[thelist] Advice on Getting That First Client

[.jeff]

martin,

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> From: Martin
>
> > What are some options? ---- For example (depending on
> > how much they have budgeted) they could have their
> > schedule online. Allowing people to sign up for
> > appointments and after their appointment they could
> > load in each persons haircut style. So next time that
> > same person comes in they can just look it up and say
> > - "Joshua - You gonna have the usual today?".
>
> Yeah, but for the 2 person shop, they'll know that
> anyway. Hell, even for bigger hairdressers, each
> hairdresser knows her/his regular clients.
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sure, and they'll know useful things like what the client's spouse is up to,
how their kids are doing, how the client's next door neighbor's divorce is
going, and whether or not the client's minister/pastor finally got convicted
of unimaginable crimes with a minor.

*but*

will they know the important business information like, how many times a
month do they do perform a certain kind of service that requires a certain
amount of product to perform?  knowing things like this can help make their
buying more efficient and cost effective.  it can position them to offer
timely promotions to clients that will improve their bottomline rather than
being a desperate ploy to make rent at the end of the month.  they can see
out of the all the products/services they offer which ones are really
selling well and at what margin.  they can tell if that discount they've
always given to the hot, single ups (http://ups.com/) delivery guy when he
comes in to get a shampoo, haircut, and softstyle once a week has paid off
or not.

these are the things that can make/break a business.  so many small shops
(no matter the product or service) haven't a clue if you ask them to give
you numbers about how their business is performing.  most can't even tell
you what their p&l is for the week, let alone the year.  they don't know
whether or not they're in the black, in the red, or in the green overall.
they haven't a clue if they've actually done better financially this year
compared to last year or vice versa.

.jeff

http://evolt.org/
jeff at members.evolt.org
http://members.evolt.org/jeff/