1. The right pay system is about more than just a dollar figure. It’s about fostering a positive culture where your staff works as a team and is dedicated to helping the business grow. They enjoy coming to work every day — and you do, too.
2. You can’t achieve consistent bottom-line profits when your payroll percentage is a variable and ever-growing expense. You won’t grow when you are held hostage to commissions. If a salon/spa/medspa’s service payroll exceeds 40 percent of gross revenues (service and retail), it has a payroll problem.
3. Team-Based Pay is a pay system; it’s not a religion. Team-Based Pay is an hourly and/or salary program, which ties a team bonus to the achievement of critical numbers, such as revenue, gross margin, client retention and productivity. Just doing hourly/salary is NOT Team-Based Pay. Individual growth is tied to overall performance – not just the employee’s ability to generate revenue. A Team-Based Pay system is designed to reward the right behaviors and performance – those that support the company’s goals and culture.
4. An employee’s compensation should be based on more than just specific tasks. Successful compensation programs take into consideration a wide variety of skills and behaviors: attitude, technical skill advancement, attendance, teamwork, retail recommendations, integrity, cooperation, and customer service.
5. No pay cuts or hour reductions. Successful pay conversions are executed with integrity and fairness.
6. A successful compensation system must meet five non-negotiable criteria:
   • It must fit the financial reality of the business.
   • It must be controllable, not a large “fixed percentage” of revenue.
   • It must encourage and reward the actions that are consistent with the vision and culture of the business.
   • It must give clear guidelines and pathways for individual growth.
   • It must inspire and reward team and the attainment of the company’s overall performance and revenue goals.

Does your pay system make the grade? If not contact Bruce Hourigan at 800.417.4848 x203 and learn more about how team-based pay can help improve your bottom line.

True forward momentum pushes through any obstacle. It has an implied efficiency because once an object achieves a certain level of forward momentum, it requires less energy to maintain that speed. By connecting the physics of an object in motion (a piece of matter) to a business in motion (an idea/concept), you gain a unique perspective on how momentum can work for a business.

A start-up business requires massive amounts of energy to gain enough forward momentum to sustain itself. Once it achieves a level of sustainable momentum, you can dial back the throttle a bit and allow “physics” to work for you. In essence, the leader is “piloting” the business by adjusting throttle to maintain its forward momentum. Achieve a certain level and the company can easily break through obstacles such as competitors, cash crises, loss of key employees, bad decisions and other issues. However, every obstacle the company breaks through chips away at its momentum. If the leader fails to throttle up the company’s sense of urgency to overcome the obstacles in its way, it will lose its energy and eventually stall.

Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion apply to business just as much as they apply to mass and matter. Here are some no-compromise strategies to harness the power of business momentum:

• Pilot not passenger: As leader, you’re the one responsible for protecting and maintaining your company’s forward momentum. It’s your responsibility to pay attention to key indicators and where the course is heading. Remember, it’s your hand on the throttle. If you’re distracted, bored, procrastinating or hesitating because you fear the possible negative outcomes, you become your company’s biggest obstacle and the cause for lost momentum. Don’t sit in the pilot’s seat if you really want to be a passenger.
• Sense of urgency dial: My infamous sense of urgency dial goes from one (dead stop) to ten (full speed). Whenever I ask leaders what their sense of urgency dial is set on, they always say ten. When I ask what their employees’ sense of urgency dial is set on, I hear grunting sounds followed by, “Their dials are sent on five.” A leader’s job is to communicate the company’s vision and inspire extraordinary performance. Ultimately, the leader’s job is to set and synchronize the company’s sense of urgency dial to maintain forward momentum. Grab your company’s sense of urgency dial, turn it up a few notches and see what happens.
• Fast or slow: I’ve been studying and coaching companies for 40+ years. I can walk into a company and see and feel if its culture is fast or slow. I can talk to a leader about his or her challenges and identify a fast or slow culture. I can look at its financial reports and key performance indicators and find signs that the culture is fast or slow. Guess what: You can do the same in your company. Slow companies are stuck companies. Slow companies are losing or have lost their momentum. Slow companies have contaminated cultures caused by compromise at the leadership level. Slow companies have leaders who are afraid to rock the boat. Read my Wake Up! book.
• If it needs to be done – get it done: Can you and your team execute? If you think about it, just like sense of urgency, accountability has its own dial. It takes determination, commitment and focus for a leader to maintain high levels of organizational accountability in good times and bad. If you back off on accountability in good times, your company will start springing leaks. If you hesitate in bad times, the bad times will get worse. Accountability is not an evil word. Accountability is simply about getting things done on schedule and done right. Accountability is about instilling a sense of purpose where everyone steps up and plays to win.

