Your Business Does NOT Care How You Feel w/ Stephen Gomez
Salon business coach & trainer @saloncoachsjg shares a TON of advice and strategy to improve your business.
Salon business coach & trainer @saloncoachsjg shares a TON of advice and strategy to improve your business. We discuss how to track data to make better decisions, as well as topics such as client retention and mindset.
The Hair Game (00: 00)
How's it going Steve, how are you?
Steve Gomez (00: 02)
I'm doing great. I just got off a plane yesterday from San Antonio. I spoke at the premiere show, had two really great sessions and you know what's neat about live events as much as our industry has moved predominantly towards what we're doing right now and there's so much online content. It's just still great to get out live and be with people and meet people from all over the place. I had people obviously from Texas, but we had people from Tennessee from out here in California where I
from Boston, from Maryland, we have people from all over the place. And people are hungry for education and they're really looking to grow and it's always great to connect with people that are ready to take their business to the next level. So I'm feeling supercharged and ready to rock. You guys are catching me in rhythm.
The Hair Game (00: 49)
100%. I feel it. I feel the energy. I'm ready to go. Okay. Well, well tell us for those of those of us who are not able to make it to the premier show or any of the shows in the last, let's call it, you know, 12 or 24 months, how, how is the show health these days?
Steve Gomez (00: 52)
Hahaha ⁓
Well, you know, what's interesting is this was a third year show for Premier. Obviously, the Orlando show is their crown jewel and it's still one of the largest shows, beauty shows in the industry. But this show, being that it's their third year, so it's kind of in its infancy and taking off, continues to grow and gain momentum. I've been at it all three years and I continue to get more and more people in my classrooms.
some shows out there that are kind of hit and miss, but I think it's always been that way. But you know, I've been doing this for 32 years and I can remember when we were predominantly live and there were so many live events to choose from. ⁓ I think ⁓ it's sad to see that there's less options like that, but I do like that. ⁓
Companies like you guys, manufacturers, I'm seeing distributors, I'm seeing a lot of software companies pivot and do their own live events, ⁓ which is really great. It's just needed. think when you can connect one-on-one with people in person, it's so invaluable. And to me, because it's not as predominant as it used to be, I think people appreciate it more and show up hungrier to not just be motivated, but to take things back and work on it.
that's that's the key even in what you and I are here to jam with today if you feel inspired by anything we say to anybody who's listening to this good for you but that inspiration only lasts as far as your ability to apply what you're getting so we can give you solutions but you've got to do something with it and that that means writing notes taking notes ⁓ reaching out and doing what you need to taking definitive action circling back around to Eric or myself getting questions answered and really digging in
to take your business to the next level because that inspiration is going to wear off after a while. You you got to act.
The Hair Game (03: 02)
100%.
And this is something that in so many of the talks that I've done at the hair shows, typically ISSC, we hit ISSC just, you know, lots of years in a row. And then of course, Premier took over ISSC. Now it's Premier Anaheim. ⁓ They changed kind of the rules on who could have a classroom and we don't have a product to sell.
Steve Gomez (03: 12)
Yep.
Yep. Yep.
The Hair Game (03: 27)
So no longer will they give us the Hair Game podcast only a classroom, whereas the ISSC used to. So ⁓ we haven't been there. I I've been there physically just to kind of hang around, say hi to people, but not to say anything. But I remember for all those years, one of the main messages that a lot of the most experienced people in the room would say is that this is so awesome. We're all so excited.
Steve Gomez (03: 32)
Yeah, sure.
The Hair Game (03: 55)
And then as soon as you get home, you're not going to do shit about any of it, right? You're going to forget everything. You're going to go back to your old habits, which are giving you kind of the mediocre results that drove you to the show in the first place. So everything you just said is so poignant and so valuable. Dedicate some time after a show, you know, take half of a day off or whatever.
Steve Gomez (03: 59)
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Correct.
The Hair Game (04: 23)
to sit down and organize the thoughts, the notes that you just recommended, organize your thoughts and kind of create that plan of action that you talked about to actually get the benefit of the time that you spent at this show. It's not just about the feeling and the excitement. It's about actually taking the information and putting it into action.
Steve Gomez (04: 36)
For sure.
It really is. know, one more thing I'll say about this is, you know, any of my clients that I coach, ⁓ if they're going to any event, ⁓ I want the owner that I'm coaching and any of her team members that are going to submit to me by the end of the week of that live event.
what they got out of it, why that's helping them, but specifically what are they going to do and when are they going to do it. And then we track for the next 30 days and I have the owner build into her or his schedule time to follow up and check in with the person to see are you applying that technique you just learned? Are you tracking your rebooking like you said you were going to? You're not. Why aren't you? There's got to be accountability and there's got to be specificity.
without either of those two things, it's just like you said, you're not going to do anything, you're just going to have been inspired, you're going to have spent time and money and felt good, but there's no payoff. So you've got to put accountability, you've got to put specificity, there's got to be checkpoints, there's got to be buy when dates, in anything. Without any of that, then we're just having a good time and basically wasting time.
