The Art Of Communication: Listen Up!

As a business coach in the salon and spa industry I am faced with the task of supporting my clients to work on implementing new systems, building better relationships and producing results with more ease!

While we spend a lot of time working on developing systems, the implementation and then follow through, I see time and again that the biggest opportunity for personal and professional growth lies in the Salon owner's ability to work on communication - rather and more importantly, listening!

Typically as a Salon owner you get so excited to get something in place, and want to take action quick, that you forget to remember a few very important points:

1. You are excited because you made a choice to change and improve your business. It is your choice. At the very beginning you are the only one on board, no one else is! In my years of coaching I often see people get so excited to get something off the ground only to be let down because their empoyees done't have the same level of excitement, passion or clarity to make it happen! Remember that they never will feel it the same way you do and that change takes time! They will come around eventually.

2. You do not listen to them! When I say listen I really mean observing them, taking in their reactions and their energetic response to what you introduce! In an earlier blog I wrote about the importance of asking questions. It is at a crucial time like this that you want to be prepared with some questions to ask to see if they see the same issue you see or that they see the importance of putting a new system in place to help the area you want to improve.

In a nutshell, start with listening to where your employees are, and once you are through checking the pulse you will know how to introduce what you need to in a way that they will receive - which will make your life much more easier!