Salon Smart 2015 – Day two round-up

The second and final day of Salon Smart 2015 got underway at 9.15am sharp, with a packed ballroom and surprisingly few sore heads.

“I am your wake-up call,” announced Nick Wood, the president of Goldwell and KMS California, as he kicked off proceedings. He then took the audience shopping as he explained the science behind retail therapy and how salons can capitalise. Shopping clockwise, colour and shiny window displays were key considerations, but ultimately, salons have to “show they’re more than just a shop, they bring a level of expertise that can’t be replicated”.

Next up was the Most Wanted 2014 Business Thinker award winner, the charmingly humble Angelo Vallillo. When a knee injury forced him to retire from professional football, Angelo was inspired by his uncle to join his Nottingham salon, Zullo & Holland. Ambitious and driven, Angelo quickly rose through the industry, driven by the desire to excel and to make the salon known outside of their Midlands enclave. He persuaded his uncle to focus on a new salon, a new team and a new academy business, and the results were impressive enough to scoop him the title of Most Wanted Business Thinker 2014. “I needed a good team to share my vision. It pissed some people off, but you want people who want to be on board and join your journey,” he said, and the results speak for themselves – retail grew 55 per cent, client numbers rose 32 per cent and client retention stands at an incredible 98 per cent.

It was then onto social media whizz, Laura Caudery, who delivered an insight into how, when and why social media does its job for you. The director of wedding and events venue Fetcham Park explained that she has spent nothing on advertising, but has been able to set the company apart from others through the use of social media. She advised: involve as many people as possible, from team members to clients to suppliers, to create a ripple effect; find your tone of voice – this is where small businesses thrive as they can be less formal and inject more personality than bigger companies; create a house style and stick to it; ensure you aren’t just talking to people but that they’re responding –it needs to be a two-way conversation.

The workshops were an opportunity for attendees to stretch their legs and head into two different talks: #talkthetalk and #walkthewalk. The former saw Simon Harris, from Mysalonmanager, stress the importance of consultation and the need to gain new clients. “Seventy-four per cent of clients want to change their look, but are rarely asked this in the consultation so ensure you ask the following questions: Are you looking to change your look? What problems do you face when styling at home? How do you feel about the condition of your hair? How do you feel about the colour? What products and tools do you use? The #talkthetalk workshop discussed all things retail, including the shelf browsing theory and the Z shape eye scan.

Salon Smart perennial, and Creative HEAD business columnist Ken West from coaching experts 365, encouraged the audience to get their VAPs out – that’s Value Added Propositions. “VAPs make one product worth more than another, and can enable you to charge more,” he said. “Value doesn’t mean cheap, it means a great service or product that solves a guest problem at a reasonable price.” Think about what you can offer beyond, say, a gent’s cut – how about a style consultation, hair and skincare advice, a neck tidy service and expert product recommendations?

Before lunch, attendees sat down for the Think Tank discussion, giving audience members the opportunity to ask the panel of experts their most pressing questions. Nick Wood, Laura Caudery, Sarah Hodge’s Abby Whittaker, Angelo Vallilio and PR guru Louise Wood were the day’s experts who answered everything from the new pension scheme to how to promote and take your salon to the next level. “I’ve found billboards to be the most effective,” said Abby. “We also regularly have events in and out of the salon, and run a lot of competitions.”

The Working Lunch gave attendees the opportunity to grab a bite to eat, as well as meet leading brands including Goldwell, Wahanda, 3.6.5 Hair, American Dream, the National Hairdressers’ Federation, Tie Me, Maletti, Millennium, and Diva Professional Hairdressing.

The afternoon sessions kicked off with a team talk with Charlie Miller. The Scottish salon group is celebrating 50 years in the industry and Josh and Jason Miller were on hand to provide a unique insight into the super-brand. “We’re at a time where we want to acknowledge where we come from and celebrate where we’re going,” said Josh.

The day finished with the talk everyone had been looking forward to: Lee Stafford. After presenting the winner of the Salon Smart 2015 selfie competition (Hayley Cartwright of Steven Hilliard) with her  bottle of fizz,  the TV hairdresser gave the audience an honest, and at times hilarious, account of how he came to be one of the most well-known and successful hairdressers of our time. “All I ever wanted to do was get good at what I did,” said Lee. “Each day I’d go into the salon and aim to be better than the day before.

“I’ve made a lot of bad decisions. I’ve had TV success and product success, but during that time my salons were failing, and I had to make some tough decisions.”

Nowadays, Lee sees himself as more of a pipe-and-slippers kind of guy and has left his ‘bad boy of hairdressing’ moniker behind. With a wife and 10-month old son (who were both sat in the audience), reaching this comfortable stage in his life made him decide to open hair academies for the next generation. “My brand is still growing but my real passion is the academies,” he concluded, “I want that to be my legacy.”