As the world continues to speed up and we grow more disconnected from one another--there’s one thing that will always slow us down--kindness. 

David Wagner, the king of kindness, lives to slow things down. In fact, David wouldn’t be the salon industry success that he is today if it weren’t for his mission to care for and connect with each and every one of his clients.

David, the owner of Juut Salon Spas, coined the term “daymaker” and it has been both his passion and his profession ever since. He even wrote a book on how you change the world by simply making someone’s day. Today, David shares his secret to a successful career behind the chair, and it all starts with intentional acts of kindness.

How “Daymaker” Was Born

David was participating in a hair show in Dallas, Texas, watching the hairdresser before him when the crowd went wild. The artist had begun a drastic transformation, cutting off most of his model’s hair, the audience was loving it until the model started to cry right there on stage.

It was clear that this haircut wasn’t something that she had agreed to and the crowd was left stunned. As David and his model took the stage bearing the weight of the last performance, he said, 

“What if it was more about her than it was about me? I'm here to make her day, not mine.”

David got a standing ovation for a mediocre haircut because the audience saw the beauty in that small act of kindness.

After the show, David took his seat on his first class flight back to Minneapolis. With his rock’n’roll hair and leather pants, he stood out from the other businessmen around him, and one man leaned over and asked what he did for a living. 

“I’m a daymaker.” David said. The man, confused, asked him, “Well, what in the world is a daymaker?” And David responded, “I make people’s day.” 

And the businessman sat back and said, “Well, you must do it really well, you’re sitting in first class.” 

Why It Matters

David returned home, switched all of his business cards from “stylist” to “daymaker” set out on a mission to center every appointment around the client.

Flashing his business card, he would always get a chuckle out of his clients, a smile from friends, family or colleagues when attending parties or networking events, but it wasn’t until one of David’s usual clients came in unexpectedly that he really understood his own impact.

One of David’s regulars dropped by the salon in between her usual cut and color for a last minute blow out. He asked if she had anything special going on and she said no, that she just really wanted to look and feel good.

David knew something was up, but he didn’t know what, so he gave her a nice stress-relieving treatment, scalp massage and took his time with the shampoo. They had a blast for that brief half hour and on her way out she gave him a big hug and he knew something had changed.

A few days later, David received a note from the same client thanking him for being there. She admitted that she had plans to commit suicide later that night and wanted to look good for her funeral, but over the course of their short shampoo, his kindness touched her in a way neither of them were expecting.

You Have the Power to Change Lives

What if David hadn’t been there? Not just physically, but what if he hadn’t been present for that guest mentally or emotionally? He would never have had such an impact on her life.

So, David decided to start treating every single one of his guests as if they were the one. And he found that by connecting with each client on that level, he was able to keep his own energy up without feeling depleted as the day went on. 

His team started to see the difference he was making and it wasn’t long before everyone had their business cards changed to “daymaker”.

You Have to Make Your Own Day First

Now, as the owner of Juut Salon Spas, David centers his salon culture around day-making. His staff know that it’s not just about being a great hairdresser, it’s about being that kind, caring and compassionate person for each client when behind the chair.

David’s one rule of thumb? You have to make your own day first. You can’t give away what you don’t have. Eat well, sleep well, and take care of yourself first so that each morning you wake up excited about the opportunity to take care of others, even if it’s just for thirty minutes.

Want to learn more about David and how he made a career out of kindness?Listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 195. And don’t forget to check out his book, “Life as a Daymaker”.

Have you heard of digital sales funnels? For many of us, this is new terminology, and for those of us that have heard of digital sales funnels, it’s likely been outside of the context of the beauty industry.

Well today, Salon Owner and Industry Expert, Kati Whitledge, is here to share with you exactly what a digital sales funnel is and why they should become a regular part of our salon marketing strategy.

In addition to hosting the beloved Beyond The Technique podcast, Kati is the owner of the award-winning Be Inspired Salon located in Madison, Wisconsin, and the creative brain behind Meet Your Stylist, an innovative salon software system that matches potential clients with salon professionals based on services, lifestyle preferences, and personality metrics.

Kati is incredibly passionate about helping others in the industry develop their own success stories, and today she’s sharing how she incorporates digital sales funnels in her own salon marketing and giving you some examples of how to implement these techniques in your beauty business in order to help you capture those leads.

So, What Exactly Is a Digital Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel is basically how a business or brand generates and captures leads. A digital sales funnel is how businesses generate and capture leads online, most often on social media.

