the-business-of-salons

DO YOU HAVE A MAPPED OUT CUSTOMER JOURNEY?

Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:40:43 GMT

Three reasons why you should be obsessed about your Client Journey in your business.

It’s up to 25% more expensive to gain a new client than to keep an existing one
You are 3 times more likely to sell a product or another service to current clients. They already know, like and trust you.
Improving your client retention rate by 5% can boost your bottom line (profit) by as much as 95%.

How do you know that you are giving your clients exactly what they want?

Think of the Customer Journey as a roadmap detailing how your client becomes aware of your business, how and when they interact with you, on the phone, messenger, email.

When they visit you, through to when they leave and everything in-between; round to when they come again.

MAPPING OUT YOUR CLIENT JOURNEY

How do you know if your customer journey is as good as it could be?

Do you offer excellent customer service, but your website is clunky to navigate?

Or maybe your online presence looks like the dogs what’s-its but in person they feel underwhelmed.

You need to know where your strong AND weak points are.

The client journey encompasses ALL the experiences that client goes through when interacting with your business.

It is often depicted as a timeline. It includes not just the steps of the journey, but also the customers motivations and potential obstacles at each stage.

Each step on this journey is referred to as a customer touchpoint, basically any time a client comes in contact with your business.

BECOME YOUR CLIENT – imagine a typical client, don’t try to cover all, use your ideal client avatar with a name. Get specific. Picture yourself in their shoes
GRAB A PEN AND PAPER – for your initial planning, it is helpful to write each step out, cross things out, draw arrows etc
LIST ALL THE STEPS ON YOUR CLIENT JOURNEY – list all the different steps (you can get as granular as you like) leading up to and beyond them discovering you, coming for their service/product and after. Don’t forget, often the 1 ^st touchpoint takes place before they talk to someone from your business. It might be an ad or a social media post, or a review site.
ADD ACTIONS, MOTIVATIONS, QUESTIONS AND OBSTACLES – For each step in the journey, add in the following details. Actions: what is the client doing at this stage? Motivations: what will encourage/discourage the client from moving to the next stage? What emotional drivers do they feel? Questions: would they have any at this stage? Opening hours? Obstacles: what may they come across at each stage, Cancellation policy? Price? Availability?
RINSE AND REPEAT – It is important to map out a journey for different types of clients, wanting different things from you. Some clients will skip certain touchpoints.
LOOK AT HOW YOU CAN REMOVE ANY OBSTACLES AND ANSWER QUESTIONS – once you have laid out your map, it’s time to look at the client experience. Look at possible pain points. Prioritise pain points that could negatively impact your business.
CHECK WITH YOUR CLIENTS – the best way to know if you are getting it right, is to ask the clients themselves. Create a customer survey, but one of the best ways to keep on top of how you are doing, is to have a thorough regular chat to your clients. What better way to do that, is with a great consultation at every appointment.

Using the example above, map out a positive and then a negative customer journey for when a client books in, comes in for her treatment, greeting, consultation, retail offered, checking out, communication.

The above scenario can be adjusted for a mobile professional or a home salon.

We all know that consultation is an important part of what we do, don’t we?

The customer journey is at its most important at the consultation stage. If anyone or anything has upset the client, you may well be given the chance to discover and rectify it at this stage.

This month’s column is an extract from one of the workbooks that will be inside my coaching membership, launching soon.

Watch out for more news in next months column.

PREPARE TO CHANGE

lizasmithnails@gmail.com (Liza Smith) — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:40:41 GMT

Let’s face it, the last 18 months have, at best, been a mixed bag-

For me, as a veteran (wow, sounds ancient!) the problems we faced in the last 18 months were not quite as traumatic as they were for some.

I’ve seen some really great highs, but also some dreadful lows in my 35 years in the industry.

It is the challenges I had during those 35 years that made the lockdowns easier to face.

Without sounding like my nan, things really were different “back in the day”! Not better, or worse, just different…

We didn’t have internet or smart phones- this seems like a disadvantage, and of course I would rather have access to those two amazing bits of tech. However, we also weren’t bombarded with 24/7 “noise” either.
It took years, not days, to become qualified- Again, this means it was slow to get new blood into industry and there wasn’t the choice for both employer and employee. Even though we were sure of their capabilities due to the extent of the training they would have gone through to become a professional.
The industry was smaller- less competition, but also, less innovation, slower to get new things to excite us.
We were charging £40 for a new set of enhancements- many are now charging less. Easiness of qualification, and a flooded market, takes away the confidence of many nail techs.
No-one spoke to anyone else from industry- We are now a very big, fabulous nail family, and the biggest bonus of the last 18 months is that we all know each other even better. However, imposter syndrome is very real, when it’s hard to know just what is and isn’t real on our competitors IG feed.
No-one had a business coach- I was lucky to have a conversation with my bank manager or my accountant in those days! In today’s world of social media, we have access to people very easily. In the last 6 years, I have always had at least two coaches, and for me, the biggest win of the last 18 months is the gift of time, to develop and write my salon business coaching content, all whilst building relationships with many salon professionals along the way.
Working in a salon or being mobile were the only job options. Considering now, we can travel the world working backstage at shows; on location for a photo shoot; compete in global competitions; teach for a brand or for ourselves; be employed, self-employed or even an apprentice.
There were only 3 nail brands when I started, there are now too many to count. This gives us choice, which is great, but it also means we have to do a lot of research to be able to trust a brands marketing.
Admin was the bane of my life, double entry bookkeeping (now there are quick books!) A paper diary and pencil, not only meant things could be removed without me knowing (I soon caught on :I ) but things got lost, and had to be written out again for the accounts, whereas the salon management systems we now use save SO MUCH time!
Advertising used to cost £1000’s a year, whereas now, it can be achieved for free.

