Communication is key in any relationship: our husband, wife, family, and friends. It is paramount in your business relationships as well.
When was the last time you sat down and actually sent a hand written thank you note to a new or regular salon/spa guest to thank them for their business? In these days of cell phones, World Wide Web, Blackberry (which I thought was only a delicious fruit), iPods, e-mail, and all the multi-tasking we do, handwritten communication like writing notes, letters, and cards is slowly becoming a lost art.

Bosses! Just saying the word can send chills up one’s spine. Our direct supervisor is the one person who can be the biggest ally in our career or make our lives miserable. When it comes to employment, there will always be someone there who is the boss!

The Cheerleader
Some bosses are always nice and happy with a peppy, cheerleader-type attitude. They don’t like confrontation. If someone takes a problem to them, they tend to listen, nod their heads and say “yeah, yeah”, but nothing gets done.

A good training manual is worth its weight in gold, or at least good old U.S. currency, since solid education is key to solid profits. A great training manual must be pure “take-away” for the readers—it’s all immediately applicable information, which will make your cash register buzz faster than the speed of sales.
The purpose of a training manual is to first set the standard for service, based upon the company vision, then to lay out in actionable steps how that standard may be achieved and surpassed daily for optimum team achievement.

If you have tried repeatedly to get a focus on customers, customer loyalty, and customer profitability inside your organization with less than stellar results, you’re far from alone. Most companies jump in without evaluating how the organization works together, whether the CEO is truly committed, and if the patience exists for the long road ahead. These are the key issues that usually get in the way of making progress. See if you recognize any of them in your organization.

Every retailer dreams about inventory literally “flying off the shelves”, as the phrase goes. But unless the retailer doubles as a savvy air-traffic controller, carefully overseeing arrivals and departures of items each day, you may encounter turbulence over Milwaukee (or wherever your business is located)!
Effectively managing the flow of inventory from your manufacturer to your clients is one of the most essential aspects of ensuring the success of your business. Few things displease a loyal client more than learning that a favorite product is out of stock. Conversely, nothing deflates the buzz of shopping more than seeing dusty, shopworn merchandise on the shelf, which obviously isn’t moving—the result of over-ordering.

Building your successful spa and salon business all begins with one happy customer. And in order to build business through your satisfied client base, you must first focus on building loyalty. But how do you keep customers for life? And how do you go yet one step further and get your loyal customers working for you by referring new customers? Following are some practical tips to help you get you started:

Masks are an incredibly effective part of one’s skin care regimen. Perfect pre-date or post-party as emergency care and weekly as a treatment routine, masks rule the medicine cabinet. So why are they are collecting dust on your shelves? Moving your retail masks requires participation of the aesthetician, spa management, the brand, and believe it or not, the client. Reverse the cycle and increase sales by learning the 10 reasons why the product is not moving:

Pursuing the right marketing strategies is critical to the financial success of your spa or salon. Given below are some current marketing strategies that can help to increase income and clientele in the body and skin care industries.

Use Effective Online Marketing Strategies
Today’s online marketing environment is becoming increasingly more sophisticated. When someone wants to get a listing of spas in a specific location the Internet is the place to go. Create a domain name that will make your spa appear on the Internet whenever someone uses a search engine.

And last but not least is the important consideration of your clients current skin care program. Directing your questions with respect to all of the products they are currently using will assist the aesthetician in finding areas of their existing skin care that may need to be addressed. I always encouraged my new customers to “bring their face in a bag” so I could review the products along with the ingredients. This snooping also uncovers how they use their products, how much, are they dipping their fingers in the jar, have the products been exposed, etc. Finding out how they care for their products means this would be time to instruct them how to use skin care properly.

They say, “Diamonds are a girls best friend”. In my personal opinion I have to disagree. I truly think frequent PROMOTIONS, free samples, special events, and monthly specials really create excitement in our salons and spas!
When Filene’s Basement department store in Chicago has a sale…the shoppers are actually waiting and beating the doors down to be the first ones to get in. It’s a sight to see. Who doesn’t love a sale?
It doesn’t matter if you have a skin center, nail salon, or spa. You don’t even have to own the business to practice this phenomenal idea.