Imagine an actual funnel, and at the top of that funnel, the rim if you will, is “awareness”. This is the first step in even creating a lead because people have to know that your brand exists, they have to be aware of your beauty business before anything else.

Once you’ve established some awareness, you’re able to direct your leads through the actual funnel and this is when it becomes kind of a slippery slope (in a good way!). It’s the progression from knowing about your business or your brand, to becoming a client of your business, to becoming a repeat client with established loyalty to your brand.

So, the precursor is getting your brand out there, then you have to create interest. You need to generate some hype around your brand and get people interested in the products and services you offer. If you’re successful, your leads will slide right down said slippery slope without even realizing it.

First they’ll measure whether or not your brand aligns with their values. If the answer is yes, they’ll make the decision to do business with you. Afterwards, they’ll weigh their experience and decide how likely they are to come back. A digital sales funnel basically goes from that initial awareness to ultimately becoming a long-term client. 

Where Do You Start?

First thing’s first, you need to measure your level of awareness. This is especially important for new salons, because if your target market doesn’t even know you exist, they’re not going to fall into your funnel. 

If you’re looking to build awareness online quickly, Kati suggests putting a few dollars behind a paid ad. More established salon businesses can even have massive success with organic sales funnels because they already have a strong presence in the marketplace, but new salons can seriously benefit from putting out these kinds of social promotions. She promises that the return on your investment will be huge as long as you know your demographics.

If you’re already pretty established within your community, you might be able to skip the “awareness” step. Of course, a little refresher never hurts, but if you’re satisfied with your level of brand awareness, you can jump right in to the “generating interest” phase.

Find Your Niche and Market the Crap Out of It

The best way to create some hype around your brand is to figure out what makes you unique. Kati encourages all salon owners to ask themselves, “What sets my beauty business apart from the rest?”

For example, Be Inspired Salon is known for being one of the only curly concept salons in the greater Madison area. If any of you have naturally textured hair, you know that when you find that one stylist that can manage your curls, you stick with them! So, Kati and her salon team use this to their advantage with posts that include verbiage like: 

“Hey gorgeous, have you struggled to find a stylist who understands your curls? We totally understand, and we’re here to help…” 

So, you’re creating this interest around the fact that you have something special, and this could be the determining factor for somebody coming in. 

Next, You’ve Got to Get People to Engage

Now, the whole point of a sales funnel is to engage, attract and convert people into first-time buyers who become lifelong clients. So, how can you get them to engage with your brand?

Sales funnels play perfectly in the sandbox with value ladders, which is it’s own topic that we’ll have to dive into another day, but basically, a great way to get your potential clients to engage with your brand for the first time is to offer them something totally complementary. 

This is why social posts that promote contests and giveaways are so successful, because you’ve generated enough interest to be able to capture a client’s information but at little to no cost to them. Even if they don’t win the giveaway, they’re now following your brand on social and maybe they even had to enter their email address so you’re able to continue to market to them across platforms and increase their level of brand awareness. 

Now, the Decision is In Their Hands 

Once you’ve taken your leads through that portion of the funnel, the rest is riding on their shoulders. But as previously mentioned, it’s a slippery slope. If you were able to snag their attention once, they just might decide to do business with you anyway, even though they didn’t win the complimentary service.

Pretty cool--right?!

To listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, check out Phorest Salon Software’s interview with our very own Host and CEO Kati Whitledge. 

P.S. If you’re hungry for more information on digital sales funnels, boy do we have a treat for you! You can go back and watch our webinar, “Mastering Sales Through Human Instinct” on Youtube for free! Kati gives real life examples of how you can implement digital sales funnels directly into the marketing you’re already doing--you can’t miss it!

Well, are you? 

Bangstyle is your ultimate destination for hair inspiration. This digital platform brings the “art” back into our industry. Bangstyle provides professional stylists and the beauty obsessed with a place to feel at home. Follow trends, techniques and tutorials while sharing your passions and connecting with fellow artists--all in one place. 

Want to learn how? Whether you’re a professional beauty brand looking to get in front of industry professionals, or a stylist looking to showcase your work and grow your network, Bangstyle’s President, Ashlee Levitch, is here to give you the lowdown on how you can get involved.

Ashlee began her career in marketing and fashion only to make the switch into the beauty industry in 2008 when she first accepted the position as the President of Bangstyle’s House of Hair Inspiration. Since then, Ashlee has developed a space where beauty truly meets technology. She has developed this online platform to promote hair artist’s hard work, innovation and compassion and now she’s giving you the opportunity to get involved. 

