The #1 Reason Why Your Salon Is Not Making Enough Money

Friend, if you are like most women running their own salon, the dollar amount of your net proceeds after your bills and staff are paid makes a lap around your brain more than once a day. So, you don’t always have time to consider how your brand story may be impacting your day-to-day operations. And, like most owners, you’re working hard to increase your profit margins but may be falling short of your goal and simply can’t figure out why.

Your lack of a strong brand story may be the reason why.

I bet if I were a fly on the wall at your salon, I would see you packing your days with the usual requirements of a busy beauty business, from checking out customers on your Square and sorting inventory to interviewing candidates for the open stylist position and pricing plumbers to fix a clogged drain.

Girl, stop for a second.

Spending Quality Time with Your Clients, Much?
Lately, how many clients have you sat by and talked to for longer than 3 minutes, or how many of your nail stations have you recently re-evaluated to make sure every client, no matter the size of her curves, is feeling comfortable in your seats?

What I’m saying is, your success is not only determined by how well your space operates, but it also thrives (or dies) from how amazing the client’s experience is when she or he visits.

These elements play a part in your brand story.

Get Personal
Now, a majority of the revenue that the beauty and personal care market is earning, as a whole, is coming from customers’ face-to-face interaction with beauty businesses, according to online market analyst Statista.

Okay, I hear you. I know just running your shop to keep it functioning efficiently is a full-time task, who has time to wine and dine each client, so to speak?

Your brand story is your secret sauce for success.

What are Basic Branding Building Blocks?
Let’s take a sec and evaluate your brand. What exactly does having a brand mean? We all know that various marketing experts all have their own definition of what a brand means. At baseline, we all understand that our brand is our business’ identity, including who we are, services that our business offers, and how we represent these elements to the market, like our logo and website.

More importantly, what is a strong brand? A strong brand has a personality all its own that not only touches its audience in a memorable way, but it also offers the same look and feel across all platforms, from IG video tutorials to billboards, elicits positive emotions among consumers and gives clients a salon experience that they return for again and again.

With these definitions in mind, is it a safe bet that your brand could use a refresher to better help your business grow financially? Yep, I see you nodding 🙂

Use these steps to regain your focus on how to create a customer-centered brand story. Then, see how to effectively share it and watch your business become a market favorite. 

How Do You Create a Quality Brand Story?
Define your business’ brand today by contemplating the five questions to follow (or as I’ve coined them, “High Five”). This process will help you to accurately outline your brand story.

Branding strategist and author of bestseller Sticky Branding, Jeremy Miller, takes it a step further. Miller has found that brands leave a lasting positive impression on the market when they “bring together their business’ purpose, vision, customer service, operational excellence, and strategy to deliver remarkable customer experiences.”

Ready to get started tweaking your brand story? Answer the “High Five” questions below:

• What does your company do and why?
• What is your company’s specialty?
• Who does your business serve?
• What problem(s) are you solving for your client?
• How is your company solving this problem or problems?

In other words, establishing a solid brand story, and then demonstrating it daily, is your formula for impressing clients, staying booked and securing the bag that you and your staff desire. This is how the popular beauty brands do it.

So…how do you actually write this formula?

First, articulate the function of your business. And, what’s your why?

 

As they say, work smarter not harder. Write a simple and concise description of your business.

This description can be 2-3 sentences. Consider your business’ purpose, the services that it offers and why you got into beauty in the first place.

Next, write down the key areas that make your business unique.
As you answer this question, focus on the distinctive—or perhaps even exclusive—services, expertise, skills, or assets that your business brings to the market. What are your salon’s specialties?

• Perhaps your nail technicians not only apply the most creative nail art in your area, they use techniques that keep the art and polish from chipping or changing for at least three weeks.
• Or, your hair colorist has received numerous compliments from her clients that she offers the most thorough evaluation before dying their hair.

These examples illustrate expertise and assets that can keep you as first choice in your local market. I recommend you turn up the volume on these strengths in your day-to-day interactions with clients.

Third, who is your tribe?
Do you serve everyone, or have you chosen a niche? The correct answer is niche-bound. According to Forbes.com, “When your business decides to specialize, it automatically garners a higher perception of authority in the marketplace. This can allow you to charge more.”

Cha-ching! So, become laser focused on who you serve within your niche and why. This person is considered your ideal customer.

Earn Measurable Financial Gains
Yes, of course it sounds great if you could get every warm body within a 5-mile radius of your establishment into your shop for business. Trust me, you will become exhausted trying to serve everyone. How can you effectively market to every customer profile, every personality, and every need concerning nails, hair, or lashes? You can’t.

So, instead, figure out your ideal customer. Your ideal customer will share your passion for your offerings and recognize the value in your services. As a result, she will consistently support you like no other. Did I say cha-ching?

Do the math. 200 faithful clients each month x $60 to $150 each time they visit = $144,000 to $360,000 annual revenue.

Need help defining your ideal customer? Read this.

Fourth, make a list of your tribe’s pain points.
We all know the obvious reasons why customers seek beauty services. Let’s dig a little deeper.

Consider whether your customers also visit your salon because your services benefit them financially, save them time, produce the results that they have not found elsewhere, or give them the greatest return on their investment when compared to how much they’ve spent prior to finding you. Pinpoint your ideal client’s specific pain points. Are you the remedy for these problems? You should be.

Lastly, describe how you effectively bring your clients solutions.
This one is all about delivering results. At this point, you have described your ideal client and his/her pain points that prompt them to visit your business.

Now, consider your repeat clients. Within this group, which customers fit the mold of your ideal client? Lastly, jot down specific examples of when you and your team delivered results — especially those that utilized your specialties — and satisfied the ideal clients.

These examples illustrate how well you tackle your tribe’s problems and provide a worthwhile experience.  And, I bet when you hit this homerun, your clients were incredibly happy and confident.

Wrap All Your Findings Up in a Pretty Bow
Finally, once you have completed this exercise, take your answers and pull them together into a compelling paragraph or two.

Write using words that your customers can relate to, so write in language that they use…now…drum roll please…ladies, this is your brand story! Use it to steer your business toward increased profit from this day forward. Hence, actively demonstrate points 2, 3 and 4 of your “High Five” with each client.

Share pieces of your story across all platforms, from your service menus and around your salon to your website and emails to your tribe. Read this to learn how keeping in contact with prospects via email is crucial to the growth of your business.

 

TAKE AWAY

Now that you have re-affirmed who you are to the market, don’t let yourself down!

• Consistently offer services that fit into your business’ purpose.
• Always show off your distinctive—or perhaps even exclusive-services—expertise, skills, or assets.
• Work to attract customers that fit into your tribe. Research shows that a business, in any industry, needs at least 100 faithful clients, on average, to make the business reach a higher income bracket.
• Solve your tribe’s beauty concerns by giving them the results that they seek.

At the end of the day, I know you dream about building a beauty empire. Well, regularly delivering your brand story will get you on the road to empire-status.