With all the talk about cut backs and recession you might be fooled into believing that spending money has come to a complete halt and that people have put there wallets and purses under lock and key and will remain there for the foreseeable future.

Well let me clear this one up right away, nothing could be further from the truth, people are still spending. They are more critical of where they spend but have no doubt the spending goes on.

The main difference I see in those salons that are struggling right now, and those that are not is that those salons that are maintaining and sustaining businesses are taking action, trying new things and keeping optimistic. Not wringing their hands and moaning how the down turn in the economy is affecting business.

Ok, so you've decided to join the ranks of the successful salon owners, shake off the negativity and take positive action. Where do you start?

The fastest way to dramatic salon or spa growth even in recession is to do as many things as possible to increase your success.

However If I were to focus on just one area to start with it would be generating referrals. Referrals or the lack there of, stem directly from word of mouth, what your customers are saying about your business.

Word of Mouth marketing is the most powerful form of getting new business. As business owners we all know this but surprisingly hardly any business really gives any thought on how they might encourage and maximise the benefits of this age-old marketing strategy.

It's assumed that if you do a good job, word of mouth will just naturally happen. This is not the case, if you really want to build referrals and word of mouth business you need to encourage it.

To encourage it you must be offering Critical Non Essential also know as CNE's. These are the little things in business that are so important in determining how clients judge your product or service - even though they have very little to do with the product or service itself.

When someone walks into your salon or spa they expect a great, cut, style, colour, massage. These are the Essentials. This is doing what you do properly. So while focusing on delivering this is important, often times its not what will really stimulate word of mouth marketing for your business.

Providing unexpected services is terrific customer service. Doing what every one else does is simply expected and therefore does not have any real impact on your customers.

Customers respond to so much more than just the product/service you provide. It may be the offer of a cup of tea, clean, well-presented and smiling staff, regular thank you cards, acknowledging a customer's birthday or something bigger such as an annual fashion show hosted by you where all of your regulars are invited.

It is important to implement a system to train front line people to give expert service, but it is even more important that the system encourages and allows warmth and bonding with customers.

Page 1 of 2 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 | Next