prices that she would lose some clients.  I said “don’t take it personally, it is just business.”  I suggested that she may lose between three and eight per cent.  I told her to focus on the good news that she will actually be making more money with fewer clients and working shorter days.

MORE IMPORTANTLY she created space in your appointment book to attract and retain better quality clients.  I have also been working with Ashely to focus on attracting more sophisticated and affluent clients.

(To learn about sophisticated and affluent clients watch my video “How to Indentify and Deal With the Four Different Type of Clients”)

Conclusion:

What Are You Going To Do?

What is holding you back from raising your prices?  Can you relate to some of Ashely’s challenges and concerns?

Bottom line: If you personally don’t think that you can charge higher prices, you are probably right. I’ve always believed that a person’s potential is only limited by his or her belief in themselves and what is possible.

If your beliefs stop you from believing that your skills and expertise are valuable, then even I cannot help you. No one will ever show up at your salon with a certification that says, “Congratulations! You are now qualified to raise your prices!”

As with all things in life, the way to get something you want, including getting to the point where you can charge good money for your good services, rests on how hard you will work and how much value you add.

Live in Freedom,

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 attitude. She acts like she’s always right even when she isn’t. She absolutely refuses to change and admits that she’s wrong. And you know what’s worse? She’s now gossiping behind my back! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!”

I said, “Are we talking about the same Megan.  She was awesome in beginning. In fact, she was our FIRST employee.  I could say she has contributed the most to our salon.”

Jennie said, “I know, but she’s just not the same Megan anymore. She has changed.”

I replied, “Let me try to talk to her and find out what is really going on”…

And I did. Not only once but twice and even a third time. Somehow she feels like we don’t appreciate her work.  Even though Jennie and I praise her constantly and tell how important she is to the salon.  We pay her the highest wages at the salon; give her bonuses and other special privileges.

It’s crazy.

And she’s getting more and more arrogant as each week passes by.  She has the best skill at the salon and she knows it but she just doesn’t want to be part of the team anymore.

When everyone else is cleaning up, she doesn’t because she thinks she’s “special” and above that. She argues with Jennie in front of other staff and clients.

She has no respect for Jennie.

“Enough is enough!”  I told Jennie, “That’s it. We have to fire her.”

Jennie gasped and said “But Dan, she’s our most popular artist. Clients love her.”

I said firmly, “I don’t give a damn. She’s affecting the other staff. She has become a toxin that is poisoning our salon. I can’t accept that.”

Jennie anxiously said, “But what if her regulars stop coming to our salon???”

Well I said, “Some will obviously. But we’ve built our business in such a way so it’s not so dependent on one artist. People come to us because of our brand, our image, and our customer service.  In other words, they come for the overall experience not just because of an individual artist.”

But how can we find another artist? I am concerned,” Jennie asked.

“It’s simple.” I replied, “We’ll promote someone from within.”

“I don’t know, I am so worried…”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

The next day, we calculated how much salary we still owe her.

The moment of truth:   I give her the white envelope and say “Megan, I have to let you go.”

Megan with a puzzled look on her face slowly says, “What do you mean?”

I reply, “I’ve cancelled all your appointments for next week. Please pack your stuff and go.”

Megan seems insulted and blurts out, “You can’t fire me. You need me!”

Now I am starting to get mad though I keep my cool and say calmly, “Not anymore.”

Megan with a raised voice and attitude says, “I helped you build this salon. How dare you fire me?”

I hold my ground and reply with “I’ve given you opportunity after opportunity to change.  I have been more then patient.  You have refused to change because you think you are always right. I can’t have an employee at my salon who doesn’t respect me or my other staff.  Someone who doesn’t want to be part of a team.”

Megan stood there for a minute shocked and dumbfounded. She never expected us to fire her, not in a million years. She packed her stuff and just left.

Jennie was anxious and constantly worried for the next couple of weeks. I keep telling Jennie “Don’t worry about it. Just focus on serving the clients.  They will see and feel it and keep coming.”

We informed all of Megan’s customers that she had left the salon.  We recommended to each client another stylist within our salon that would take could care of them.  For those that only wanted Megan, we gave them Megan’s phone number.

Guess what? Only 5 clients ask for her number. And they are not even our big spenders.

Most of the clients said, “OK, I will try the other artist you recommended.”

By firing her, everyone’s performance improved.  Now everyone is working together as a team again.  All my staff felt we were being very fair.  They knew what was going on.  It is great with all the negative energy is gone.

Not only did sales not go down, they went up! We are even busier!

