2011 retail salon of the year: barrie stephen

Successful retailing can be one of the most effective methods of adding to a salon's bottom line, but too many salons fail to take advantage of the opportunity.

Not so at Barrie Stephen's Leicester Salon. Their strategy, which centres on giving clients great product advice helped them to win the Retail Salon of the Year at HJ's 2011 British Hairdressing Business Awards.

Barrie reveals the secrets of his salon's success.

Why is your salon so good at retail?

It's our culture of teaming fabulous hair styling with expert hair care advice that definitely pays off. My team turns out lovely cuts and colours but combine this with great product advice which clues the clients up and helps them maintain their salon style when they're at home. We put a real focus on creative and knowledgeable selling and it goes down really well with our customers.

We also use all the tools at our disposal to educate clients in the uses and benefits of products and motivate them to purchase. Window and product displays, telephone-hold messages, receipt messages, point-of-sale material, showcards, beautiful branded packaging, out-of-salon events and highly trained staff all harmonise to embed retail opportunities into the professional salon experience.

Do you do retail training and, if so, how frequently?

Training is ongoing; from every time we get new products in to testing product knowledge during weekly team meetings. A key element of our success is also having a Retail Ambassador, who organises and executes all our product training, as well as running staff targets, incentives and promotions, speaking energetically about retail to both staff and clients and keeping every element of this part  of our service top of mind - all the time!

What are the key elements in having a successful retail business?

Don't make it an issue! Customers expect professional service and professional haircare advice. Prescribing the right products for hair is much like a doctor would prescribe medicine. Most people don't have a clue about what to buy so fill in the gap and offer them that advice. Make your business a stand out premium and very necessary shopping destination.

How important is retail to your salon?

It massively contributes to profits and also offers customers an extra professional advice. We incentivise staff and place a big focus on retail, so it is in the interests of the team to get good a subtle selling and encouraging each client to buy. Meeting retail targets is beneficial for them too as they get lovely perks and bonuses from champagne to all expenses-paid nights out.

What common mistakes do you see salons making when it comes to retail?

I think finding the right balance between neglecting retail altogether and being far too pushy is important. It's a good idea to think about how you like to buy and about the power of recommendation and honest advice. It works wonders.

But the main mistake is a lack of attention to detail. For example, we carefully nestle our clients' product purchases in pretty tissue paper inside our high quality, retail bags and hand them over with pride. The only way to beat the Internet and other salons is to ensure the personal experience of shopping is so satisfying that no one can compete

Describe your retail strategy in 3 words...

Inclusive, energetic, dynamic.

Inclusive - because so many were involved and continue to be involved in its success

Energetic - because it's got so much going on, it's a feast of retailing.

Dynamic - it's ever changing - that's why it works, it keeps interest through dynamism.