Salon Success Secrets

How Tracking 3 Numbers Can Transform Your Salon

• Lindsay Lowe & Jen Booth

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We explore how salon owners can use September as a leadership reset period, implementing three powerful habits that will help their teams thrive and businesses grow during the most profitable quarter of the year.

• Create clarity habits by setting clear goals and expectations for your team through weekly "Sunday CEO Reset" routines
• Track numbers and identify coaching opportunities to eliminate confusion that wastes time and energy
• Build connection habits through daily huddles and intentional celebration of small wins
• Remember that your team's energy mirrors yours—you are the thermostat, not the thermometer
• Implement cash flow habits by tracking PAR (pre-books, average ticket, retail units)
• Share performance metrics with your team in a way that motivates rather than intimidates
• Set par goals that challenge your team to improve key metrics that drive business success
• Celebrate wins to reinforce behaviors you want to see repeated

Text the word "INCOME" to 469-283-5590 to receive our free income earning potential calculator that shows your team exactly how their PAR numbers translate into personal income growth.


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Speaker 1:

Do you ever feel like summer just happens to you Like the schedules are messy, the kids are out of school, vacations and last minute cancellations fill your books and before you know it, you're walking into September already tired. Didn't have to feel like catch up. What if you know you could use this season the same way your kids use back to school season? Get you a new backpack, sharpen your pencils, get some fresh goals. You know September can be your leadership reset, a time to create the routines that will carry your team and your business through the most profitable part of the year.

Speaker 2:

So good, and so that's what today's episode is about. It's resetting your leadership routine as a salon owner with three habits that will make your team thrive, your business grow and your year finish strong. So let me help you picture this. I want you to picture it's the first day of school. Your kids have their new backpacks, their fresh shoes, and I thought earlier you said gold, you said goals, lindsay so I was like, oh, kids got the new goal. Okay, I got it, you know. So you picture this and they're, they're walking into school and that mix of nerves and excitement right Now. Imagine this If your team walked into that, into the salon, with that same energy fresh, focused, ready to grow, wouldn't that be amazing? But here's the thing they won't unless you reset first. See, leadership energy sets the tone. You are the thermostat, not the thermometer, and so today we're going to share three leadership reset habits that will completely shift the way your team sees you and themselves this fall.

Speaker 1:

Yes, this is going to be incredible. So let's dive right in to habit number one, and this is all about clarity habits, you know. So this is where you want to set clear goals and expectations for your team, because your team cannot rise under unclear standards, you know. And so September is really the perfect time to re clarify. What are your non negotiables, what are this quarter's priorities? Where are you taking them as a leader? And so, when you think about this, you know a great weekly reset routine would be. You know, we call this your Sunday CEO reset. You know, just like the kids pack their bags and get ready for Monday, leaders should reset weekly day. Leaders should reset weekly, you know. Review the calendar, check numbers, clarify who needs coaching right away.

Speaker 1:

And you might be thinking, but Lindsay, I don't have time for this, but the truth is you don't have time not to, because clarity actually saves you time where confusion wastes it. You know, and it just makes me think of like. I've had team members come to me in the past, you know, and saying like, hey, it's too hard to hit these numbers. Um, and it's truly, because what I've uncovered is like they're confused about how to get there. And so, you know, we recently I recently just had a teammate shout out to Haley who got a level jump.

Speaker 1:

And you know, I think Haley, at one point, you know, had somebody who was really feeding her the belief that those numbers were impossible to hit. And, you know, we connected and really got some clarity around, like, okay, here's what it would look like daily. And she was like, wow, this is actually way easier than I even thought possible. But the truth was, there was confusion there and there was also somebody, you know, feeding that fear and misinformation and that belief that wasn't even true, that belief that wasn't even true. And so when we got that clarity, man, she was able to just skyrocket and hit that level jump.

Speaker 1:

But it also is, you know, as a leader, if you aren't paying attention to what the numbers are telling you inside of the salon, because numbers they're just telling a story about the conversations that are happening. So if somebody's retail numbers are low, it has nothing to do with anything other than they are not having the right conversations around it. So it's just a beautiful gift. Hey, what do we need to talk about together? How can we support you? How can you know, do some role playing with that team member so that they really can thrive and have clarity around what those goals are.

