The Skin Coaches Triumph Best Salon Training at the 2023 Australian Beauty Industry Awards

By Louise May

Celebrate the triumph of excellence as we shine a spotlight on The Skin Coaches, recently crowned the “Best Salon Training” at the prestigious 2023 Australian Beauty Industry Awards.

With over a decade of expertise and a mission to make people feel beautiful, The Skin Coaches have consistently raised the bar in skin treatments, laser procedures, and beauty therapy. This latest accolade, among their impressive collection of over 30 awards, is a testament to their commitment to education, transformation, and impact in the beauty industry.

Join us as we deep dive into the story behind this distinguished win, delving into The Skin Coaches’ unwavering dedication to training, innovation, and making every guest a valued part of their beauty family.

Congratulations on winning the ABIA 2023 Award for Best Salon Training! Can you share with us the key initiatives and strategies that led to this remarkable achievement?

Thank you! We are super proud of our achievement! One of the most important key initiatives and strategies for us is our vision statement that we live by each day to ‘TO TRANSFORM, EDUCATE & IMPACT YOU & YOUR SKIN AND TO BE THE ‘DESTINATION CLINIC OF EXPERIENCE’’ when they come into our salon.

We have strong core values one of which is ‘Knowledgeable’ to us this means continually educating ourselves and always putting time into training, planning ahead, blocking out weekly trainings and having great communication meetings in each morning (during these team meetings we go over and role play products, services, and different skin conditions) as a team that have led to us to have this achievement.

How do you ensure that each team member has access to personalised opportunities for growth within the clinic/salon?

I remember hearing this quote “In business, what’s dangerous, is not to evolve.” – Jeff Bezos.

I truly believe that when we are not evolving and educating ourselves and our team is when we are dying (dying in business and dying in passion) I think that setting goal setting days, setting weekly goals (personally and professionally) with my team and checking in with them daily about their tracking and progress is the key for giving the team growth opportunities to keep them accountable and to grow together as a whole.

The innovative approach of having an entire wall of inspiration, goals, and positive quotes is intriguing. How has this played a role in fostering a positive and motivated work culture at The Skin Coaches, and what impact has it had on your team’s performance?

Absolutely, positivity is contagious (funnily enough positivity is one of our other core values). We don’t have time for stress, drama, and negative vibes in our clinic.

Having things such as positive walls of bright colours, goals and inspiration sets the standard and the expectation that working at the Skin Coaches you want to grow within yourself and grow with a team. Once you have a positive attitude and can-do attitude team, you can achieve anything right? That being great client experiences and more...

Can you elaborate on how the continuous professional development of your staff has enabled the clinic to innovate and expand its service offerings?

Being in Mount Isa and Cloncurry, we are so far away from the nearest Beauty Supplier, education workshop, face to face and showrooms, which is why we make it mandatory to be subscribed to every Beauty Magazine, be members of lots of different organisations and engage with our Facebook groups etc, subscribed to Beauty podcasts etc.

This is how we keep up with the latest trends and up with our training and development via the use of everyday technology. We also have clear expectations with our skin care and supplier brands that when we are doing training or having meetings with them that we are getting what we want from the training and meeting and focusing on the areas that need growth in our team and salon.

Your involvement in various industry networks and partnerships is commendable. How have these external collaborations contributed to the professional growth of The Skin Coaches?

Most definitely partnership and networking are everything. It has helped us to where we are today, and it has definitely contributed to where lots of my employees are today too (and past ones too). I see the relationships; the networking and collaborators are how it will continue to grow stronger in the future.

Facing challenges, such as the recent cost-of-living concerns, you implemented creative solutions like the Skin Coaches Memberships. Can you walk us through the decision-making process behind these memberships and the positive outcomes you’ve observed since their introduction?

Listening to the client and the staff!

