Steph Stevenson: F*%ked up…but fixed it!
Our HUB ‘F*%ked up…but fixed it!’ series asks salon and barber shop owners to get real with us about a mistake they’ve made in their business and the steps they took to secure a solution. Letting us in on her business learning curve is Steph Stevenson, founder of HNB Hair and Beauty Spa in Poole. Read how her brainwave backfired but, with a small fix, generated an 80 per cent boost to business!
THE F*%K-UP
When I started HNB competition was already high, I was fixated on attracting my ideal clients and so I decided that I needed something special that stood out.
So, I decided to employ a concierge to stand on the door, dressed like he was standing outside The Dorchester! I thought this would give the exact brand image I was looking for and attract the perfect clientele. I headhunted him from a local hotel and persuaded him that standing outside a salon would be an exciting new opportunity, but on his start day… the trouble started!
As I’ve been known to do the odd celeb here and there, someone thought he was a ‘bouncer’ and called the local press to say Madonna was in the salon (she was living with Guy Ritchie not too far away at the time) and the next minute we had press outside from all over the place waiting for her picture. The more I said, “she’s not in here”, the more they believed she was.
Then the next day someone said he was a funeral director and someone had died in the salon that went round like wild fire…
Then the next day the rumour was that the prices were so high we needed security on the door…
On all occasions I had press on the phone wanting the ‘story’.
Regular clients who moved with us to the new premises dropped off with fear of large price increases, all driven by perception and rumour and not reality!
It wasn’t one f*%k up, but it was, monumentally, a huge backfire on the marketing idea.
THE FIX
We needed to address the negative perceptions and untruthful rumours around the concierge and demonstrate how the salon’s offering was, in fact, just added value and excellent customer service, so we started with a PR drive. Up until that point, our media had always been about the hair, so it took us in a new direction – this was all about surprise and delight and in 2010, not yet a standard in our area.
I spend a lot of time working in America and valet parking is huge over there, and I’ve always loved it. Our beaches in the Sandbanks area get full in summer, so parking can be an issue, therefore, introducing this in our salon was something of real benefit to our clients. We immediately got our (now former) concierge jockey insurance [cover for moving or storing customer vehicles] and offered clients the option of valet parking at the time of booking. They loved it!
Rumour went around faster than lightening that if you go to HNB they park your car and bring it around again when you’ve finished. When it’s raining, that, to a person who’s just had their hair done, is like gold… We had an 80 per cent boost to business after the publicity and for Michael (our valet), his gratuities were exceptional!
We then employed a barista and a housekeeper to add to the exceptional guest experience across all areas.
Fifteen years later and Michael is a firm favourite. He’s appeared in TV programmes about the area, including the Piers Morgan show on Sandbanks (another f*%k up, but for another time) and holiday-makers often come and have their photos taken with him. The marketing idea 100 per cent worked, we just had to change direction and strategy to get there.
I believe that to succeed, we simply can’t stay the same, the ability to adapt and change in the hair and beauty space is the currency of the future.