The Hair Game (05: 57)
Right. All right. So for the listeners who don't know Steve yet, he's quite obviously, if you've been listening so far, he's a salon coach, author, speaker, 32 years you've been in the business. You wrote a book recently called Financial Fitness, and you focus on the salon industry. So I want to start with why you're in this position. How did you get there? Why did you become a coach for the salon industry?
Steve Gomez (06: 16)
Yes.
Well, you
know, I failed my way into it, Eric. I, ⁓ no, really. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I ⁓ ran my business into the ground because of what I didn't know. ⁓
The Hair Game (06: 27)
Like any good success story.
What kind of business?
Steve Gomez (06: 38)
⁓ I ⁓ ran the family shop and also launched a marketing company. My family also comes from the pizza business. I'm from Chi town originally. And even though I live out here in Southern California now, I'll always be a Chicagoan and a diehard White Sox fan. So, you know, let's just get all that straight. ⁓ growing up, growing up in my family, you know, we, ⁓ I was, ⁓
The Hair Game (06: 57)
I won't say anything.
Steve Gomez (07: 04)
line cook, was a busboy, dishwasher, I delivered pizzas, I was a waiter, you know, you kind of learn everything. ⁓ And I would also work at the shop and I would clean the shop on Wednesdays and Sundays and I was doing all that.
Went to school for restaurant management and marketing. ⁓ Worked as a manager with my uncle 90 hour weeks, being called in on vacation days and days off, no balance. Got burnt out on it, left it, came back over to the shop side. Started doing that and launched a marketing company. Marketed over 100 salons over about an eight year stretch. It was kind of like a side hustle and love. I would work with salons in spas on generating new clients and retaining them. I loved what I did.
But I was a guy that barely got past algebra in high school, never thought I'd be smart enough to understand math, avoided it. My thought was, well, I'm going to have to out hustle everybody. I'm going to have to show up, be the first one there, be the last one to leave, because I'm not the smartest guy in the room. So I'm going to out hustle everybody. So that domino in my thinking that I wasn't smart enough was that had me fall this way, where I was created a great work ethic, but it was covering up something that I thought I wasn't good at.
And I would make a lot of money. I was very successful, but I was spending it. I wasn't saving it. I wasn't managing it like a lot of people in our industry and I avoided it. So I get audited and this is 35 years ago now.
Back in those days our industry was cash and check. weren't I mean if we were taking credit cards We were rubbing the pen over the credit card on the slip of paper back in those days So like everybody still does in our industry for the most part you get cash What do you do with it? You put it in your pocket you go out for a nice dinner You go to the bar you go shopping you do whatever you have a good time So I got audited and they went back five years back on me because they saw that first year They saw the bank statements in the sales receipts and they're like, okay
The Hair Game (08: 44)
Yeah.
Steve Gomez (09: 06)
Went back on me, I him 80 grand, I didn't have.
The Hair Game (09: 09)
Hmm.
Steve Gomez (09: 09)
Divorce, ⁓ lost my home,
couch surfing at my mom's again, had to walk out, all that stuff happened to me. And I didn't want to give up on things. My mom was pressuring me to come back to the restaurants, but I didn't want to do that because I loved what I did. So one of my marketing clients in Omaha, he had a coach and he introduced me to her and she invited me to be an exhibitor at their retreat that they do annually. ⁓ So I borrowed money from my mom to get out there and it was like heart-pounding.
to my business. I got four new clients. gave me a boost when I needed it. But it was the message on stage that transformed me because I knew I had found people that could help me get my shit together. So went back to the bank of mom one more time and she's like, this is it. You either figure it out. I'm not going to, you know, you've got to make this work or not.
The Hair Game (09: 42)
Wow.
Steve Gomez (10: 00)
And I started working with my coach and I was showing up because I knew I had to learn how to get my shit together around money. knew that I had to, if I was gonna rebuild, I would have to do it the right way and I would have to go through my journey. And the biggest thing that my coach did was she had me realize that I was smart enough to learn about salon, spa and clinic finance.
And her ability to help me shift my thinking was the other domino going in a different direction. I already had the work ethic. I already had a lot of belief in myself in a lot of ways except this area. So shifting my perception helped me learn and scale the right way. I was able to rebuild the company. I was able to sell it for a profit. I was able to get out from under the debt, rebuild my credit. That company offered me a chance to join them.
And I haven't looked back. mean, it's been 32 years now. I've coached over 750 salons, spas, clinics, solo owners all over the world. I've written two books. That company got bought by M'lady. I worked with them for nine years as a subject matter expert. And then I left them to launch my own brand. I did that in 2016. I'm working on my third book. I've trained everywhere from Moscow, Russia to Dublin, Ireland to all
Italy to Bogota, Colombia and Mexico and Panama and all over the US and Canada was nominated for Educator of the Year by Naha two years ago. ⁓ None of this I would have ever thought would have been possible and all of it comes from me.
learning at a tough moment in my world and getting humbled and realizing that I had to shift and because it was so transformative for me, Eric, I've dedicated my life. It's not a career for me. It's a life path. I'm here to serve our industry to shift our thinking because us right brain creatives were really good at what we do. But when it comes to thinking about business structure and organizational functionality, we just shy away from it. We think it's dry subject matter or
like me, we don't think we're smart enough, and we avoid it to our detriment. So I dedicate my life to helping people in our industry shift their thinking and then give them the tools, resources, and solutions to actualize the insight. And that's my game, you know?
