Are You There Salon? It's Me, Client.

Haircuts For Sale On The Internet

February 11, 2013Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“Your job is to not embrace new technology with arms wide open, but instead understand it and learn which disruptive technologies separate you from existing and potential customers.

What’s unique about “connected” consumers is that they find and share information differently than their more traditional counterparts. They make decisions differently than the everyday consumers you’re used to engaging as well.

But keep in mind, the connected do not displace your traditional customer, they simply expand your opportunity to grow your business.

Brian Solis

5.5 Vidal Sassoon Scissor 635

(image via Hairbrained.me ProShop)

Many of us thought it would never happen. With all of the changes in our industry, the one thing that gave us comfort was that our services would never be able to be sold online.

Well I am here to tell you those days are over, and today, you can buy a haircut, a color, a style, and a reservation online.

Does this scare you or excite you? Your reaction means a lot about how you thrive in the era of social business and the connected customer.

Intent. Search. Discovery.
My biz hero, mentor & crush Brian Solis says it all begins with intent and search for the connected customer. And I will add discovery.

You see, in today’s world, people are looking for haircuts, colors, facials, session stylists, make-up artists, educators, how-to videos all online. Your job is to become a discoverable business. And you become discoverable by engaging online, via your website, your Facebook page, YELP page, Foursquare page, Instagram page, etc, etc.

Can I Make A Reservation?
Whether I am an existing client looking for convenience, or a new client looking for a salon, can I engage with your business on my terms or yours? My terms are I want to engage book when I want to book, and that may mean at 11PM when you are sound asleep.

Mitzi Spallas Hairstylist

(image via Mitzi Spallas.com)


Can I Buy A Haircut?
Most salons do not think they are in the e-commerce business. But I would disagree. You can be in e-commerce if you choose to be. You have so many awesome things to offer for sale and the technology available to offer them.

Here are just a few things you can offer online…
1. A reservation
2. A gift card
3. A package or series of services

How Do I Sell Online?
This is the awesome part. There are so many platforms that make it so easy for us to sell our products and services online. If you are a larger salon with a POS system like MindBody, Millennium, or STX, it’s quite likely they offer online booking, gift card sales and package sales.

If you are a smaller salon or independent stylist without a formal POS system, there are platforms like Schedulicity, Style Seat and more. Many of them also offer custom Mobile Apps and Facebook Tabs where a client can book their reservation inside of Facebook or from their phone or tablet, awesome, right?

Play The Discovery Game
This is a fun and easy way to assess how discoverable you are on the Web and how easy or difficult it is for the connected customer to do business with you. Try it.

1. Take a good, hard look at your website.
Does it make it easy for me to engage with your business? One or two clicks to a reservation? Images of your salon? Can I learn about the owner, the team, and read your story? See your work? How to engage with you both online and off?

2. Google yourself and your business.
Can I find you? Try different keywords like “best salon in Los Angeles”, “hair color experts”, etc. Of course, use the keywords that most fit your business, story, etc.

3. Search for your business on YELP. (and Google Places, CitySearch, etc.)
Do you like what people are saying about your business? Can I see pictures of your salon, your work, the team? Can I find your website from YELP? Your hours?

4. Search for your salon using Facebook Graph Search
Can I find you? Do you like what your Facebook page says about you, your brand?

You can continue doing what you are doing, and getting what you are getting. And if you are happy with that, awesome. But for the rest of you who are ready to grow, engage, and evolve, the sky’s the limit with the evolution of social business.

I would love to hear your comments and feedback on this post, please feel free to share on here or reach out to me directly.

(created and shared with love from Nina)

Passion Squared email

You’ve Got Mail

February 4, 2013Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“In a way, the Web is like your Hollywood agent: It speaks for you whenever you are not around to comment.”

Chris Brogan & Julien Smith, authors of Trust Agents

 

Passion Squared email

If your business is up 50% over last year, you clearly are doing something awesome and may not need to read this post. If it’s not, I encourage you to stay with me and hear me out on the topic of email marketing or what I like to call inbox marketing.

Yes, It’s Still A Powerful Tool
While you may hear that email is falling by the wayside with the rise of social platforms, that is simply not true. Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to engage your clients and actually make sales happen. How you ask?

How Inbox Marketing Drives Sales
1. It keeps clients connected to your salon, shows them you care, and reminds them you are around.

2. It allows you to share salon news, say thank you, introduce promotions, launch new products and services and reminders to make reservations.

