These 5 Power Metrics Will Increase Revenue at Your Salon or Spa

I love management guru Steven Covey’s statement, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." It underscores the importance of focus and never before was it more obvious than at an industry event I attended, The Data-Driven Salon Summit’s, “The Power of Possible.” The entire event was based on the premise that there are five power metrics that are universally acceptable across the beauty industry and can form the basis of conversations targeted not at having a great year, but having the best year possible.

Industry titans such as Van Council of Van Michael Salons, Scott Missad of Gene Jaurez Salons and Spas, and Frank Gambuzza of Salon Visage and a host of other thought leaders lent their wisdom to defining these core metrics. If you are the best at these five power metrics—then you’re generating serious money and have built an unstoppable machine.

1. Average ticket

NColor Salon’s Gary Harlan saw £537,000 in service sales with £123,000 in retail sales and an incredible average ticket of £371. He does it by understanding his clientele extremely well with thorough consultations and developing a long-term game plan for their hair care options.

Want to learn more about increasing the average ticket size at your business? Check out this blog post.

2. Percent of service guests purchasing retail

Also referred to as SGP—if you want a key indicator about how well your staff is educating your guests on what products they should use, then SGP is your friend. Top salons and spas are not selling product, their guests are purchasing product. Harry Wood of Van Michael Salons—whose customers regularly purchase £60,000 plus a year in retail—explains in his book, Six Figure Hairdresser, that presenting several choices—usually something for cleansing and something for styling has been a successful strategy. His relentless pursuit of excellence often results in over 40% SGP. Is that good? Calculate your salon, spa or studio numbers and you tell me?

3. Client retention

Many people like to measure appointment re-booking or pre-booking, but the real question is: are your customers returning? Jana Westerbeke and Megan Jasper from Gadabout Salon Spas and VerVe Aveda Lifestyle Salons are leaders who focus on matching clients with staff and give priority bookings to stylists with higher retention rates. They also use client retention as a piece of a service provider’s advancement and career path.

4. Productivity

The total hours worked divided by total hours available. Jyl Craven, pulled in over £500,000 in total sales by focusing on preparation. She plans her work and works her plan. She has a plan for her repeat clients before they walk in the door and saves her social media/phone access for before and after work. How productive is Jyl? She works 35 hours a week and was on track for £600,000 in sales for the following year. By the way, she’s located in Canton, Georgia—not exactly New York City, or Beverly Hills. Focus, determination and knowing what’s possible have been key for Jyl. Just ask her.

5. Client count

Understanding how many customers you have is important! Enough said. But do you focus on increasing client count? Denise Deering of Juut Salon in Palo Alto regularly does £500,000 a year—without an assistant and she never quits recruiting clients. She loves her salon so much, that she wants every person to experience Juut’s excellence. That’s an example of culture eating strategy for lunch!

How Mindbody Insights can help

No matter what your goals are for your salon, spa, or wellness business, understanding your numbers is the key to your success. Mindbody Insights can help you take the guesswork out of developing meaningful data so you can feel even more confident in your KPIs. 

With Insights, the days of running lots of reports and building numerous spreadsheets are behind you.  

On top of that, Insights helps you engage employees across all your locations to meet your brand’s goals and invest in what really matters. When your whole team is empowered, their performance (and your bottom line) can be taken to a whole new level.

Insights can help you master the five power metrics outlined above and effectively increase revenue in no time.