The Hair Game (12: 22)
Yeah,
amazing. Okay, so what you do now is you have clients, have paying clients who you coach and I'm sure you've got traditional salons and you've got ⁓ independent operators and they come to you and they say, ⁓ I imagine, you know, it's funny being a coach like you because in order to get a client, the client has to have enough self-awareness
to connect the dots between I'm not doing well or maybe they are, but I can do better. And this person named Steve can help me. And I know it's gonna be uncomfortable and it's gonna cost me a little bit of money going to Steve, but he's gonna help me. So you're self-selecting to a type of person who's…
Steve Gomez (13: 00)
Yep.
The Hair Game (13: 19)
proactively trying to improve themselves, right?
Steve Gomez (13: 23)
Mm-hmm,
correct. You know, anybody can come do a seminar, right? Like, you know, I had, I don't know, 60-ish people in my two classes total over the last two days, and 20 % are gonna act.
You know, and the rest are just going to be motivated and go back and do nothing. So while I'm speaking to everybody and I'm committed that people get value, I'm speaking to the people that are ready because to work with somebody like myself, you really have to be ready to make the investment of time and money. And I'm very selective because I don't want to waste my time. You know, to me, it's not about getting another client so I can make a buck. You know, it's about going on a journey to
The Hair Game (13: 49)
Mm-hmm.
Steve Gomez (14: 06)
to transform yourself and if you're unwilling to jump in because the water is freezing I'm not right for you. I give people, I teach people things, I give them action steps, I give them buy when dates. They miss a buy when date, we talk about what that missing was, what happened, where's the lesson, how can you grow and learn, let's get the integrity back in place and keep going. Do it again, we talk about it again but you're on probation. Do it again, you're out of my program. Don't waste your time, don't waste mine, don't waste your money.
If there is no regret.
The Hair Game (14: 37)
Yeah. You're not a babysitter.
Steve Gomez (14: 38)
No, if there's no, and I'm not here to kumbaya, you know, if, there's no rigorous standards of accountability like that, then we're left to our own devices and we continue to have functionality in the areas that come easy to us or that we love and dysfunctionality in the areas that we shy away from or think are, challenging. So to me, I'm all about helping people lean into what's uncomfortable so they can go after the breakdowns and cause breakthroughs. And it's not fun.
but there's such a payoff on the other side and not everybody's ready for that. People have to be ready for that. That's why I've got books, I've got webinars series, I write articles. So there's ways that I can touch and help everybody, but then there's coaching for people that are truly ready to jump in because that water is freezing. You know what I mean?
The Hair Game (15: 29)
Yeah. So what's the difference between the person who's unable to make that step and ⁓ change their habits and become comfortable with the things that are uncomfortable, ⁓ learn to at least ⁓ bear the things that they don't like versus those who aren't.
Steve Gomez (15: 52)
It all comes down to mindset.
You know, in my second book, Interdependent Leadership, I teach about ⁓ that you can really only build your business if you have inclusivity with your team. It can't be, for example, if you own the salon, Eric, you coming up with all the ideas. That's exhausting, right? So my philosophy is you got to get everybody involved. You'd rather have five or six hearts and minds looking at an issue and collaborating than not. But the missing is perception. It starts with thinking, you know,
that you and I could be connected and I could espouse your values because I believe in what you've created. Therefore, I want to work with you. But.
If I have a different perception around something like let's say retail, you know, you are very adamant about serving the guests at home care and I am, you know, stuck in my thoughts that people can't afford it and they're going to think I'm pushy. So if I have that perception, that is a barrier to my own progression and it's a barrier to me buying into your belief system. So even if we have commonality and values, that perception creates a barrier to people getting served and then me
being aligned with where you want me to be. So unless you can help me shift that perception, I'm gonna be stuck there and you're gonna ultimately be frustrated with me and then you're gonna either really push the dial with me or push me out the door because you need to find some people who are like-hearted. So when it comes to coaching, it's the same thing. ⁓ People are going to be stuck in their fears and if people are going to be stuck in what they believe to be the
reality even though it's a reality you know it's just a perception but they make it up to be real then they're gonna struggle to either take on a coach or to be successful in coaching for example ⁓
I could charge somebody $600 a month or $2,000 a month, but if they don't believe that they can grow their top line sales to pay for that in 90 days, I'm not right for them because a lot of people will look at a dollar amount and come from a lacking and come from a expense, expense minded point of view versus coming from an entrepreneurial point of view. And most people are entrepreneurial when they open the thing, they're all excited. They're willing to take a loan out.
