Ahead of their business seminars at Salon Melbourne this month, Linda Hailey and Rob Hartnett, two experts from Kochie’s Business Builders, have each compiled their top five business tips.
Refresh your Business by Linda Hailey
Tip 1: Walk out on your business!
Take the time to wander around your business CBD and see who is on the streets. New retailers, upgraded shopping precincts, population changes and tourism booms all bring potential clients. Make sure you aren’t missing out and are offering services and products for those new visitors.
Tip 2: Put some e-smarts into your marketing
If your marketing consists of the occasional ad in the local paper it’s time to tap into technology and target potential customers through your website, blogs and social media. Get Googling and explore the possibilities.
Tip 3: Sign up for success
Put on your customer hat and visit your own premises. What do your signs say about your business? Do you have above awning, under awning or building signs? Are they consistent, faded, out of date, dirty, “cobwebby” or fabulous? Check what you can see from across the road and on pavement approaches from both ways. If you can’t be seen it’s a bad sign.
Tip 4: Smile with your eyes not just your mouth
In this day and age, customers expect genuine customer service; even more so in regional areas, so ditch the rehearsed scripts and stop focusing just on your regulars. You never know when your next long term customer will walk through your door for the first time, so smile and mean it!
Tip 5: Start a referral chain
Share the love with other businesses that target the same market as you. Recommend other great retailers and they will do the same for you. Look for ways to run joint promotions. The whole area benefits because people stay longer, spend more and come back again and again.
Selling Strategies by Rob Hartnett
Tip 1: Your first sale
The first sale you will ever make is the one to yourself. To be able to sell you need to believe in the product. In the case of selling services, this is you! So would you buy from you?
Tip 2: Trust
People buy from people and they buy more from people they trust. In everything you and your staff do it must be something that builds trust and relationships with your customers every time. In good times and in bad times people would rather do business with friends than people they don’t know. So be interested in your customers, use their name, remember their birthdays, kids (databases are great for this) and make them feel special.
Tip 3: Who is your ideal customer?
Can you define them by age, location, interests, background? Where do they shop, what brands do they wear?
Once you know the clients you want as opposed to ones you don’t want, you can then focus your advertising, marketing and product offer more specifically, which reduces overheads and increases sales.
Tip 4: Be disciplined
You may be in a creative industry, however that should not preclude your from using systems and processes that work. For example, do you get your clients’ email and mobile numbers every time? Do you offer product, re-booking and additional services every time?
Tip 5: Socialise more
Social media marketing is tipped to exceed email marketing by three times by 2015, according to the experts. What are you doing online in this low cost environment? Think it’s all hype? I know of a salon owner who locked in three appointments within hours of a client tweeting about her on Twitter.
The Salon Melbourne Kochie’s Business Builders’ seminars will focus on how to drive revenue, beat the competition and re-invigorate your business. The Refresh Your Business seminar is an interactive learning experience with tips to get your business firing on all four cylinders. One lucky seminar attendee will win a mini makeover of their business onsite. Super Sales Strategy will focus on developing a superior sales strategy to improve business performance.
Visitors can go online to book these Kochie’s Business Builders sessions. Spaces are limited so book early. www.salonmelbourne.com.au
To register for the trade-only Salon Melbourne go to: www.salonmelbourne.com.au