THEY ALL GO BAD

It’s not a question of if they will go bad, it’s a question of when they will go bad. At some point, your employees, stylists, suppliers, and even your business partners, every single one of them will go bad. You are doing both you and the other person a disservice by keeping them.

Sometimes a person who goes bad and becomes ineffective in one environment can be re-born, re-energized and highly effective in a new environment.

As an owner, sometimes you have to make the tough decision and let some people go. That’s what you are “paid” to do.

Too many salon and spa owners try too hard to be a “good boss,” meaning a boss liked by their employees, rather than an effective boss, or one who sets and enforces standards and procedures in order to create maximum possible profits.

Live in Freedom,

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 predictable manner.

What I am saying is that we all go through predictable steps when interacting with each other.

Human Behaviorists have discovered that when two people are meeting each other – whether in a client situation in a salon, in a business situation like a meeting or a “casual friend” situation like dinner people do certain things in a certain way.

All the time.

Case in point,, when two people meet each other for the first time, but most of the first 30 seconds is about unconsciously figuring out who is going to be “in control” of the relationship.  You might not realize this.

Pay attention next time you meet someone new. You will start noticing and see that it’s true.

It is not relevant how or where the two people are meeting.

This un-conscious “inner dance” begins.  Who nods first, who smiles first, and who makes eye contact first.

The truth is we all do this.  You and I can’t control it.  It just happens, it is like breathing.

Now just because we go through a pre-programmed set of “routines” when we meet someone new, does not mean that we have to go through the steps unaware.

I’ve realized that the more aware we become of these steps and the more conscious and focused we become of how to use them productively, the more success we can have in building solid relationships with our clients as well as with other people in our lives.

I realized a long time ago that the most successful stylist, technicians and salon owners are all good at making friends and building trust with their clients.  Connecting with your clients in many different ways is the key to success in this business.

I always tell salon and spa owners that…

“You are not in the beauty business, you are in the relationship business.”

~ Dan Lok

In other words, you need to become friends with your clients.  You want them to think of you as a trusted friend or advisor.

After realizing that creating an emotional connection with clients was a key to this business I wanted to discover the process or system to connect quickly with clients and start to become their trusted friend.

After searching for quite a while I came across three simple steps to build friendship and trust.  I started using it by practicing it on friends, acquaintances and neighbors.

It worked great.

Here are the three easy steps outlined and explained.

STEP 1: Find an interest that your client is
passionate about.

When you first meet a new client, it’s important to remember that you and the client have different viewpoints and may have different outcomes.

Even though physically you are together in your salon or spa you may you be on completely different channels – or pages with your client.

Imagine that there’s a transparent movie screen between you and the new client you are meeting and that you are each projecting a completely different movie on to that screen.

Even though it looks like there’s no difference, there’s A HUGE DIFFERENCE in how each of you are seeing this experience and each other.

And this is why it’s important to make sure that you are connecting on something that is of interest to your client.

In other words, it is not all about you; it is all about the client.

If you say to the client “nice weather we’re having?”, that is  not a great  way to connect. Because it’s what everyone says – and it’s not related to something the client has a deep interest in.

On the other hand, if you ask “what do you do for fun or what are your hobbies?” you have a better chance of talking about something your client is interested in—themselves.

You know you have a hit a topic of interest for your client when they light up, when they start talking faster, when they get excited.

Sometimes it can be awkward and challenging to hit upon on subject or interest that’s lights up and excites your client.

At times like this remember the acronym of FORD which stands for:

So if and when you are caught in the endless circle of small talk you can direct the conversation by asking your client about one of the following questions:

• Where do you want to go on vacation?
• Do you have a pet? Tell me about your pet?
• If you had 3 months to do whatever you want, what would you do?
• What are your dreams?
• Tell me about your kids?

Notice that all these questions are open ended questions.  You can’t answer them with a Yes or a No.

Asking about people’s pets and kids has always worked well for me.  I usually don’t ask about people’s job or occupation.  I find most people talk enough about work and would prefer to forget about their jobs and actually dream for a while.

Remember you are in business of making your client look good and feel good about themselves.   Allowing your client to talk about their passions and dreams will certainly make them feel more positive.

You might be saying I have heard this all before.  Is this really important?

I would say YES it is important.

Clients are predictable. When your client is interested in something personally it becomes more than just “a hobby” to them.  It becomes a passion.

And when you talk to your clients about that they are passionate about, they will naturally start liking you.   When people like you they start to trust you.

Focus on finding an interest that your client is passionate about.  So aim to connect on something substantial. Converse with your client about topics and interests that you know are personally meaningful to them.

You can get to a level of interest, comfort and like that would otherwise take many hours to reach.

STEP 2: Disclose something valuable or personal to deepen the relationship.

