A Suite Salon Blog

Your talent, skills and relationship building skills with your clients have made you a successful salon suite owner and entrepreneur. Clients are coming to you because you are great at what you do and they love the way they look and feel after visiting you. Now, you can turn your focus to growing your income. A great way to do this is selling retail products to your clients. Nobody likes pushy salespeople, so a lot of stylists can be uncomfortable when they start selling products. Here are a few ideas to help you get comfortable selling retail in your suite:

1. Be Helpful: Show your clients that you genuinely want to help them look and feel great with the products you sell. Make a conscious effort after each client’s service to make short notes using your about your client’s hair and styling struggles, their lifestyle, upcoming events, etc. Prior to seeing your client again, use these notes to refresh your memory and pick out a few products that you think they will love and that will make their lives easier.  This shows clients that you care and value them, and sets the groundwork for trust, which is essential to selling clients the products you suggest. 
2. Educate Yourself: Learn all the hottest and hardest to find products and the pricing of competitive retailers. Know all you can about the products you carry and know the pros and cons of each item. Your understanding of the product should be deep enough that you can compare your products to cheaper and more expensive brands. This knowledge will not only help you decide which products to carry, but will make you a better sales person because you can truly show client’s what product is right for them.
3. Ask Open-Ended Questions: People love to talk about themselves. Ask your client’s questions that really get to the heart of why they are using X product or why they style their hair a particular way. This will give you the knowledge to understand your client’s behavior and opens the door for you to solve their problem. For example: your client wears pony tails because she feels her hair starts to look greasy after a couple hours of being down. This is a great opportunity to suggest dry shampoo or a product that might be less heavy on her hair. 
4. Share Samples: For your top clients, put together a small gift bag with samples of product you think would be beneficial to them. After a few days follow up with the client to see how they liked the sample & make note of what they liked. If they liked the sample, on their next service offer a 10% discount on the product. Ensure you are working with your distributor to get samples you can offer clients, or buy small containers and make your own samples for clients. 
5. Display Beautifully: Product displays are a science. National retailers spend millions on displays and product placement. Ensure displays are accessible, clean and orderly. Place related products next to one another, for example place shampoos together and conditioners together to avoid confusion. Labels should always face out. Have testers, if applicable, for clients to try.  Ensure simple, consistent pricing.  Display products as close to eye level as possible, people instinctively reach for what is right in front of them.
6. Use the Backwash Bowl to Your Advantage: This is the perfect opportunity to talk to your client about the product you are using. As you are giving them the perfect, relaxing head massage, talk to them about what the shampoo and conditioner you are using can do for their hair. 
7. Teach Your Clients: One of the greatest gifts you can give your clients is teaching them simple tricks they can do at home to style their hair. As you are teaching these tricks you are also showing them how to use styling products to achieve the style.
8. Be Smart about Inventory: Be sure to maintain and manage your inventory.  If one particular product seems to sell better than other, be sure to have sufficient supplies.  Watch trends for possible changes in what clients will purchase. Don’t buy into all specials from suppliers, if is a great deal, typically that means they cannot sell it. Note past trends and your sales history for when a product sold well during certain times of the year and ensure you are sufficiently supplied when that period comes again. Maintaining good inventory records can save you money and allow you to strategize your displays. If you need a crash course on inventory control, talk to A Suite Salon, we can give you some more pointers. 
9. Price Competitively: In the end, you should make money off the product you carry.  You spend the money to purchase and display the products, so get paid for that effort.  When establishing a margin (the difference between what you pay and what you sell it for) do not try to gouge your clients, primarily because they will be insulted if they see it elsewhere for significantly less. Consider your carry cost and the convenience that a client can purchase everything they need to maintain their great new style in the ease of your suite rather than having to travel to a retail location. Typically, a 20-30% markup is customary on products.  This will take a bit of homework on your part but it is important to find out what other salons or retail stores charge for the same product, this can set a price point for you to follow. You do not have to be cheaper, but be competitive. If you need help calculating your margins click on this on line calculator.

Now that you are making money at A Suite Salon, it is time to start thinking about putting some money away for a rainy day.  You hear commercials every day from any number of companies promoting hundreds of different products to save for retirement, college, or medical emergencies.  Very quickly this process of saving for you and your family’s future can become so daunting, that inevitably you throw up your hands and go another several years without saving a dime.

Sometimes no matter how good you are your skin just has a freak-out. These are most common causes for a last minute panic call to your esthetician and some suggestions for how you can help make it better.

Hair extensions have become hugely popular! Maybe because they provide instant gratification with just one visit to the salon. So why are hair extensions so popular and how can they change your life for the better? Let's find out.

If you find yourself asking the question, do I need to start a blog for my salon suite business, we will tell you, yes, you do. Like many, the time needed or spats of writer’s block end the endeavor before it begins. But let’s start by looking at blogging from a practical side, specifically what benefits it could have on your business.

As a small business owner, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about how to get your name out, market your services and gain more salon clients. If you’re looking for a few quick and easy marketing ideas for your salon business, look no further. We have eight simple ideas that are effective, low cost and easy to put into action.

As you move into your new suite there are many opportunities that are now open to you; flexibility of schedule, offering of services, selling product, and more profit.  Even if you have been at A Suite Salon for several years you may be ready for a bit of a refresh.  Whatever your tenure as a suite owner your brand and branding is a major part of your business and the set up of this branding can be a very exciting process.  A big key is to remember that this process should be fun.  So in an effort to save you some stress, we broke down the branding process into some simple steps.

