Asking For Money!

Today I deal with the grey area of asking for the bill at the end of an appointment, it seems to be what comes up most for my clients.

You can contact me @the_salon_owner_mentor on instagram or drop me an email at Hello@thesalonownermentor.co.uk

I have some workshops being released around pricing and charging correctly so please join my list by visiting www.thesalonownermentor.com and pop your details in the box at the bottom to be alerted.

Transcript

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You don't know how to charge properly, you never set boundaries with your clients, and your work-life balance is non-existent. I bet if you are a hairdresser or a salon owner, you can relate to those three things. I am Cathy Birch, the salon owner mentor, and I am here to share with you the things I have learned over my 20 years of running my hair salon. Hope you enjoy. In today's episode I want to talk about setting boundaries with your clients because I believe that for most hairdressers this is a thing that we struggle with the most. I believe that it is the reason that we feel unfulfilled, we feel unvalued and the reason that some days we can turn up to work and we make absolutely no money. That is because we're not setting policies and standards with our clients that we need. Now most businesses that you go into there's always a policy there's a set of standards there's something that you know that you expect from that business so why does it have to be any different for you why does your business have to be any different just because it's you and you're a little business running on your own you could be working you may have a salon you may just be working from your garden whatever it is your business is no less valuable than a bigger company it's just that because you're the decision maker and you know the buck stops with you, that it's easy for you to say it doesn't matter when it really, really does. I believe it is vital that from day one in your business that you set the tone of how things are going to run between you and your client, okay? Now, I think from the minute that they book an appointment with you, I really like to use a booking system because I just think it keeps everything professional. It keeps the communication at a minimum where your inboxes aren't getting invaded. You're not having to, in your personal time, be booking appointments and everything else. If you can send your clients to a booking system then it is going to make everything so much easier for you because that will then give them text reminders. It can also take deposits from them. So that kind of eliminates the kind of no show things that we have to put up with in our industry, which is absolutely shocking because I don't really know many other companies that people do this too. But I think when it's salons, it's, I don't know, it just seems to be something that we struggle with the most. And it's quite heartbreaking when we put our hearts and souls into our business and you turn up for a day and you've got your diary full of a client and that's your income that's what's going to be paying your bills and that client just doesn't turn up it is there's nothing more soul destroying and you know it makes you just want to give up and go and get a job where you know your money's coming in every single week without fail but you it doesn't have to be like that you don't have to have that um you can set those boundaries from day one with your clients so they know if they need to cancel appointments sometimes life happens it's unavoidable but I think you need to kind of be a little bit flexible if it's a client that you've done for a long time you know I kind of have a bit of a sort of two strikes and you're out kind of rule unless it's a really good loyal client that I've had for a long time and then obviously it's a little bit different so for me I think if you know somebody is just blatantly taking the mick then they're gone I just block them from our system and you know we don't let them rebook because for Us as a business, we just can't put up with that. I can't afford to pay staff's wages to sit around and do nothing. So we have that really strict policy in our salon of, you know, if you're going to mess around, then we just block them and they don't come back in. And, excuse me, I think that it's really important that you set that tone in your business, whatever you want that to be. And you need to communicate that really clearly with your clients, okay? So we have on our booking system, when the appointment goes out, it says that we reserve the right to charge a 50% cancellation fee if they don't turn up to the appointment. We have it on our website, we have it on our social media. So hopefully people do understand. And I think a lot of people now are more understanding of this. A lot of dentists do it, restaurants do it. I think a lot more people are kind of understanding that this is our livelihood. We've got to protect ourselves and our income. So do not feel bad for putting that in place and implementing it. The second thing and probably the biggest thing that I want to talk about today is asking for money in your business because I know for me, it's been a really, really great area. It's the things that have really effed up my business over time and I've had to really understand how to charge properly and not feel bad for asking for that money for the bill at the end of the appointment, okay? So I want to just talk to you a little bit about that today and go over some things you to hopefully help you feel a little bit better when you're coming to the end of the appointment and you're like oh my god you know we've sat through this appointment and she's told me about how you know she's got no money and this has happened and that's happened and blah blah blah and now you're going to ask her for like 200 pound for doing her hair like that isn't your problem her personal finances and her personal life are not your issue okay your issue is your life and your finances you've turned up to work you've done a job the bill is the bill okay so i feel don't feel bad for asking for the money and charging your worth. So what you need to do, you need to have a clear understanding of the time, the effort and the expertise that goes into providing each service that you do. It will help you feel more confident about pricing. So I would do a little bit of research into what other people are charging, but that's not the key to you charging what you need to charge. because somebody down the road is charging 50 quid for a cut and blow dry doesn't mean you have to charge 50 quid or you have to undercut them okay because that's their outgoings that's what they need to charge you need to base it on what you need to charge what your outgoings are what do you want from the business what sort of lifestyle do you want and how many days a week do you want to earn so you need to take all these things into consideration when you're pricing each service that you're offering and once you get to grips with the finances of what what it costs to run your life, what it costs to run your business, and you break it down into an hourly figure of what that costs for you to turn up to work, you will feel better about getting to the end of that appointment and knowing that you've worked on that client for three hours, therefore the end bill needs to be, I don't know, say your hourly rate needs to be 50 pounds, then that appointment is 150 pounds. You need to charge that 150 pounds because those three hours that you've worked are covering your bills and your lifestyle. So So hopefully getting to grips with that mindset a little bit gets to the end of the appointment and just makes you feel less, I don't know, just less anxious about saying all your bills, blah, you know, and apologizing that you've had to charge that much. You know, most people go into anywhere. You don't go into Tesco's and argue with the price of the beans that week. You go and you pay