When a customer enters a salon, their main goal is to leave looking and feeling more beautiful than before. Most of us would agree that what we love best about the salon is the relaxing atmosphere and the joy that comes from setting aside a little time for ourselves. The hair or nail appointment is about much more than the end product – it’s about watching yourself magically transform in the mirror. So, if the salon experience is about seeking out an enhanced version of ourselves, it makes sense that we’d select the best professionals around to carry out the process. After all, you wouldn’t let just anyone cut and colour your hair, would you? Instinctively, we gravitate toward experts who in addition to possessing top-notch skills, look like they really know what’s trending in aesthetics. Here are a few simple ways style professionals can walk the talk, and gain the trust of returning clients:
Make Your Hair Your Calling Card
To prove that you have the hairstyling school expertise to make a customer’s hair look great, you should start with having great hair yourself! There are no strict guidelines about how hair stylists should wear their hair, but as a general rule, it should always be clean and beautifully presented. Some employees go bold and wear the trendiest cuts and colours, but a simple and chic hairstyle is always a safe bet. How a style professional wears their hair is really dependent on the type of salon they work at. A salon catering to a younger, or more casual audience may welcome employees with more unusual cuts. On the other hand, a more upscale salon catering to a business clientele may promote a more enduringly classic and refined style code. Since your hair is your calling card, make sure it makes the right statement!
Be Aware of the Salon Brand
Although hair (and perhaps make-up and nails) is the main concern at a salon, stylists shouldn’t forget that the rest of their appearance makes a lasting impression too. At a high-end conservative salon, stylists may be required to cover tattoos and piercings, in order to fit in better with the business brand. Accessories are acceptable, unless they’re prone to getting tangled in equipment or caught in a client’s hair—dangling earrings or long necklaces should definitely be avoided. And any graduate of hair style and esthetics school knows that well maintained nails are an important part of style expert’s look. The bottom line is that stylists should be aware of the image of the salon they work at – or would like to work at. As a professionally presented extension of that image, you will be sure to instil confidence in salon customers.
Listen While You Work
Looking the part means nothing if you can’t act the part too. Building up a clientele rests on a combination of your hairstyle training, self-image and your ability to communicate with confidence. Different clients will have different preferences while at the salon—some will chat you up the entire appointment, while others will prefer to be pampered in silence. Expert communication always begins with careful listening. Salon staff are often part style expert, part client confidante. Sometimes customers need and want to share, and the best professionals can lend and ear just as well as they wield a flat iron!
What do you think is the most important element of self-presentation for style professionals?
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