If you think about your closest relationships, you’ll realize that the relationship has deepened as each of you have shared more “secrets.”

That’s the way it works.

We trust people more when they reveal their secrets to us.  Your clients will trust you more if they now more about you and that you are human just like them.

Now, the secrets you reveal can be valuable information, or insights you’ve had about life – or they can be embarrassing stories or life experiences.

You can bond with your client by telling them a funny story of an embarrassing moment you had and allow you client to laugh with you.

You have to delicate and tasteful with what you reveal to a client.

The key is that you must disclose something that is valuable or personal if you want to deepen the relationship.

STEP 3: Compliment and Agree with Your Client

I am surprised how often staff forgets to give their clients a compliment.

Please remember that your client has come to you to look good and feel good about themselves.   We all glow after someone gives us a sincere compliment.

The art of complimenting is becoming a lost art.  It can take a little effort and thought when coming up with a good compliment.

For example, “saying that is a nice dress”.  This is an average compliment.

A good compliment would be “You look, good, great or fabulous in that dress.”

Which compliment do you think is going to have more impact on your client?

Complimenting and agreeing with your client goes hand in hand.

Agreeing is more than just nodding your head and saying the occasional yes.

You actually have to interact with your client by genuinely showing interest, smile (they can see you in the mirror), encourage them to talk about themselves so you can agree with them.

By complimenting and agreeing with your client you make them feel important.

Now that you know the three easy steps on how to build trust with your clients quickly I challenge you to start practicing the steps with at least 2 clients a day.  All your clients would be better however starting with a couple clients a day is a good start.

It will feel awkward and uncomfortable at first.   I know, that is why most salons personal don’t want to use the three steps and they give up on them way too easily.  It takes practice before it will become a habit for you.  After a while it will feel natural just like when you are talking to a friend.

Live in Freedom,

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 in line. When it came time to order the soup, George wanted bread, so the Soup Nazi says, “You have to pay for it.”

When George gets upset and refuses to pay for it, that’s when the Soup Nazi says his world- famous catch phrase “No Soup For You!”

What allows him to do that?

There’s a very important lesson here for all salon and day spa owners. And that lesson is – you as a business owner control and choose how you want to do business so conduct your business on your own terms.

So why could the Soup Nazi do that? Because he makes the best damn soup there is!

He had no need to please you; no need to be popular or politically correct – nope, because he knows his soup is good. You either want it, or you don’t want it. You don’t like the way he does business? Well, the Soup Nazi chose not to do business with you. He had control.

And that’s the way I operate my salon. You can always make money. You can always get new clients or offer new services. Working with clients that you can never please is never worth the stress frustration and aggravation. It’s just not worth it. The same goes with employees.

Doing it this way allows you to focus more on providing great service, a friendly environment and spending your time, your efforts and energies with clients who actually appreciate you and your salon or day spa.

They enjoy coming to your salon, they like your services, they are raving fans who are willing to and able to spend money with you.

This is SO important. Take control and conduct business on your own terms.

“You’ll become effective only by being selective.”

~ Dan Lok

Not All Clients Are Created Equal

Conventional wisdom says, “Treat all the customers that come through your doors equally. This is a common lie that salon owners believe that trap them. Have you heard of the 80/20 rule?

The rule says that 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your clients. The reality is that all clients are not created equal.

Right now 20% or less of your clients is the right ideal clients for your salon or day spa.

For some of you it may feel like less than 5% are good clients that you like to work with. Most of the time, the other 80% are not a good fit for you.

It doesn’t make them bad people. It’s just they’re not the right clients for you. They might be the perfect clients for another day spa or salon. But for you, they are simply not a good fit.

These clients end up being a distraction, create stress and anxiety for you, they actually cost you money and energy long term. With some of these clients you only deal with them because you want their money. When you do that, you lose your power, your enthusiasm and your self esteem.

You’re actually doing these clients a disservice by keeping them. You owe it to them and yourself to refer them to another salon or day spa who can and will do their best work with them.

You Train Your Clients How To Treat You

You may not have noticed that the Soup Nazi taught and trained his clients how he wanted to be treated and how do you business with them. He did such a brilliant job that Jerry one of his clients was explaining and training one of his soon to be new clients George the exact procedure for ordering soup. Now that is what I call teaching and training your clients.

Take a minute and watch the video clip again. It is hilarious.

Not only will you see business on your own terms in action you also have a good laugh which is a always a good thing. Have some FUN.

You are already teaching and training your customers how you want to be treated. You are just not aware of all the ways you are teaching and training your clients.

