The International Salon Spa Business Network Annual Conference is without a doubt one of my favorite events of the year. As the biggest conference for multi-site salon groups, it’s always a great chance to get together with our friends and clients and catch up on the latest industry trends.
The theme of this year’s event was ‘humanology’ – or the study of human nature. Throughout the conference, we heard from a range of interesting speakers, who offered different unique insights into how to win the hearts, minds, and loyalty of today’s client.
So, what were some of my top takeaways?
- One of the most important “KPIs” for any business should be the happiness of humans involved – customers and employees. Futures Agency CEO Gerd Leonhard discussed the concept of customer delight – satisfaction is not enough anymore, we need to push the boundaries to surpass expectations and create a remarkable experience in order to effectively foster client loyalty.
- Today’s client expects to do business on their terms, and this flows into all interactions we have with them. From the way we confirm appointments (phone, email or text), through to our email marketing, and even the consultation, we need to listen to, and understand, what they want and start from there. Gerd said it best when he said “we need to stop interrupting what people are interested in, and rather become what they are interested in.”
- Employees today, and particularly Millennials, have high expectations when it comes to job satisfaction. CEO of Delivering Happiness Jenn Lim, spoke of how we can create a positive ‘happy’ working culture for our staff by focusing on fostering a sense of passion, as well as purpose in our teams. We can do this by encouraging them to take pride in their craft, as well as the impact they have on their clients lives, while also helping them to stay motivated with measurable goals and a growth plan for the future.
