The 6 Most Expensive Words for Any Business

The most expensive 6 words for the owner of a business are: “We’ve always done it this way”. In this post I share how change can be used to improve the way you do business.

As we approach Christmas and the busiest few months of the year, it is a good time to review your salon’s business strategy. Use this time to plan what actions are needed to make positive changes, so that you take full advantage of the end of the year period and at the same time offer your clients very special service.

You want your clients to see you as a progressive, happening, salon.

Ask yourself what is new and different in your salon. What have you changed in the last month? What have you changed in the last year? Your team will become bored and complacent if every day is ‘same old’. Your clients love change and also look for it.

A great place to start is the way your salon looks. What changes can you make in reception, what changes can you make to the look inside your salon? They don’t have to be big changes. You will be surprised what clients will notice.

Consultations

Can you change anything about the way you do these? Clients are more receptive to change coming out of winter. They’re moving into party season and catching up with the “rellies”. This would be a good team training subject.

Points of difference

Think about the special treats your clients get. What can you change? How you present your tea and coffee and sweets? Do you offer free wifi? Maybe a change of magazines.

Marketing

What’s new? When did you update and change your website, your banners on FB? Your content for social media, is it all the same format as it always has been? Do you give your clients the same birthday gift every year or are they excited to receive something new?

Introducing change to your team can sometimes be met with resistance. They are comfortable doing it the ‘same way’. So learn to package change so that it is seen as exciting and something that clients will value and appreciate. Share with the team the reasons why you are making a change and how you will support them with the change.

Remember when you do ask your team to do something different or new, as a manager you will need to check it is being done the way you would like it to be done and then continue to follow up to see it is maintained. It takes 21 days to form new habits.

Positive forward thinking people embrace change, negative attitudes to change usually come from negative people and the danger of this negativity is that it is contagious. Be a positive manager and look at what you can change to help grow your salon business and make it more interesting and exciting for everyone. Don’t be an example of those six expensive words.