Sometimes ears are best. We were getting feedback from some of our clients (and staff who weren’t able to pull through on the sales) as their clients were telling them how they were just struggling financially to commit to the treatment plans we have planned out for them (for them to get the best results in their treatments) so we collaborated with Payleadr and this has been a great way for our clients to be committed to their monthly/fortnightly treatments by just paying a small weekly fee.

We haven’t lost out on anything - just gained more trust and momentum to the client’s treatment plans and their results (and cash flow!) We also give all of our membership clients 10% off all products a voucher (which they can re-gift on or use) when they sign up to their membership and exclusive invites to our events as extra bonuses!

How do you foster a positive and supportive environment at The Skin Coaches, and how does this contribute to the team’s long-term goals and career development?

You are your team! So, showing up in a good way is vital, leading by example is vital, doing the work, the education, the cleaning and all the things are vital - if I expect them to show up too and show a positive way - then I need to lead by this.

I had many crappy bosses in my earlier life and took note of all the things I would never do when my day came to be a boss. I push my team to believe in themselves and to achieve things that no one else would have ever helped them do.

I think it’s important to spoil and reward, when necessary, when needed, but to be mindful that it doesn’t lead to entitlement too. Listening to their concerns and being ears is just as important as a thank you! Plus, recognition for all the small wins is definitely a must in my eyes!

PLAN PLAN PLAN ahead. Natalie (manager) and I plan ahead the year in advance, when will we have VIP events, what fortnightly training is scheduled, monthly team meetings, performance reviews, monthly Beauty nights, weekly catch ups and planning all things out and sticking to it.

Making sure that it is in line with our business goals, targets, local events, seasons and making sure that there’s not too much booked in the one month either - ensuring the team aren’t overwhelmed and pulled away from their clients too much.

Preparation before the trainings is important, being organised so the team know what we are doing and what the aims and outcomes are for this. Thankfully ZOOM is a great saver these days for us to be able to connect.

How do you maintain a consistent brand identity and level of service excellence across all three Skin Coaches clinics?

“To Transform, Educate & Impact You & Your Skin And To Be The ‘Destination Clinic Of Experience’” is our Vision statement. Setting measurable goals for the year, breaking it down to each clinic, each month, then the girls each week breaking it down into their days, their clients and treatments is what maintains consistent brand identity along with us checking in with our values, following our policies and protocols ensuring consistency in all areas of the business.

All locations have adapted well for this as repeat clientele, client retention and client experiences and feedback are measured across all locations. Thanks to our software –Phorest, we are able to measure these things whenever we want, just from our phorest app on our phones whenever we want!

The involvement of external coaches and mentors, as well as industry partnerships, is a unique aspect of your training strategy. Can you share specific examples of how external perspectives have influenced your training methods?

My partner Andy is very big on mindset training and NLP. His wealth of knowledge around this and spending time with us around our mindsets has been a massive influence on the success of our can-do attitudes and what has also helped contribute to shaping our culture of the business.

Secondly, Donna from DMK has a wealth of knowledge and the company themselves have one of the best training platforms I have ever seen. They are not just about their product, or the salon spend but they are about the skin conditions and health of the skin and about us understanding those important things about skin and the skin’s functions first.

They keep us accountable with achieving compulsory levels of training and having fun educational competitions regularly.

Looking ahead, how does winning the Best Salon Training award impact your vision for The Skin Coaches in terms of ongoing training and development?

Well, they always say, when you stop growing - you die! I don’t want my passion and love for what I do to die, so it’s up to me each day to challenge myself and stick to my goals and check in regularly to keep my development on top to stay ahead of the game.

We make it very clear even in our job ads that’s a part of the role. We will maintain this by planning the year out with training, measuring our weak points (as a business and as individuals) and working on these. We will continue to check in each day with our goals and mission statement.

It’s a part of our culture, our reputation, and the blood of the Skin Coaches you just know that working at the Skin Coaches you have signed up to grow and learn and that won’t change.

@theskincoaches