Speaker 2:

So you know, Lindsay, that reminds me of I just had a coaching session with somebody on our team and she's we want to project out the rest of the year. So I think she was like 54,000. I said, hey, you're on track to do like, finish the year at like 81,000. I said, but if we did X, y and Z and we put these little things into place and we created this plan together, like you would definitely finish at about $95,000 for the year. She hasn't even been with our company for four years and so, like, isn't that so huge? Like if we could just said hey, you know, maybe you should work on pre-booking again, but like, hey, let's finish strong, let's really look at the numbers where we're at and what direction can we take to really push us to almost that impossible goal? Like something that they don't even see possible.

Speaker 2:

But as their coach or, as you know, your leadership team, it helps them to really see a new opportunity. And you could tell her eyes were just like wow, that's truly possible for me. And she was so enrolled. So now she has a plan. So by the time of the end of the year comes along, she's just not at $81,000, which is incredible, just for being with our company last four years. But she's at $95,000. And last year she finished at $51,000. So she's already made more money this year than she did the entire last year, and we still have four months left. So I think it is like when you're doing growth sessions and things like that, it really is a huge opportunity to extract those numbers and help your team reset as well. So I just thought that was.

Speaker 1:

That was an incredible story from yesterday that I wanted to share, and so yeah, that is huge, and what a win for her to be able to see that and actually stick around to the end of this podcast, because we have a really cool tool that we are going to gift you as being an awesome listener of the podcast. So next up, we have habit number two. You know this is where you create connection habits. You know so this is where you create connection habits. You know so this is where you think about that daily huddle, your salon celebrations. You know this is where your team energy truly starts to mirror yours. So if you start scattered, they will too, but if you start focused, they will align, you know. And so, even just like the story that Jen just told, or the story that I told about Haley, you know, if we would have just met them where they were at, scattered, and not had a plan, you know they wouldn't have had somebody giving them a North star of what's truly possible.

Speaker 1:

And you know, I think something that really goes hand in hand with this is to celebrate those small wins. You know, teach people around you to spot a win. What is a win? A lot of times they think you know, they have to be buying a brand new car or a new house or taking a lavish vacation or something for it to be a win. But a win is truly like hey, if you either haven't been having pre-book conversations at all or maybe they've been misaligned or they've been about you and not about the client and you change that, and even if it's just one time, you do it and it works, celebrate that because you want to create more of that energy around.

Speaker 1:

Hey, I'm doing this and these are the results that I'm getting. You know, because what we know is like, hey, when the systems that we have put into place are being utilized properly, everybody wins more often. You know they win almost every time, and so when you're able to really celebrate that gosh, you know it. It changes everything, because some leaders think if I celebrate too much, they won't push harder, but the reality is people repeat the behaviors that get noticed. So if you want sales, celebrate sales. If you want pre-books, celebrate pre-books. You know, because that is how you're really going to start to paint that bigger picture.

Speaker 2:

So good. You know, lindsay, I remember being at your salon retreat last week and I asked just a question like how many have been in industry for 15 years? And a few raised their hands how many have been in industry for um 15 years? And if you raise their hands, how many have been in the industry for 10 years? I think maybe one or two raise their hand and you have a team of what is there? 25, I don't even know, it was 25, about 25, 30, yeah. And then I said five years, a few more, and then I said how many of you have been in the industry like less than um three years or even like one year? And it was so incredible. Most of the hands went up then and I was like wow, because you guys have grown by leaps and bounds and so like that is a testament to like when you truly celebrate that. And I wanted them to pat themselves on the back too, because that's a true testament to them.

Speaker 2:

Using the systems, the company having the systems, like you could just tell, the whole entire energy of the space shifted because, like man, we are really doing some incredible things. I mean, we're doing more than some people have been in this industry for 10 and 15, 20 years or not even doing. And so I love that idea of, like, pulling out and extracting those wins, because you know, when you're new they're like oh, I'm just new, just level one. No, you're amazing, you're incredible. Let's find those wins, let's celebrate them together because, like I bet, if you called your friends and asked who you went, that you went to hair school. With what they're doing, I promise you they're not doing five and six thousand dollars a month. One on the salon floor, I promise you.

