Yes, they are, and you know what? It doesn’t really matter. Wait, what?
I know, I know. You’re probably thinking I’ve lost my mind. You’re also thinking, “Yeah, BUT what if my stylists friend all of our clients on social media and then decide to leave?” Well, guess what? They could and they probably will and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Actually, there is. You have a couple of options. You can jump in and get in there and play the social media friending game on behalf of your company or you can spend more time trying to police who is friending who and drive yourself nuts. The latter is like herding cats! You’ll never win with that approach.
Listen, I get it. I really do! I’m a salon owner too. It’s scary to think of the negative effects social media can have on our business. At the same time, we have to understand that social media is a knife that cuts both ways. It can also have a positive effect on our business too! In fact, what we fail to see is that our salon’s brand is almost always going to be bigger than any individual’s brand. Like the phrase says, “The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts.”
How much time are you spending on your salon’s social media accounts? Are you making an effort to connect with clients online? Have you considered asking new clients for their Instagram handle on your new client profile form so you can turn around and follow them?
It’s about shifting your focus and energy away from worrying about who’s friending who and pouring it into creating an environment where both team members and the company flourish. Ah ha! Now there’s something you can control, but in a good way.
“Have you considered asking new clients for their Instagram handle on your new client profile form so you can turn around and follow them?”
There’s no magic bullet that will put this fear of losing clients via social media behind us. It requires working on a combination of things like systems, culture, marketing and branding and watching them all converge to create a thriving salon organization.
We have to stop the Me/Mine mentality that’s centered around salon clients and start focusing on providing our guests with 5-star experiences so that when they are courted by ex-employees or even other salons they don’t even think about leaving us.