Early on in your business relationship, through your actions, you train your clients how to work with you and how to treat you. This creates an unwritten contract how each of you will behave. It overrules any written contract you may have.

For example, Sweet Nail has a 24 hour notice policy for cancellations or appointment changes. There are no surprises and we rarely have anyone ask for an exception.

Ask yourself:

1. Does my staff know my standards and how I want to be treated?
2. Do my clients know how I want my staff and myself to be treated?
3. What have I been teaching my clients?
4. What does my staff teach my clients?
5. What is your customer service and work environment teaching your clients?

Assignment: Doing Business On Your
Own Terms

Write down your standards for your salon or day spa. Write down your definition of professionalism. What is acceptable and not acceptable? Create a code of conduct for your team and your clients? Write down ideas on how you are going to build this culture

How To Identify Your Ideal Client

Doing business on your terms is directly related to the quality of your clients and your team. You will attract and keep a higher quality team when you start targeting and attracting your ideal client.

The quality of your salon business is directly related to the quality of your clients.

~ Dan Lok

This is why it is important to define who your ideal client is. If I were to ask you, “What kind of a life partner do you want in your life?” You wouldn’t reply, “Anyone that breathes.” Would you?

No, you would tell me in details exactly who you are looking for. Maybe you would say, “I would like him to have a great personality and sense of humor. He should be kind, loyal, honest, loving, sincere, affectionate, and caring. He should also possess the qualities of maturity, integrity, and generosity.

My ideal mate would be a wonderful partner. He should be able to openly communicate his thoughts and feelings and share everything that is important to him with me…”

Then why should it be any different in your salon?

Life is too short to take on just “any” client.

If I can suggest, one of the absolute must-haves criteria, is that all of your clients must respect your team.

Respect is a big thing in any industry. When you allow your clients to walk all over you, or your employees, you not only become incapable of commanding respect, but you also become incapable of commanding high prices.

In Sweet Nail, I’ve empowered my team in such a way, in that if one of my clients crosses the line in words or actions, they have permission to fire the client. It doesn’t matter “who they are” or “how much they spend.” And the same goes for my stylists, I expect them to show the same kind of respect to the clients.

Why have clients, or anyone for that matter, in your life who frustrates you or drains the life out of you?

Get rid of them. Better yet, send them to your competitors! You don’t have to take them on as a client. Nobody forces to you take them on as a client.

Ask yourself

• What type of clients can I serve best?
• What type of clients need what I offer?
• Where is my perfect client base?

Assignment: Your Ideal Client

Write down the qualities of your ideal client. Include things like how much they pay for your service, their attitude, and other qualities.

Clients are replaceable. Money is replaceable. Time is NOT replaceable. The seconds you used up reading this paragraph – those seconds are gone forever. You can’t get them back. Doesn’t it just make sense to place a very high value on the most precious commodity you possess – your time?

Live With Freedom,

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 own a larger or smaller salon/spa, you can adjust the number accordingly.

Now, what most spa and salon owners do is review their sales goal at the end of the month to see how close they came to hitting their target, make some adjustments for the next month and then keep going, right?

A better way is to divide your monthly sales goal by how many days your spa or salon is open for the month. For example, if you are open 6 days a week some months you will have 26 business days. In this case of 26 business days, your daily sales goal is $1,500.00 dollars.

So the first question when you get up in the morning should be, “What am I doing today to make $1,500 bucks?”

Then out of all items on your overflowing to-do lists including all the corresponding tasks, which item is most likely to help you reach $1,500 in sales?

Once you determine this, you will then be focusing only on your D.S.G. – NOT your monthly sales goal.

Ask yourself these questions:

• “Are we making more money today?
• “What’s the most efficient use of my time right now?”
• “What’s the payoff of this activity?”
• “Is what I am doing, this minute, moving me measurably closer to my sales goals?”
• “What objectives do I want to accomplish?”
• “What must I do to accomplish these objectives?”
• “In what sequence should I complete them?”
• “What would Dan do in this situation?”
• “What would massive action look like?”

It’s simple. If you’re not hitting your D.S.G., then you’re not hitting your weekly sales goal. If you’re not hitting your weekly sales goal, then you’re definitely not hitting your monthly sales goal.

It makes no sense to wait till the end of the month to find out, “Oops, I’m off track.” So instead, every day, the daily minimum is your focal point – that’s your priority. Everything else is a waste of time.

It doesn’t matter if you want to make $700.00, 1,500.00 or $5,000 a day. Whatever your D.S.G is – that’s your focus. So always ask yourself FIRST, “What am I doing today to make my minimum for the day?” Every single day, day in and day out.

Now, you might ask, “Dan, what if I miss a day?”

