Hair, Body & Sole seems to be everywhere these days. We have been involved in events all year, the most recent a business expo and a fashion show. Recently we submitted a press release about this project and our blog. The exposure has been great, but are we getting the results we want? What is the point of doing events besides the usual hand-out-cards-get-new-clients routine? Without having a clear goal in mind for any event or project, the results can be all over the board.

So a new policy is born for the employee handbook about events. Writing a policy for such things can be tricky. The point of the policy is to be proactive, not reactive. If Susie wears a skirt that is too short at an event, pointing the finger at dress code in a memo about events is reactive. Susie needs to be approached one-on-one about the incident.

So what should be in this policy? Besides a professional attire clause, specific goals, such as what to bring to all events (press releases, before/after photos, business cards), how to gain future clients info, how to follow up with those clients, and what is required from the staff so that it is a group effort, not just one person behind the scenes and one person getting all of the glory. Presence of the salon as a team is a great public image, but doing every event that comes up is not an option either. Setting up an events calendar to limit what is chosen and a budget for charity are crucial to success. The events then are chosen by either prime exposure, team availability, and past success.

Hair, Body & Sole is beginning to be a recognizable name, which is great, but now the real work of focusing on a specific target market has to begin to keep all of the chairs in the salon warm.

—Adrienne, nail tech