The power of forward business momentum is truly a beautiful thing. It can be devastating if it heads in the opposite direction. Which way it goes rests in the hands of the company’s leader.

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The same holds true in business. As a salon and spa consultant, I can’t tell you how many ads, plans and promos I hear about from companies that are looking to increase the number of new customers to their businesses. At the same time, their new customer-retention rates are dismal. So let’s get this straight: They want to spend huge amounts of money to ask new customers to come in to see how ineffective they are at retaining them for the long term? That’s expensive and crazy!

Avoid that in your own salon, spa or medspa by getting back to the fundamentals. Learn how to satisfy your current customers first. Only after you’ve put systems in place to accomplish that should you market to potential customers. If your company achieves excellence, you won’t be spending as much on advertising because you will be too busy serving the friends and family of the customers who recommended you!

Discounts and gimmicks only go so far. Master the fundamentals of customer retention, and you will be knocking them out of the park effortlessly and consistently. The back-to-basics approach has taken many teams from “worst to first.” It can do that for your team too.

It’s something that happens slowly over time and is often barely perceptible as a growing problem. You hire or promote someone into a specific job in your company. It’s a suitable fit, and you feel good that a key position in your company is producing the intended results. But as time passes, subtle changes occur. Certain areas where the employee once paid close attention appear to be less of a priority. Work patterns are showing telltale signs of inconsistency. Projects or responsibilities that the employee once sought out are now avoided. Finally, that little voice in your head asks, “What happened? How did this person’s job turn into this?”

Everything in business is perpetually evolving into something new. As leaders, we’re supposed to lead the charge for change and inspire individuals to achieve their full potential. We’re also supposed to be ever vigilant to what’s going on around us and respond appropriately to opportunities and threats to our companies. But as glaciers can reshape the earth moving just a few feet per year, employees can morph their jobs into something different that may or may not be what the company needs. Time, an individual’s shifting priorities and plain old human behavior can create issues if you’re not paying attention.

Here are some no-compromise strategies to prevent jobs from morphing into something that’s unacceptable:

• Think “down range”: The minute that little voice in your head asks, “What’s this all about?”, it’s time to assess how shifts in an individual’s work and behavior impact his or her effectiveness and the company moving forward. Thinking “down range” essentially means troubleshooting how current performance will affect the individual’s job and the company six months, a year or more down the road. Essentially you’re asking, “Do I want more of this new behavior or what the job was originally designed to deliver?” In most cases, thinking “down range” will bring clarity to what you want and don’t want.
• Eliminate ambiguity now: The worst mistake a leader can make is to ignore or tolerate what has become a concern or is unacceptable. These situations don’t fix themselves; the more time that passes, the more difficult the conversation. The best strategy is to schedule a formal meeting with the employee to revisit the initial deliverables and responsibilities of the job versus current reality. Use the trusted “T” chart where together you list what’s going well on the left side and what needs to be addressed on the right. This approach keeps a difficult conversation balanced between areas of praise and accomplishment and issues that need to be resolved.
• Keep it business: Developing personal relationships in business are inevitable. Heck, you spend most of your day interacting with key staff and especially your inner circle. Developing close bonds with those with whom you work is part of what teamwork is all about. One of the toughest aspects of leadership is when you have to communicate as the leader and not as a friend. It’s easy to say, “This is business, not personal,” but that line only goes so far. To keep it business, you must communicate with intent, respect and compassion with “doing what’s best for the company” as the final outcome.
• Conditionally flex: In the preceding bullet, I intentionally slipped in the word “compassion.” I always stress that no-compromise leadership is not about being dictatorial and inflexible, it’s about being compassionate and responsive to the needs of those you lead. That being said, you may find situations where the best strategy is to be a little flexible when addressing the needs, performance and behaviors of an employee. But when you do flex, do so conditionally. That means to clearly define the expectations, parameters, outcomes and timelines of whatever you’re flexing on. Otherwise, you may find yourself with bigger issues to deal with. Again, it’s that think “down range” approach that keeps you from agreeing to something that you may end up regretting.
• Maybe it’s a good thing: Guess what, maybe what the job morphed into is a good thing for the employee and the company. Maybe the new version of the job plays to the employee’s strengths better than the original version. Maybe the new version of the job will allow the employee to achieve his or her full potential and it’s in everyone’s best interest for you to support and encourage it – even if it means reassigning some portions of the job to someone else.

