Time to say goodbye?

Sit down and see what's going on with the queen of salons. Hair, beauty, and more successful tips for business owners. All on Build Your Salon. Hello, hello, hello, my salon friend. How on earth are you? And can I be the first to wish you, probably not the first, but can I please wish you a very happy new year? I hope 2023 brings you all the peace and prosperity you can possibly handle. How was it for you, darlings? Did you have a wonderful, wonderful time with your family and friends? I hope so. It's that interesting time, isn't it? Everybody's starting to fall off their New Year's resolutions, but I think January is full of opportunity and hope, isn't it? It's that lovely blank page that we all like. It's filled with possibility, I think. And we take stock, don't we? We look at the wobbly bits that we don't want to see anymore and make some resolutions around that. And we look at the wobbly bits that we quite like and figure out how we can get more filler or silicone stuffed into them. And we look at the bits that need polishing and refining and nipping and tucking and maybe even those bits that we're going to try and burn off with a Zippo lighter. But it's that time when we're taking stock, reflecting and ready to face the new year. And I think it's also a brilliant time to talk about people quitting your business. Perky for you, isn't it? That'll cheer you up. But no, I think it's time to look at your team as well and figure out how you're going to face 2023 and the inevitable challenges that are going to be thrown our way. And who's going to be on your side while you do it? So I've entitled this podcast Time to Say Goodbye. I shan't sing. It would be too much for you this early in the season. I think it's a useful thing that we need some mindset shifts around and some perspective around when people finally leave our business. Because it hurts, doesn't it, Poppet, when somebody puts their notice in. And we get quite indignant about it, don't we? We say things like, well, after everything I've done for her, all that training, all that money that I've spent, all that time, all that lovely Christmas do we've just had. Where we were doing Sambuca shots of a go-go dancer. All these things go through our minds and we do feel very hurt and very offended. And I wonder why that is. Well, of course, lots of you still think of your salon as your baby. And though I love to call myself Queen of Salons, trust me, I'm not Queen of Babies. But I don't think it's a terribly healthy way to look at your business.

I think we need a slightly more ruthless approach to business than that. And I've always said, by all means, think of your salon as your baby as long as you're quite happy to drown that baby in the bath. Because there are times when we need to make some very tough decisions around our baby. And it might even be that that includes not being a viable proposition going forward and we're just going to get rid. So I don't think that level of emotional attachment to your business is correct. But, of course, we're bound to care, aren't we? This is something that we've bred and nurtured and it's been probably the focus of our energy for a lot of years. So when somebody's rejecting that and saying they don't want that anymore, well, they're kind of rejecting your baby. They're saying it's ugly and they want to move on to somewhere else or perhaps even start their own business. And I think also part of it is down to where salon owners come from. Where did we come from? Well, we came up through the ranks. Normally, most of us were operating as beauty therapists or estheticians or hairdressers long before we were salon owners. And then at some stage decided that we wanted our own business. And, of course, building a clientele and being successful as an operator, as a hairdresser or a beauty therapist means you're building and nurturing very intimate relationships, quite intense relationships over a very, very short amount of time. So we fall desperately in love with people desperately quickly. And it also means that we're something of a people pleaser. We tend to want people to be happy so that they keep coming back. That's how we became successful in the first place. And we can't just switch that off when we become salon managers and salon owners and team leaders. So I think it's probably more emotional experience for a salon owner than it would be for lots of people in other businesses. So how can your Uncle Phil help? How do we start thinking differently about this? And I think the very first piece of advice that I'm going to give you is that this is going to happen. Everybody's going to leave one day. The days of us recruiting an apprentice at 16, 17 years old and then working for you for 40 years or so are long gone. This is just not how the economy works anymore.