What Is Bangstyle, You Ask?

Bangstyle was initially created so that stylists could share pictures of their work and basically build these amazing lookbooks where they could have all of their hair photos in one beautifully curated place.

Bangstyle was started just a few years before Instagram blew up--and it’s still the only photo-sharing platform dedicated to hairstylists--but boy has it blossomed into so much more.

Today, Bangstyle is a resource for hairstylists and beauty industry brands everywhere. In fact, it even has a large consumer base, who use it to sift through photos for their own hair-inspo before heading to the salon. 

Bangstyle produces all kinds of content, from blogs and articles, to specific brand features, to curated collections and beyond. It’s a one-stop-shop for all beauty industry professionals--so, what are you waiting for?

Want to Show Off Your Work? Stylists Welcome!

Are you a stylist or beauty guru? Do you want to show off your work and spread the love? You’ve come to the right place. 

Bangstyle was brought to life by a few incredible individuals who wanted to bring “art” back into this amazing industry. Ashlee reflects on their original mission centered around showcasing a stylists passion for their craft, which for many goes beyond the tradition cuts and colors being done in the salon. 

While babylights and balayages are artful in their own way, stylists and hair show artists are always creating these amazing avant-garde looks behind the scenes. While these might not be your run-of-the-mill salon styles, these artistic updos often grace runways and editorial shoots and absolutely deserve to have their praises sung--and thus, Bangstyle was born.

Today, Bangstyle is not only the perfect platform to post your own hair photos, but it’s an essential resource for connecting with other beauty industry professionals, brand ambassadors, hair educators--you name it. And, Bangstyle is always looking for content creators! If you’ve got an idea for a blog post, article or web series, submit away!

Creating a Bangstyle account is totally free and incredibly easy. All you have to do is sign-up and start sharing!

Have You Got Something Our Stylists Should See? Beauty Brands All Aboard!

Bangstyle is home to thousands of the industry’s best beauty brands, including cult favorites like Redken, Sam Villa and Keune, and they’re always looking to add more. Brands can create their own profiles on this digital platform, where they can share photos, product knowledge, post articles and even introduce team members and brand ambassadors. 

Ashlee attributes much of Bangstyle’s success to the level of investment from beauty industry brands everywhere. Without their support, consumers and stylists wouldn’t be quite as connected on the platform, these brands really bring everything full circle.

Ashlee is so proud of how far Bangstyle has come as far as brand promotion goes. Today, brands can create their own channels where they can publish content, post photos, articles and even upload videos to share with both stylists and general consumers alike.

If you’re looking for a unique way to showcase your brand and get in front of your ideal target audience, it’s time to create a Bangstyle account!

Want to learn more about the ever-so-inspirational Ashlee and Bangstyle’s roots? Listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 191. And don’t forget to create your Bangstyle account today! Happy surfing!

Are your guests excited to spread the great news about your salon to everyone they know? When they do, are they being thanked? 

If your goal is to begin a program that is easy to manage, you’re in luck! 

Salon Owner and Industry Expert, Kati Whitledge, shares how her staff at Be Inspired Salon works to capture guest referrals and how they thank them for their advocacy when those referrals come through.

In addition to hosting the beloved Beyond The Technique podcast, Kati is the owner of the award-winning Be Inspired Salon located in Madison, Wisconsin, and the creative brain behind Meet Your Stylist, an innovative salon software system that matches potential clients with salon professionals based on services, lifestyle preferences, and personality metrics. 

Kati is incredibly passionate about helping others in the industry develop their own success stories, and today she’s sharing her secrets for building an easy-to-manage referral program in order to help you capture those leads.

Capture Data with Client Intake Forms

An easy way to catch wind of a word-of-mouth referral is to ask every new guest how they heard about your salon. You can do this with your client intake form. 

At Be Inspired Salon, the client intake forms are digital. They made a non-public webpage that they have saved as an app on their iPads in the salon. When a guest visits for the first time, they give them the iPad and have them fill out their information. They include the question, “How did you hear about us?” Which prompts each guest to check all that apply.

The reasons they add the disclaimer, “please check all that apply”, is so that they can track their return on investment for all advertising platforms. This could include Google, Facebook, Instagram, Meet Your Stylist, a local magazine, radio, a partnering business, a friend, or other. When a guest selects “friend”, there is a drop down box which prompts them to fill in their friend’s name. 

Even if you’re not ready to go digital with your client intake forms, you can effectively apply these same principles in print.

