How to grow your salon business

I'm going to feature a business or industry from time to time and share how they have used relationship marketing to build their businesses. This week I'm going to focus on one of the most dynamic people I know...Darla DiGrandi! Darla owned five high end hair salons in the Palm Springs area and she attributes much of her success in that industry to showing appreciation to her clients.

Check out this interview with Darla and find out how she was able to charge $500 for a cut and highlight performed by beauty school students. Here's a quote from Darla on the subject:

So we were frying hair every day, doing bad haircuts and making people cry at the most expensive price. But they stayed with us because we always sent them a thank-you card and thanked them for being a part of our growth and for a part of our business always.

How effective was this?

When I retired, I was $100 for a bald man, Kody. If I cut your hair, it was 100 bucks. I’m not lying. I swear. God is my witness. We specialized in highlights. So it was 500 bucks to get your hair colored and highlighted and a cut to be with me. That was the most expensive around.

But we were booked for weeks in advance. Weeks out, you couldn’t get an appointment with us and that was because we knew how to make people feel important and appreciated by constantly thanking them and telling them how much we appreciate them. We even, as our salons grew, put mail rooms in our salons with these big huge printing machines and we would go through boxes of labels like this and print like you wouldn’t believe cards of gratitude and appreciation and haven’t-seen-you and happy birthdays.

If you don't think this is valuable information, listen to what Darla has to say:

Well, let me just say one other thing. It worked so well back then that it turned me into a salon consultant and people used to pay me $30,000 to go into their salons and teach them how to implement this in their system so they could raise their prices, so they could become a high-end salon.

But you don't have to pay $30,000 for her secret...all you have to do is check out the video interview and learn how you can use SendOutCards to grow your business, whether you're an owner, manager or stylist.

Interesting days

Today - Beer Can Appreciation Day, Talk Like A Grizzled Prospector Day, Belly Laugh Day and Peanut Butter Day

Tomorrow - A Room Of One's Own Day, Opposite Day and Irish Coffee Day

Next Wednesday - Backward Day, Inspire Your Heart With Art Day and Gorilla Suit Day

February 24 -  Tortilla Chip Day, World Sword Swallower’s Day, Open That Bottle Night and World Bartender Day