Wella Salons Get Down to Business

Three days, two educators, a few dozen salon owners and scorecards full of telling numbers all merged for Wella’s launch of Servilles Business Education at the Wella Studio LA in late February.

On the first day, Serville’s Paul Serville and Jackie Allum helped the pioneering salon owners develop one-page plans for their salons, including setting a BHAG—a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal. After questioning the owners about what they’d need to reach their BHAG, the educators encouraged them to set five-year goals, one-year goals and 90-day goals in order to reach their BHAG successfully. 

Next, Paul Serville led the owners on a discussion about the importance of establishing the right culture through language, behavior, energy, and core values. “Engagement is the end result of culture,” Serville stressed.

The educators also introduced the participants to a salon forecasting model, which allowed the owners to make small adjustments, such as a slight increase in average ticket per client, illustrating how a small difference can make a big impact to the bottom line.  Then, Allum walked owners through a tough conversation about costs—both variable and fixed—and encouraged them to develop their financial plan.

“What got you here won’t get you there,” Allum tells salon owners in intimately-sized business class.

On the second day of training, Serville introduced the attendees to productivity dashboards, which measure and showcase individual service providers’ numbers, encouraging positive behavior. And, Allum helped the owners assess their leadership styles, including the positive qualities and challenges of each style and how different styles see one another.

On the third day, the participants learned how to drive revenue sales through consultations and client experiences; market research; branding and salon identity; and client acquisition and retention.

Wella has plans to gradually roll the education out to partner salons throughout North America, while simultaneously training their sales force so they may better serve owners as business coaches.

“This is a program we’ve had in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K., and this was the inaugural event in the United States,” says Sally Schoen, Wella’s director of global education strategy & planning. “It’s part of our commitment to our customers to give them the support and knowledge they need to create a profitable business. And, it’s presented by someone who is in the business, every day, running salons and an academy.”

Salon Today Editor Stacey Soble with Paul Serville and Jackie Allum of Servilles Business Education from New Zealand.

Wella’s commitment to the salons’ business support spans beyond the three-day training session. “The learning continues with e-learning for the next year, a closed Facebook community and engagement with the Wella team,” says Schoen.  “If, for whatever reason owners feel they haven’t been good in business and need a partner to motivate them—this will keep them on board.”