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The Top 5 Secrets to a Phenomenal Performance in Quarter 4 · Salon Success Secrets — The podcast for salon owners who are done hustling harder and ready to break their revenue ceiling.

• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Excellence Unleashed, unlocking the top five secrets to a phenomenal performance in quarter four.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: I am your co-host, Lindsay Lowe, and I am excited to have your other co-host with me today.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: And I am Jen Booth and I am ready to see what kind of excellence we can unleash today.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: So if you made it here to this episode today, we are excited to have you with us.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: We are going to be going diving deep into quarter four, planning and really the significance that it has for our luxury beauty businesses and how we can just take things to the next level and end the year on a huge win, yeah.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: So if you're ready to end the year, finish stronger than you've ever finished before, this is your day.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Today's the day where we're going to look at phenomenal performance.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: Say that about three times really fast, and you'll know exactly how fast you can get there.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: So we're going to look at the five secrets, and the first one we're going to kick off with is reviewing performance and setting clear objectives.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: So there's lots of verticals to look at from this point of view.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Lindsay, is there anything you want to add to review performance and set clear objectives?
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Yes, I think when we're monitoring our numbers, it's like if we know where we're at and we're willing to confront exactly where we're at, then that's what allows us to create new opportunities, new possibilities, all of those great things.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: And so for us, there's several of those KPIs that we're monitoring all the time.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: We want to look at our retail numbers, we want to look at our productivity, our capacity, check out what our new guest retention is like and our existing guest retention.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of different numbers to monitor, with those key performance indicators that can really give you a pulse of what exactly is going on inside of the salon.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: When I'm talking to a service provider inside of the salon, we really just like to look at the numbers as the way that the story is being told, and so a service provider may think that they're really connecting with the guest and helping them understand the retail and how it solves their problems that they are experiencing with their hair or skin or whatever it may be, but if the numbers don't show that, then we just really need to dive into that.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: So, really, when we're talking about this number one area and the five secrets to a phenomenal performance in quarter four, we really want to look at those numbers, because those numbers can give us a great story about what's happening.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: What's your perspective on that, jen?
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love those numbers Really do paint the true picture for you, and I also love the opportunity to look at your profit and loss statement.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: I know sometimes as business owners, we look at it when it's too late to make adjustments or transformations, and so I like to really dig deep when it comes to quarter four and say, okay, here's where the opportunities are, this is the percentage that we're spending in marketing versus our growth sales.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Or this is the amount that we're spending in payroll.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: And just looking at those percentages and I think each percentage is gonna be a little bit different based upon where you're at, your demographics and all of that but it's like, okay, I know I'm at, let's say, 5% marketing here.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Like what?
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: And I have enough funds, what would it take to get me down to 4% marketing for our total sales?
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: So I just like to look at it and say, if you have a goal that you wanna finish with at the end of the year, to say, okay, well, where could I?
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: How much do we need for October, november and December to be a $1.9 million salon?
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Or how much money do we need in October and November, december to be even just the $800,000 salon?
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: It doesn't matter.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: The number is just making sure that you have the journey or you know the destination that you need to get to, because that will make that destination more probably to happen.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so it really is just looking where you're at and then painting that clear picture of where you want to go with those objectives, and so you know.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: You really touched on so many different things.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: I think you know a lot of salon owners.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: I'm saying that.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: I should just say me at one point in time was afraid to look at my profit and loss statement because it looks like it was in a foreign language.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I didn't totally understand what it meant, you know.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: But I think really, just looking at that sometimes and getting familiar with where it's at and seeing, like you said, those opportunities, maybe if you could just find that 1%, what that could open up, you know whether that heads over into profitability or that goes over into some sort of like a new talent higher search.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Whatever it is that you decide.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: I think getting those clear objectives is the key to setting up your quarter four, because really that preps you for the next year.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: And I love always to check it into that productivity number.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: You know, at the PhD program we really truly like to measure productivity, which is the hours you have available to sell versus the actual hours that you have that you have sold, and so like really sitting down with each team member and really looking at your salon company as an entire entity and say, okay, if we're at 70% productivity, what are the marketing strategies that we need to put in place?
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Or what is the guest experience that we need to elevate to get that number from 70% to 75%.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Because I think at the end I know at the end of the day, especially when we're looking at the roots of our business, which we talk about in the PhD program is like productivity is one of the roots that has to be strong and grounded to continue to flourish and grow to that beautiful, strong business that you want to create.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, jen, I think that marries well with then being able to retain those guests.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Once we get them in, how do we retain them?