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Unfortunately, many owners do try to run their salons and spas without the proper business tools needed to be profitable and successful.

Many salons and spas struggle with cash-flow and figuring out what’s coming in (and going out). Without a clear financial picture, it’s impossible to plan for steady growth, as expenses always pop up. Many owners (maybe even you) start using their personal credit cards to pay the bills — even to cover payroll. It’s impossible to build a strong business without a realistic cash-flow plan.

Numerous other owners and managers grapple with staff concerns, from hiring to pay design to performance evaluations. Some owners have leadership issues, uncertain how to translate their vision to their employees so that everyone is working toward the same goals. Proper communication is one of the first steps in building a successful business, yet it is one of the basics that many salon and spa owners believe they don’t have time for. A culture where employees want to do their best, stay and grow is one of the hallmarks of a thriving, profitable business.

Providing consistent customer service is also difficult for many businesses. As you know, customers expect more — just doing the minimum is no longer effective in today’s super-competitive environment. Surpassing customer expectations in every area of the business is a requirement to develop a loyal customer base that will recommend a salon or spa to their friends.

Do these challenges seem familiar? While perhaps not as glamorous as offering a great cut, a photo-worthy up-do or a creative manicure design, solid business practices are what every salon and spa need to be successful.

The path to addressing these issues starts with you — the leader. Start coordinating your game plan for change now. Now is a good time. And you can find the time to make it happen. The alternative action — putting it off again — will only leave you in a declining holding pattern. If you want change, do it now.

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Looking for the best place to start?

The Strategies Incubator is designed to jumpstart the business side of your salon/spa. In four intense, exciting days, you will learn the basics to grow a strong business, including financials, leadership, teamwork, communication, compensation, employee retention and customer loyalty.

Without a proper business foundation, a salon or spa cannot grow in a healthy way. It may appear to be doing well, but it’s no more stable than a castle built in the sand.

Start building your foundation for success at the Strategies Incubator, June 10-13. Find out more here.

Companies evolve over time and so do their policies and procedures. New policies are written to prevent certain issues from reoccurring, to fend off potential problems before they happen, and to maintain a semblance of organizational order and efficiency. For the sake of this discussion, I’ll just call them the laws of the land. There are laws for performance, attendance, compensated and uncompensated time off, customer service, execution of work, chain of command, performance reviews – you name it, there’s a way to create a law to control it.

But as your book of laws gets thicker, keeping watch over and holding everyone accountable to your laws grows in complexity. That’s why companies need managers and HR departments. Without a control mechanism, even the most commonsense laws will fade, allowing problems to spring up like weeds in an unattended garden. To succeed, laws need an accountability factor. It doesn’t matter what size a company is, someone must be accountable to protecting the laws of your company land. Even if it’s a simple reminder to someone that keeps ignoring a basic law like what time work begins, accountability must be ever present.

Fact: Employees are testing your company’s laws every day; not to the order of an organized mutiny, simply people being people. Just as you have amazing employees who adhere to every law in your book, you have employees who keep testing every rule to find a weakness – to find a chance to mold the company to their personal likes and preferences.

Here are six no-compromise strategies to keep your laws in play.