They're ready to go, but then because of what they don't know, they pigeonhole themselves into just being behind the chair or in a treatment room to make a buck to pay a bill. They don't give themselves time to think and they're just spinning. So when you're in that mindset and you begin to worry about money and you become situationally driven and reactionary as opposed to being critical, thoughtful, organized and mindful and analytical about where your business is. So when you can't change those thoughts,
and you're like, well, I can't afford $600. Oh, really? Well, 600 divided into four weeks. What is that? That's 125 a week, 150 a week divided into five days. That's 30 more dollars a day that you need to grow your sales by to bring somebody like me on board. Oh, you're seeing 10 clients a day. That's three dollars more a guest. So are you revving up your income producing engine to afford to get the help you need or are you stuck on a number that you think is big? And that's really where the mindset comes in. It's fear of
I can't afford something or being stuck in a mindset of, I don't think I can grow. I don't think I can change people's opinions. My team's going to resist me. I don't think I can. Perception is to me the genesis of transformative growth or keeping yourself in the jailhouse,
The Hair Game (19: 37)
Yeah.
So how much of a psychologist are you versus a tactical business coach? I mean, it sounds like a lot of what you do is psychology.
Steve Gomez (19: 48)
It really depends on the person. Some people need more of that at the beginning and then if they're willing to stick through it and transform their thinking, then I can get more… ⁓
data driven with them, can teach them all the things. Then I get people that show up and hit the ground running, they're super confident in themselves, they've learned from their mistakes, they recognize the issues, they know that they're ready to just jump in and get to work. It really depends on where I'm meeting that person and where they are in their world. ⁓
But what I tell people is I'm always gonna listen to where they're located mentally. And if I hear they need to shift, then I'm gonna tell them I'm gonna coach them on it. And I don't care if I have to spend a whole call until I help somebody pop.
Unless they transform the thinking it doesn't matter what I'm teaching them whether it's you know cash flow and P &L and projecting sales or how to have a Successful meeting or how to develop a marketing strategy how to grow top-line sales get better with consultation blah blah blah Doesn't matter the subject matter it always matters the thinking
The Hair Game (20: 54)
Absolutely. Okay, so I mean, we can talk about ⁓ specific things that help beauty professionals, but I like to do it in the context of the here and now. So I'll first ask you the here and now, beauty industry, here we are, it's 2025, we're, you know, let's call it four years out of a COVID, you know, sort of ⁓ shake up.
Steve Gomez (21: 18)
Yep.
The Hair Game (21: 21)
and kind of inflationary spike and all that kind of stuff. So where are we now? ⁓ How is the industry's health and what are we struggling with?
Steve Gomez (21: 30)
Well, the interesting thing is that the industry continues to grow year over year, maybe not at the percentage that we've been used to. And I've been studying that. And even though we've been battling a moderate recession, hasn't been the freefall we all maybe considered a year and a half ago that we were going into, but it's been moderate. There's been relative bumpiness. People have maybe been spreading out their appointments a little bit longer instead of coming in every six weeks.
coming in every eight weeks. Client traffic's a bit down, you know, not only from, you know, what we're hearing and industry analytics overall, but, you know, I can just say I coach 24 salons and spas and suite owners right now and I'm looking at the data and I'm seeing a moderate, like, you know, maybe 5 % across the board drop in client traffic, but I'm seeing an increase in new client traffic growth.
So that's an interesting dynamic. think people are moving around a little bit more.
loyal. If people are raising prices, maybe they're jumping, but that's okay because you know, you can as long as you are continuing to rev up the new client acquisition engine, that to me is what's critical. You can't be stuck on somebody who chose to go somewhere else. You can only focus on what you can control and how are you continuing to get your name out there and leverage technology and I mean all the software companies are really good at doing things to help you
client traffic. You know, so I think the industry is at a point, you know, then you throw in what we've been dealing with with the tariffs. People then again get situational and they start to worry and then people become a complaint about what's happening outside of their four walls. So the way I'm relating to it and the message that I bring in every session I do with clients or when I'm out on the road is focus on your four walls.
Focus on what you're doing to deliver the very best to everybody and be data driven. Don't just think you're good at rebooking, know it. I asked everybody this weekend, how many of you can tell me how many new clients you've had from January 1 through September 28, 29? And nobody could tell me the number, none.
And that's our industry. I said, okay, so then you're all managing from feelings and you're all worried about what's going on outside your four walls that are that are going to impact you more because you're driven by worry.
It's important to notice what's going on out there, but then ask yourself, how can we meet that moment? How can we pivot? If people are challenged, if the economy is not growing at the rate it is, if there's a fear of recession in our world, then what are you doing to be that safe harbor in the storm for people that maybe aren't going to go on that long vacation, but instead could come to you for a couple of hours every four to six weeks and relieve stress and tension and be made to feel
So to me that's what what I see in our industry is that while we're not taking as big a hit as maybe we thought we were going to 18 months ago, which is good news for us, the critical thing is that all of us that are in a position like you and I are in Eric, we have to be at the tip of the spear reminding our industry to be a solution and not a complaint and to focus on your four walls and how can you continue to drive the experiential ⁓
⁓ things that are really going to make people feel amazing and great for coming to you above and beyond what you're doing technically. So if you're not focusing on those things and if you're just focusing on what's going on outside, you're going to spin your wheels and you're not going to get anywhere.