3. It drives traffic to your website which in turn can drive sales.

How Do I Know This? (besides researching the topic at length)
The #1 referral traffic source for Passion Squared is from our weekly emails. More people visit our site from the emails we send then from any other referral platform.

My clients and friends Nigel Sampson and Daria Di Benedetto, owners of Whole Body Method in Los Angeles sold over $5000 in packages from ONE single email campaign. Their business is up over 50% from last year, and while there are several factors as to why they have experienced this awesome growth, focused and consistent email marketing is one of them.

I had a chance to chat with Benjamin Jay, co-owner of the Hair Loft ltd in Chicago. He was awesome enough to share his most recent success story using email to engage clients and generate revenue.  Check it out.

“So this holiday we really wanted to have a great season. One of the things we did was send out a note to our guests that hadn’t been in in 6 weeks and did not have a future reservation on the schedule letting them know what our upcoming holiday hours were going to be and giving them a link to make their reservation online. No discounts, because there was no need! Holidays are already our (and most people’s) best times of the year so we didn’t need to discount what was in high demand. Through these marketing emails, we booked an additional $1600 into our last 3 weeks of the Holidays.”

Benjamin Jay

These are the email campaigns that generated that additional $1600 in revenue over the Holidays for the Hair Loft ltd. Beautiful and on point.

So this holiday we really wanted to have a great season. One of the things we did was send out a note to our guests that hadn't been in in 6 weeks and did not have a future reservation on the schedule letting them know what our upcoming holiday hours were going to be and giving them a link to make their reservation online. No discounts, because there was no need! Holidays are already our (and most people's) best times of the year so we didn't need to discount what was in high demand. Through these marketing emails, we booked an additional $1600 into our last 3 weeks of the Holidays.

the hair loft ltd email two

Now think about yourself as a customer.  How many times have you been driven to purchase something from your favorite store or made a reservation because of an email they sent you? Come on, be honest.

Ok Nina, This Is Awesome, But Now What Do I Do?
1. Be sure your website allows clients to actually take action such as making a reservation, purchasing a gift card, a package or series of services. Many salon software programs have online booking as a feature or option. Use it.

2. Be sure to choose the right email platform for you, preferably one that is super easy to use, provides reports on your campaign performance, etc. I LOVE MailChimp, it’s FREE (up to 2000 subscribers), super easy to use, and highly social, meaning its easy to share on your social sites, etc. Many salon software programs also offer integrated email platforms, be sure to check with your provider to see what is available.

3. Be sure you have a place on your website for clients to “opt in” to receive emails from you. Also be sure they can subscribe on your Facebook page with a tab provided by your email platform. MailChimp has a super cool Facebook tab that is easy to use.

This is what a subscribe Facebook Tab looks like from MailChimp. Passion Squared inbox lovePassion Squared Subscribe Facebook Tab

This is what Passion Squared email opt in looks like on the home page of our website. Feel free to subscribe to get weekly inspiration and education from me :) Passion Squared email opt in

Do you have a success story to share about inbox marketing for your business? Please feel free to share it in the comments if you feel compelled or click here to share your story with me or to learn more about the power of inbox marketing.

(shared with LOVE from Nina)

Seth Godin

Showing Up Is Overrrated

February 1, 2013Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“Your job is to surprise and delight and to change the agenda.”

Seth Godin

 

Seth Godin

I am a huge fan of Seth Godin, as many of you know by how many times his message and books are discussed on my blog. He is not only super smart, but I love how simply he presents meaningful and important business concepts which apply both to small and big business.  His post earlier this week really resonated with me, then while sitting with a dear friend at dinner the other night, she brought up the exact same post he wrote, which to me was a sign I needed to blog about it and share it.

Here is Seth’s post from January 28th in case you missed it.

Beyond showing up
“You’ve probably got that part nailed. Butt in seat, smile on your face. We often run into people who understand their job to be showing up on time to do the work that’s assigned.

We’ve moved way beyond that now. Showing up and taking notes isn’t your job. Your job is to surprise and delight and to change the agenda. Your job is to escalate, reset expectations and make us delighted that you are part of the team.

Showing up is overrated. Necessary but not nearly sufficient.”

Wow. Awesome message, right? Now here is my take-away from his post, something for all of us to consider as team members and leaders.

