Direction Is More Important Than Speed

Dario Cotroneo’s BLOG for Hairbiz March Issue

Being a hairdresser can be stressful when you’re managing client’s expectations, not to mention dealing with a client/guest that likes to change their mind during and/or after their service. You’re dealing with a variety of different people, with some clients transferring their own fear and anxiety onto you, due to personal issues and low self-esteem. So, how do we navigate our way through these ever-changing emotions whilst remaining calm and most importantly, maintaining our professionalism at all times?

The answer is to have support, training and guidance on how to best deal with these issues from the very start of your consultation process.

Firstly let’s look at ourselves! 

Ditch attitude & judgement! Attitude sits in the negative space and manifests into traits such as Self Pity, Neglect, Indifference, Indecision, Doubt, Worry, Over Caution, Pessimism, Closed Mindedness and Complaining. We certainly don’t need these around us or transferred onto our guests.

Managing your emotions is about how you feel within yourself, not about other people. One of my tips is to take time to do rhythmic breathing every day. For 4 seconds breathe in and say “The air is clearing my mind”. Then with your out breath say “I release all tension in my body”. It creates communication from the mind to our body and if you can control your breathing/emotions, you can change your life.

Now let’s look at steps to take within the consultation process. Although this may take you some time, (5-10 minutes), it will help you get a clear direction of what your client is expecting.

• Always speak with loving speech and sit face to face on their level, to create an honest, open conversation.

• Ask your client to flip their hair upside down then back again and watch how they style their own hair. This gives you clues as to what is most important to them.

• Take a before photo of your client from the front, profile and back. This helps to show your client how they look from all angles.

• Key questions to ask are:      

1. How do you feel about your hair today? EG Want change, happy with it, or undecided.
2. What is our restriction with your hair today? Get her to show you.
3. Where would you like me to slim your body, neck and face? This relates to using slimming techniques.
4. What’s your daily home hair maintenance and how much time do you spend on your hair?  
5. How often do you visit the salon for maintenance?  
6. What is your budget today?

At this point you can provide your professional advice for a sustainable experience, based on what you are hearing and seeing that would be ideal for that client.

Finally, you can both agree on the services to be performed for the appointment. Have them write down what it is exactly they understand will be done either on a form or via an Ipad, and both sign off on the agreement. (We use an amazing App called Consult. This is a free App available in Apple’s App store). Now you are both held accountable to the services agreed upon and the end result should be a happy and positive outcome for all.

With this process you are saying to your clientele “I AM COMMITTED TO A VERY HONEST AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICE”. This ultimately means the clients will continue to return feeling safe and in good hands, which can only be a good thing for your business and your head space.

Be Real

Love Dario x

www.dcieducation.com