The Hair Game (25: 17)
Mm-hmm.
Absolutely. Sometimes I find that people get a little bit ⁓ too focused on marketing to attract new clients, not so much on retaining their existing clients, which seems to be a lot easier than going and trying to find new clients and then hoping that they're going to be a client that you want to retain ⁓ or that you're able to retain.
Steve Gomez (25: 39)
Dingo.
The Hair Game (25: 53)
So let's talk about client. I haven't talked about client retention on this podcast and I don't know how long. So, you know, maybe that's one little indicator. So what you just talked about a number of the things to create an experience to, ⁓ to maybe, ⁓ or to make your, your client relish the time that they spend with you. but what else, anything else in there?
Steve Gomez (26: 15)
Yes.
Sure, you know, it's funny that you went in that direction because to me it is critical. Anybody can get new business because anybody, all of us as consumers, ⁓ going to be certain marketing advertisements are going to capture us. They're going to ⁓ be evocative. They're going to make us think and come up, conjure in our mind a feeling or an experience we're going to have. That's going to get us in the door. But are you, if you're an individual that
works on your own or are you if you're an owner working together with your team are you looking at what am I going to do to meet this very important moment?
Well, it starts with looking back at how many new guests am I getting? And then what is my rebooking percentage first? And then how many of them are making to visit three? That's the real critical data, the visit three data. But that rebooking number is critical because that's gonna tell you in that first visit, did you roll the red carpet out such that?
That person is absolutely rebooking and coming back. They're purchasing at home care, those indicators. So all of my clients were tracking this and I want you to guess what you think Eric is across all of my clients, which is a good swath, right? I've got one guy that's got 85 hairdressers in a $5 million operation. I've got another client that's got multiple locations down to a brick and mortar salons and suite owners that I work with across the board of all of that.
What do you think the rebooking percentage is of new guests? First visit rebooking percentage if you had to guess.
The Hair Game (27: 55)
I
recently heard this somewhere. I think it's something like 70%. So 30 % a trit.
Steve Gomez (28: 02)
Uh-uh.
19 % are rebooking on the first visit.
The Hair Game (28: 08)
⁓ hold on. Wait, only 19 %?
Steve Gomez (28: 12)
Only 19 % are rebooking after the first visit. Visit number one, 19%, that's the percentage. Yes, only one out of five are rebooking. Doesn't mean they come back. Some people don't rebook and then they do come back, but yeah.
The Hair Game (28: 20)
One out of five, only one out of five, come back.
Okay.
Then they do come back. You're talking
about they book in advance ⁓ after got it. I got it. Okay. Okay. Okay.
Steve Gomez (28: 32)
Yeah, before they leave. Yes, yes. Which
is a key indicator because that means that we have hit, we did a good job, that they are willing to book that next appointment right on the spot. And we know that when you rebook that appointment right before they leave, especially that very first client, that new client that…
The Hair Game (28: 41)
You did a good job. Yeah.
Steve Gomez (28: 55)
your odds of getting them to visit number three are exponential. So when I'm seeing that trend, it just tells me that owners aren't tracking it, we're not talking about it, and the team is just doing the same old same old and they're not taking, they are taking advantage of, they're taking for granted the marketing efforts. So anybody listening to this, start looking at your own data and.
The Hair Game (29: 16)
Yes.
Steve Gomez (29: 21)
If your percentages are low, don't beat yourself up because A, you weren't looking at it to begin with. So be thankful that you're looking at it. And most importantly, if your percentage isn't high, let that fuel you to act and get creative. And here's why.
Your business doesn't care how you feel everybody. It doesn't. Your business needs you to pivot always. Your business is like the chicken in the nest saying feed me, feed me, feed me. It doesn't care that you got a clipped wing, it's hungry. So you having a feeling about what's working or not working is you wasting your time. I have empathy and understanding for it, but I'm always gonna tell you, okay, you got 10 seconds to feel as shitty as you want. If not, then stay there or let's get into action and let's start pivoting.
You know, so when we then can look at that data, let that spur our creative imagination and get collaborative. You know, reach out to Eric and his team, reach out to fellow people in the suites that work next to you. You know, if you know other salon owners in the area, pick their brain, find out what other people are doing, talk to your distributor sales consultants. There's so much information out there to gather. I mean, heck, go on AI nowadays, right?
and just ask chat GBT, you know, what they think that you should do. They'll tell you in seconds. Reach out to people like myself, but don't stay stuck in what's not working. Get the data and let it fuel things that you can do to really escalate the experience you provide people.
The Hair Game (30: 59)
Absolutely. Okay, so let's talk about the data. So it used to be harder to collect data. Now it's easier. Do you recommend the booking apps, the business platforms out there? There's so many.
