The Stylist’s Toolbox.com

I found this article on Newsday.com last week. It’s about how bakeries are having to evolve to stay afloat during the recession, but I saw some interesting parallels with the salon industry.  

Over the past several years, retail bakers both on Long Island and across the country have realized that they have to couple their passion for their traditional craft with an adeptness for business to survive and thrive.

“Before, you were successful and you just put the money in your pocket,” said Thomas Reinwald, a recent college grad who hails from a Huntington family of bakers. ”Now that the margins are getting smaller, you have to look at all the different aspects of your business. A lot of business owners see themselves as bakers first, but really you have to see yourself as a business owner first.”

I see the pain and hardship so many of you go through on a daily basis.

You have responsibility but no control. One rogue booth renter can turn your nice salon into a living hell.

And in an effort to change the dynamics in the salon,  salon owners need a contract.

But there are a couple of problems with most contracts. They are a one-size-fits-all legal document that doesn’t address the problems in your salon. They are also sort of a punishment for bad behavior.

I saw a need for a different kind a contract. A tool to bring your salon together to set goals, create standards and define expectations as a group.

When you involve people in making the rules they are going to live by, you will have less conflict and a happier staff. The rules in the agreement will be reasonable and to everybody’s benefit – not some crazy thing you dreamed up to punish them.

The result is a living, breathing document that addresses the unique issues and concerns in your salon. And because everyone had a say in the decisions, nobody can come back later and tell you that they don’t agree with the contract.

The guide walks you step-by-step through the process of working with your staff to write the agreement that your salon needs. It includes an owner’s handbook, easy to follow instructions, worksheets and a sample contract.

This guide to crafting a polite, effective booth rental contract will:

*Teach you creative problem solving, resolving conflict and future conflict prevention techniques.

*Show you how to bring your entire salon to the table to work together to craft standards and expectations. Everyone contributes their ideas and  is involved in the process, so there can be no dispute over the terms of the contract.

*Address the major concerns and pitfalls concerning most salons, including dress code, appointments, conduct, retail, meeting attendance, cleaning, and the front desk.

*Help you present the idea of a contract to the salon in a friendly, non-threatening way.

The easy-to-use handbook for creating your own contract:

*Guides you through the process of working with your salon to craft a contract with easy to use, step-by-step instructions.

*Shows you how to quickly and easily write your own contract with a sample contract filled with easy to duplicate phrases.

*Covers the important issues without getting bogged down in legalese.  This contract isn’t filled with mumbo-jumbo that nobody can read. It’s user friendly and designed to address the issues your individual salon cares about.

*Starts discussions and uncovers potential conflict. Small problems are resolved before they become hot button issues.

An agreement that is really about accountability:

*Bring your staff together to agree on standards of conduct for the good of the whole salon. It’s not a punishment.

*Make everyone from the receptionist to the booth renters to the salon owner responsible for their actions. Clearly defined terms let everyone know why they should abide by the contract and what the consequences of not following them are.

*Conflicts between stylists will no longer be problems the entire salon as to deal with. Gossip and backstabbing will be eliminated.

*Gives salons and stylists an out when the contract isn’t followed.  Sometimes someone has to leave, either by their choice or by the choice of the salon. This contract helps the salon to decide how and when the separation should take place. No one has to be the bad guy.

Create a team that works together to set goals and take your salon to the next level:

*Get clear on your salon’s vision, mission and values and move forward. A group working towards a common goal is far more effective than a bunch of people all in pursuit of their own goals.

*Provide a direction and framework for the salon to grow. Move beyond petty hassles and arguments into making the salon the profitable place of your dreams.

*Use the contract as a recruiting tool. Attract the successful, ambitious booth renters you really want!

Start turning your salon into the kind of place you’ve always imagined it could be today.

Order your own copy of Restore Your Peace and Sanity & Create the Salon of Your Dreams – The Savvy Salon Owner’s Guide to Writing a Polite,  Effective Booth Rental Contract.

It includes everything you need to get started – the owner’s handbook, worksheets and a sample contract. You’ll be on the fast track to a better, more productive and profitable relationship with the booth renters in your salon, all for just $47. Think about what your peace of mind is worth. For the tiny, little price of $47, you can have the salon that will be the envy of your friends and family. You’ll be living the dream of salon ownership you always imagined.

In fact, take a full year (365 days!) to read and work through this handbook with your booth renters.

