Leading is about believing in people

May 13, 2013 by 8 Comments

believe_inBeing the leader of a business is perhaps one of the most complex, rewarding, and often brutally frustrating professions. Leaders are constantly held accountable, subjected to relentless demands, and must always be at the top of their game. A true leader works tirelessly to drive the Four Business Outcomes: productivity, profitability, staff retention, and customer loyalty. But when you peel away all of the trappings of leadership, what it really comes down to is believing in people – and that’s where things start to get interesting.

A leader’s job is to achieve results through the work of others. They keep people and teams on task. They maintain order, direction, and momentum. But would you want to work for a leader who is solely driven by the numbers, in an organization where people are simply the means to an end? In turn, would you want to be that kind of leader? You will get your results, but at what cost to those you lead; and at what cost to the work environment, or company culture? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Builders, Compensation, Customer Loyalty, Leadership, Productivity, Strategies Notes & News Tagged With: , , , , ,

Six simple questions to test the health of your company

April 8, 2013 by

stethoscopeCompanies are very much like people. They are born from a union of ideas; they experience all of the awkward phases of learning to walk and develop basic skills; and hopefully, they grow up with much success. Like people, companies can catch colds – they face obstacles in health when it comes to performance issues, cash-flow challenges, and other problems that surface unexpectedly. Companies need to work out to stay strong and lean rather than heavy and lethargic. Companies can get sick and die.

As a leader, it is your responsibility to protect and ensure the health and vitality of your company. That being said, you are also the one who is ultimately responsible for making your company sick through bad decision-making, procrastination, allowing the company’s culture to deteriorate, poor cash management, and a host of other faux pas that leaders notoriously self-inflict.

Companies of every shape and size are susceptible to infection. The question always comes down to whether or not the company is healthy and strong enough to fight the infection off.

Here are six simple, yet intensely profound, no-compromise questions to test your company’s current health:

  1. Are you the system? Systems exist to create predictable outcomes. Building, perfecting, and locking systems are tedious yet essential parts of ensuring the right outcomes. When the leader needs to micromanage daily work, the leader becomes the system. If you’ve ever uttered the words, “Can’t they just do their jobs?” you have become the system – and it’s not working for you, your team, your company, and your customers. If you are the system, your company is not healthy.
  2. What is your company fighting for? People fight for causes they believe in. Fighting for a cause unleashes the most precious energy source a company can possess – passion. Passion drives productivity, innovation, efficiency, and the ability to achieve outcomes that others perceive as unattainable. If the vision, purpose, values, and guiding principles of your company do not ignite the passion of your team, your company is not healthy.
  3. Are you managing cash flow? Cash is your company’s fuel. It’s hard to fight and win in today’s economic climate if your company’s fuel gauge warning light is flashing. Too many leaders don’t pay enough attention to cash management until their fuel tank is critically low. Repeatedly filling your fuel tank with borrowed money is dangerous because debt saps future cash. Maintaining a cash reserve of three to four months operating expenses is not something you dream about – it’s something to discipline yourself and your company to do. If you’re not relentlessly managing cash flow, your company is not healthy.
  4. Is information really flowing? The human body possesses a sophisticated information flow system. The simple act of walking is a coordinated effort of information flow and execution. In most companies, information flow is best described as constipated. Information may flow to some areas, but only trickle or bypass others. Think of information flow as “what, why, how, the score.” The right outcomes occur when expectations are clarified, processes are defined, deadlines established and agreed to, and progress is monitored via feedback or the equivalent of a scoreboard. Invest the time and energy to ensure information is flowing to every nook and cranny of your company. If it isn’t, your company is not healthy.
  5. Is your GPS turned on? I use GPS navigation in my car, on my iPhone, iPad, and the Garmin on my road bike. These days, it’s almost impossible to not know where you are and if you’re on course to your intended destination. Do you know your company’s present location on its three-, five-, or ten-year plan? What are the ten initiatives you plan to complete this year? Which benchmarks and critical numbers are meeting expectations and which ones need focused attention? If you don’t know precisely where your company is, your company is not healthy.
  6. Can it endure? As a human being, your time on earth is finite – so is your time as leader of your company. In contrast, a company can and should endure long after you’re gone. The ability to endure is the ultimate indicator of the health of a company. Are you building a company capable of enduring or a fortress to support your ego? Are you building a company that is growing in value – and does your Balance Sheet prove that it is? Are you grooming your replacement? Are you letting go of the reigns and allowing your leadership team to be accountable? The most important thing for a leader to remember is that he or she is not the company. The company is a living entity with its own vital signs and purpose for existing. If your company cannot endure beyond your leadership, it is not healthy.