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: And really this this time of the year they call it spinning season for a reason, because people are in the mood to spend, they want new, beautiful experiences.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: You know, maybe they want to try out a new stylist or a statistician or whatever it may be.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Then they are accustomed to.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: And so when you really are focused on retaining those new guests, what the what that can inject into your business is just amazing.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: You know that can take a one or two year stylist and get them busy in half the amount of time if they are retaining, you know, double the guests that they are now.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: And I think industry statistic is less than 25% of new guests return.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: So when we really focus on this number in quarter four, I think just the opportunities that it can create inside of our business like you said, it's connected in that root system can really make your tree flourish and just be big and down to full and amazing.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: So now that we've gotten a little more clarity and clear on our objectives, let's move into some of the fun stuff, which is being able to enhance the guest experience.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: So this is going to be a really cool opportunity to provide exceptional experiences during the holiday season and have some fun with it.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: So what can you do that's fun and has that point of difference that they're not going to feel at any other salon or any other business.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: To that extent, and some things that we like to look at is like changing just our normal treatments to seasonal treatments.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Instead of, if you have, I'll say, a treatment from Kerasdass, instead of just calling it a Fuzio treatment, maybe it's going to be the ultimate hair healer and with that ultimate hair healer, in the months of October, november, december, you're going to get a beautiful little Hershey kiss with it while you're at the shampoo bowl.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: So it's really cool to add just the little points of elegance to the guest experience.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: That makes them see the value in it even more, and words have so much power.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Some people may feel like gosh, I've been getting the same treatment for 47 years.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: I'm just kidding, but I've been getting the same treatment every single time.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: So let's spice it up, let's let them see the possibilities of adding something new to their reservation and how that can spark interest and create more creativity for the stylist and the guest.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: I love that, Jen, and consumer research shows that people love food, they love scent, they love all of that good stuff, and so any opportunity that we have to infuse that inside of our beauty business is huge, and so I love the kiss idea.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: We can also upgrade our spa waters this time of year you can do like orange and clove or apple cinnamon.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Those are great fall spa waters to introduce when you start to get into that later part of quarter four looking at things like cranberry, rosemary or something that feels festive for the season and just gives that slight upgrade.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: If you just drop a couple of cranberries inside of their water, it just makes you feel like wow, this is just a little added piece of elegance or an upgrade that you don't see everywhere, and so it really makes you stand out to the consumer, because there's probably nowhere else that they're going on a regular basis where they are paying attention to those little details like that.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: You know there's there's a hundred ways that we can upgrade that service.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: I think that that's one that's just key.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: And you know, psychology shows us that people want to feel appreciated, Like they are giving you their hard-earned buckaroos, and so they want to feel that appreciation from you as well.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: So like even just a little candy cane waiting for them on the station or in the facial room that says thank you for your business.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: It doesn't have a high cost, but it has a really true high value.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: So what are some ways that you can show your appreciation to your guests that you serve?
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Yes, and you know, I think even just ways to make it warm and cozy with like a blanket in the treatment area or upgrading in your spa rooms to maybe a Sherpa material this time of year, there's just a few little things like that that really can just upgrade that experience.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: You know you can also think about things like you know people are buying gifts in quarter four for sure, and so having a list out of don't forget these people, you know, maybe it's like a housekeeper, teacher or you know your mailman, mail, mail person, whoever it might be just having a list of you know great people that you might want to gift something for, and then having some gifts at multiple different price points around, either inside of festive packaging or having some festive packaging available.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: You can find all kinds of good things for festive packaging.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: I know we've used like Nashville wraps.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: There's a ton of different places where you can find some cost effective festive packaging to just elevate their shopping experience inside of your salon or spa company for sure.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: So those are just some great tools to enhance the guest experience.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: So now that you've got that foundation, let's move forward to collaborations and partnerships and holiday gatherings.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: You know, sometimes in our industry I will hear say gone are the days of holiday.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Events are big gatherings.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: But I truly believe it tastefully done and done with the right intentions, you can have a really great success with the holiday event.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: I know last year, lindsay, you had a really successful one.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: What went into play to make that successful for you?