Steve Gomez (31: 05)
Yes.
Yes, I do. You know, there's a lot of great software companies out there, you know, so you've got to find the one that's right for you and that you feel you resonate with their values and their vibe. And they're also giving you the things that you think you need. Now, fundamentally, you're going to need a point of sale system that integrates with your inventory. So all of that could be managed in real time. If it integrates with your with your cash flow and financial tracking, your profit and loss integrates in their QuickBooks.
That's a home run because once all that's integrating, it's saving you a ton of time. ⁓ There's so a lot of the software companies out there are great at that and are doing that. ⁓ For example, Millennium is doing that well. The Garo is doing that well. Shortcuts is doing that well. ⁓ Zenody is doing that well.
⁓ But then they have to, they have to, in my opinion, ⁓ be committed to help you grow and drive cash flow, increase the top line. And a lot of them are pivoting to and doing that, you know, ⁓ implementing online booking for you, building promotions. But the one that I that I really espouse and I promote is Forrest. I love what they're doing from a marketing perspective. In my 32 years as a coach, I've never seen
anything quite like what they're doing from a marketing perspective. Those guys are, yeah, I'm sorry.
The Hair Game (32: 39)
What are they doing?
What are they doing?
Steve Gomez (32: 42)
They well, you you can build promotions right inside of the software and with a click of a button, it goes out as a text and goes out as an email. It goes out on the social platforms. You can track all of it in real time. You can track it from your desktop. You can track it from your phone, from the app. You can really see what's working and what isn't. ⁓ But one thing that they've done that that nobody else has done, and I think it's a big game changer, is that they're the only software company that has an exclusive partnership with Metta.
So a lot of salons nowadays are placing ads on Instagram and on Facebook to get clients. you know, everybody's doing it where you put the ad out and then you pick the zip codes, you know, or the area codes that you want it to go to and the type of person that you're looking for. And it's going to go out generally to everybody. But what, what Metta is doing is they're, going into the software and they're, they're looking at the top 10 % of your customers.
And then they're taking those customers and going back over into their Instagram, those customers' Instagrams, those customers' Facebooks, and they're looking at those people. Who are they? What are they like? And then when you place that advertisement through them, it is only going to those type of people.
The Hair Game (33: 52)
profile matching.
Steve Gomez (34: 03)
Instead of a general blanket swath of everybody in the area and it has been a game changer My clients that are leveraging this we're seeing a massive uptick in not only new client traffic but a dramatic increase in retention because The people that are being advertised to are just like their best customers. It's it's brilliant analytics and Technology that you you just I mean it's it's it's amazing what you can get your hands on nowadays to help you
grow your business, you know, based on how things used to be. mean, gosh, 20 years ago now, 10 years ago was the Stone Ages by comparison to these advancements. So that's why I love what those guys are doing. I like a lot of the other softwares too. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of great ones out there. But to me, when you've got a program that's going to help you pay for itself and help you really drive top line growth while managing all the other things behind the scenes, that's some good stuff right there.
The Hair Game (35: 00)
Absolutely. How many of your clients who come to you are not using a software platform? How many are still writing into a book?
Steve Gomez (35: 07)
Um, would say, I'd
say maybe 40 % aren't and we're helping them get on. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.
The Hair Game (35: 13)
Still, wow, okay. And you're helping him get on.
Yeah.
Steve Gomez (35: 16)
crazy, you know, and the ones that aren't are using like an amalgam of things. They'll be using an online booking program and Square. They're like, you know, they have two or three different things going at once, which gets them what they need, but then they're having to spend more time as opposed to having everything in one place. That's why the salon and the spa clinic software programs that give you one stop shopping. It's smarter. And if there's one thing I'll say to anybody that's leaning into
The Hair Game (35: 29)
Right.
Steve Gomez (35: 46)
what we're talking about right now, it's this. Don't look at, well, it's gonna cost me $150 more month than what I'm spending.
Again, 150 divide that into four weeks, divide that into five days a week, divide that into number of guests. You're going to grow your top line to pay at number one. But number two, the investment of that additional 150 and what you can get out of it and saving you time and having everything in one place, that alone is a game changer. And then learning everything about the software and leveraging the sales growth avenues that they offer you, you're going to way make up more
make way more than 150. And that's the way that I would invite anybody to look at it. You have to invest to grow.
The Hair Game (36: 36)
You have to see both sides. You have to see the additional revenue and the cost. And recognize that the additional revenue potential is much higher than the cost. And so I love the fact that, so for some of our listeners who might still be writing into a book or maybe writing into their phone or whatever, you're somebody who can help them transition their business onto a software platform. For those…
Steve Gomez (36: 42)
wreck.
Absolutely.
Yep.
The Hair Game (37: 04)
people I've often heard, they are nervous about ⁓ spending the time and transitioning onto a platform and then maybe not knowing how to use it right or it's screwing something up. And so many of the software platforms, I mean, they talk about how they have good customer service, but I always hear about how it's pretty limited and hard to get somebody on the phone and all that. So really cool that you're there to help people.