Speaker 1:

And so it was a really testament to you know, celebrating those wins at the your monthly celebrations and celebrations and how they truly do elevate everyone yeah and shout out to you you did an incredible job and lots of great wins that day, and I think that really ties into habit number three, which is where you create those cash flow habits as a salon owner. That's man, that's one of the most important things. And and so what you can do here is track par, and if there's one reset that you make this September, let it be this. Please hear this this is a writer downer, for sure Track PAR. Par stands for pre-books, average ticket and retail units per guest, and these are the three drivers that every salon business should really be tracking and utilizing to create the most sustainable and profitable salon possible.

Speaker 1:

And pre-books we know that. Those equal stability, because really, truly, what we're trying to drive here is retention. But if you say, hey, we got to retain all the guests that is something that we talk a lot about. When somebody starts in the master's program like, hey, the world is going to tell you that social media is the most important thing that might be for them. But what's actually the most important thing is retention, and the way that we're able to check retention daily is to see what our pre-books are at, you know, because if you're, if you're setting things up properly, if you're creating that customized plan and and creating a bigger, brighter future for them, they're going to want to come back and they're going to pre-book and then that's going to be the number that tells us about stability. The second number would be that average ticket. You know, and that is truly where profitability and their income explodes.

Speaker 1:

You know, if, if you start to track this and watch this grow wow, incredible things happen. And you know this grow Wow, incredible things happen. And you know that. That next one is the retail units and this, you know, really creates that client trust. You know this also creates a lot of consistency. Um, when people are taking home those products, like what we know is, nobody knows the difference between a good haircut and a great haircut, but they do know the difference between if they feel like they're great at taking care of their hair at home and if their daily styling is happening, and that's when they're going to say I got a great haircut. It actually has nothing to do with the haircut itself, but it has to do with their confidence. You know, when it comes to styling, are they using the right tools to aid in that styling? Are they using, you know, do they know how to recreate their look at home? And so when we're having proper conversations, retail units for guests they just skyrocket.

Speaker 2:

So good and listen, if you're not showing your team these numbers daily, weekly, monthly then they don't know how they are winning. You know when and you think about it from a salon, or this is not slap the numbers on the in the connection room. Be like these are your numbers, like this is a huge opportunity to really set up the context correctly, and what I mean by that is help them understand the why behind this. And so you know saying things like hey, we're going to share some numbers, and some of you right now are thinking, oh my gosh, some of you are going to want to run out the door and some of you are going to be really excited and that's okay. And here's the why behind why we're doing this. I want you to put on the glasses of like, wow, this is where I'm at. But look at lindsey, she's really winning an average ticket. I need to connect with lind Lindsay and see what she's doing so that I can elevate my average ticket.

Speaker 2:

And that conversation looks so much different between just slapping some numbers on um in the connection room and hoping that they understand. You know, if you think about it like a football team it's football season now like they understand the plays that they're running every single day. But if lots of players didn't understand the play they were going to run for that single game, it would be game confusion, be confused, right. It's the same thing with our team. When we're all united and connected together, we can understand how to keep that momentum and move forward faster. So sharing numbers can be a really beautiful thing. It is a beautiful thing especially if the intention is pure and the intention is to move the momentum forward.

Speaker 1:

I love that, you know, jen. It really just makes me think about the difference between power and force. You know, when you are trying to force somebody to do something, well gosh, you're going to have to be the driver of them for the rest of your life. But when you're, you know, you stepping into your leadership from a place of power, it's like helping them see their blind spots, helping them understand the why, like you just talked about. You know, removing that game confusion even that you just mentioned, and so it's like.

Speaker 1:

You know, imagine sending your kids to school but never showing them their grades until the end of the year. That would be crazy, right, but that's what salon owners do all the time when they don't share par numbers, you know, because some salon owners really fear that sharing numbers will intimidate or overwhelm somebody. But the reality is, when you set it up, like Jen just talked about, and when people see the scoreboard, they play harder. And you know when, when they don't have that to look forward to, when they're not driving, they're drifting. And when people are drifting, you know, that's a scary, scary place to be at.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. And you're're thinking what the heck does par even mean um and so if you're a golf fan, you probably know where par comes from. Like I have some golf outfits, but I know par probably means what hole in one? Is that correct? Like it's like so far?