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Yes, we did.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you, you know, I think some of the things that stood out were just some of the brand partnerships that we made.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: We had a local permanent jewelry company that came out we are we happen to be in a college town so some young entrepreneurs that came out and set up a table and the amount of people that showed up because of them alone was amazing.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: You know, maybe if you don't offer med spa services, you could, you know, partner.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: If you're just a salon, you could partner with a local med spa.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: You know there's a lot of different opportunities that you can look at to bring somebody in who is very similar.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: You know, in your capacity of you know, whether, whatever you choose to look at yourself as if you're a luxury beauty business, finding someone who also matches that, you know, luxury is a great partnership or collaboration to have.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Maybe you might have like a little local influencer of some sort that you could give like a VIP treatment to.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: You know, maybe they could come in early for a blowout and, you know, have a special welcoming ceremony to bring them into your event.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: We always love to do like a signature cocktail at our events as well.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: As you know, charcuterie has been popular for the last several years.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: So we usually do like a little charcuterie cup that they get to take home with them.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: And then we love for this to be, you know, an event that everybody inside of the community can come to, and we kind of want to give them a taste of what makes us different and what they could experience when they come inside of our salon.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: So we do a lot of many services.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: We offer complimentary brow waxes.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: We'll add tinsel into people's hair.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: We'll do hand and arm massages with, you know, whatever fun holiday scented lotions we have from a couple of different brands.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: We'll do a halo try-on station.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: We'll let people test out hot tools and give them a blow dry boot camp type atmosphere during that, just so that they can really understand their own hair, their own look.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: And then we've even done little areas where people can learn a quick updo for a fun holiday event that we have.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: And of course we have some special savings on any take home products that they have.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Usually we do some sort of fun enter to win.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: We've done anything from.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: We're in a little plaza area that's really beautiful, so we did like a night out on the plaza where they got to enter to win for like a multi-visit.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: They got to go have drinks somewhere, dinner somewhere, dessert somewhere and then a fun event.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: We've done that.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: We've also given away a trip to Vegas.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: It just depends on really what our budget and our goal is for the year.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: We like to do some sort of fun experience that people can enter to win, based on purchasing retail.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: So those are just some fun things that we've done for that holiday open house.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: We always have a fun festive name for it as well, but, gosh, there's endless opportunities this summer year.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that Lindsey For the salon owner saying Vegas, wow, that's an expense.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: So, like, how do you get creative in paying for a trip to Vegas?
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Like so how could a salon owner go about making that possible?
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a great question.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: So we actually have an incredible sales rep at the time who offered his credit card points to pay for the tickets.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: So the flight he paid for two people's flight and then we used our credit card points to pay for the hotel.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: So that's what the experience included was the tickets and the hotel and the person who ended up winning that.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: They got engaged shortly before they went out there.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: So they had fun.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: We were all excited.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: We're like are you gonna get married while you're there?
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: But they had a blast.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: So it really was an affordable option for us that fit great inside of our budget because we were able to use those credit card points.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: So there's lots of ways to get creative on that and even just knowing, hey, here's my budget, here's what I sold last year, here's what we expect to sell this year, and then just knowing your own budget or if you're working with a coach like Jen or I instead of the PhD program, we could help you look at your budget to see what portion could you spend where it still makes sense and it becomes a win-win and you can increase.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: I mean, we have people coming in that were just buying, buying, buying because they wanted to win a drip to Vegas.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: So it works.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: You just have to be smart and strategic about it.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: I love that, love that.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: Another partnership to look at is.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Another partnership to look at too would be to partner with a local charity or some families in need as maybe a percentage of your treatment sales, or just have your guests to bring in gifts for a special gift in return, and then when you pick that charity or family to work with like one year we did, or last year we sponsored two families we actually had our teams go out and do the Christmas shopping.
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: So they get to be part of that and understand about the power of giving with no expectations in return, and to me that just it really creates a sense of love in an environment and a sense of being able to give back in a big way that you didn't know was possible.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Yes, I love that, Jen.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: That's a beautiful opportunity.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: Well, now we have all these great collaboration and partnerships and ideas for these holiday gatherings, so let's dive into number four, which is team communication and training.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: So you've hit the point where you have all of these great ideas and opportunities and now we need to make sure that we are communicating the quarter or plan effectively to our team.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: So we wanna make sure that they understand the objectives and get the enrollment and the buy-in from the team to see what it will also help create for them.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: I think all humans wanna know what's in it for me and every situation, and so when we are to the point where we're ready to communicate this with our teams, we need to really dive into what's in it for them.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: What will they get when they create that amazing guest experience so that every guest wants to return?
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: What do they get when they help with some extra collaborations and community outreach events, whatever that might be?
