As a salon marketing agency we are often asked “How do I grow my salon business?” That’s the million dollar question! There is no get rich quick scheme in the professional beauty industry – it’s about hard work, loving what you do, and knowing “your numbers”.
What are “your numbers” you ask? The numbers to know are:
1. # Current Guests per month
2. # Average service ticket
3. # Average retail ticket
4. # Percentage buying retail
5. # Pre-booking Rate
6. # Retention Rate
Number of guests per month – You need to know (mark, measure) where you are to determine where you want to go (benchmark, goal). To achieve your goals you need to be “in the know” of how many guests your salon (or you) needs to achieve your goal. Marketing works best when it has a specific target in mind (I want to go from 100 to 150 guests per month).
Average service ticket – This number tells you how much $ (on average) each guest is spending on services. Your salon may not need as many new guests as you think, instead focus on existing guests to spend more through trying additional services. Ideally you want both.
Average retail ticket – A lot like average service, but for retail. Retail product recommendations and sales attribute to business growth through both raised revenue and perception level of your salon and staff’s professionalism and beauty expert.
Percent buying retail – This is one of my favorites. This number tracks how good your staff is at converting service guests into retail guests. This number tracks your staff’s sales behavior. This number can really add to the bottom line, and it is your secret weapon to growing your business.
Pre-booking – Wether you are just starting out as a hairdresser you often overlook this very important stat. If I only see one person today, I better be precooking them. This is how you take control of your business.
Retention – Is you overall how “good am I score”. This tells of all the people that have come in an a specific period how many of those actually came back. Very important number. Please understand this is a lagging indicator and will take months before you can look at it.