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Filed Under: Business Builders, Leadership, Monday Morning Wake-Up, No-Compromise Leadership, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , ,

4 Tips For Surviving The Holiday Rush

November 30, 2012 by

Whether we like it or not, the holidays are here! While we all would like to think of the holidays as a happy and cheerful time, as salon and spa business owners we all know that it can also mean a time of high stress. Vendors are coming at us at all different directions asking us to buy more inventory to sell as gift items. Clients are clamoring to get in for the next appointment. Weather disruptions often play havoc on our hours of operation and the list goes on and on. Additionally, we also have all of our personal agendas that come during holiday time, like buying presents for family and friends, entertaining and the likes.

As we move into the holiday season, here are some professional and personal pointers to keep you level-headed and calm in the salon or spa this year.

  1. Don’t forget about your internal customer — your TEAM: How are you showing appreciation for your team during the holidays? After all, they’re the ones making things happen on a daily basis. You can get really creative and it doesn’t have to cost a whole lot of money. How about hiring massage therapist to come in and provide chair massages for your team? Or how about hosting a happy hour (I would recommend limiting it to an hour) after a busy day with fun cocktails and appetizers? Sometimes ordering pizza on a busy day will go a long way to show appreciation for your team. You’ll find instant gratification and joy when you give back.
  2. Systems: Learn to lean on your systems during stressful times. After all, that’s what they’re for. I find that a lot of salon and spa owner’s try to add more “stuff” for their teams to do during the holidays and that just creates more stress. If you’ve worked hard during the year to implement systems (ie. pre-booking, retail, and customer service), then all you have to do is focus on them during the holidays. It’s stressful enough making it through the holidays. Now’s not the time to recreate new systems. Now IS the time to lean on your systems, stay focused on them, and have conversations around systems in your huddles and staff meetings with your team.
  3. Productivity: Take a proactive approach to managing your appointment book. Hopefully the phones are ringing off the wall, and if they are, your booking strategy is only as good as your guest care team. Reiterate to your guest care team the importance of booking today, before tomorrow, this week before next week and so on. Don’t be afraid to call a client who’s already on the books and ask him/her to come in 15 minutes earlier so that you can accommodate another guest who is trying to get in. If you ever have days where your appointment book is plagued by last minute cancellations, call a few clients who are booked later in the week and invite them to come in earlier.
  4. Celebrate small wins: Positive energy creates more positive energy. Many salon and spa owners tend to focus on what needs to happen, or where opportunities are being missed. While this is important, your team is really motivated when they hear their leader talking about the good things they are doing now. And no matter how bad things may possibly be, there’s always something good happening in your company. If you have a team member that had better-than-normal pre-booking on a given day, show appreciation by thanking them for their strong performance.  To add greater impact, acknowledge that performance in front of their peers. Did the team have set a company record for selling a bunch of holiday gift sets?  Acknowledge it in a huddle by saying “Spectacular job guys!” or by allowing the team to wear jeans. Your team needs to know that you’re paying attention to the good stuff too.
  5. Take time for yourself: When was the last time you took an entire day off just to recharge? Your company will not go under if you take one day off — I promise. Clear your calendar. Turn off your phone, your iPad, and your computer — and escape. I recommend taking all of these devices to work and leaving them there while you are off. That way you can’t be tempted to pick them up on your day off. You know what relaxes you most. If it’s a quiet corner somewhere in the house where you can curl up and read a book, then that’s what you should do.  If you’re the type that enjoys a massage or facial, then book that appointment today. (Just don’t book it at your salon/spa if you offer those services!)

