TPTW Are you part of the elite 20%, and how do I join you?

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staceymackey

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If you enjoy reading and are interested in business then you probably know what I mean when I say I've been eating alot of ugly frogs and thinking of FISH! .... anywho, whilst reading I came across an observation that made me sit up - the 80/20 rule.

Not a new idea, but one that when applied to business (and it can be applied to many many situations) suggests that there are the 'vital few' performing in the top 20% and the 'trivial many' the other 80% ... those who are not necessarily less intelligent or passionate, but just not at the level of success they desire to be - and that the gap between the 20 and 80 is quite wide.

The 80/20 rule also suggests that 20% of our behaviour is responsible for 80% of our results. That 20% of our customers are responsible for 80% of our business. That 20% of our products and services result in 80% of our profits.

Are you in this elite 20%?

Whether it is within the industry as a whole, your local area, your specialist field, or your own team... what is it that you do differently that you are willing to share? Do you find the 80/20 rule to be true to your business operations? What insight can you give the 80% who are giving their time and effort day in day out, but not stepping up to that next level of success? I for one would love to hear (pretty please :))

xxx Stace

EDIT: No room for modesty on this thread!! lol
 
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straight up, i dont know where i would be in a elite prospective, because i dont rate myself like that.

But for me my success is returing clients, giving out valued information, making my client feel rewarded and listening to them. Im just myself, my other therapists and hairdressers, that i have employed i have made sure they connect with my clients.

I heard i quote recently, "we all want to be different, which makes us all the same!". I think awards might mean something to some people, but ive encountered less amitious people who happened to be better at their jobs than few, and the reason they dont have it is confidence. I think i certain personification of a outgoing open minded personality is required to ensure that not only will clients KNOW about you, but about your skills.

There is always going to be anomaly, on how people value their success, whether their are attempting to value the amount of money=success, investing in yourself, makeing freindships with clients, how well a viral maketing campaign went.

I think people should dare to be a little bit out of the box different, it certainly would change it up, and create a unique selling point for you. I think the status quo in life deserved to be challenged, whichever field of work your in. By striving to be different you create oppertunities for yourself. xoxo
 
i think personality has as much to do with business success as skill. IMO you can be the best in your area for whatever it is you do but the less skilled person down the road might be more successful than you simply down to the fact that she is more of a 'people person'.
if a client likes YOU as a person and is happy with her treatment she will be back again and again..
i wouldn't be in any 20% elitist group either but i am self employed for the last 20 years and i do well enough so i suppose my skills are good but my blarney helps that too.:wink2:
 
If I go for my immediate area then I'm above and beyond as I'm the only mobile stylist in the area lol. If I go further afield then I'm in the 80, but maybe ask me in a year once I'm more established (1 month isn't really a good indication) xoxo
 
How to be a 20%er? Hmmm

Be incredibly good at what you do. Be able to communicate that. Be able to relate to people quickly and easily. Be able to adapt and change things with confidence. Be able to relax the people in your care. Be likeable.

Most of all, it takes time. Time to hone your skills and personality, and time to build a client base.

Nobody can snap their fingers and become successful, no matter how "passionate" you are.
It also means being available, adapting to other peoples needs rather than your own. I have never met a truly 20%er who is part time. All the ones I know are full time and then some.
The rest is "xfactor"
 
I think being successful means different things to different people. I feel I'm successful because I started in my salon only working 1 1/2 days a week as there was no clientele, I now work full time, I am now self employed. I have built up an extremely loyal clientele who I am very thankful for and I never forget its these guys who have helped get me where I am today! I never take them for granted.
I feel I have built up this strong clientele by going that extra mile! I regularly stay late, i dont have official closing times! Im the first one in and the last one out I have came in during my holidays to do clients when I know they need their treatment done for a very special occasion in their lives, I spend my days off/spare time on salon geek reading up on new treatments :) (total geek!) keep my skills up to date by getting myself on training, take a low wage and put every spare penny back into my business and love watching it grow! Love seeing a full book makes me feel like im doing something right.


So whether im deemed as the 20 % or the 80% I'm successful in my own head and that's good enough for me :)
 
Thanks for the replies guys... I am love reading them. Its really motivating for me to hear from people who put so much of themselves into their businesses. I hate the 'bimbo beautician' stereotype...

