Sell your story

What we do as salons and therapists is special, and your marketing needs to reflect that, writes Hellen Ward

I’ve been writing my column since 2008 – that’s 200 rants over 15 years! People often ask me a) do I write it myself? (of course I do!) and b) how do I plan my content for the year? The answer is, I don’t plan. I write about whatever has happened, is current, is interesting to me and therefore is hopefully relevant to you, too – whatever has made me stop and think that month. I’m very lucky that PB’s lovely editor Eve gives me free rein to do so (thank you, Eve).

So for my 200th column, I want to focus on something that hit me about our industry. Our technical director Mario and I have worked together since I was GM at Harrods Hair & Beauty in the early ’90s. He says he would get less for murder – he’s probably right!

Knowing me as well as he does, he sent me a video by businessman and YouTuber Mark Tilbury captioned, “How to sell anything to anyone”. In it, Tilbury says Apple sells innovation, not phones. Rolex sells status, not watches. Lego sells creativity, not toys. Nike sell motivation, not shoes. Coca Cola sells happiness, not drinks. Tesla sells the future, not cars.

Success is about selling emotions, not products, he says. Powerful stuff, but so true. And you can add to the list when you think about brands you love. You could say Volvo or Miele sell reliability, not cars or washing machines. Or that Chanel sell sophistication, not handbags.

Isn’t that analogy so applicable to what we do? As beauty therapists or nail techs, we sell dreams, not services. We sell the feel-good factor, not manicures or facials. The important thing is how do we get clever in marketing this, like the brands from Tilbury’s post? The truth is, we have a lot to learn from them. Because what we do is so vital. Making people feel better and feel good about themselves makes us one of the happiest professions.

But if Coca Cola can make drinking a can of sugary, fizzy pop become the thing that makes you happy, why aren’t we better at selling what we do for our clients emotionally? Add to the feel-good mix, we must consider the emotional impact of our customer relationships, what we do for our clients’ mental and emotional health and wellbeing.

Marketing beauty

Can you imagine if sports brand Nike knew all their customers by name and engaged with them personally, as a trusted confidante? Can you picture what they would do with that relationship? How would they sell how special their brand was in the eyes of their consumer?

During the pandemic, we were rarely off the front pages as a sector. All the talk was of how much people missed their hair and beauty professionals. It highlighted the vital importance of the personal interaction between people and their trusted therapist or hairdresser.

We all know customers that confide in us about things they simply don’t feel comfortable to tell anyone else. Perhaps it’s something to do with the fact that we are one of the remaining services on the great British high street that is hands-on. We touch people. And not just mentally, but physically, too. It’s something so unique and special you can’t help but wonder whether we take it for granted? We certainly don’t capitalise on it as much as we should.

"FACELESS SALONS whose homepage is a list of discounted offers or a BLAND FACTUAL PAGE about their opening hours or prices ARE MISSING A TRICK"

Point of difference

One of the things I always do in my consultancy work is to advise salon owners on how their social media sells the most vital thing – their team and their story.

Faceless salons whose homepage is a list of discounted offers or a bland factual page about their opening hours or prices are missing a trick. What they should be marketing is their team, what makes them special, their expertise, length of staff service, brand story, their family, and the customer service and client retention rates that make them so valued and trusted by their loyal client base. That’s what the big brands would do.

One salon I worked with asked me how they could possibly hope to stand out among the raging competition in their local area. When I looked at their social media and website there was no mention of the magic they spoke about when verbally describing their team. They’d simply never thought to market this as a strength and something to shout about.

Consumer psychology is definitely an interesting study, and analysing customer behaviour is fascinating. One thing is for sure, if the global superpower brands could capture that magic we have – that unique interaction, that loyal, faithful relationship – and bottle it, then they’d been marketing it as pure gold. It’s time we learnt to do the same.

Hellen Ward is managing director of Richard Ward Hair & Metrospa in London, vice president of The Hair & Beauty Charity and co-founder of Salon Employers Association (SEA).