The holidays don’t have to be stressful. Hopefully you’ll implement some of these easy-to-do tips this year and enjoy a less stressful holiday season. Holiday cheers to you!

Filed Under: Leadership, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Success and the Factor of TEN

October 1, 2012 by

In last week’s installment I wrote, “A leader must want to succeed ten times more than those they lead.” Take a moment to really feel the meaning and depth of those words. Wanting success to the Factor of TEN is the energy that transforms a leader doing a job into a No-Compromise Leader. It transcends ordinary to extraordinary. It’s that level of leadership that captivates followers and lifts them all to that elusive next level. It’s when action and results replace words and promises. It’s all in the Factor of TEN.

As leaders, we all want to succeed, but by a factor of what? Would you feel inspired and empowered following a leader with a factor of two? How clear and precise would the vision be? Would there a shared determination to achieve breakthroughs, or would average be good enough? During a coaching call with a client, I asked, “What is your biggest concern?” He responded, “Motivating my team.” I then explained my Factor of TEN concept. The conversation quickly shifted from productivity and sales to creating extraordinary customer service experiences – about lighting up each and every customer’s day. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Builders, Leadership, Monday Morning Wake-Up, No-Compromise Leadership, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hurts so good: Overcoming the pain of positive change

September 28, 2012 by

John Cougar Mellencamp said it best: “Hurts so good. Come on baby make it hurt so good”.

Personally, I can think of a few times when that statement was actually true. One time was when I finished my first marathon in 95-degree weather. All the pain and commitment from months of training finally paid off as I crossed the finish line after 26.2 miles. Another was recently when I had to have physical therapy on my shoulder due to two dislocated ribs. As a stylist of 29 years, the pain in my shoulder had become almost unbearable when I would blow dry. My physical therapist pulled, twisted, massaged and made major adjustments that were down-right painful, but at the same time “hurt so good”. Now I’m on my way to a full recovery thanks to the pain I was willing to endure to get the end result.

Now let’s put a spin on this and relate it to running your salon or spa business. Do you have some painful areas that are clouding your vision for your company? Or perhaps there are some sore spots you need to address, such as people on your team that you would be better off without? Maybe you need to make some serious financial cuts that would be painful at first, but in the end would be more beneficial for the company and your financial future? The pain is worth the end result.

I have been on a five-year journey to change our company’s future, and have been working hard to become debt free. I have had to make serious cuts, such as closing a location, ending some toxic relationships within our company, changing our payroll structure and improving my leadership skills so that I am better prepared to address behaviors that are not in the best interest of our company. Change is painful, but today I have a fantastic culture, inspired teamwork, a highly-profitable company, benefits for my team members (like 6 weeks paid maternity or adoption leave), paid vacation and a strong education system. Yes it was often painful, but it was worth it in the end.

The time for change is now — stop putting it off. The pain is worth the end result.

YOUR TURN: What painful challenges have you overcome in your business, and how much better off are you now? What are some issues that are causing you pain? What’s holding you back from addressing them?

Filed Under: Leadership, Productivity, Profitability, Staff Retention Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

How to get employees to do great things

September 24, 2012 by

It’s one thing to be a great individual achiever by outperforming and outselling everyone around you, innovating the coolest breakthrough ideas, mastering the work that feeds your passion – perhaps even leaping tall buildings in a single bound. Yup, there’s nothing like being at the top of your personal game and being recognized as a rock star in your chosen field. It’s what’s possible when you have the courage and tenacity to relentlessly push yourself beyond the comfort zone of “ordinary” to “extraordinary.”

It’s something completely different to lead and inspire an entire company of people to do great things. It doesn’t matter if there are five, 500 or 5,000 people looking to you for direction and inspiration; it’s just not that easy to get that fire in your gut to burn bright in others. As a leader or entrepreneur, your dream was to grow a company – not be a cheerleader, disciplinarian, or babysitter. Heck, just getting employees to show up on time for a meeting or follow a new policy can be a Herculean task. It’s that “people thing” that keeps getting in the way. It wears you down and takes all the fun out of growing a company. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership, Monday Morning Wake-Up, Productivity, Staff Retention Tagged With: , , , , ,

Are your front desk systems firing on all cylinders?