These days all the talk is about advertising online or through social media.  And while it is true those are very powerful tools, there are other ways to get your name and your service offerings out to potential clients. Discovering these ways will take some creativity and a bit of time, but then again anything good for your business usually does.  To get your wheels turning, we have listed a few ‘outside the box’ ideas to get you started:

A Suite Salon has some of the most talented beauty professionals in the business with expertise in hair, makeup, skin, massage, nails, eyelashes and more. We asked them to share their top beauty secrets with us, and here’s what they had to say:

It always starts with a sudden flash of inspiration. Something you see, do, or hear, and the next thing you know you dive head first into the waters of business ownership. Sometimes the water is warm and you enjoy the fruits of your labor. Other times it can be a cold hard venture that either makes you stronger and ready to try again or seemingly scares you to the point of immobility. Either way it can be scary.

You are the proud owner of an A Suite Salon studio.  The location is perfect, there are windows everywhere, the finishes and equipment are reminiscent of grand resorts and eateries in New York or LA, and now you have a chance to really let your businesses personality come to life through your own personal design. Over the years, we have compiled some of the best design and décor tips and hints from both our designers and professionals, so we must share.

Most of our Suite Salon professionals tell us they dreamed of owning their own businesses for a long time before they acted. So, how do you know when it’s the right time to make the leap? Here are 5 signs that you’re ready to be your own boss:

If you are like most small business owners, you know there is no shortage of reminders that tax season is just around the corner. While you are crunching numbers, we are here to help you keep as many dollars in your pocket as possible. We have complied a list of some of the most common tax-deductions for Salon Suite Owners.

Goals, if you want to have a strong and successful business, you need to set goals. Goals give you focus and direction. Goal setting allows you to take control of your business and provides you a benchmark for determining your success. Believe it or not, there is an art form to setting and achieving goals.  Professionals have shared six steps that have helped them and we want to share them with you. 

April 15^th is less than a month away, which means it’s crunch time for small business owners to review the past year and ensure their salon suite business has everything in place and submitted to Uncle Sam. Now is a great time to review tips and strategies on how to save money on your taxes and improve your bottom line for next year. We recommend five key strategies to ensure the process is as painless as possible:

Now that you are making money at A Suite Salon, it is time to start thinking about putting some money away for a rainy day.  You hear commercials every day from any number of companies promoting hundreds of different products to save for retirement, college, or medical emergencies.  Very quickly this process of saving for you and your family’s future can become so daunting, that inevitably you throw up your hands and go another several years without saving a dime.

When we ask current professionals how being their own Boss has changed their careers, almost every answer carries themes of freedom, making more money, being happy, and spending more time with family.

We all know the internet is a powerful tool and can drive business to your salon. Often we ask client’s to post pictures, videos, and reviews of the services we provide on social media or sites like Google and Yelp. But what happens when someone is not happy with your services and writes a negative review about you or your business online for everyone to see? To a small business owner, this may feel like the end of the world, but, if managed correctly, there are a number of ways you can minimize the influence of the negative review and turn the situation around to have a positive impact on your business.

Your talent, skills and relationship building skills with your clients have made you a successful salon suite owner and entrepreneur. Clients are coming to you because they know you are great at what you do. Now, you can turn your focus to growing your income. A great way to do this is selling retail products to your clients. Nobody likes pushy salespeople, so a lot of stylists can be uncomfortable when they start selling products. Here are a few ideas to help you get comfortable selling retail in your suite:

1. Celebrate your clients' milestones and accomplishments. As a beauty professional you are often a trusted adviser for clients. Knowing what events are happening in their lives gives you the chance to brag about them. Take this opportunity to send a congratulatory email or post about their accomplishment on your social media pages. Sharing your clients' happiness makes them feel valued and gives them a sense of pride in doing business with you.
2. Donate to a charity on your clients' behalf. People love to do business with businesses that are good to others. Select a holiday or month that has an event dedicated to a cause important to you and donate a percentage of the client's spend to the charity. Not only does the charity benefit but your clients will feel good about spending money with you. It may even urge them to spend a little more. Sound expensive? This is a tax write-off for your business. Bonus: Announce on your Social Media channels the details of your donation and use charity associated hashtags for added exposure.
3. Offer a surprise upgrade. What could be better than the feeling you get from receiving an unexpected upgrade? Make your loyal client's day by upgrading a part of your service such as adding on an extra 15-minutes to their massage or giving an extra long head massage when you are washing their hair.
4. Reward social media behavior. There is no better marketing for your business than a client posting great things about you and your services on Social Media. From client selfies to thank you texts/emails, these are important branding events that should be celebrated. Let a client know how much you appreciate their feedback by giving them a $5.00 gift card to a local coffee house or a percent off services at a noncompeting suite owners business.
5. Start a VIP experience. Red carpet treatment? Yes please! For your most loyal clients invite them to a VIP experience where they receive added value to their services on special occasions such as their Birthday, Valentines Day, Mother's Day, etc. Value add services could include a complimentary hair cut with color service, buy two products and receive the third free or a deep conditioning treatment with a haircut.
6. Offer a loyalty rewards program. Give your clients an incentive to visit you and at the same time make them feel special. Start a simple loyalty rewards program that your clients can appreciate and is easy for you to manage. An example would be clients can earn points for every dollar spent ($1.00 = 1 Point, simple). Create benchmarks the clients can achieve to earn gift cards and/or discounts toward products or services (500 Points = $15.00 Gift Card, 1,000 Points = $50.00 Gift Card). Be clear on the program with your clients ensuring they understand points are valid for services, products or gift cards. Make sure to include a referral incentive that will motivate your client to refer their friends and family (a referral = 200 Points). Bonus: Post your client's achievement on your social media pages.