Looking back over these changes gives us an insight of how business owners that have survived 3 decades are less likely to be fazed by the events of 2020.

It didn’t bullet proof us, the issues we have had to deal with have been unprecedented.

What it has done though is prepare us for change.

The industry I joined in the 80’s is unrecognisable to the one we now have and adjusting to those changes strengthen our resolve.

How do I see the industry moving forward, and what should we been doing now to future proof our businesses?

Get to know and understand your business as well as you understand your clients.
Ask for help from people you trust, and as soon as you can afford to, pay someone that knows more than you to help. That could be a business coach, a bookkeeper, or someone to manage your social media.
Stop selling your time for money. This means do not base your prices purely on the time they take, or you will never have enough money to reinvest in you or your business.
Do not compare yourself to others. Easier said than done, but remember, “you are the sum total of the 5 people you listen to the most” Tune out the noise, change the frequency of what you are listening to.
Turn up as the professional you want to be. Do more, be more, listen more. Don’t be envious of anyone, be inspired by the right people

The industry is likely to shrink in the next 2 years, we need to be the person that people want to pay money to.

This is a GOOD thing, and the best thing ….

You get to choose to be part of it xxx

CAN CLARITY GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE AND YOUR CLIENTS BACK?

lizasmithnails@gmail.com (Liza Smith) — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:40:38 GMT

Are you feeling stuck right now?

Has your confidence taken a knock?

Are you seeing less clients than you expected?

Regardless of whether you have managed to secure financial help or not, it isn’t just your financial future at stake here…

Businesses have shrunk, and even though it is fine to be on pause, sometimes we need to rethink our strategies and look a bit deeper into client buyer behaviour.

I’m pretty sure your personal buyer behaviour isn’t the same as it was 18-24 months ago?

Do you have the same goals as 2019?

Are they bigger, smaller, or totally different?

Some clarity on where you are today will allow you to draw a new blueprint for the direction of your business.

Do you need a new blueprint for your business?

Many of the salon professionals that I have spoke to in the months after reopening, are seeing lower client returns than last year.

Even businesses that were thriving pre pandemic are seeing lower client numbers.

There are businesses that are still thriving, but the businesses that are seeing the biggest change are those that provide nail services as their main or only treatments.

Let’s look at the differences in where our clients are at right now.

Pre pandemic, our clients came for hand and feet services because they are the best accessory to an outfit, when going out or on holiday….

A manicure was a quick fix to reward themselves with after a busy week at work….

Exposing their feet/toes after getting new sandals meant that a matching pedi was crucial….

However,

Many clients are still furloughed or working from home in their lounge wear.
Most if not all clients haven’t been going out or on holiday.
The spring weather has been mostly a let-down.
Older clients may still be cautious about leaving home
Younger clients may be unemployed and in between jobs

In my salon we have seen our hard-core hand and feet clients return, as well as most hair and waxing clients.

We have a number of nail clients that haven’t returned, but we have gained some new clients as well.

So, what can you do, apart from wait for the rolling out of hospitality and holidays and keep your fingers crossed that we get some summer weather?

YOU NEED TO IDENTIFY THE DEEPER AND NEW NEEDS OF YOUR CLIENTS.

Deeply consider where they are at in their thinking.

How can you reconnect with them?

What was the driving force behind your clients that came in for their hand and feet services?

Going out; going on holiday; looking smart in the office environment.

If they are not doing any of these things, then you cannot use the same messaging to get them to do the same things.

You must be in alignment with your target audience, but who IS your target audience?

What are the emotional reasons that clients will want to have a hand or foot treatment?

Uncomfortable cracked hands from hand gel and hand washing
Dry brittle nails from hand gel and hand washing
Toenails that are painful from the walking for exercise in trainers
Ashamed of their bitten nails/chewed cuticles
Bored of natural nails
Feeling unhealthy because of lack of self-care
Embarrassed about looking untidy and ungroomed.

They don’t understand their problem yet.

You need to understand your clients mind more than they do!

Show empathy and understanding of how they feel.

DON’T SELL THE SERVICE, SELL THE SOLUTION TO HOW THEY ARE FEELING (even if they don’t yet know how they are feeling!)

Last year, about one month after we opened, I realised that our normal messaging wasn’t working.

Glamour fell flat as no one was going out or on holiday.

At least we had the weather though!

We changed our message to one of SELF CARE.

We booked more massages, luxury pedicures and facials than ever before.

This year is the same.

Start to think of selling solutions to problems that everyone is feeling.

Sell a package of services and sell it in a way that resonates with how THEY WANT TO FEEL

For the mature client that has more disposable income, sell them “amazing feet”. A package of 3 months foot care. A luxury pedicure every 4 weeks with a mini pedi every 2 weeks, and some home products to boost results.

For the sports person that is back training but has painful feet, sell them a sports pedicure package. No colour, just well-trimmed toenails, removal of callouses and smoothing of skin, giving them healthy feet. Sell it as a package, not a one-off service. Sell the result, give them details and price if they ask.

For the younger client that is struggling financially, offer mini treats that cost you little but give them quick wins, mini mani and pedi in their lunchtime, and maybe offer a better price for booking on the day.

Taking your business in a slightly different direction is sometimes what you need to do.

We are in different times; we cannot do what we have always done.

-WHAT GOT YOU HERE, WILL NOT GET YOU TO THERE-