Speaker 1:

like what they? So if par on a course would be like this is like like a par three course, so like, yeah, they're saying it's going to take an average of three strokes um to to make it in there, and so you're trying to go below par when you come to par. So it's like basically just saying, like here's the average of what happens at this hole, and so basically what you're going to do is you're going to tell your then you're going to set some par goals and it's going to be a little bit different than golf, because you're not going to want to go um under those numbers. You're actually going to want to go above those numbers, you know. So set that up with your team. But then you would just say, hey, like here's, here's par for the course, you know, and so par um for rebooking.

Speaker 1:

You know, maybe at your salon you're just starting out, so maybe you got to get to 40%, Maybe you got to get to 50%, maybe you're getting to 60%, you know. Eventually, of course you want to get to 80%, um, but that's that can be. You know, you want to set those goals. You want to set like, okay, here's average, and then you want to help them see what's truly possible, and so some people will be above par, some people will be below par, and so, instead of it being like golf, where you want to be below this, you want to be above. You want to be winning in order to really take home the prize which is creating that amazing guest experience, because you know, when people are seeing the value in what you're offering, they're buying more things. There's, you know, reserving more future appointments. They're enjoying more services all of those great things.

Speaker 2:

I love that. You know what I told my team, because I said, you know, be like Tiger Woods. Par for us means hole in one. We want to get. Just think about that hole in one. When you get that hole in one, man, everybody wins. And so, like you know, I just if you're thinking like, where did those PAR numbers, like, where does PAR stand for, or come Lindsay explained that beautifully so that you can kind of set your team up with that too but really just focusing on, hey, this is the why behind, why we're doing this and how we can move forward faster. So love that, all right.

Speaker 2:

So so here's your challenge for the week salon owners. Like, pick one clarity habit. You know, you know what's it going to be like. Thinking about where do you need to get clear on? Is it like, is it like Lindsay mentioned earlier, is that Sunday reset? So what did you call it? The Sunday salon reset? Ceo reset, yeah, salon, ceo reset. So like picking your day. What's that going to look like? Pick one connection habits. Think about your huddles, your growth sessions. You know, just pick one connection point. That's just start there, um. And then pick one cashflow habit. Like, even just starting with par in a huddle, um, looking at it from the point of a team or, you know, just getting the whiteboard ready so that you can start putting par in the back room. So if you do this consistently for the next 30 days, this will be your leadership reset.

Speaker 1:

And if you do this, think about it, by the time the holidays hit, the holidays hit, your salon will be thriving instead of just surviving man, what a great place to be at. And you know, I know we just talked all about par numbers and you might be wondering how do I show my team their earning potential in a way that excites them and not overwhelms them? And that's why we created our income earning potential calculator, and this tool lets your team see exactly how their par numbers translate into income growth for them personally. So you can get it free right now. Just text the word income that's I N C O M E to four, six, nine, two, eight, three, five, five, nine zero, and I'll send you a copy so that you can start using it with your team this week.

Speaker 1:

You know, I think what was really cool too is I overheard a couple of teammates Jen, I shared this with you already about uh, you know they were talking about oh my gosh, one of them when they just got their promotion.

Speaker 1:

They were like, oh, it's going to be wild to see.

Speaker 1:

You know we always make sure we use this calculator in our yearly um growth session, but, um, occasionally we break it out throughout the year. So I'm going to connect with this stylist and and pop those numbers in the calculator so that she can see hey, with this new promotion, she's, you know, experienced some amazing growth. It was really amazing to hear her say you know, I got my biggest paycheck yet, you know, is bigger than my parents' paychecks and, you know, just so exciting. Like that's a, just a, really, you know, it's not about competition, but it's like hey, like probably didn't even think that was possible as a career hairstylist and, you know, getting to have something incredible and meaningful, um, you know, and and having a career that's transforming people's lives and transforming their own life through their income. I'm telling you, when you start using this calculator, this tool, don't sleep on text and the word income right away, because just hearing how our teams light up when we use it is like wow, this was one of the greatest creations ever.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So remember, september isn't just back to school, it's back to leadership. It's your chance to reset, refocus and re-energize. And just remember that clarity creates direction, connection creates culture and cash flow creates freedom. You don't have to wait from January. Isn't that so exciting that your new year starts now? And we'll see you next week on the Salon Success Secrets Podcast.