Double your salon turnover in three months

Beauty business expert Liz McKeown shares her simple tips for boosting salon turnover in just three months.  She says profit is how we keep score in a salon business, and when it comes to profit, we want to be winning.  If you want to generate the profits you want and deserve you have to fully commit to ‘minding your own business’. Here are the simple steps she suggests to increase your bottom line. If you act on all of them and follow the rules, she believes you could double your profit in just 90 days. Use the best resources A small company cannot afford unnecessary waste and this rule applies to both resources and employees if you want to increase your salon turnover. Before buying equipment or supplies, consider the direct and indirect impact the investment has on your bottom line. Equally, do not employ anybody without knowing the potential return on investment for the salon. Always look for efficiency gains The key to maximising your salon turnover and profit potential in a small business is to look for efficiency gains on a regular basis. Look for ways to save from changing to light efficient bulbs or bringing laundry in-house. Pricing Strategy Pricing is the process of determining what a company will receive in exchange for its product or service. Pricing factors are manufacturing cost, market place, competition, market condition, brand and the quality of your product. A well-chosen price list should fulfil three objectives:

1. Achieve the financial goals of the business (profitability)
2. Fit the realities of your market (consider whether clients will pay your prices)
3. Support the product’s market position

Evaluate your pricing strategies to enhance profits and make your business more profitable.  You should never undersell your services as precise and correct pricing will attract the right buyers who are willing to pay for quality. Increase revenue The basic principle to optimising your profits lies in your ability to increase your revenue at a higher ratio than your costs. In the short term, you need to generate the maximum value from each client and upsell additional services and products to gain more business. If you focus on your customer experience, it will lead to word of mouth referrals and repeat business. Don’t forget that it is much cheaper to keep a loyal client than it is to secure a new one. Use monthly, weekly, daily and hourly sales goals The hard fact of salon business life is that sales affect every waking moment of your day.  Basically, high sales equals salon success, and low sales equals salon failure. Stay focused on your sales objectives by ensuring every team member understands that being a financial asset to the salon business is their number one priority. The five common pitfalls to boosting profits

1. Failing to invest in an effective sales training programme for your team – teach your team and the sky is the limit.
2. Not asking for the sale – if a client doesn’t ask to buy, your team needs to ask for the sale.
3. Failing to adapt selling style to the style of the buyer – remember people buy from people.
4. Trying to oversell to the client – there is no need to do this, as clients don’t want to be sold to, but they do want to buy.
5. Failing to prepare for daily sales targets. Being prepared will give you the knowledge and confidence to tackle each sale in a more professional and detailed manner. If you and your team fail to prepare you should be prepared to fail!

Liz McKeon is a beauty business expert and business coach who offers training and workshops. For more information go to lizmckeon.com.