Give the Gift of Added-Value

After you have an easy way to capture the names of guests who have referred you new guests, it’s so important to show your appreciation. 

That being said, Kati also stresses how important it is to make sure that how you choose to show your appreciation in turn adds value to their experiences at your salon. What she means by that is, you always want to give more, not offer them a lesser price. 

Many salons will promote offers such as, “Refer a friend and you’ll both receive 20% off your next visit”. But did you know that this devalues your services and products and in the mind of the buyer? It tells them that your services and products are actually worth less. 

Instead, Kati suggests that you use value-based propositions such as, “Every time you refer us a new guest, we will gift you with a $10 shopping pass to use at our salon!” In the verbiage alone, there is a huge difference in the value you’re offering.

Show Your Appreciation with a Hand-Written Thank You

Regardless of what value-added gift you give, consider a thank-you note as a touch point in your relationship. 

For example, at Be Inspired Salon Kati and her team sit down once per week with their list of guests who have given referrals. They write each guest a handwritten thank-you note and mail them out later that day. 

“Thank you” letters are a lost art and people love the special feeling of receiving a personal card in the mail. In the note, Kati and her team leave a simple message, such as, “Mary, thank you so much for referring Connie to us! We appreciate your advocacy and we appreciate you. Please enjoy this $10 shopping pass at your next visit!”

The lesson for today is if you employ a referral program, make sure it’s easy to manage so you never have to worry about dropping the ball. Add valuable gifts to show your appreciation, and think of a personalized way to thank each guest who is going out of their way to spread their love for your brand.

To listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, check out episode 189, and if you’d like to learn a little bit more about our host, Kati, check out her website and don’t forget to subscribe to the Beyond The Technique podcast for more incredible industry insight.

The beauty industry is changing at a rapid pace. The question is, can you keep up?

Michael Cole, of Summit Salon Business Center, has been in the industry for over 30 years. He’s witnessed the many eras of our industry from the precision-cutting of the 70s, the rise of hair color in the 80s to the glamour shots of the 90s. However, nothing tops the digital-social era we’re living in today.

Our industry has become about so much more than cutting and coloring. Our stylists are providing new services, learning new techniques and perfecting their customer service skills. Our marketing and branding is out of this world. Our receptionists are out on the floor, engaging with clients, selling retail and building relationships along the way. Our salon owners and managers are learning all of the ins and outs of operating a business and as a whole we’re reaching new and incredible heights--and the view is great.

Michael refers to the revolution taking place as “disruption”. We’re being taken for a ride and we’re fighting to hold on, but to Michael, that’s part of the fun. Michael shares his secrets for keeping up with today’s technically savvy world and also how SSBC can help you reclaim your power. 

How to Handle Change as a High “S”

Are you familiar with the four DISC personality profiles?

Did you know that 80% of beauty industry professionals score a high “S”? This means that the majority of stylists, estheticians, massage therapists and make-up gurus are the steady, calm, supportive personality type. It also means that one of their biggest obstacles is typically change. 

So, with all of the changes currently sweeping our industry, how can all of these High S’s not only survive, but turly thrive in their careers?

Get on Your Instagram Game

Social media is one of the most powerful tools we have in our digital toolbox, and for the beauty industry, Instagram is at the top of the food chain. Michael says that he can tell how technically on-trend someone is by doing a five second driveby on their Instagram page. It doesn’t take long to see if you’re with it!

As a stylist, your Instagram serves as your digital lookbook. It’s the perfect place to showcase your latest cuts and colors and you can even pull up your own Instagram during consultations with new clients when communicating about what they’re looking to have done. Michael says you should always be photographing your highest ticket hairdos in order to draw in others who want the same services. 

That being said, not only is it important to have a trendy Instagram as a stylist in order to showcase your work, but Michael says you should also be taking advantage of your Instagram-savvy clients. 

You probably won’t have time to take pictures of all of your clients while you have them in the salon, so you should be strategic about the ones who do get that before and after photo-shoot. Michael suggests taking a peek at your client’s Instagram pages in order to see who has the most followers. Anyone with upwards of 200 followers is the perfect client influencer. You definitely want to be tagging them in the hopes that they might share their new do on their own pages too.

Salon Owners, It’s Time for Your Social-Digital Bootcamp

Okay, let’s go back to those DISC personality profiles. While most of our stylists are high S’s, our salon owners and managers tend to be high D’s. They’re controlling, competitive and they’re used to being in charge. All of which are characteristics of great leaders, but they also mean that salon owners and managers are more likely to struggle with today’s power structure because they no longer have full control. 