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: So really just coming up with a plan to communicate that to your team so that they understand and are enrolled.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, love that, and your salon celebrations or team meetings are a beautiful way to Actually showcase this.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Like, let them experience the gift.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: If you're gonna do a ultimate hair healer for the month of October, november with a Hershey kiss, like, let them give each other that ultimate hair healer with the with a Hershey kiss, because I think if they get to experience it, then they buy into what really truly could be and they understand the why behind everything.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: Because understanding the why I really helps them understand the purpose.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: That's a great way to look at that.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: You know, and I think For us we like to map out what our huddles will look like for quarter four, just so that every time we're connecting with our team we are just revisiting a certain area, because you can't just plaster it up on the wall and say here's the plan, now Go run it.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: You have to make that doesn't work oh man, I know what the heck it should work.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: The world would be an amazing place, but you really just have to check in and and just keep reevaluating, because it's those subtle little one-degree differences that make you a totally different salon company than the one down the street.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: And so when we map out what our huddles are gonna look like, we are Thinking about things like, you know, our guest experience, you know talking about ways to elevate that, whether you know it's getting back to some of the basics with face shapes and skin tones and just different things like that.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: I think sometimes you know we hear stuff and we do stuff, and then sometimes we forget with certain guests or with certain people, and so having those little touch points at the beginning of each Shift really gets people in that right mindset so that we can accomplish that quarter for a goal.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: All right, so you've communicated with your team, got them some good training.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: So what's number five?
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: So number five to have a phenomenal Fourth quarter is gonna be inventory management and budget allocation.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: You know we all get in flooded with these beautiful gift set boxes from our manufacturers or holiday Ideas, and those are all great opportunities to look at.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: But I think before we make any purchase orders, we always want to take an assessment of our existing inventory and see what's selling well, what's not selling, and that will always help us understand what purchases we need to make to create the best, the best possible outcome and to also create some profitability, because at the end of the day, when we create, when we do gift sets and things like that, we want to have some profitability to go along with that.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Yes, I love that, Jen.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: That's a great great thing to look at.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: You know, if you head over to our Instagram page and check it out, we I'll make sure that we get it added to the assets button.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: We have a great little Reordering formulation for you to check out that's used by national retailers across the US.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: It's just an easy formulation to look at.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: You know, when you check out that year before to kind of see what you did and you check out those months before to see what you did, so that you are making those sound decisions when you order, it really can create Abundance for you, because the last thing that we want is, at the end of the year, to have a ton of these beautifully packaged you know, shampoo and conditioner sets or whatever it may be left over that you are then, you know, paying tax on because you have it inside Inventory.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: So we really want to make sure that we are ordering the proper amount and that we are just really looking at our budget so that it makes sense.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Because, again, consumer research shows it's spending season and so, as Solon owners, we don't want to fall into that trap of spending season just to spend.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: We want to be smart and think about any of those you know like possible expenses that you could have at the end of the year.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Sometimes it's just allocating different things inside of your budget Just so that it makes the most sense.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: You know you might have Some profitability but you might need to make some technology upgrades or you might need to Upgrade some equipment.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Whatever that could be.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: We really want to be monitoring our budget as well.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: I love that, yeah, and you could also take into account products that are not selling and create your own gift sets.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: Display them beautifully with a beautiful package and a bow.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Give them a really creative name, like the hair healer box that someone could gift to aunt Susie Lu that knows her hair needs some healing.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: So I think there's just lots of different ways to go about it, to see what you have to think about, what's going to serve me best and set me up for success.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: So you have to think about what's going to serve me best and set me up for success.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: So you, last but not least, we want to make sure that you map out a plan and really put it into action.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: So we went over the five secrets to a phenomenal performance in Quarter 4 today.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Step one is to review your performance and set those clear objectives.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: Step two was enhance customer experience.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: Step three was collaborate, create partnerships and holiday gatherings.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Step four was team communication and training.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: Step five was inventory management and budget allocation.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: And then the thing that puts the bow on the top is mapping it all out and delivering it to your team.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: So you got your fourth quarter winning plan Set up for success, your team set up for success, and spend some time alone or spend some time with your leadership team to really make sure that you have that clear map, because keeping it in your head is not going to give you that success that you're looking for.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Yes, well, thank you guys so much for joining us today.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: We would love to see you on our next episode we are going to be diving into.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: Are you ready for a second location?
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: So you're not going to want to miss this, even if you feel like, gosh, that's years away for me.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: You might be surprised by some of the key performance indicators that we look at when we are trying to determine if you're ready for that second location.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: So feel free to shoot us an email, hello at the phdprogramcom, or reach out.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: We would love to hear your feedback.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Write this podcast.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: It really helps get the message out to amazing salon owners just like yourself.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Awesome.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: All right, second location.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: I'm excited about that one.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: All right, guys, we'll catch you next week.