1. Pay attention: I’ve seen leaders write policies and procedure manuals that truly have every “I” dotted and “T” crossed. They hand them out, have employees sign off indicating that they have read and understood every word – only to find the problems persist. Rules are nothing without accountability, and accountability is a pipedream if no one is paying attention. I’m not suggesting that you create your own police force. I’m suggesting that you and your leadership team need to be paying attention in order to help employees function within rule guidelines – and to identify and coach through infractions when they occur. Otherwise, breaking the rules will become the norm.
2. Bending breaks rules: Any form of preferential treatment instantly creates a double standard. I don’t have a problem with special privileges being earned through clearly defined qualifiers, but allowing indiscriminate rule breaking or bending is a guaranteed way to contaminate your company’s culture. What does it say about your leadership if the “winners” in your company don’t do all that much to win? If you want to build and maintain a dynamic culture where everyone strives to do what’s best for the company, then you and everyone else must adhere to and live by the same rules.
3. Tell them why: Every rule should serve a purpose. But without understanding, some employees can interpret rules as an infringement on their freedom or quest for life balance. For example: A company may have to implement blackout dates for vacations and time off in order to meet peak business demands or to avoid cash-flow challenges. Invest the time and energy to educate your employees on why certain rules, especially unpopular ones, were created.
4. Define the line: In the world of no-compromise leadership, there is a term called “non-negotiable.” While some rules allow a little wiggle room, some rules cannot allow any. I’m talking about rules that are the foundation of what every company is built on that pertain directly to integrity, trust and respect for leadership, employees, customers, vendors and stockholders. Certain infractions may have immediate termination as the only option. Others may require probation, reassignment, demotion or specified skill training. Whatever it is, leadership must define where the line is drawn on foundational rules, because even just a little wiggle in this area is a compromise of the highest order.
5. Let them fix it: One of my coaching clients just had an issue arise over multiple requests for vacation time that would leave too few service providers to meet demand, not to mention potential cash-flow issues. Although there were rules in place, it was unclear how many employees could take vacation at one time. These are “no win” situations for owners and leaders because some employees already had made travel commitments and others just wanted specific dates off. My recommendation was to hold an emergency staff meeting to clarify vacation policies and what can and cannot occur for the company to continue to function operationally and financially. Once all employees understood the conditions, they were instructed to work together to find a solution to fitting their vacation requests to those conditions. This approach required every employee to work together to achieve an acceptable outcome. More importantly, this approach shifted the solution to those directly involved.
6. Share it: Leaders can’t do it all, and those who try will burn out fast. Accountability to protecting the integrity of the company by protecting its laws is everyone’s responsibility. I mean everyone, no matter what the role or position. Playing the “catch them doing something wrong” game means not paying attention to where the company is going. Every employee needs to be the eyes and ears for what’s going right or wrong – and must know they can speak up without retribution or fear. No one likes a “snitch,” but everyone likes to get his or her paycheck. There’s a difference between a snitch and someone who believes in and protects the company.

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One of the most important elements in getting found online is the ability to consistently publish new and relevant content. Just like you and me, search engines like new stuff! One of the most effective ways to pump new content onto your site is through blogging.

Not sure what to write about? Here are five salon/spa blog topics to drive traffic to your website:

• Seasonal styles and trends: Is your staff trained on the latest techniques? Great! Showcase these trends to your clients. Whether it’s a cut, color, manicure or quick-and-easy style, the more expertise you display about the latest trends, the greater the chances potential clients will make their appointments with your business.

• Product spotlights: Have a product that’s flying off the shelves? When products are popular, buyers are looking for them online. Share your professional insights on the hottest sellers to drive traffic to your site.

• Team profiles: You’ve got a great team, so talk them up! What are their areas of expertise? What awards have they won? What new classes have they taken? Why do they love working at your salon or spa? Don’t forget about your non-technical team members. Tell the world why you think you have the greatest guest-services staff.

• Special events: Whether it’s a cut-a-thon, guy’s night, breast cancer awareness event or a fashion show, events are prime marketing opportunities. Let potential clients know that your business is about more than just hair and massages; it’s about giving back and having fun.

• How to get the most out of a salon/spa service: Help take the guesswork out of what a client should expect from their service by educating them on the lingo, etiquette and  options available.

These five topics are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to blogging ideas for salons and spas. I’ll leave you with three closing thoughts.

1. You’re the expert, so write about what you know.
2. Keep it short and sweet. Blog posts don’t have to be essays. Two paragraphs can often do the job.
3. Always remember that you want your blog entries to be found by search engines. So make sure you are using keywords and phrases that you would enter into Google if you were searching for this topic.