Steve Gomez (37: 29)
Sure.
The Hair Game (37: 34)
do it in a bespoke way.
Steve Gomez (37: 35)
Yeah, you know, I'm, what I do
is I, is I make recommendations to people and then I have relationships with a couple of the software companies where I can, you know, I can text somebody and say, Hey, can you do this to help my client? And you know, then they're going to help me in that way, or form. What I do is I make recommendations to people that they should get the support they need. but I don't recommend any of you that are going to transition into a software.
The Hair Game (37: 40)
Mm.
Steve Gomez (38: 03)
Go live until you learn everything behind the scenes. Even if the software company wants you going live, because that's when the investment starts happening, the monthly money to them starts happening, don't go live until you do all of your studying and you know it 100%. And find a company that before you go live, there's going to be a very specific point of contact from a customer service point of view that is going to be helping you. And stand your ground. Don't just be another
number because all these software companies have you know thousands of clients now you know so if you're going to invest in them before you pull the trigger and go live make sure you learn everything take every tutorial know everything there is to know about it so that you are making the right investment of time and there's always going to be some type of glitch in transferring over from a square or this or that be ready for it so any of your existing data that you already have had go at
least 18 months backwards and print all the reports and get all the information you need.
Understand there's going to be a time investment and there's going to be a learning curve. don't, you know, look, you can be either impatient and impetuous and worried about because you want it yesterday and oh my gosh, I have to put time into this thing. Or you can think about the next 15, 20 or 30 years you're going to be in business. So who cares if there's a three or four month learning curve that's going to help you become more organized for the rest of your career and help you make more money in the long term.
Go through the trenches and figure it out. Don't be a complaint.
The Hair Game (39: 42)
Worth it. It's worth it. Yeah.
Steve Gomez (39: 45)
Amen. Every single
time. Every single time.
The Hair Game (39: 49)
Okay, so as you were talking about the data, I just want to make sure, do most of these booking apps consolidate and provide reports that give you this data nowadays? It seems like most of them, I mean, there's been an arms race for a couple of years on the functionality. know, whether it's, you know, various types of booking, flexibility and pricing, you know, this and that.
With the reports, with the financial reports and the data though, I'm not so familiar about whether they've kept up with each other or you say Forrester's really good. Are most of them pretty good?
Steve Gomez (40: 35)
Yeah, I think from a data management point of view, yes. Yeah, I think, you know, I would say, you know, some of them are going to do things a little differently, but getting all the basics and integrating with inventory and integrating with QuickBooks for financial tracking, most all of them across the board are doing a really solid job with that. Like I would say, you know, again, the top companies, the Forrest, the Boulevard, the Zenotes, the Vigaros, the Shortcuts, you know, all these companies are doing
The Hair Game (40: 40)
Okay.
Steve Gomez (41: 05)
a millennium, they're doing a very good job of it. ⁓
You know, you as an owner, just have to research a bunch of them, do a bunch of demos with many of them, be grounded in how they operate and what their value systems are. What, what are you really looking for? What do you like the most? And then ultimately, you know, what's going to be the game changer that's going to separate a program above and beyond for you from others, which for me is why I like my friends at Forest because what they're doing from a marketing and sales growth perspective, they're so committed to grow that top line. ⁓
They're always innovating and you know, I spoke at their event in 2019 and they have an annual event every January over in Dublin and one of the things that they do is they have the event but then the next day they invite key clients to then come and look at what their R &D team, their research and development team is coming out with and they want end users specifically looking right at it and saying I like this, I like that, oh my god that's amazing, yeah.
that's a waste of my time. So I like that they're always engaging their end users to find out how they can continue to get better and bring things to the market that are going to make a difference, you know, which is pretty neat. So either way, if I were to sum up talking about technology, you know, do your research and, and make sure that you're finding something that's going to save you time, get you data in real time and help you make money.
The Hair Game (42: 23)
Yeah, fantastic.
Yeah. Okay. ⁓ Before we get off the topic of marketing, the love what you talked about with forest, but is what is the primary driver of new clients these days? Is this still referrals? I think referrals have been number one for so long. Is it still referrals or is it something else?
Steve Gomez (42: 43)
Yep.
It's referrals.
I think it's a mixture of three things. It's referrals. It's ⁓
And I find that to be secondary. Most of my clients are growing through their SEO, growing through Google SEO and just driving their search engine optimization up the charts. ⁓ So really ensuring that your website is current and fresh and up to date and that you're working to ⁓ have your brand be top of the line when people are searching in your area for what you do. Then referrals, then leveraging referrals, and then leveraging
The Hair Game (43: 09)
Yeah, Google. Yeah.
Steve Gomez (43: 33)
emerging technology like we just talked about.
The Hair Game (43: 36)
Yeah, that's great. Okay, let's talk about financial fitness. Why did you write that book?