It's not how our industry works anymore. And we can rage against it and wring our hands and make noises around disloyalty and try and push against that. Or we can just accept it as a reality. I don't even know where the statistics come from. So don't quote me, darling. But I read somewhere a very long time ago that the industry average for keeping a stylist in a hair salon, for example, was around three and a half years. Now, I feel that's a little bit low for my business, but you will have an instinctive reaction to that. Perhaps that feels right to you. Of course, there's going to be some outliers. You might well have people that are working for you for 20, 30 years. But equally, we might have people that didn't make it. Gosh, I can remember one poor girl. Bless her heart. Didn't even make it to lunchtime. She went on lunch and never came back. Seriously, we had to call her mother and make sure she was okay. But we need to build that into our strategy. We need to accept that this is the reality now. And bear in mind also, you know, the days of somebody becoming, let's say, a hairdresser at 16, 17 years old as an apprentice and then even staying in the industry for their entire life. Well, that's getting rarer and rarer. People are looking to experience more than one profession during their careers. So we need to build that in. And I've talked, I'm sure, probably not on this podcast yet, but if it's interesting, then pop me a line, of course. But I've talked before around the three levels of strategy, the three levels of systems that we need for our business. And the top level is that very high level strategic overview of your business and where it's going. And I think we need to build in a bit of obsolescence. We need to build in the fact that people are not going to be there forever. So if we assume, let's say we're going to go for five years, let's say we take on a beauty therapist and we're going to assume that she'll be with us for five years. Well, suddenly we can figure out whether that's going to be a worthwhile proposition at all. Or perhaps this particular candidate in front of you is going to need so much training that actually we can't get the money back within five years. And then that recruitment decision is made for us. Or perhaps her level of skills, her portfolio of skills is so intensely good that actually five years is a no-brainer. We're going to make that money back in no time. And then, of course, people aren't going to follow the plan. They're not going to be aware that we've built in this obsolescence. But then if somebody leaves, it's just a question of timing. It doesn't hurt so much because the conversation that's going on internally then is, OK, you've decided to leave.

Actually, I thought you were going to be here five years. You're leaving at four years. It's just a question of timing. And I think that takes a lot of the emotion out of it because we're just more prepared. And part of that preparation we're going to talk about a little bit later. It's a bit like when Apple release a new iPhone. God bless them. I do love anything with an Apple logo on, I have to say. I'm such a tart as far as technology is concerned. But when they release a new iPhone, they don't intend for people to be buying that iPhone for the next 20 years. There is obsolescence built in. It's already part of the company's strategy, part of the company's promotional activity, part of the plan that will be replaced at some stage by something else. And I think we need that attitude to team members. And I know it feels cold. And I know it feels calculated. I know it feels that we're just seeing people as resource rather than individuals. But guess what, guys? This is your job now. You are salon owners. You are industry leaders. You are not necessarily the people who do all the nice stuff all the time. They say if you teach a man to fish, he can feed himself for life. But let me tell you, darlings, I've been in the situation during my career where sometimes you just want someone to give you the bloody fish. And that's what my new program for 2023, Eight Weeks Bums on Seats, is all about. It's the marketing training that you need to fill up some of the white space in your appointment book and turn you into the salon owner you were always meant to be. Get more bums on seats in early 2023. Head over to buildyoursalon.com and join the wait list to be the first to hear and get my special early bird pricing. So when is it time to say goodbye? Well, the first thing I want you to do is realise that all of this is your fault, of course. And we can wring our hands and we can wail and weep and be the victim and all this. But ultimately, of course, well, guess what, darling? You gave her the job in the first place. So everything that came after that was down to you as well. And if that person's leaving because they feel demotivated, well, guess whose job it is to motivate them? If they're leaving because they're not achieving your salon standards, well, guess whose job it was to make sure that those standards were implemented?

If they're leaving because they said something rude to one of your clients, well, guess whose job it was to make sure that they knew that was unacceptable behaviour? So firstly, we need to appreciate that we have ultimate responsibility for everything that goes on in our business. That puts you in a seat of control. And the first point I want to make about when it's time to say goodbye is around speed. If you have decided that you've got a bad fit in the business and someone needs to go, or you have looked at your figures, let's say, you know, it's interesting times for salon businesses around the world right now. There is a period of reconciliation going on right now. But let's say you've looked at the figures and decided that you can't afford the size team that you have. Or that's just not, you know, perhaps you're downsizing a bit because your work-life balance is out of whack or whatever. The second you've identified the individual that needs to go, I think you have an obligation and a responsibility to get those wheels in motion. I don't think it's fair to keep people in the business after you've decided they don't have a future with you. I think there's a lovely analogy around, let's say you have a beautiful tropical pot plant and it's just not flowering, just doesn't thrive. Well, we don't blame the plant. We move it to a new location, change its soil, change its lighting, change its feed, change the regime. And that's what we need to do with team members too. If they're not going to flower, if they're not going to blossom with you, then the very least that we can do for a team member is give them the opportunity to find somewhere that's a better fit. And I've often used this, if I've started to feel guilty about terminating someone's employment with me, I've used this to make myself feel better. The quicker you can give them an opportunity to find that place where they can shine, the more kind we're being in the long run. I don't ever expect any of those people to turn around and thank me one day for doing that, but it makes me feel a lot better in the short and medium term. So if you decided they're a bad fit, they need to go. Also, if they're not hitting those salon standards, they need to go as well. Now, I have a little bit of a problem with this as far as salon owners are concerned, because you're naughty. You tend to fall in love with people who are making you lots of money. And I've seen lots of instances in salons where they would turn a blind eye to other salon standards and policies and procedures not being followed, because it's one of their biggest earners that's causing the problems.