Are You Just Showing Up?
As a team member, you have a responsibility to your leaders, teammates and customers to do more than just show up. If you have an idea, an aha or a breakthrough, it needs to be shared. If you have a way of making a service, product or system better, it needs to be shared. If you have a skill, a talent, or a way to make the customer experience better, it needs to be shared. Your job is to escalate, as Seth says.

Now, this is different than bitching and complaining. That is not the message here at all. This is about being an active participant in your world, and to help make it better.

Have You Created A Just Show Up Culture?
Now on the flip side, if you are a leader, manager or owner, have you created an environment where your team members can participate in the business and be part of delighting your customers or one that shoots down anyone who offers ideas, solutions and better or different ways of doing things?  Be really honest with yourself on this one. You see, what happens when you stop listening as a leader, or brush off your teams ideas and suggestions time and time again, they naturally will become spectators, not participants. Wouldn’t you? Think about it.

What do you really want? Butts in seats that just show up ready to take notes or passionate participants wanting and needing to make a difference?

To get more daily wisdom from the awesome Seth Godin, I highly recommend subscribing to his blog.

(shared with LOVE from Nina)

Word of Mouth

The Multiplier Effect

January 28, 2013Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“Learn to make customers really, really happy. It doesn’t take much more than that.”

 Andy Sernovitz

Word of mouth.  The foundation of every successful business and most definitely the foundation of a salons success.  It’s almost such a common phrase and concept that we forget the power of it.

Check out our fave biz guru Gary Vaynerchuk on what he calls The Multiplier Effect of the social web, in other words, the POWER of the social + digital web to ignite word of mouth.  It’s short, so press play and we will review after.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY1skOtCSBs

Simple concept? Yes. Easy to execute and make happen? Not so much.

Here is what it takes:
1. Caring
2. Listening
3. Engaging

If you only did those 3 things, there is no doubt in our minds that you will begin to see how the social + digital web can super charge your word of mouth and in turn, your business.

Give it a try.

If you are serious about super charging your word of mouth both online and off, we offer one-on-one mentoring to help you craft the ultimate plan.  To learn more about Passion Squared Mentoring, click here.  We look forward to helping you ignite your passion and live your dream.

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)

you matter

You Matter

January 16, 2013Nina KovnerGROW

“We were created for significance.”

Angela Maiers

 

you matter

It is amazing how the social web works in making significant connections. A few days ago, I was having a conversation with a client about a situation that happened at their place of business and the importance of helping make people feel significant.

Is Anybody Home?
I was at my clients place of business and noticed a potential new client walk in. Not a single team member acknowledged this person. The woman just stood at the front desk, patiently, grabbed some literature, and just kept waiting. Finally, I excused myself from what I was doing to say hello to this potential new client and answer any questions she had. She was so happy that someone finally noticed she was there.

Have you ever walked into a place of business and not been noticed? Nobody looks up or even says hello? How did it feel? It sucks. And we have all been there.

So after I left,  I jumped on the phone with my client to explain what had happened and we discussed how we could educate and inspire the team to understand the importance of helping everyone who walks through their door feel significant.

Discovering Angela Maiers
Only a few hours after that call, I came across the nicest post on the Passion Squared Facebook page from a beautiful woman named Angela Maiers. She expressed how much she loved the page, that is was “Passion Embodied.”  Well of course, I was thrilled to see feedback such as that, and immediately Googled Angela. My jaw dropped to the floor. I could not believe this incredible woman took the time to notice Passion Squared, then cared enough to share her thoughts on my page. It was like she had been with me earlier in the day and heard the conversation I had with my client. Nothing in my world is a coincidence. This was just another confirmation of that.

Please take some time to experience Angela’s TEDx Talk about the importance of the You Matter message. It is very powerful and a must see for anyone who works with people. So that means all of us.

You see, it does not matter whether you are sharing the message of significance to a group of young people in school or you are acknowledging a client or potential new client as they walk through your door. The message is the same. We all want to feel significant. Something to think about both online and off. Are you listening? Are you paying attention? Do you care?

Angela is the author of The Passion Driven Classroom, a book all about ways to cultivate a thriving and passionate community of learners in the classroom and is a key thought leader in business and education. To learn more about Angela Maiers and her company Maiers Educational Services, click here. You can also follow her on Twitter @AngelaMaiers

A big shout out of thanks to Angela for inspiring me, this post, and for taking the time to engage with my Facebook page. It means the world to me. You matter.

(shared with LOVE from Nina)