August 31, 2012 by

It’s a scenario most of us have lived out hundreds of times: Coffee in hand, we unlock the front door to the salon/spa and walk straight past the front desk as we settle in to begin our daily duties as owners, managers, leaders, etc.

But lets stop right there and back up a few steps — keep going until you get back to the front desk. Now, take a minute to think about your front desk. Not the physical desk, but the experience your clients have when they interact with your front desk/guest services staff. Are clients treated friendly? Are appointments being pre-booked? Are retail sales being rung up? Are clients’ concerns being addressed quickly and courteously? Is the interaction your clients are experiencing on par with how you envision?

Now, ask yourself one last question: Are you doing your part to prepare your front desk staff to deliver the experience that you — and your clients — expect from them?

Here are a five simple areas to focus on to get your front desk systems firing on all cylinders:

1. Efficient Booking: There aren’t too many services that only take 15 minutes. Yet, more often than not, your appointment book is probably riddled with random 15-minute gaps between appointments. Lets remember: You sell time. Four of those in a day equals one full sellable hour gone for good. If you’re open six days a week, that translates into 39 eight-hour days of lost sellable time over the course of one year. Ouch! Work with your front desk staff to teach them how to book more efficiently and to avoid all those gaps!

2. Customer Satisfaction: Is your front desk doing everything possible to ensure that your clients have a pleasurable experience? Whether it’s the tone of their voice, the freshness of the coffee or their choice to answer the phone instead of talk to the client standing in front of them, these details need to be defined, written down and learned by EVERYONE on staff.

3. Up-selling: If you’ve followed Strategies long enough, there’s one thing you’ll hear us preach time and again: the professional recomendation. Clients are in the salon/spa because they trust your expertise. That trust DOES extend into the buying process — but it can’t happen if the recommendation isn’t made. Whether it’s up-selling to a product or service, all it takes is a the proper system. Many software programs now feature functionality that will display an up-sell message automatically when another product/service is purchased. Which leads us to…

4. Scripting: There’s a right and wrong way to say everything. So why set your front desk staff up to say anything BUT the right thing? Whether it’s how to answer the phone, up-selling, how describe your pricing or directions to the nearest highway, take the time to define how you want your staff to answer it. Think of EVERYTHING — and then get it down in writing in your front desk employee manual.

5. Dealing with Difficult Clients: Once again, there’s a right and wrong way to handle every situation. Not only is it important for your staff to understand what to say during a difficult situation, but also for them to understand what actions they are expected to take. Is there a dollar amount that they are allotted to remedy difficult situations (up to $25 in free product/services)? Is there a point in which they should hand the situation over to a manager? Get it down in your employee manual now — both your clients and your staff will benefit in the end.

At Strategies, we often refer to the front desk/guest services staff as the “braincenter” of the salon/spa. Make sure you’re given them the systems, guidance and training they need to do their job right. Want help? Check out Strategies’ upcoming two-day Front Desk/Guest Services Seminar and/or On-Site Front Desk/Guest Services Training.

 

Filed Under: Customer Loyalty, Leadership, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The power of keeping salon/spa staff focused

July 26, 2012 by

Maintaining a sense of urgency is a management responsibility not to be taken lightly. Complacency can quietly infect even the most successful businesses. It usually begins during a period of smooth sailing, when the “business as usual” mentality sets in, leadership relaxes, and the urgency that previously inspired growth and performance wanes. Personal agendas take a precedence over the business’ goals and needs. The team loses focus.

Perhaps more than any other, the salon/spa environment is a fertile breeding ground for complacency. At most salons and spas, a “pecking order” keeps gridlocked and overbooked technicians in square opposition to new technicians trying to get established. In the middle is a mix of rising stars and underachievers…and those who are simply satisfied with their present level of performance and income. If an owner or manager, by choice or necessity, spends a lot of time behind the chair, the grip of complacency tightens. Efforts to rally staff enthusiasm are hit-or-miss. Conflicting personal agendas and a lack of leadership blur the business’ focus.