because you know that's what the price is. So it needs to be the same for you in your business. And, you know, as long as you're being fair with your pricing, you know, you kind of have to, you know, if you're overpricing, if you're not in an area where people have a lot of money, then you're going to find it hard to charge really high rates if that's just not what your area is going to allow. You know, if you're using really high end products, but you're not charging enough to cover them, then that's not going to work either. So you really do need to take into account all the aspects that you need to in in order to make sure that your services are charged properly and you're covering all your costs and you're gonna be charging something realistic so people are gonna be coming into the business. You need to communicate this properly, okay? So communicate what your pricing is. Now, have a website and have all your prices on your website. If you don't have a website and you run just off your Instagram page, have a highlight reel with your price list on. If you have an online bookshop, booking system then this will all be on the booking system anyway so whilst people are choosing those appointments they're going to know what that service costs okay so I think just being really transparent with what everything is and breaking things down into services one of the things I got wrong um when I first had my salon was that I would just charge a fixed fee so it would be like you know I don't know say half head for yours with a cut and blow dry that would be whatever that cost was um but as I've gone through my business and I've learned things to do and don't and I've learned how to price properly and everything else I now break everything down into services and I charge each service so when I come to the end for the bill I reiterate to the client today you've had half a head of foils you've had a toner you've had a cut and blow dry your bill is x right so it just kind of helps them understand why did that bill come to so much why was it this bit much today because you can break it down and say well my half head foils is this my toner is that and my cut and blow dry is this It just helps to understand. I think that you need to do a really clear consultation. If it's a new client coming into the salon, then obviously a consultation is a must anyway because you need to be doing your patch testing. So when they come in for their colour consultation, you need to sit them in the chair, go through the service, obviously discuss with them what's going to be appropriate for their hair, what's going to work for them, everything else, and then break down the services that you're recommending. So you're going to say, you know, she wants a full-on balayage okay so your four years are going to be this your root tap is going to be this your toner is going to be this a cut and blow dry any added treatments add it all together and give her an overall price and if that's too much for her then break it down into options and say okay right well you've already got some lightness through the ends why don't we just do a toner a treatment and a cut and blow dry and then she knows for next time if she wants the whole works then this is what it's going to be i just thinking kind of giving that little bit of transparency between you and your clients is it's going to build the trust because they're not going to get to the end and then be whacked with a huge bill and be like oh my god you know I wasn't expecting that I can't afford it or pay it because they're too embarrassed to say they can't afford it and leave and never come back because that's not what you want either the whole thing about building a solid clientele is the trust they want to know like and trust you if they get to know you they get to like you and they trust that they're going to turn up they're going to get what they've asked for and they've had a good service they're going to be prepared to pay for that service anyway so just being really really clear about what you are charging and why and if this is and again I know for so many salon owners you know I see on social media post people posting about you know they just don't know what to charge or they're like oh am I charging too much because people don't want to come to me because I feel like you know my prices are too high you know practice it with a friend if that's if it makes you feel a little bit nervous I don't know you know get a family member to sit down with you and go through it all with you and just you know practice asking for money because I don't know why it is such a grey area for us as salon owners I think it's because you are the business owner you don't have anybody to hide behind you don't have to be like oh wow you know I don't know I just work here that's what the prices are they know it's you who's setting those prices and I don't know if you like have nice holidays or you've got nice things and you're saying oh your bill today is x y and z you kind of you know people may think oh wow am I paying for your lifestyle. I don't know. Maybe that's something that could come up for you. I feel that sometimes that's been an issue for me that I think, you know, I go on nice holidays or whatever. And sometimes if we have to have a price increase, I think people are going to think they've just paid for my last holiday. When in actual fact, that's not the case. It's that, you know, things have gone up in the business and we've just had to put the prices up. So just understanding that at times your prices will need to change. And I think you've got to understand when to change the And not just, you know, oh, I'm going to put my prices up by five pounds today just because everyone else is putting their prices up. You've got to understand why you need to charge what you need to charge in your business and then going through regularly, like every six months, kind of going through your prices and working out if things gone up, if bills gone up, do we need to put the prices up? And just don't be scared to ask for money in your business because we turn up to work and we're there to do a good job. and we have so much passion for what we do um and sometimes I think hairdressers we get we get a real tough time sometimes I think that we I don't know it's it's an industry that is struggling at the moment it really is and I've seen you know some salons close recently and it's really sad to see because we start out in this industry and we have all the love and the passion for what we want to do and then it just beats the life out of us and it's it's not fair so I think if you're setting really good boundaries with your clients and they understand what you expect from them and what they can expect from you and you're delivering that service then there's no reason why you can't have a really good long-standing solid clientele so I hope that's kind of cleared up for you a little bit of anxiety around pricing and charging and some things to do that you can maybe help charging your business a little bit better so you're not getting so overwhelmed with it then yeah I hope that has helped I do have some courses around pricing and knowing how to charge in your business and going through your ins and outs with you and helping you understand money in your business there'll be a link at the bottom of this podcast that you can you can have a look at those other than that I hope you all have a great week I'm doing really really good at sticking to my habits if you've listened to my previous episode of my promise to record a podcast every week I am sticking to it and this year for me is all about new habit forming and being a better version of me so yeah I'm loving this actually so yeah everybody hope you have a good week thank you for listening if you need me I am at the salon owner mentor on Instagram or you can drop me an email at hello at the salon owner mentor dot co dot UK but thank you for listening have a great week and I will see See you next week.