If you aren’t satisfied for any reason – if  the handbook and guide doesn’t live up to your expectations or the process of crafting a booth rental contract and implementing the changes you’ve agreed to as a group hasn’t achieved the changes in your salon that you’ve dreamed of, just return it anytime within the year and I’ll refund your entire payment.

To get started on the building the salon of your dreams, just click on the “Add to Cart” button and instantly download your own copy.

This is the second in a series about using social media to promote your salon

With more than 100 million active users, Facebook is THE way to stay connected with friends both near and far. But have you considered that Facebook can also be used to connect with potential and current clients, promote your salon, your services and to grow your fan base?

Your friends and clients are already on Facebook (or will be there soon), making it the perfect vehicle for you to keep them up to date with what’s new at the salon, in-salon promotions and events, sales on services or retail, even to help fill those holes in your day.

Last Impressions Count

Has this ever happened to you? You’ve got an appointment for a massage at a new place. You walk in, a little unsure of yourself because you’ve never been there before. You sit down and nervously smile while you wait for someone to tell you what to do.

When your massage therapist comes out, she smiles, comes over and shakes your hand, welcoming you to the spa. You and she hit it off right away and as she’s leading you back, she’s telling you about all of the wonderful scented oils you can choose from and how you can customize the music during your service. You smile and relax, knowing that you are in for the massage of your life with this great therapist that really understands you. You’ve really connected with her.

Recently, I sent out a short survey asking about your life in the salon. (Thank you so much to everyone who responded!) I was blown away by what you told me and after a little soul searching, I think I owe you an apology, because clearly I have been getting it wrong.

A little background on me…

I spent nearly 20 years working in the salon industry as a stylist, booth renter and as a distributor’s sales consultant, calling on salons and selling shampoo and hair color. I worked for a great distributor that sold Redken, Matrix, Aquage, Pureology, American Crew and Kenra products. My clients were chains and independent salons, and I took care of more than 300 stylists, owners, nail techs and estheticians.  I dutifully talked the party line and sold my clients the new products, color lines and show tickets for more than a decade.

The distributor I worked for always said that the last thing you guys need is another bottle of shampoo and encouraged us to work with you to put systems in place to help you grow your business.

But near the end of my time at the distributorship, I began to suspect that the things we were telling you about how to run a profitable salon business had not kept up with the times. We’ve been telling you the same things for 20 years and most of the conventional advice in the salon industry is based around things that (used to) work in commission salons. But now that the vast majority of salons are either booth rental or chains, the rules of engagement are completely different.

2008 is finally over. It was a tough year – fewer customers, spending less money, buying less retail and waiting longer between appointments. But now that it is finally gone, let’s look ahead to 2009. In the spirit of improvement and changes, I’ve got a few resolutions for the new year that can revolutionize your business:

Salon Marketing 101

Marketing, sales and promotion seems to have acquired a rather bad name in the last few years, conjuring up images of a pushy guy in an orange plaid suit coat, sporting a bad combover.

This week instead of talking to you, I’d like to hear about your life in the salon. Are you being held hostage by your booth renters? Do you have 6 empty chairs and don’t know how to fill them? Are you ready to sell the whole place? Or is life pretty good? How are you feeling about it? Do you have any advice for other readers?

Please respond in the comments, and feel free to respond to each other.

Thanks! Chelly

Did you dream of owning a salon only to wake up to the nightmare of dealing with a booth renter who is making your life hell? She refuses to fold the towels, doesn’t sell retail because she’s an “Artist”, keeps asking when you are going to do some advertising and reminds you constantly that you can’t tell her what to do because she’s an independent contractor.

All of this stomach-churning drama could be avoided if you had a contract. Not just a “we agree to 2 weeks notice before you leave” contract, but a agreement that outlines standards of expected behavior.

Have you got an empty chair you’d like to fill? 

Not surprising, since 53% of the salons in America currently have job openings and 75% of the available jobs in the industry go unfilled every year.

How are you going to set yourself apart from all of the other salons looking to hire that brilliant new stylist or wonderfully productive booth renter with the full clientele? In this tight job market, you are competing with every other salon in town for that stylist.

There are the traditional ways – putting an ad in the newspaper, hounding your distributor sales reps to send you someone or asking your stylists if one of their friends is interested, but how about a different, more effective approach? Let’s look some ways to set your salon apart and find the stylist you’ve been waiting for.