Gill Morris of GMT explains the importance of management training for therapists and salon owners..
I get so frustrated sometimes when talking to therapists because they often lack the management and marketing skills necessary to effectively run a business and therefore loose out to their competitors. In particular therapists don’t seem to realise that to run a business effectively they need to spend more time OUT of the treatment room.
Running a salon is running a business and people in management must think of themselves as Captains of their Ship NOT one of those stoking the boilers, up the rigging or in the galley! To effectively and profitably run any business management needs to spend at least 50% of its time ON the business not IN it and that means planning.
Planning is vital because all businesses need to move forward to succeed, if they do nothing, thinking things will stay the same, they will retreat backwards, there is no such thing as staying still. It is a simple business fact; move forward or move backwards. Be like the Captain of the ship, up on the bridge spending their time navigating and steering the ship in the right direction and on the most appropriate course, if the ship stays still it will be overtaken by others!
Over the last 30 years I have met so many therapists who believe that being a good, even brilliant, therapist is enough…. it really isn’t and we all need to realise it.
Lots of salon owners and managers believe they don’t have time for business training or even to think about the benefits effective management and marketing can make to their bottom line i.e. PROFIT.
When we leave college we leave with a certain number of skills in what I like to call our “Skills Chest” we add to them, or should do, as the months and years go by so our “chest” gets bigger and bigger often encompassing highly technical and expensive skills. BUT back on the bridge of H.M.S. Beauty salon where is the skill chest of the Captain? Is there anything in it for leadership and business management? How relevant and appropriate are those skills to today’s business environment? I know many people manage their team as they themselves were managed, thereby propagating past mistakes, in particular how the style of past “Boss-like” management seems to have carried through to today even though current thinking is more towards being the leader of the team as opposed to acting like the Dictatorial Boss!
The responsibility to learn and implement the essential management skills is firmly at the salon door. Why do I feel so passionately about these issues? Some of my early career colleagues actually believed it was almost unethical to make money from beauty, it was as if carrying out the treatments and helping people should be enough, needless to say none of them lasted in business and it wasn’t their choice. Being the unemployed best therapist gives little satisfaction!
What do I mean when I talk of effective management? Issues include: recruitment and selection of the team, implementation of training programmes, continuing professional development, team motivation systems, appraisals, selling skills, team building, customer care, time management, delegation and many more. All are as vital to the success of your business as technical ability, a friendly professional manner and the right location.
How would my business and I benefit from this I hear you say. Benefits to any business, big or small, of effective management training and techniques are many. A simple example of how just one basic management tool can be beneficial is if you wanted to analyse your time effectiveness. If you were to instigate a time log (or diary) of exactly what you do every 30 minutes of every day for two weeks you would see how much of that time is spent on dealing with issues that are not urgent nor important and therefore should be delegated. This more than anything else shows us where all our time goes, and in H.M.S. Beauty Salon parlance demonstrates how often you are not on the bridge where you should be. Delegation is yet another tool which when properly implemented allows you more time on vital issues, whilst also acting as a motivator for your staff.
Often successful salon owners are not therapists, they spends their time behind the scenes planning where the business is going and then implements those plans through delegation to her team.
Effective management covers wide and overlapping areas but when they are well and appropriately delivered are not difficult to learn and apply. Most skills, such as those mentioned above, are common sense and easy to implement but as with all training there can be a reticence to put time (particularly earning time) aside. When people say to me they can’t afford the time away from the salon I tell them they cannot afford not to and in the long term will earn far more by being out of the salon for just one or two days. However I understand their reluctance stems from a case of “it ain’t broke so don’t fix it” and there is not the culture in the beauty industry for this type of training. Salons are used to treatment skills training and this is generally better accepted, this may be because this type of training can be easier to measure and quantify. If training in a treatment skill costs say £500, you need 10 x £50 treatments to recoup the fee, management training is not so cut and dried but it is the one training course that will significantly effect the success of your business now and in the future.
Effective management training deals with internal issues i.e. within the salon, as salons exist within a wider environment there is another skill lacking from most therapists skill chests and that is Marketing. Marketing is a management tool, or more exactly a process, which helps you to identify and satisfy current and future client needs whilst making a profit. These clients are your market, how you look after and communicate with them is marketing.
Most salons adopt an ostrich like position and carry on in the same way, doing the same things as they have always done (or their previous managers did) and not realise they are moving backwards. There are skills out there that they need, they need these skills to not only survive in business and make a living but to grow professionally, personally, enjoy life and make seriously healthy profits whilst satisfying their client needs.
Gill Morris of GMT, is a management and marketing consultant specialising in the spa, beauty and hair industries.
Gill’s motivational, approachable and friendly style have been of benefit to 1000′s of managers, therapists and lecturers, she can be contacted below:
T: 01455 632742
E: gill@gmtbusinesstraining.co.uk
Web: http://www.gmtbusinesstraining.co.uk
You can view course details by checking workshop details below.
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