Steve Gomez (43: 41)
⁓ I wrote that book, you know, and it was, I chose to write that book first because of everything I shared at the top in my story, you know, everything that I had gone through and having to overcome my perception and then lean in and learn about this world of salon and spa finance. And ultimately, ⁓ the companies that I worked with, we had a lot of financial ⁓ resources that we created for the industry.
But when you work for a bigger company and you bring ideas, sometimes they'll either be relegated down the list because of what the company thinks are more urgent things that they want to create, or there's restraints with the budget and the ability to invest. So when I left Maldi and I went on my own, the first thing I did was write my financial fitness book because now I had my longitude and latitude to really create all the things that I wanted to.
⁓ And when I wrote the book, ⁓ the book is, both of my books are written in workbook form.
And each chapter gets into different things. And in each chapter, the different topics I get into have different spreadsheets with instruction guides that come with them. So I don't just want to teach something conceptually. I then want to have you go open the two or three spreadsheets that I've created that are relevant to what I'm teaching and then learn how to populate them and learn how to read and interpret and understand them. So that way you're not just reading about
something and it's an idea, you're immediately applying it. So when people are purchasing my book, I tell them to take the journey and take it a chapter at a time and implement what you're learning until you've got it down and then move on to the next.
The Hair Game (45: 34)
chapter. Okay.
Steve Gomez (45: 34)
to the next chapter because if
you don't do that, you're just reading all the way through and you've learned concept, but you're not making it applicable to your business. So that's what I did in that book. So I'm teaching around top line sales growth and how to track everything. I'm teaching about cashflow management and really understanding your key performance indicators that drive not only top line sales, but all of your expenses to create profit and how to project future growth, breaking down your marketing apparatus, ⁓
managing your operational payroll so that you have support payroll, all of those things. And if there's one thing I'll say, whether you're somebody who works in a suite or owns a brick and mortar, what makes our industry so unique, but what also creates a lot of dysfunction, Eric, is that we are multiple businesses under one roof. It makes us unique. We have a service business.
That service business has its own budget and expenses attached to it has its own marketing agenda. ⁓ You must coordinate and work with your distributors and manufacturers to drive the treatments that you're offering. So there's a specific marketing agenda that's that goes right with that. It has separate systems and scripts. It's separate company inside your business your retail business completely separate company with separate expenses and marketing and everything attached to that. You might own a rental business.
separate. might have a gift card business. That's separate. You might sell memberships. That's separate. All these different income streams are separate companies under one roof and it's what makes us so cool and unique but
From a tracking point of view, we lump it all together on the P &L and call it income. We don't separate it out. We're not looking at it individualistically. We're lumping all the inventory together instead of separating back bar inventory, which is budgeted based on service sales from retail inventory, which is budgeted based on retail sales. So because we're not separating any of this stuff out, we're just looking at everything generally. And then we're trying to throw ideas at it up on the wall, hoping that shit sticks. And typically it doesn't, you know, so what I teach
is the importance of looking at each business inside your business and start to look at it and really strengthen each individual part of your business, which means you have to give your business more time and attention and be accessible to it. So if you work individually by yourself and you're in a suite, I want you raising your prices so you can get a half a day back in the middle of your week. So that way you're not thinking critically about your business on a Sunday or a
day when should be your day off or on a Wednesday night when you're tired after cranking all day. Right? So raise your prices to get a half day back so now in the middle of your regular work week you are being analytical, data driven, and thoughtful about where you are and where you need to be and you've got everything organized in the way that it needs to be and that's what I teach in my book.
You know, and if you own a business and you have a brick and mortar and you're listening, you have a team that's trusting you with their livelihood, you need at least one, if not two days where you're not working in a treatment room or behind the chair so that you can give your team the attention that they deserve from you and the business the time it needs from you as well. You know, so I have another spreadsheet in my book where I teach people how to replace a day and be more profitable doing it because a lot of people think if they work
they're going to lose money. That's a stylist, that's a technician mentality, that's not an owner mentality. Your most important customer everybody is the business itself and it needs your attention. So start raising those prices so that you get more money so that you can get the time back so that you can give your business the attention that it needs.
The Hair Game (49: 30)
Well, this has been amazing. Where does somebody find your books? You've got two out there. We only talked about one, but you've got two out there and you're writing a third. So where do people find those?
Steve Gomez (49: 39)
Yes, my website is www.stephengomez.net. That's S-T-E-P-H-E-N.
G-O-M as in Mary, E-Z as in zebra.net and just go to my store on there. You can also reach out to me, follow me on Instagram at SalonCoachSJG. Those are my initials, Steve and James Gomez at SalonCoachSJG. If you want to send me an Instagram message directly after you've listened to this and asked me any questions, I'll make myself available. ⁓ I respond within 24 to 48 hours as long as I'm not out on the road training or on vacation. So,
You can count on me to respond. I don't want to be somebody you just watched once and that was it and that was great. I'm here to help everybody. So reach out salon coach SJG www.stephengomez.net. I am here to serve you.
The Hair Game (50: 32)
Awesome. Love it, Steve. Thank you so much.
Steve Gomez (50: 34)
I really appreciate you having me.