So we tolerate that stylist who keeps coming in with a hangover, because she puts loads of money in the till and the customers really like her tails. And we've all had those team members, haven't we? And they've got some, oh my goodness, some stories that would curl your hair, my dears. Or we tolerate that beauty therapist who doesn't follow uniform policy because she upsells really well and retails really strongly. And I think that's a real mistake. I think it's either something that's important enough to have a policy or a procedure or a standard around, or it's not. And if it's important enough to have that kind of standard around it, then you also need to be willing to get rid of somebody. So if your uniform policy isn't important enough that you would terminate someone's employment, who was putting good money in the till, don't have the bloody policy in the first place. And also think about the signal that you're sending to the rest of the team, because what you're saying is that, yes, we have this policy. Yes, we have this standard. But by the way, it's one rule for one and one rule for another. Or actually, we don't really mean it. It's just a guideline, really. And it takes the teeth out of your salon standards. So there's no point in having it unless you're willing to see it through. And of course, one time to say goodbye is when somebody decides to resign, when they decide to quit. And I know it hurts. And I know it can be very emotional. So my suggestion, if you take nothing else from Uncle Phil's wisdom for this week, I would have some kind of policy, some kind of routine that kicks in when somebody resigns. Because you're going to be in a slightly fraught emotional state. You might be very scared about the future of your business and what's going to happen next. You could be panicked. You could be worrying because they put their notice in. Or they do pick their times, don't they? I had one poor lady who two team members put their notice in just as she was going on maternity leave, which I thought was terribly kind. And people do this sort of thing on the run up to Christmas and all the rest of it. But if we have a system that kicks in, telling us what happens after somebody resigns, it can actually take care of a few of the details while we gather our thoughts and regroup, ready to fight another day. And I'm going to talk about exit plans in just a second. I don't think this should ever be a time when we start negotiations. If you have a team member who has decided to quit, they've done a lot of soul searching.

This is not something they will have done lightly. And I think trying to convince them to stay is a really bad idea. And I've managed it a couple of times. You know, we've started negotiations. I've said, do we need more money? Do we need to look at work-life balance? Blah, blah, blah. And it's worked in the very short term. And I mean the very short term, particularly around money. I think that they will probably end up leaving sooner or later anyway. So if you want to see it as a way to open negotiations just to get you through the next two or three months, go for it. But don't expect them to turn into your star player after that. I think it actually keeps a load of negativity in the business after you've persuaded somebody to stay on your team. And to be honest with you, if you've got a team member who is using resignation as a tool in that way, if they're resigning just to put you in a position where you pay more money, well, honestly, do you want that kind of person on your team in the longer term? Do you need that kind of negativity around? Incidentally, as far as pay is concerned, I made it a strategy in my business. And you will need to balance this with the other strategies in your business, of course. But we had an overarching strategy around pay where we paid as much to all of our team as we could profitably manage in the business. And when I talk about balance in the business, well, it meant that our staff room wasn't actually a very nice place to be. And if it needed redecorating, it was normally a team member who volunteered to do it. And our staff party at Christmas was always a little bit crap, to be honest. But the money's got to come from somewhere. And our promise was that we would spend more on training and pay our team better than anybody else in the area. And because the team knew this, any time they came asking for more money, well, it was a really short conversation. Because we knew we profitably couldn't do it. My Salon Owners Retreat is a unique event where you get to create the agenda. This isn't a retreat of boring presentations in conference rooms without windows. The entire program is a mix of group coaching, mastermind sessions, and one-to-one coaching with me, your favorite salon coach. There's also time built in for implementation. Yes, you're going to leave the retreat having actually got some important work done on your business with our support. Our spring 2023 retreat is now sold out, but you can be the first to hear about the next Salon Owners Retreat and get the very best early bird pricing by heading to buildyoursalon.com and joining our wait list.

