M Hair and Co, a salon group of three salons, two in Mackay including a flagship space and one in Gladstone, is the picture of regional salon success, with such major wins as over $3,000 of revenue earned in one salon visit. The salon brand is operated as M Hair and Co and TLB Hair by the mother and daughter team of Michelle and Trinity Bates, who have guided the salons from strength to strength.
“The over $3,000 service was a massive undertaking that took seven hours,” Michelle said. “The services provided were removal of old extensions, foils, toner, smoothing process, new extensions and retail for home maintenance. The service included the use of specialised services including Jadore Hair Extensions and the safe Floractive Nanoplasty Smoothing System.”
“We work by the hour and pay by the hour, so we charge by the hour,” Michelle added. “Daily we prove that we’re honest and straightforward, so clients trust our recommendations for achieving healthy hair and hairstyles that they are happy with. For instance, if a new client arrives for a correction, we pull out all stops to repair the damage and understand that restoring their confidence is the most important thing.”
The salons thrive thanks to five major principles. The salon is run on principles of staff support, where some staff have been employed for more than 25 years, the effort to train and keep apprentices to invest in the future of the industry, and continual training generally, in a way that actually develops the business and its finances. Other pillars of communication with the team and always understanding how the client feels, are also essential.
“Clients give up their time for us, so it’s our job to make them feel really great. We do everything from creating a plan for their hair to doing strand tests to making their visit a lot of fun,” Michelle said. “However, at the end of the day, it’s Trinity and my job to make M Hair and Co and TLB Hair work, to prepare, flex and change to move forward. That’s what you do.”
The salons also continue to succeed thanks to the latest business management tools and innovative business structures. Recently the salon transitioned to testing tiered incentives to foster more productivity.
“Our team is all casual so that they have flexible work hours to suit their lifestyles. It’s not always easy and it is a juggling act, calling on me and Trinity to put in extra hours to fill in the gaps,” Michelle shared. “We’re just always prepared in readiness to tackle the next challenge and jump the next hurdle. We look at a problem and figure out how to make the solution work for us.”
Retail is also an essential component of the salon, and M Hair and Co have been national number one in sales for a large haircare brand. They’ve continued to research what is on offer to partner with relevant brands. Within these partnerships, Trinity was recently made an Ambassador for Pure Haircare and will lead national trainings.
“We changed to the Australian-made products of Pure Haircare, Davines and Juuce from Hairjamm for their flexibility and constant support. Milk_shake products and Stellar tools are also offered. Since we want the best for our clients’ hair, we chose to offer a variety of brands, matching them specifically to each client,” Michelle said. “Our retail as a percentage of turnover is 20 per cent, which I’m told is a great result in the Australian marketplace.”
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