At last doing business with deal sites within the beauty industry appears to be moving slowly but surely back into the past where it belongs… I am glad to report the slash price mentality and crazy deals associated with them are dying a slow death. At last owners are back in the driving seat and taking deal making into their own hands by using their own creative solutions. Having said that the legacy of those deal clients could still have an influence on your businesses and maybe you don’t know it?
Recently I have been working with a client who started her business in the deal/Groupon era, it seemed like such a good way to start according to the rep. Hmm!… I’ll call her Julie for privacy reasons (she is happy for me to tell this story). The biggest stress that she encountered when I first met her was the bartering system that seemed to have infiltrated her business, I found it quiet shocking. Just because they came in on a deal meant that she had trouble charging full prices because they just kept wanting more deals. Unfortunately Julie had attracted to her business deal clients who were exactly that – deal clients! Her clients were about the bargain not necessarily about the treatment and she ended up offering top class treatments and machinery for very low prices. Luckily she learnt quickly and moved her marketing almost completely into generating marketing through word of mouth on Facebook.
However there was still a lingering problem which has come to light hence the web post. Staff morale was very low, something just wasn’t right. It transpired that the therapists were worn, tired and unhappy. The daily grind of clients looking for something for nothing was taking its toll on the girls. After one girl handed in her notice though Julie understood.
When you get down to the nitty gritty of the problem with careful handling I might add, it became apparent that clients were coming into the treatment room and discrediting the machines, treatment, owner or any damn thing they could to barter a better price! The therapist didn’t know how to deal with this and didn’t want to tell Julie what she was experiencing. She was stressed, felt undervalued, over worked and unappreciated and understandably so… Unfortunately this young girl who has been in the industry for 8 years or so is taking time out to evaluate her future is she is now fed up with clients.
Sometimes we forget our staff. The front line soldiers so to speak. They listen to people’s problems all day and then they listen to ours (targets, doing the job right etc). Did you know a nurse gets to debrief to a senior on a daily basis and that is part of their role, a professional listener e..g counseller, hypnotherapist etc has to go as part of their professional care to another listener to de brief. So taking the time to check in with your staff on a regular basis is very productive and necessary. A high turnover of staff is not good for your business reputation or financials.
So here is a quick tip to help you get started
Touch base with staff in a relaxed environment where they feel comfortable and give them the chance to de-brief. It works wonders. Ideas and solutions come out of those meetings so take a pen and brainstorm. Try a breakfast meeting each week. It will work wonders, you can do it in shift rotation if it is difficult to get all your staff together. What about the cost I hear you say? Happy staff, makes happy clients, makes you happy and makes you money. A word of caution. Be consistent if you start these meetings, don’t stop start.
For those who want to know more…Sue Woodall is a salon business consultant who has worked in and with hundreds of salons over the last 20 years – you can contact her on sue.woodall1@gmail.com
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