Once upon a time, the beauty industry power structure started with the manufacturer, moved down to the distributor, trickled down to the salon owner, then the stylist until it found its way into the hands of the client, but alas, that is no longer the case. 

Today, it’s often the younger stylists that are the most digitally savvy, and they also tend to have younger clientele which means more client influencers to do the marketing for them. Michael has salon owners come to him all of the time with complaints of feeling disempowered due to this new system and he says that it’s all about how you view your situation. 

You have to learn to channel that power in a new way. You have to learn social and digital skills in order to catch up to your most technically-savvy team members and then you can set guidelines for the way that your team is allowed to live and breathe your brand on social and take back some control. 

Things are changing in our industry whether you like it or not, Michael says you might as well embrace it or you’ll wind up chasing it later on. 

If you’d like to learn more about Michael and the new era we face, listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 187. And don’t forget to check out Summit Salon Business Center, where you can find the best coaches and mentors around to help you tackle these changing times.

There’s a strong sense of responsibility that comes with being a leader but you also have to be open to learning new things and facing new challenges. Sometimes that means admitting that you aren’t always the most knowledgeable person in the room. 

Salon Owner and Industry Expert, Kellie Johnson, is no stranger to the struggle that comes with finding your place as a leader. Today, she’s here to share her advice on becoming the kind of leader you want to be.

We introduced you to Kellie in our Beyond The Technique Podcast, but if you missed her previous interviews we’ll give you a quick recap: Kellie is the owner of the renown Elan Studio and a council member of The EmpowHERment Project. Aside from her career in the beauty industry, Kellie is also a certified Hypnotherapist and Professional Coach. With expert industry insight, she offers her best advice for becoming a strong leader within your salon. 

Salon Owners, You’ve Got to Stay True to Yourself

Kellie has always been passionate about learning new things and building on her experiences in order to grow. She believes that being a good leader is about becoming the best version of yourself--somebody that you would look up to--and that takes time. 

For Kellie, her first three years in business were her most challenging. She struggled to find structure, she wanted to please everybody, and at the end of the day, she simply wasn’t putting her own needs first.

Now, Kellie looks back on those times and she’ll tell you that learned a lot along the way, but the most important lesson she took away from those early years is that you absolutely have to lead with love and you can never compromise on your own values. 

A True Leader Invests in Their Team

Kellie is a strong believer in the idea that salon ownership isn’t about making money, it’s about growing people. She makes it her mission to create as many opportunities for her team as she can with the hopes of building their confidence one step at a time.

At Elan, they do focus on technical skill training, but Kellie also brings in speakers and industry experts who can educate her team on personal development and build on the intrapersonal skills that are truly a testament to a stylist’s strength behind the chair.

Kellie believes that education and opportunities for growth are crucial in creating a positive salon culture. Kellie works hard to empower her team to take their career into their own hands, by building their confidence both in and outside of the salon.

You Can’t Go Getting Your Feelings Hurt

Kellie reflects on one of the hardest lessons she had to learn as a new salon owner, which was that you can’t take anything personally. Letting your emotions get in the way of your leadership is disruptive for the entire team.

Of course, in a creative industry like ours, we’re constantly surrounded by incredibly sensitive, emotionally intelligent individuals who sometimes let their feelings get the best of them, salon owners and leaders included. 

Kellie believes that as a salon owner, you have to remember that it isn’t about you. You have to be able to see past your own emotions and reactions in order to help your team grow, both personally and professionally. 

How to Stay on Top of It All

Being a leader comes with quite a bit of responsibility and responsibility requires discipline. Kellie manages her stress by practicing meditation. As a salon owner, it can be quite easy to get overwhelmed with all of the little things you need to get done during the week, the month, even the year. 

Kellie recommends starting your day with a solid 20 minutes of meditation to simply check in with yourself. Prep for your day and what you hope to accomplish in those 24 hours. Don’t get ahead of yourself, don’t start thinking about the next day or the week ahead, just focus on what you want to get done that day. 

Then, check in with yourself again in the evening. Reward yourself for your hard work and give yourself a pat on the back for everything you were able to check off of your list! 

Meditation is one of the healthiest forms of stress management out there and anybody can do it. For Kellie, it has completely changed the way she looks at her to-do list.

If you’d like to learn more about Kellie and her incredible journey in the beauty industry, listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 186. Be sure to also check out our other Beyond The Technique blog featuring Kellie’s incredible industry insight, “Five Ways to “Wow” Your Clients and Improve Your Salon Experience.”