august 009 - Stylist and Salon Newspapers

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Are Your Clients Reaching for Retail? Beauty Business Buzz Charlene Abretske Living in this super fast-paced world where new innovations are introduced daily and technology travels at the speed of light, we can easily get trapped into thinking the new and hottest items in the beauty industry are going to magically fly off shelves and into all of our clients’ hands with ease. Many of you have probably purchased products you were told would do just that, but ended up gathering cobwebs, eventually to be sold at a deep discount just to get your retail space back for products you know are old favorites. You do need to keep up with the latest trends and products within your product lines, but make sure you are asking yourself, “How is this product relevant to my clients and why aren’t they reaching for it?” You may have been surprised at what items you have offered in the past that actually became best-sellers among your clients. Here are a few simple guidelines when choosing products. PROXIMITY — Think about what products have not saturated your general proximity and look for items people need and want. I once had a client who lived in a very small rural community in the Midwest, who had a small one chair salon. She knew there must be a way to capitalize on the nearest big box store being 90 minutes away and the nearest drug store being 30 minutes away. She had always had decent hair product sales, based on proximity and educating her clients. When she actually added hair accessories her clients were clamoring for more and she knew proximity could play a huge role for other retail items she could offer. After the popularity of the hair accessories the clients asked specifically for other items like earrings, bracelets, scarves and sunglasses. Her retail sales eclipsed her service sales and her one chair salon became the fashion hub for several towns nearby. EXCLUSIVITY — Scarcity immediately increases value of a desired item. This is a tricky one. Just because you are the exclusive salon or spa to carry a certain item does not mean it will immediately be a hit. Choose items your clients would like to have. You may hear from salespeople this is an item everyone wants and needs, a little homework in this category will go a long way. When you are approached by salespeople you have not worked with in the past, or are at a trade show and hear how you must choose right at that moment whether or not to purchase a large amount of product and you will be missing out on the best opportunity of the millennium – pause and say, “May I have several samples to try out on my clients to see if this product is relevant for them?” When you slow down the “speeding train” of the sale, you will save tremendous time, money and heartache. We all want that magic bullet product our clients refuse to do without and they can only get from us, but in reality we all know there has to be some homework done in order to make a proper choice. Regularly survey your clients who are in the salon to find out what they want and ask the manufacturer or distributor what kind of support you will have to educate your staff and clients on the particular item – then and only then say “yes or no.” LIFESTYLE — Think about the individuals who make up your client base. What does their lifestyle say about them and how they relate to your business? One company who mastered this is Starbucks; they offered the ability to create a cult-like following over coffee with two simple rules. 1. Allow people to feel special by allowing them to have their own special delicious concoction and writing their name on it. 2. Create a culture around coffee that appeals to their patrons including mugs, accessories and music. I am not advocating that you begin serving coffee, selling mugs, or creating a music label, but knowing their clients lifestyle allowed Starbucks to increase revenue not only in what they offered on their menu but also by what was on their shelves. Look at lifestyle patterns among your clients. Many transcend age, income and regional differences. A good example of this is “comfort and pampering” items. Who doesn’t love exquisitely soft socks in the winter time or a tropical scented candle on a summer night? Another example is the “green movement;” you can appeal to the masses while providing clients with luxurious lotions with the best ingredients or adorable handmade handbags made from recycled materials. Look for items with “broad lifestyle appeal”. Consumers like it when you provide them with products that give a positive feeling about who they are. When you follow the simple rules before you give away your hard earned cash you will be setting yourself up for success and providing your clients with the products that will allow them to reach out and buy something relevant to what they want, need and simply can’t do without. Charlene Abretske is a business advisor with Your Beauty Network and supports salons and spas with growing their businesses through on demand back office tools designed for beauty professionals. For more information call (866)364-4926 or email info@iybn.com. READ IT! SAVE IT! PRINT IT! NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE! View this article and more at www.stylistnewspapers.com Life is Full of Suprises. (Don't let a big medical bill be one of them.) Get coverage BEFORE you need it! Small Businesses Independent Contractors COBRA/Alternative NEW: Dental Available Self-Employed Dependents and Students Those Between Jobs Call today for a no obligation Free Quote! Lincoln E. E. Baker Toll-Free: 877-449-2583 or apply online at www.caindividual.com OG52723 Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California. Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross Association. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. ®The Blue Cross name and symbol are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association. Life and disability products underwritten by Anthem Life Insurance Company. | AUGUST 2009 | CALIFORNIA STYLIST & SALON