At Strategies, we get many questions from well-intended owners seeking the magic formula to motivate staff. There is no magic formula, but there is a formula. It’s a process of focusing staff on performance priorities, and devoting the time and attention to establishing goals (and keeping them at the forefront of staff’s daily activities). For example: There is a big difference between telling staff they must improve retention rates, and keeping retention goals and performance data posted. Telling staff to improve, but without clear goals and objectives, is like launching a rescue flare. It rises high and shines bright, and you hope against hope that someone sees it before it falls and fizzles. Setting monthly goals and posting the scores every week — or even every day — keeps everyone focused on growing the business. It’s one ingredient in the formula.

In contrast to shot-in-the-arm motivation that yields short-term results, focus mobilizes your team for maximum short- and long-term performance. Focus brings consistency to client service and technical execution, which directly improves retention rates. Focus also dramatically reduces errors and drives efficiency upward. It propels sales to record levels because everyone is pulling in the same direction. Focus is the difference between “business as usual,” and a high-performance environment.

What are you doing to keep you and your staff focused?

 

Filed Under: Information Flow, Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

5 ways to boost summer sales in the salon or spa

July 19, 2012 by

Ah yes, the lazy days of summer. Often times, those lazy days seap into the atmosphere in the salon/spa — and you can tell things at the salon are little too slow, or just too quite. You walk on the floor and you feel as though you are being watched, and it looks like the staff is lacking energy or urgency. Is it because its summer and we are all chilled and relaxed? In the end, it doesn’t really matter what it is — we need a mood shift!

Here are few tips to recharge your team’s morale — and boost those summer sales:

  1. Identify who in the salon need an uplift, get them to go to hair show or class.
  2. When times are not so busy, bring in a motivator to come for an ” hour of power” (stand up comedy theaters often do team building sessions), or just play a game every morning to boost moral.
  3. Change the music.
  4. Have a sale contest with a team goal. This will hike up the urgency and, if you add elements that make it fun and engage clients, now you’ve created buzz!
  5. Great game: Give your staff an opportunity to do great things, and reward them for their efforts. Example: Each member has the opportunity to “wow” the client. The best “wow” gets a reward. Give a budget of up to $25.00 a person to wow the client, although you don’t have to use money for it’s not in the budget — everybody can get creative .

Create fun and it will change the atmosphere.

Have some fun times to beat the summer blues in your salon or spa? Share them with us below.

Filed Under: Leadership, Productivity, Staff Retention Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Why 7 out of 10 new salon and spa clients don’t come back

July 12, 2012 by

You cannot argue with the numbers. From a technical standpoint, the beauty industry offers consumers extraordinary levels of skill and expertise. From a customer service and True Quality standpoint, salons and spas score poorly. No matter how badly you want to refute this assessment, it is impossible to argue with industry-wide numbers that show salons and spas are not retaining seven of ten first-time clients. Interestingly, poor retention remains consistent from value-priced salons right up to upscale, service-intensive day spas.

  • On average, only three percent of owners know their retention rate.
  • Half of these confuse request rate with retention rate — they are not the same.
  • Most have no means to track retention. Even those with point-of-sale computer systems often realize their software doesn’t track retention properly, if at all.

It’s your True Quality score. The overriding objective of every business is to attract and retain customers. The higher your retention rate for first-time clients, the higher your level of customer satisfaction, and the closer you are to delivering consistent True Quality experiences. Granted, you want to satisfy clients on every visit, but client retention tracking begins on the first visit. If your salon or spa fails to perform to client expectations on the first visit, there usually is no second chance. If your business has a 30% first-time client retention rate, don’t even think of using “True Quality” to describe your business.

It’s your salon’s future. Winning the salon/spa business game means building a retained customer base that is loyal to the business. Your retained customer base is by far your most important asset. There is little resale value for used furniture and fixtures. The rules for winning the salon/spa business game have changed. True Quality is no longer an option for owners, but a necessity. The only way to know if your business is moving closer to True Quality is to track improvements in client retention rates. That’s where most salons are in the dark.

What are you doing to retain more new clients?

Filed Under: Customer Loyalty, Information Flow, Leadership, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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