...But for me my success is returing clients, giving out valued information, making my client feel rewarded and listening to them. Im just myself, my other therapists and hairdressers, that i have employed i have made sure they connect with my clients.

Wonderwoman, I love your attitude towards customer service. What do you at your salon do differently or consistantly that others fall down on? For example, I worked for a company where it was mandatory to meet our customer's at the front door and to greet them by name. They were to be escorted at all times and we were requried to include a compliment during our 'interaction'. A bit OTT I know, but some employees have no 'people skills'. What advice to you give your staff to make sure your clients enjoy your time with them? Is it just being open and listening to them?? or more?




.......How to be a 20%er? I have never met a truly 20%er who is part time. All the ones I know are full time and then some.
The rest is "xfactor"

This is the information I didn't want to hear!! (but suspected I would) Everyone running a business speaks of having no time for themselves. I read an older thread of yours Persianista, where you went on holidays for a week and your world pretty much fell apart! Companies are always advertising as providing employees with a 'work/life' balance these days... is there anyway to achieve that and have success in your business? Are you able to take a holiday these days?
 
I love this thread.

I am very new to the industry, I finished training this year and have my own salon. The initial reason for training was to know and understand treatmetns and a bit about the industry as I manage the salon and employee beauty therapists BUT whilst doing my training I fell in love with it. Everything the industry and the actual treatments. I love making people feel good, relaxed I love it all.

I want to be in the top 20%, I want to be different, I want to be the best and I want to lead not follow.

I hope my passion and dedication along with my bussiness head, and imporoving people skills can lead me to be a success full as many of you are. I have a huge mountain to climb but I WILL make the top.

Your stories are very inspiring, Salon geek is very motivational, im so glad i stumbled accross it!

x
 
In my area, you just have to be real with your clients. ie if their hair is a mess, let them know, "not to be mean but your hairs snapped off coz you've been a bad girl!"
We just add a bit of humour to everything but get to the point in hand.

So if client popped in with her joggers, coz its her day off and she may be hungover, the last thing she needs is a overly professional person overshadowing her so she feels compelled to put make up on for her visit. Its about making people feel comfortable, and i guess using my degree comes in handy coz its like a therapy couch!

I am a believer that clients are not stupid, i used to be a teacher, so for me, if my clients are unaware/scared thinking of trying something, to convince them its alright, we all go into professional mode, which can put clients at ease. At the end of the day their custom is our bread and butter, but if you impose too many rules on them they will go away.
Cancellation fees i think stop alot of people from making firm booking, in our salon you wont get charged but if you mess us about, we just wont have the time for you, so its pretty rare if it happens!

If any of my staff have gone out the night beforehand, we all chat about it with our clients, they after all are like our paying friends, we gain they're trust and know whats going on with them. So yeah we're pretty open, and our client come back because they know we know our stuff and that we're nice bunch. xoxo
 
I love this thread...

Not quite sure how to answer it especially as I have been feeling quite glum of late and business has been quiet, yet I shall recount a conversation I had with a client before Christmas.

CLIENT: "You know, when I came to you the first time, I went to somewhere else after"

ME: (Smiling with a raised eyebrow) "Oh right, so what made you pick me then?"

CLIENT: "Well the other one had much more experience than you, but there was something missing"

ME: (frowning) "care to elaborate?"

CLIENT: "I chose you, (pause for effect) because you care"

Me: STUNNED SILENCE and then blushing, a very meek, "well, thank you"

Later that evening when MWilliams returned from another day teaching people to drive, I told him and he gave me a hug. He said, "I know business is quiet, but it will pick up and people will realise that you are good at what you do" then he said, "I'm so proud of you and that's why I love you"

Nice eh?

So, I still don't know how to answer the question, but I think I have answered it, if you know what I mean.
 
I love this thread...

Not quite sure how to answer it especially as I have been feeling quite glum of late and business has been quiet, yet I shall recount a conversation I had with a client before Christmas.

CLIENT: "You know, when I came to you the first time, I went to somewhere else after"

ME: (Smiling with a raised eyebrow) "Oh right, so what made you pick me then?"

CLIENT: "Well the other one had much more experience than you, but there was something missing"

ME: (frowning) "care to elaborate?"

