365 symposium reveals how to plan for the business year ahead  

Salon Success and 365 hosted its annual symposium for salon owners who want to learn from salon business experts and receive practical ideas to share with their teams. 365’s director Ken West showed pictures of today’s high street featuring the big retailers that are currently struggling. He told attendees that in today’s challenging high street environment salons need to deliver beyond their clients’ expectations now more than ever. “In the past year I’ve come across more salons who are financially challenged because they’ve taken their eyes off the ball, so we need to react now.”

Industry averages

365's Ken revealed the industry average figures from Salon IQ Quarter 3 2018 and provided his insights on the results…. Income per guest - £42.06  Ken said: “This figure is getting better.” Weekly guests per stylist – 24  Ken said: “This equates to less than five clients per day.” Retail sales – 8.8%  Ken said: “This figure needs to be improved, one of our salon members has increased their retail sales to 43% so it is achievable.” Rebooking – 42%  Ken said: “Rebooking rates are about having a presumptive close. Tell your client you’ve made an appointment for six weeks time for them at the end of their present appointment.” New client retention – 36%  Ken said: “It’s the third or fourth visit you’ve got to watch as this is when many new clients consider trying somewhere else.” Frequency of visit – 11.2 weeks  Ken said: “We’re lucky if we see them 5 times a year.”

365 for a Living Wage 

Attendees were set a challenge to commit to paying a living wage to all staff members. He wants everyone to do it and to get an official Living Wage sticker to place in the salon window. “We should never pay employees less than what it costs them to live,” Ken pointed out.

Hairdressers as salesmen 

365's Ken said: “Hairdressers are salespeople so anyone who thinks otherwise needs to get over it.” He added:"If a client is buying from us, whether it be a product or a service, we must be selling." However, he said there is a difference between high pressure selling and creating a fun and educational experience which will leave your client feeling informed and wanting to come back again for more.

Create a successful brand for the future 

Salon Success’s managing director Simon Tickler explained that in this ever-changing high street landscape you need to decide if you want to be the cheapest in town or the salon with the biggest soul in town. If you want to be the brand with the biggest personality and identity you need to inspire, entertain, educate and be indispensable for your clients. Consider what makes your salon special and share this story with your teams and your guests. He said: “We need to be creating a world class local brand because our clients experience world class brands such as Apple everyday. A lot of the big brands who spend lots on marketing would love to have the quality time a stylist enjoys with a client to sell the salon’s services and products.” Encourage your staff to take positive risks that will give the client a better experience. Simon said you need to be client-obsessed as it takes six visits before a client’s appointment at your salon becomes a habit. He pointed out that it's essential to know the answers to all of your client’s questions and to become indispensable so your guests don’t have to go through the whole process of finding a salon again.