Extract from bookPre empt Change
Trends are constantly changing. Often the top technician in the market will start a new trend because they can. Keeping an eye on fashion shows, hair magazines and the website of these top salons can help keep you in the know.
To be profitable you must move with them. Successful hairdressers are constantly searching for, or creating changes. When you do find out what the suggestions are for the forthcoming seasons, don’t be afraid to put them into action. To be involved in the leading field, you must always be one step ahead.
Promote the latest styles and techniques; earn recognition locally or regionally for being ahead. Don’t get caught lagging behind.
Choose your target market.
This is so important, you cannot please everyone and usually the type of clients you don’t want are the ones that come sniffing. Learn how to keep a particular kind of market happy. Then do all you can to serve the clients.
Being clear about what you deliver and to who will help you to home in on your target market. Hair extensions can be used in two ways:
- To lengthen and thicken hair
- To enhance hair by volume or colour.
You need to create and maintain a good reputation within your target market and push it to the limit. You don’t have to refuse other markets; just don’t try to serve them all.
Chose you products for your target market
The same goes for products. It is important that you can always count on the products you use as being of top quality for the target market. Your client base will have expectation and it is important for you to meet them or even exceed them. Products that let you down or generate negative feedback from the majority of your clients, remove it from your stock immediately. Don’t be afraid to listen to your clients recommendations about certain products.
Sourcing good quality Hair stock
It is important to have sourced your hair properly; this is one of the sectors where quality is not necessarily guaranteed. I would suggest you ask a few different suppliers to send you samples of their hair. It is also a good idea to wash it with a good shampoo and see how it looks and feels after you have dried it.
Badly sources hair can result in your clients complaining about the quality and feel of their hair after they have washed it. This then takes us back to reputation, and even though you are not responsible for producing the hair the client will still associate poor quality of work with how much problems they encounter after your service.
Sales Reps
They will come calling; they will phone, court and persuade you that they are your best friend. They might even send you brochures and statistics on the distribution or number of readers they receive each day, week or month.
They will try to make you feel special and tell you they have just put together the best deal based on the fact that they like you or that you’re new in business. STOP! Always remember your business plan, remember your budget stay focused. Spending your money without planning it will not generate more business for you it will only mean that you are spending your profits in advance. However on the other hand, think about the business you will be generating for the sales rep and their company.
If however there is an opportunity for you to trial some form of promotion for nothing then its worth trying it out you never know.
Working as a Hair Extension Consultant.
Being hair extensions consultant means you will specialise in one or several hair extensions technique. This means that a person has come to you or a member of your staff to request specialist service that they know very little about and would expect proper advice during the consultation.
The mechanical application is an area that you can explain to the client; however this does not override the client’s final style and outlook. Be aware that they may have a definite look in mind and you need to be clear as to weather or not you can support their overall desire.
Concentrate your skills - specialise
Gain dominance; become well known for a technique, finishing look, customer care, products or celebrity status.
Specialise in a service so that you will stand out from other hair extension technicians. You need to highlight the fact that, you are offering something different from the competition, or that you are an expert at it.
It’s great if you can provide a service that not many hairdressers are offering. If you choose to specialise in a popular service, do it better than anyone else does it. Add your own slant to it. Make it different to the way everyone else does it. Make a real art of it. Become the best at it.
Mark your territory. Make it known that your hair extensions service does this the best. Show off your certificates and qualification. The more you concentrate your energies in this specialised area, the more profits this concept will bring.
It’s a real bonus for clients to have a hair extension technician who excels in a particular service. The client would rather pay for perfection, than have doubts about how good they will look.
When the client keeps coming back for that specialised service, you will reap the rewards from the money that is then spent on other services and retail products.
The clients may not have come to you if you were not offering this specialised service, but now you might win them as regular customers. Regular clients are also good source for referrals.
People won’t know about your specialised service, unless you tell them about it. Advertise what you do. Tell people how great you are at doing it. Tell them to expect the best and then give it all you’ve got. Make sure that you promote your specialty and not just another similar service to your competitors.
Mistakes happen - Damage control
Hairdressing is one of those services where no matter how good you are, there are times when you just can’t make people happy. It is so easy to take it personally when a client is unhappy with your masterpiece.
Always listen to the client, don’t panic, get the real message that the client is giving you. Make sure that you and the client are both sure of the expected outcome of the service.
If a client wants something that you know will cause a problem, or will cost you too much money, make your thoughts very, very clear. Do not put yourself in a position where you may be sued or even have your reputation damaged.
Every hair extension employee should be trained proficiently in the products they use. So it’s not a great idea to chop and change continuously from one brand to another. Correct knowledge of products is a great advantage. It helps you to keep customers. Being rude, not compromising or using inferior products on one client can cause you to lose other clients, through bad word of mouth.
Most professional product companies provide product training. They have technicians available for consultation, normally only a phone call away.
Hairdressers should always know how to remedy any problems that may occur with technical services. Any problem with a service should be rectified by your hair extension technician, not another.
Don’t’ walk away or don’t let the client walk out the hair extension studio with an unwanted look. If there is insufficient time or product, book another appointment. Don’t lose the client, just because of a mishap or because your too busy or lazy.
Who bears the cost
If you did exactly what the client asked for, but the client doesn’t like it and come back to have it changed, the client should pay. If you talked the client into something that wasn’t what the client wanted, it’s best to redo it for nothing, to keep the client happy.
Learn to do what the client wants, not what you want. Occasionally you may get a client who constantly complains and wants you to change things at your expense. You can spot these clients a mile off, they always want that bit more attention, or something for nothing.
You really are better off without these clients. Their complaining makes you look bad to the other clients. It also does nothing for your confidence. You don’t need the grief. Politely decline them.
Have a Terms & Condition of service
Right from the start, it is best to have a hair extension code of ethics, which must be adhered to. The code is a comprehensive list of rules and procedures for product use, training, sales techniques, damage control, employee behaviour, staff interaction, language used, cleanliness, and professionalism.
The code should apply to everyone who works as a hair extension or hairdresser, including the owner. Everyone in the hair extension studio should be made fully aware of the rules and the importance of following them. If rules are established in the first place, your hair extension studio will run more systematically, with fewer problems.
Quite often when the business gets bigger and especially when they multiply, the owners can find themselves enjoying the rewards, leaving the running of the business to others. This is a level that most hairdressers would like to reach, but just a word of caution here. The rules must still be followed when the owner isn’t there.
To maintain success the hair extension studio must keep in place the workings which made it successful in the first place. Before handing control of the hair extension studio over to others, there must be someone appointed to make sure that this code is followed.
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