If you’d like to learn more easy things you can do to enhance your online marketing, don’t miss Strategies’ “Inbound Marketing” Webinar at 1 p.m. Eastern on Monday, April 30. You can register here.

Let’s face it, it’s hard to be on your leadership game every day. In fact, it’s shortsighted to even think it’s possible. The work of leading a company is a constantly moving and shifting target. It’s supposed to be that way because “current reality” is something you only have partial control over. That’s why you often find yourself fighting those inevitable fires. Put one fire out over here and another ignites over there. Such is the work of leadership.

Even in the best-run companies, there are times when the fires seem to ignite faster than you can stomp them out. You feel like Davy Crockett at the Alamo hopelessly outnumbered and fighting off Santa Ana’s Mexican army using your rifle as a club. Leadership battles wear you down. Too much current reality wears you down. The question is: What are you going to do to find your strength? If you continue to forge ahead when your batteries are warning that “10% remaining until shutdown,” you will find yourself making bad decisions, communicating in ways that tear down rather than lift up, and most likely being the source of new fires.

Here are some no-compromise strategies to find and keep your leadership strength:

1. Maintain perspective: When fires ignite, the alarm goes off, sirens sound, and firefighters charge in to fight the blaze. There’s drama, tension and high energy in the area of the fire. Business fires are no different. Someone made a mistake. A good customer is fuming. Money was wasted. Someone compromised the company’s values. Your best strategy is to assess while defusing the situation. Get the facts and seek to understand all sides of the story – because there are always two or more sides to every story. Your job is to ask questions and listen before initiating a solution. Finding strength is often the result of avoiding being sucked into the drama.
2. Get it over with: Is there an unpleasant task waiting for you to address? It could be a long-overdue employee termination, a painful budget cut, addressing a breach of trust or implementing an essential new policy – or a policy that you allowed to be compromised. The stress of procrastinating on unpleasant tasks saps your strength faster than most realize. You don’t sleep well while obsessing over them. You spread your stress around by seeking solace from others in your inner circle. The moment you recognize that you’re procrastinating, engage and tackle that unpleasant task and get it over with. It will save your strength and focus your attention on the recovery and moving forward.
3. Learn to let go: I’ve coached too many leaders who surround themselves with efficient leadership teams but just can’t let go of the controls. Building the right systems and accountabilities with effective information-flow checkpoints for your leadership is what sets you free to focus on the work of growing the company. When you hold onto the work you hired others to do, you depower and frustrate them – and you sap your strength. You can’t do it all. In my dedication in my new Wake Up! book, I wrote, “This book is dedicated to my amazing team at Strategies … You help me do what I cannot do alone.” You should find strength in your team. Trust them to do their work. Get out of their way. They need you to keep your eye on growing the company.
4. Assess the good stuff: Sometimes the fires and problems can be overwhelming and leave you feeling beaten up. But you are never truly defeated until you give up. I’ve had my share of setbacks, and one of the most powerful and effective strategies I’ve ever used is to step back and assess all of the good stuff that I’ve done and the wonderful things my team and company have accomplished. Remember what it feels like to win. You’ll instantly begin to feel your strength coming back.
5. Get away: Leaders are notorious for self-sacrifice. They work countless hours and days without a break. You’re not doing yourself, your loved ones, your company or your customers any good when you’ve allowed your strength to get depleted. Take a break and get away. Unplug from the business for a few days. Go ride a bike, walk in the woods, lay on a beach – just get away. And here’s a thought to help you: Whatever is happening in your company isn’t going to get any worse while you’re gone. All the problems will patiently await your return. Recharge your batteries and you’ll be in a much better mindset to tackle those issues. In fact, while you’re away, your mind is free to quietly process the best solutions. Give yourself a break before you break.

