I conducted a haircutting class today with two new hair stylists and it reminded me why I continue to hire, train, and develop our service providers. Most often service providers are hired and placed behind the chair too fast. The problem with that is the customer suffers the consequences from a less than great service experience. During class today, I had the opportunity to take a new male guest who wanted highlights. This male guest had very very dark brown hair and highlights on this natural color would turn orange with out heat. His hair was too short to foil and place under the dryer to lift the hair to a beige. The bottom line is that highlights would not look good and I, as a professional stylist, want to ensure every guests leaves looking his best. I explained to the new guest that it would not be his best choice to highlight, why it isn’t a good choice, and acknowledged he wanted something new. I suggested a new hair style that would compliment his style, his head shape, and give him something new. He agreed with my direction and I gave him a haircut instead after showing him a picture of the style I wanted to give him. After about 30 minutes, 2 shampoos, a scalp massage, and a styling lesson later, he looked in the mirror and said, “wow, you made me look younger”. With that being said, he walked out of the shop with a whole new level of confidence and that made me feel GREAT!

I tell you this story because this is an example of what I educate our service providers to do as well. While we are in the business to give guests what they ask for, we are also in the business to make sure what we give a client looks good too. I asked my trainees what they would have done had this man sat in their chair. Would they have highlighted his hair knowing it wouldn’t look good had they not gone through my training before? They said yes they would have given him what he asked for because they were not trained to do otherwise by anyone else. This is why hiring service providers and placing them behind a chair instantly is not a good idea. Service providers need to be given expectations and guidance on how to be an expert in their field. I train our service providers to be experts and give them the tools to be so.

This practice has not always been in play at metro FOR MEN and am guilty of placing service providers behind the chair too soon. I came to the realization when we had a lot of first time guests and our retention of them was not so great. I asked those guests why they didn’t return and was provided a lot of insight. In the past 2 years, I’ve instituted The metro Men’s Academy where our service providers are placed in a 6 month program before being able to provide services on metro FOR MEN guests. Since adopting this program, our new guest retention has gotten sooooo much better and our satisfaction rating improved ten fold. I am proud of this program and our guests are too.

If you haven’t been to metro FOR MEN in a while, please come in again and experience this expertise for yourself. I look forward to seeing you soon!

I’ve been learning over the past 6 years about best business practices, including in the salon industry. metro FOR MEN employs best practices. What are metro FOR MEN’s best business practices:

1. We focus on the customer…that’s it! We wouldn’t be in business without our loyal customers and we truly CARE about them;

2. We vigorously train service providers in all areas of business. We host a 6 month intense training program that focuses on skill but also focuses on how to be a successful provider, including retention of clients, marketing, branding, retail/service recommendations, and how to be a solution based provider. We expect quality work and retain those associates who deliver just that;

3. We set-up all associates for success, including buying the necessary equipment to perform their job function. We want our associates to be successful out of the gate and if they do not have the money to buy their tools, how can they be successful;

4. We hire service providers new to the industry. It is our responsibility to bring in the business for our service providers to perform their talents. We only hire associates who are passionate about the men’s grooming industry and want to learn the best practices in the industry; and

5. We compensate our associates for commitment to the shop and supporting its vision. If the shop hits goal—the entire team gets a monetary bonus!

These practices are uncommon in the beauty industry. Why? Because most salon/spas run in the red and owners need to hire associates with a clientele. These owners promise high commission splits to secure that potential revenue. Unfortunately, this doesn’t solve the problem and these owners just get further in debt because they can’t afford to pay high commissions. metro FOR MEN is the leader in men’s grooming in Orange County, CA and we earned that title from our best business practices. We have a team that desires to grow each other, grow the shop, and maintain this high regarded reputation.

Support the movement for best business practices in the salon/spa industry, support salon/spas that host best business practices. Be a metro FOR MEN guest today!