I can't wait to see you on Salon Owners Retreat. Don't forget your speedos. Another little tool that I use to this day, in fact, in my coaching business now, is that I would never take a meeting and I would never take a phone call without knowing the content. Firstly, it stops an awful lot of wasted time, you know, meetings that don't need to be meetings at all. It could just be a two-minute conversation by the coffee machine. But if you think I'm going to let a team member wreck my weekend by dropping a little bombshell on the Friday, like, can we have a meeting on Tuesday, please? And then I'm going to think about that all weekend. My dear, you're having a laugh. It wouldn't go into my diary unless I knew the content of it. So if there was a request, say, on a Friday for someone to have a meeting with me on Tuesday, the next question would be, what's the meeting about? That means I'm going into the meeting armed, ready, with some kind of plan in place. You know, if they're saying something like, I'm actually thinking of resigning, that gives me the weekend to put that plan together. So what does an exit plan look like? Well, part of it will be, what happens next? Have we got a vacancy then that needs marketing? And I would have some kind of recruitment ad ready to go. I would make sure that my job descriptions are up to date. And then we can hit the ground running. Also, I had what I always called my little black book, which was actually, it did start as a little black book, but in the end it turned into a small email database. But basically it was a list of people who I'd come across in my recruitment process normally, or I'd come across in my networking, who I would like to work with one day, but that just wasn't the right time. So they'd applied for a job, they showed promise, but I really needed a full timer and they could only do part time hours. Or they were working for someone else and then they were going to go travelling for six months. Those kind of instances. So I had a few people that if somebody resigned, I could call on really quickly and just say, what's the latest? Where are you up to? Are you still interested in working with us? And that just meant I was back in the driving seat. I felt like less of a victim. So alongside that recruitment plan, there might also be a marketing plan. Do we need to do some marketing? Because we know this stylist or this beauty therapist is going to take a lot of people with them.

Incidentally, they always take less clients than they think they're going to. And they always take less clients than you fear they're going to as well. But if they're going to take a lot of clients, do we need to get some marketing in place? What's the latest promotion? Do we need to double down on that? Do we need to increase ad spend? What do we need to do to protect the viability of the business? And there will also be a plan around what we're going to tell clients. Are we going to be completely honest with them? These days, to be blunt, I would. Because if you're telling one story and social media is telling another story, well, you're going to end up looking a little bit stupid. So I would be as honest with your customers as you possibly can be. And give them the option, you know, just say, our closest equivalent beauty therapist is Nellie. She's amazing. She's got the same skill set. I'm sure you've seen her around the salon. And just give clients the option. If they really don't want to stay, don't bully them into it. And then the final point of the exit plan, and you're not going to like this, darling, is that they go now. So if somebody put their notice in in my salon, literally that meeting finished, and then they left the premises. And I know it's going to be a pain in the neck because you've got loads of clients to move. And I know there might even be somebody sat in reception waiting for that stylist or beauty therapist. But that was the policy that we had in my salon, and it protected my business beautifully. People can do so much damage in their notice period, whether they intend to or not. If they're not handing out cards for their new business or telling all of your clients around this amazing new opportunity they've got, and they will. If they're not doing those things, you know, perhaps they've decided to leave the industry altogether. They've checked out. They're not interested in growing your business anymore. They couldn't care less whether they managed to upsell and help you hit target for the rest of this month. They're going. They've already left mentally. So let's get them out physically. So here we call it garden leave or gardener's leave. Get people out. Yes, it might cost you some money, but I promise it will help protect your business in the short term. So have a think about what's going to be in that exit plan for you. How are you going to strategize that? How are you going to put that into a procedure that kicks in automatically when somebody is about to resign? And I hope between that and planning the obsolescence and that little mindset shift around knowing that people are going to leave one day, I'm hoping that will protect you and help you say goodbye with a bit more confidence, if not with a smile on your face.

And my final words of wisdom on this, my darling, the wisdom of the old crone is that team members are icebergs. If you think you have a problem with a team member, if you think their attitude's a little bit grotty, I promise you you're only seeing a small portion of the problem. There is so much more going on under the water that you're not aware of. And annoyingly, oh, this happens every flipping time. Annoyingly, you don't find out until they've gone. So if you're really hesitant around getting rid of somebody because they've just let you down a few times, I promise they're letting you down in a lot more ways than that. You just haven't found out yet. And when they've gone, then all of your clients will start saying, oh, do you know, I never liked her. Or team members will start saying, oh, do you know, she was never on time on your day off either. Bloody tell me now. Don't wait until the person's gone and then we can deal with it. But team members are icebergs. There's much more going on than you're seeing. I hope that's helped a little bit. And I hope that hasn't set your new year off with a gloomy start. But it's an important topic. And speaking of important topics, you know, I'm just guessing through the conversations. Normally what happens is I have a few conversations with my lovely punters during the week, my lovely one-to-one clients. And the same topic will come up once or twice. And I go, oh, there we go. There's my podcast sorted. But if there's something that you would like Uncle Phil to help you with, if there's something that you could do with some advice on, or even just that you think would be an interesting topic, please reach out to me. Phil at buildyoursalon.com. You know I love hearing from my wonderful salon owners and managers. If today's episode has been useful to you at all, raised a smile or even a titter, then please think about leaving me a five-star review. You know it's the biggest thrill I'm going to get this week. Just seven short days until I'm coming in your ears again, darlings. Until then, take care. Sit down and see what's going on with the queen of salons. Hair, beauty and more successful tips for business owners. All on Build Your Salon.