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1. Know it’s not always going to be easy. There are going to be tough days, difficult decisions, cash-flow challenges, people who call in sick. Have a plan for how to deal with the days when you’re frustrated, angry, sad or aggravated. Start now by making a list of “Things I Love About My Salon/Spa.” Add to it regularly; revisit it often.
2. Plan for the long term. Identifying where you’re going in a few months or years can help you keep your eye on the prize. Staying focused on your ultimate goals for your business will remind you of the big picture. Take time to review where you’ve come from, too. We can get bogged down in the everyday grind and forget how we’ve grown, how much better we’ve gotten.
3. Involve your team. Your business can never grow without the energy of your staff members. Look to them for ideas, support and suggestions. And be sure to offer lots of appreciation. Your staff has lots of options about where they work. They chose you. Doesn’t that make you feel good?
4. Don’t put off tough decisions. The mental drain from not doing is far greater than what’s involved when you make a decision and act. Thinking everything over and over and over (and over) before making decisions is exhausting and sure to sap your energy. Gather the facts, follow your heart, and take action.

Find the joy. Every day. Think about what went right, who went beyond the usual call of duty, which customer was especially happy. Can’t think of anything? Try harder. Ask your staff for the highlights of their days too. Jot down notes as you move through your day, just so you won’t forget. Laugh together with your team, share stories, do things just for fun.  Take a few minutes for yourself – even on the busiest days – to take a walk, breathe deeply, read the cartoons or watch a funny online video. Don’t underestimate the importance of self-care – exercising, eating well, getting sufficient sleep, connecting with friends and family.

You’re in a restaurant, waiting for someone to take your drink order. Scanning the room, you see plenty of employees. Finally, the waiter arrives and takes your order. You’re hungry and would like some of that bread that the party at the next table, who were seated after you, is enjoying. After a long wait the drinks arrive, and you order dinner (still no bread). The long wait and empty water glasses are in stark contrast to this restaurant’s reputation. You finish your meal and just want to go home. Now you’re waving your napkin trying to catch your waiter’s eye for the check. To avoid having to wait a minute longer, you have your credit card out to give the waiter when you ask for the check. Great food. Bad service. Zero peripheral vision.

Extraordinary customer service, whether in person, by phone or online, is all about being hypersensitive to the needs of others. I call it “peripheral vision.” It’s the ability to see, sense and anticipate all that’s happening around you – and respond instantly. Great companies excel at creating service cultures where its collective peripheral vision is honed to perfection. It’s all about delivering the best experience at every touch point.

Here are five no-compromise strategies to polish up and widen the peripheral vision of your customer-service efforts:

1. It starts at the top: Peripheral vision starts with leadership. But for leaders, peripheral vision extends far beyond the ability to see all that’s around you. It means nurturing and protecting the company’s customer-service vision. If it’s not right, fix it. If it needs to be done, do it. If follow-through is an issue, address it. If standards need to be raised, raise them. If you have a toxic player on your team, what are you waiting for? No-compromise leaders strive for excellence, not mediocrity.
2. Everything speaks: My friend Dennis Snow, author of Unleashing Excellence, says, “When it comes to customer service, everything speaks.” Everything around you is speaking to you. That cobweb on the light fixture, the stressed-out guest who needs some TLC, the tone in someone’s voice, the employee who can use another pair of hands – everything speaks. Peripheral vision sees everything – and engages without hesitation. (Unleashing Excellence is available in the Strategies bookstore.)
3. Everyone is responsible: The deathblow to extraordinary customer service is when anyone in your company says or thinks, “It’s not my job.” When it comes to customer service and creating the right memorable experiences, it’s everyone’s job. Teamwork is about everyone pulling and pushing in the right direction, not dragging self-centered, egotistical and lazy non-players along for the ride. Indifference and “I don’t care” thinking kills companies. If an employee isn’t playing to be indispensable, he or she is dispensable.
4. Train to see differently: Peripheral vision comes naturally to some while others need to develop their skills. What’s your training program look like? Nike can get away with “Just do it” in their advertising, but those words mean little in the world of customer service. What does anticipating needs look like in your company? How do you read body language? How should team members respond to specific customer problems? What words should they use and which should they avoid? Extraordinary customer service is a planned and orchestrated outcome. What’s your plan?
5. Sense of urgency: Urgency is energy. Urgency keeps you and your company in the game. So, grab your company’s sense of urgency dial and turn it up. Wake up everyone on your team. Reconnect with your vision for extraordinary customer service. Rebuild your vision if that’s what’s needed. Play to win. Challenge yourself as a leader. Challenge your team to be as good as your marketing claims you are. Blow your customers away by delivering the unexpected. Thriving in the world of extraordinary is hard work. That’s why so few even try.

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