Practical first aid for the salon - nergish wadia-austin business extra

Published 21st Oct 2010 by sophieh
Practical first aid for the salon - nergish wadia-austin business extra

"If you want to move forward you need to go back to basics," those were Nergish Wadia-Austin's words of advice for salon owners at her Business Extra Seminar at Salon International.

She believes that is as basic as reminding the whole team that every customer who makes an appointment or walks into the salon has a need or a want - no one is there at gunpoint! -. and that it is the hairdresser's job to find a way to meet that need.

They must do this by asking the right questions in a thorough and professional manner and once they get to the bottom of the client's problems there are only four ways to solve it:

  1. Give the client advice
  2. Give the client a tool (new equipment)
  3. Give the client a bottle (retail)
  4. Give the client a referral (recommend another treatment)

So how can you make sure that your staff are getting to the bottom of their clients needs and promoting the additional services that these issues should generate? Simple. You spend the day on the shop floor listening to them.

"It is not okay for a hairdresser's first question to be 'is it just a trim?' and it is not okay for them to talk rubbish about the television or their pets," she said.

"They have to talk about why the client picked up the phone to come to the salon, because they have to have the reasons for the problem and solve them."

Once you have listened to the way your staff talk to their clients you are perfectly equipped to give them the tools that they need to do their job better - or, as Nergish describes it, practical first aid.

  • Product knowledge

    You don't have to wait for your product supplier to come in to take a training session. Ring your manufacturer and request the literature for all of the products that you stock and pass it onto your staff. Make it clear that it is mandatory for them to know all your products
  • Staff training

    Scrap the weekly meeting - they just turn into bitching sessions! Instead have 10 minute training sessions. Each week should look at a different topic to cover everything from how to speak to clients to your latest promotions
  • Meetings

    Do have a meeting if you have something that you want to get your staff's opinions about and don't be afraid of one-to-one meetings.
  • Monitor stats

    Stay on top off all your staff's performance data and, more importantly, make sure they know their stats too. By communicating their figures, stylists can work on areas of weakness. Numbers also take out any favouritism and make it factual. 
  • Communication

    If you don't place importance on something then neither will your team, so make sure that they know what matters to you and the brand and keep this at the heart of everything the salon does.
sophieh

sophieh

Published 21st Oct 2010

Have all the latest news delivered to your inbox

You must be a member to save and like images from the gallery.