CLIENT: "I chose you, (pause for effect) because you care"

Me: STUNNED SILENCE and then blushing, a very meek, "well, thank you"

Later that evening when MWilliams returned from another day teaching people to drive, I told him and he gave me a hug. He said, "I know business is quiet, but it will pick up and people will realise that you are good at what you do" then he said, "I'm so proud of you and that's why I love you"

Nice eh?

So, I still don't know how to answer the question, but I think I have answered it, if you know what I mean.

And that is what it's all about really!.... Yes of course being good "technically" is incredibly important but so is making your client feel special and as though they matter.

I regularly massage a very elderly client and she told me how much she enjoys her treatments with me. When I asked her what in particular she enjoyed, she replied "you make me feel so cossetted".

That made my day.....and that's what brings people back on my opinion.

PB
x
 
This is a great thread...

If most are honest we all want to be the 20% One day!

At the end of the day, I firmly believe people buy things from those they like.

There is so much competition for business everywhere you look and it will take time to build up your clientele. I try wherever possible to take an open friendly approach with all customers that walk through my door and do my best to look after them. I'm polite,professional and enthusiastic about the things I do, I really believes this instills confidence...plus I've got a nice coffee machine:D
I listen and at times feel like an agony aunt but have come to be friends with many of my clients. I can honestly say at the moment they are all 'lovely' I've had some enlighteneing conversations with them of late where they have asked me how business is going and they have been nothing but complementary about my work, creativity and openly state they look forward to their appointments... so for now at least I feel like 20% even though on paper its a long way off! :)
 
Intriguing thread. I certainly know all about eating frogs and fishing. I also know all about the man who had to learn to say things in a minute or less, and about the mice who lost their cheese! I wonder if that's gobbledegook to many people here?

I think the 20% is subjective to how wide an area you draw around yourself. For instance, in my local area I would say that our salon is in the top 20%. I base that on a few things: We were nominated as finalists at The British Hairdressing Business Awards within 12 months of opening, where we have 10 full sections and 5 people waiting in reception other local salons have 2 chairs full, when we brought in a second line last year our product rep freaked out and within days I had the area manager banging down my door for a meeting as they were afraid they were losing our account (they confirmed we are one of their key accounts in the area), I have a queue of people waiting to work for me and we also make good money selling our respected training to others (we have sold £5K worth of training in January alone). When our juniors enter hair competitions they usually come away with first place. Also, we get a lot of requests from film companies to use our salon as a filming location due to how it looks (last Monday we had the BBC filming in the salon all afternoon for a drama that will be shown on BBC1 in March) so we get lots of scriptwriters and famous actors etc. using our salon too, as well as it being on TV.

Then I move the circle out a bit to my entire city.

There are a few salons who have not only been nominated as finalists at the British Hairdressing Awards, but have actually won British Hairdresser of the Year multiple times. One salon has over 10K Facebook Fans. Other salons are better known 'on the street' than our salon too. So suddenly, we drop out of the 20%.

The I compare those salons with groups such as Toni & Guy, Saks, Regis, Vidal Sassoon etc. who are international, sell training DVDs and make millions (if not billions) in turnover every year, and suddenly those salons also drop out of the 20%.

Rather than trying to emulate others, I now tend to be inspired by them and analyze how lessons I can learn from them can help me achieve my own version of 'the 20%' - one that would make me happy.

I'd say I am almost there.

:)
 
This thread is very inspiring....
 
Rather than trying to emulate others, I now tend to be inspired by them and analyze how lessons I can learn from them can help me achieve my own version of 'the 20%' - one that would make me happy.

I'd say I am almost there.

:)

There is definatley alot to be learned from the people on here! Sometimes with the aliases it's easy to forget that there are some very exceptional and talented techs and business people cruising these forums!

For me I would love to be in a position where I am working because I want to, not because I have to. When I sketch out a five year, or even ten year plan... I'm not there yet! Obviously alot of hard work is behind the advice given on these boards, really great of everyone to share.

Cosseted. I felt warm and safe just reading it! At the start of building a business, when you aren't reaping the financial rewards, it's nice to get a reminder that you are bringing something positive to another person's day. What is another 45min in our working day might actually be the highlight of another person's week!
 

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