Well, if your number was $1,500 a day and you missed a day you have to do something or think of something that will make you twice as much. In this case you have to make $3,000 to make it up.

If you are short $300 one day, then the next day instead of making $1,500 you will need to make $1,800 for the day. You get the idea.

What if you do better and go over your daily number? Say, for instance you do $2,000.00? Well, Congratulations!

Give yourself a pat on the back for doing a good job. But don’t slow down or relax… keep going!

Hitting your D.S.G is your #1 priority every day. Everything else is a distraction.

~ Dan Lok

You can be very busy and still be very unproductive. Returning phone calls, chatting with staff, browsing on the internet, answering e-mails, etc – all kind of stuff – NONE of those things help you generate more money or make more sales.

When our salon first got started, $300.00 was my D.S.G. We were thrilled to make $300.00 a day! Then $500.00. Then $1,000.00. Then $1,500.00 – and so on. We keep counting and upgrading.

This D.S.G. method has helped me over the years become extremely productive.

So now we have $1,500 in big numbers behind the front desk at the salon. Very soon, it’s going to be $2,000, then $2,500, and so on.

Now it’s your turn.

Live With Freedom!

I often ask salon and spa owners what is their greatest asset? I usually get a variety of answers though they fall into these general categories;

• Location, Location, Location!
• Employees/staff
• Store Reputation
• Product Line/Inventory

I think spa and salon owners are forgetting about their greatest asset. Let me illustrate my point by telling you a story.

There was a popular and successful seafood restaurant in Maine that I read about that was owned and operated by a larger than life personality. The restaurant was riding the popularity wave and was getting busier and busier. It wasn’t unusual to see a line up outside of the door at lunch. In the evening you always needed a reservation.

Everything was going great! Then one night there was a horrific fire in the kitchen. The owner was able to count his blessing that at least fire happened when they were closed and no one was injured. Once the smoke had cleared the reality was his restaurant was more than 70% damaged. It would take months to rebuild.

It took 8 or 9 months to rebuild once he had dealt with the insurance companies etc. He decided to build a new restaurant in the end.

This larger than life entrepreneur said the smartest thing he did while riding the popularity wave was take some sage advice from a wise old marketer. The advice he was given was…

Dig Your Well Before You
Need the Water!

So what did he mean by that. The wise old marketer was saying don’t forget your greatest asset… your clients! See everything else can be rebuilt and replaced. It is not so easy to replace you customers.

What this street smart entrepreneur did was collect his cleint’ information.

So after the fire he was able to go to his client well which he had dug and built before. He communicated with his clients on a regular basis giving them periodical updates on his insurance claim, the design of his new store, new customer and staff innovations, created contests and told his customers about his progress, his triumphs, setbacks and challenges of rebuilding his business. He also always talked about his Grand Re-Opening plans.

9 months later after sending invitations to all his customers he reopened his restaurant to a FULL HOUSE. Once again the restaurant was riding the popularity wave. There was once again a line up outside of the door at lunch. In the evening you always needed a reservation.

Please remember to dig your client well before you need it and don’t forget the greatest asset any salon or spa has is their clients.

A salon with no clients is just an empty salon.

~ Dan Lok

Now you know that one of your greatest business asset is your client’s information. The reason you need your client’s information is so you can contact them on a regular basis and start building a relationship with them. With that information you start to build a client’s list.

The client list is your foundation to create the “secret sauce” which is a strong relationship with your clients. See people like to buy from people they now and they like.

Did you know it is far easier and cheaper to get an existing client to come back to your salon or spa than it is to get a new customer? More importantly, surveys have shown that client’s who have visited your salon even just once, will spend on average, twice as much as first time client.

The main reason to gather the information from your client is so you can contact them to build a relationship with them. As you are building relationship with them you can start marketing to them.

To start building that relationship you need to touch (contact) your customers at least every 21 days. Ideally you should be contacting your customer 24 to 30 times a year.

What information do you need to collect to contact your customers on a regular basis?

The answer is collect whatever you need to make it easy and effective to contact your clients.

Bare minimum you need:

1. Client’s complete name
2. Client’s complete address
3. Client’s s phone number
4. Client’s email address

Additional Information that would be great to gather:

1. Customer’s purchase history or purchase habits. (I.E. how often do they come to the salon or spa per year? Which services do they usually purchase? Do they come with a friend or alone? What products do they purchase?)
2. Customer’s birth date.

With this valuable information you have the building blocks to build relationships with your clients and market your salon and business to generate greater profits..

Remember one of the main ingredients for the Secret Sauce for Your business is to have a strong relationship with your clients.