What a year it’s been! I think I can speak for both of Killian and me when I say that our blood momentarily stopped flowing when we were asked to start a podcast. The experience was going to throw us way out of our comfort zone and we had no idea where to start. Thanks to your continued support, however, we figured out a monthly format for tour salon owners podcast and grew our listenership from 0 to 11K RSS feed hits per month in a year. As we move on to a brand new year, we wanted to take a moment to look back on the best episodes of the year 2017.
The Best Of 2017’s Episodes On Phorest FM, The Salon Owners Podcast
If you’re not too familiar with the podcast, Phorest FM is a weekly show that puts forth a mix of interviews with industry thought-leaders, salon/spa marketing tips, company insights and information on attending Phorest Academy webinars. And below you can find the 12 most popular episodes of 2017 (in no particular order, and according to downloads)!
12. Episode 026: Phil Jackson On Using Email Marketing In The Hair, Beauty & Spa Industry
Synopsis: Email marketing is an extremely powerful tool when used properly. Phil Jackson, award-winning salon owner, industry speaker and mentor, and author of “The Hairy Book of Email“, has a lot of valuable insight on the subject and we are fortunate enough for him to share it with us on this episode of Phorest FM.
11. Episode 028: Kristina Malone On Delivering Excellent Customer Service & Experience
Synopsis: Creating an amazing customer experience for salon clients is a crucial component of the business. Waxperts is one of the most successful salons in the industry when it comes to customer service, and their salon manager Kristina Malone shares some of the things they do to make their treatments so special in this installment of Phorest FM.
10. Episode 034: #30Days2Grow Special: Interview With John DiJulius
Synopsis: In this second installment of Phorest FM’s 30Days2Grow special, John DiJulius, international customer service experience consultant and best-selling author, is featured. He shares his take on the salon industry and has brilliant insight into various topics, such as truly valuing yourself as a salon professional, and providing “Moments of Magic” to your customers to make the most of their salon experience.
Read the transcript here.
9. Episode 037: Frank Di Lusso On The Benefits Of Having An Effective Salon Loyalty System
Synopsis: The ‘money off’ type of reward may be an easy way to treat clients, but these types of loyalty programs don’t boost your business’ profile or revenue in the long run. In this episode of Phorest FM, award-winning salon owner Frank Di Lusso discusses the importance of rewarding salon and spa clients by implementing an efficient salon loyalty system and shares what has been working so well for his salon in the past three years.
Read the transcript here.
8. Episode 039: Richard McCabe On Building A Salon Culture & Systemising Business Operations
Synopsis: Richard McCabe is a highly motivated salon business coach who has a proven track record in providing exemplary levels of service to salons. He has been a salon owner for over 25 years, and also built three salons from scratch in two different countries. Richard’s passion to deliver value-focused solutions whilst beating expectations is based on the idea of working smarter and leaving the harder for others. This week on Phorest FM, Killian and Zoe discuss with him building a salon culture and systemising business operations, two crucial aspects of running a successful salon/spa.
Read the transcript here.
7. Episode 043: Alan Stewart On The Importance Of Online Bookings And Embracing Technology
Synopsis: It’s no news that the way we go about our day-to-day lives has incredibly changed in the last few decades. Today, almost everything we do is done online. What does this mean for businesses, and how can salons and spas benefit from this change? This week on Phorest FM, we chat to Alan Stewart, founder of Rainbow Room International about how being ‘open’ 24/7 on multiple platforms has positively impacted the growth of his business. The reality is, salons who offer an online booking feature to their customers make more money than those who don’t.
Read the transcript here.
6. Episode 048: Jennie Lawson On Building The UK’s First Eco-Innovative Salon
Synopsis: There’s constant chatter about going green and being eco-friendly in the workplace, but what does it actually take to make it happen? This week on the show, we chat with Jennie Lawson, salon owner and founder of Mimosa Beauty, in Chelmsford. After 5 and a half years of running her salon and hoping to get an eco side-project off the grounds, she’s instead taken that same business and turned it into the UK’s first eco-innovative salon.
Read the transcript here.
5. Episode 050: Michelle Bolger On Maternity Leave, Holiday Entitlement & Social Media
Synopsis: What comes to mind when you think employment law? Tough topics? Stress? For the 50th episode of the podcast, Phorest FM welcomes back to the show Michelle Bolger (ESA Consultants), with all of her experience and knowledge in employment law. Dissecting tough subjects into digestible bits and pieces, she tackles three topics with the co-hosting duo: the legalities around maternity leave, holiday entitlement and social media in the business.
Read the transcript here.
4. Episode 047: Up For Discussion: Building A Successful Salon And Opening A Second Location
Synopsis: This week on the show, Zoe takes over the hosting duty as Killian is off for the week. As it’s a mid-month blog episode, she will tackle these three topics and conveniently enough – it was planned – they all tie into each other. She’ll discuss iSalon Coach Richard McCabe’s open letter on the mistake that is to cut corners, then moves on to discuss how to turn a night in watching tv shows into business growth and finally concludes this week’s show by laying out the hard truths of expanding with a second salon/spa location.
Read the transcript here.
3. Episode 045: Up For Discussion: Introducing The Salon Manager Development Series With Valerie Delforge
Synopsis: To quote Phorest Salon Software CEO Ronan Perceval in a recent blog of ours, “Most salon owners get brilliantly trained as therapists or hairdressers, but once they open their own place, their job completely changes to that of being a business owner. And yet, they get little or no training/coaching for that at all.” Unfortunately, it’s a fact, and he’s not the only one to have noticed this problem. That’s why we’re bringing Valerie Delforge on Phorest FM Episode 45 to get her to discuss the management journey she’s prepared for her collaboration with Phorest Academy.
Read the transcript here.
2. Episode 046: Sam Pearce On The Current Recruitment Crisis In The Hair And Beauty Industry
Synopsis: In late 2016, as we were in the process of writing the Salon Owner’s Ultimate Guide To Shaping A Retail Culture, we interviewed salon owner Lynda Tarpey, from Pretty Woman in Leeds, UK. One the main things she highlighted was how the industry was lacking beauty therapists coming out of colleges these days. In this episode of Phorest FM, we re-introduce the topic and discuss it with salon owner Sam Pearce, from The Potting Shed Spa, in Batley, West Yorkshire, as she asks, “Where have all the good therapists gone?”
Read the transcript here.
1. Episode 052: David Barnett On Setting Yourself Up For A Successful Retail Holiday Season
Synopsis: A well-equipped retail offering provides a framework for you to build trustworthy relationships with each client from the initial consultation to their next appointment. That’s what we refer to as a ‘retailing culture’, a number of systems and expectations that are set and continuously supported by the employees working within the salon or spa. And no, this has nothing to do with hard selling products. For this episode of Phorest FM, we welcome David Barnett, renowned salon coach (High-Performance Stylist) on the show to discuss his three-step process to ensure retail sales, especially coming up to Christmas.
Read the transcript here.
Got feedback? Which episode of the show was your favourite and why? Tweet us @ThePhorestWord!
Thanks for reading,
#LetsGrow