One Salon Makes Retailing Work Retail Matters Gordon Miller What follows is an email (edited for space) from an Ohio based salon that took our retailing advice to heart and made it work for them – with the help of a supportive manufacturer and team-oriented staff. Importantly, the salon did their homework and was thoughtful in their approach – working hard to adjust ideas to work in the context of their salon and all that is unique to it. As their note to me began, “Marva Collins once said, ‘Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it.’ And that is exactly what we as a salon and a team decided to do.” Read on… Dear Gordon, We are Lisa and JP Travis, working stylists and owners of Jungle Red Salon in Centerville, Ohio. Being frequent readers of Ohio Stylist, we found your article, “Retail Matters”, to be not only truly inspiring and motivating – but it also helped us jump start our retail sales. I am so proud of our accomplishments and wanted to share this with you. At Jungle Red, we’ve decided that we were not going to participate in the recession but instead focus squarely on increasing sales. We are a booth rental salon, however, we really work as a team, and that can be challenging in growing retail sales. Our first concern was how to motivate the stylists. Our original retail program required a minimum of $300 in monthly sales to earn a 10% commission – but there was no motivation to grow so we adjusted to a tiered incentive program ($300-$600 receives 10% commission, $601-$900 is 15% and $901 + is 20%). We then went to AG Hair Cosmetics, an incredible product company out of Vancouver, and asked for their support. Their motto is “education + knowledge = sales.” We combined this with your “Top 10 reasons to retail” to show our staff how service and retail go hand-in-hand. AG was happy to provide an excellent hair sculpting and product knowledge class, as well as incentives and ongoing support for our efforts. AG really customized the class to our salon. They asked what products we have challenges with and really focused on those. They gave us free products to give to each of our stylists (a great benefit as I truly believe if you are not using the products at home you can’t sell them). We chose to launch our new retail commission structure at the class – and we started to see an immediate increase in sales. We are now paying 20% retail commissions to more than a few of my stylists as we continue to see sales grow. Next we put together a “retail team” consisting of two stylists who are our top retailers (those who had the most to gain with our new tier system), my husband JP, and myself. The team’s role is a key one – helping us to execute new ideas and talk with our peers about retail. The retail team meets once a month to prepare for our staff retail meetings. These meetings are so great! We talk about challenges we are having as well as new initiatives being rolled out in the next month. We have found peer recognition is very motivating – more so than dollars – and so we announce the “stylist of the month” at the meetings, allowing each to talk about their favorite product’s features and benefits. AG asked us to be one of their “retail with substance” salons – providing us with ongoing support and incentives every foursix months. They’ve given us a blueprint to go by and are teaching us how to keep the ball rolling. One of the challenges we all face is that enthusiasm spikes after a good class and then begins to wane. One great way to keep it going is to create healthy competition among the staff. We post each stylist numbers daily, weekly, and monthly in our break room on a new “retail information” bulletin board. We’ve also involved our clients by holding “enter to win contests” with each product purchased. Our clients love it. I feel we are forming some great retail habits. Next I want to start focusing on why we are doing this (the big picture if you will) and our goal to make our salon and each person who works here successful. I want us all to get the link between retailing and client retention. Also how it brings in new business as current clients tell their friends about their new products. I am definitely passionate about this subject and about our industry. As I mentioned earlier, peer recognition really inspires success. It would be such and honor to be mentioned in Ohio Stylist and Salon Newspaper and to share our story with others who are working to succeed. Best Regards, Lisa Travis Dear Lisa, Consider it done! All the best, Gordon Miller Gordon Miller is the Executive Director for the National Cosmetology Association, the largest organization of salon professionals in the world. Its mission, since its inception in 1921, has been and continues to be to ensure that working salon professionals have the tools and resources available to create career success with integrity. For more information on the NCA, visit www.ncacares. org or call 312-527-6765. READ IT! SAVE IT! PRINT IT! NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE! View this article and more at www.stylistnewspapers.com CALIFORNIA STYLIST & SALON | AUGUST 2009 |
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