Before attending the Systems and Marketing workshops, Rebecca Cory - Salon Coordinator of AXIA- had only been working with Shortcuts for a few months, possessing only basic knowledge of the program. She attended the session with the expectation to be helped to understand Shortcuts and how to use it to its full capability.

The salon was consistently busy before attending the training tour, however there were no administrative or marketing systems in place. The administration seemed to be unorganised and reports were rarely printed or analysed. The client information was out of date and incomplete – the complete client card accuracy was only 48% and only 55% of clients had addresses. The salon had done marketing in the past, however this took a back seat in the business, lacking frequency. Any marketing completed in the past was never evaluated , so success or failure was not correctly measured.

Axia now have marketing strategies in place for the upcoming year and have introduced basic marketing tools such as: new client letters, referral letters, birthday letters and non client return letters.

Since attending the tour, reports are now printed and analysed each week to assess both the salons and also individual employee performances. The biggest change has been the implementation of a loyalty club and regular marketing to clients – keeping in touch with them every 4-12 weeks. Axia now have marketing strategies in place for the upcoming year and have introduced basic marketing tools such as: new client letters, referral letters, birthday letters and non client return letters. To market to their clients they needed to clean up their database, which they have been working very hard on. The number of clients with addresses is now 86.5% and the number of clients with a complete client card is now 82.3%.

The single biggest change since being back in the salon after the tour is the shift in focus of the team to client relations and marketing - strategies are now in place and everything is more organised. Performance evaluation is possible month-in-month-out accurately, removing the guess work.

“The information we received from the tour was straightforward which made it easy to implement when back in the salon. Everything discussed and covered during the training was covered in the training manuals. The checklists we were given also helped in ‘where to start’ when we went back to the salon” said Rebecca.

“The tour is a must for any salon owner who wants to move forward and continue to grow. The information and skills gained during the tour are extremely important to enable Shortcuts to be used to its full potential, ensuring your salon is performing at the level it should be. The competition within the industry is fierce and salons could be left behind if basic administration and marketing strategies are not implemented” said Rebecca.

“The tour gave me a fantastic insight into Shortcuts and how it’s used within the salon which is imperative to the success of a busy salon. I don’t know how salons manage without it!” said Rebecca.

Before attending the systems, stock and marketing workshop Libby Dedman, salon owner of Just Liberated, had been working with Shortcuts for nine years in the salon. Libby and her business partner Craig attended the session expecting to be shown in more detail the areas they do not use of Shortcuts and to plan for future sessions, building their knowledge base of Shortcuts.

The salon was running well with the team having a sound understanding Shortcuts. Before the tour they never analysed client retention report although their rebooking rate was between 45% and 50% and had stock sitting on the shelf costing money.

The single biggest change for Just Liberated has been a far greater understanding of the reports which are now used as key indicators for areas of the business they need to concentrate on improving.

Since attending the tour they have cleaned up the stock control area and have begun to use marketing as way to move out old stock. They love the client retention report which they had never used and have discovered the rate is up to 50-60%. The biggest increase has been in the per client average dollar moving from $51.00 to $62.00 with no extra stylist, and a significant increase of 10% in client rebooking rate, plus our yearly turnover has increased by at least 15%. Also, by implementing security procedures such as PIN numbers, Just Liberated have minimised incorrect appointments being made and appointment times being changed incorectly.

The single biggest change for Just Liberated has been a far greater understanding of the reports which are now used as key indicators for areas of the business they need to concentrate on improving, such as client retention, retail and specific services. The salon has taken a step towards more efficient systems and implemented stock control procedures to make their stock work for them.

“The training tour content was easy to implement however I am definitely going to do it every year to continue to improve. All my staff will be encouraged to attend. As well as being able to ask questions it helped us to plan and we looked forward to the next session” said Libby.

“Any salon owner that runs Shortcuts would be mad not to attend the training tour. I thought we used a lot of the Shortcuts features and our business is very successful however, there are so many more hidden features that can increase profitability which can only be discovered through attending the training. Also, you can pick up great ideas from other salons sharing their experiences” said Libby.

“My appreciation of Shortcuts has always been extremely high, but since the tour I realise how I can analyse my salon’s performances when I am not there. The tour has inspired me to attend more computer courses to further my understanding of mail merging etc and I will definitely feel more knowledgeable about my Shortcuts investment since attending the Tour as I start to fully appreciate its potential” said Libby.
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