The Stylist’s Toolbox.com

Did you dream of owning a salon only to wake up to the nightmare of dealing with a booth renter who is making your life hell? She refuses to fold the towels, doesn’t sell retail because she’s an “Artist”, keeps asking when you are going to do some advertising and reminds you constantly that you can’t tell her what to do because she’s an independent contractor.

All of this stomach-churning drama could be avoided if you had a contract. Not just a “we agree to 2 weeks notice before you leave” contract, but a agreement that outlines standards of expected behavior.

Have you got an empty chair you’d like to fill? 

Not surprising, since 53% of the salons in America currently have job openings and 75% of the available jobs in the industry go unfilled every year.

How are you going to set yourself apart from all of the other salons looking to hire that brilliant new stylist or wonderfully productive booth renter with the full clientele? In this tight job market, you are competing with every other salon in town for that stylist.

There are the traditional ways – putting an ad in the newspaper, hounding your distributor sales reps to send you someone or asking your stylists if one of their friends is interested, but how about a different, more effective approach? Let’s look some ways to set your salon apart and find the stylist you’ve been waiting for.

I attended a Pureology educational event with a couple of weeks ago. Phillip Wilson was the guest artist and it was truly the most amazing class. He would demonstrate a new technique and then invite the stylists up to try it. It was refreshing to see an educator of his caliber teaching innovative real world techniques in such an accessible, hands-on way.  I saw some truly great hair that evening, but something else has stuck with me ever since the class. Phillip Wilson spoke about stylists who are churning out “assembly line hair”, an affliction that has stricken a number of hair stylists that I know.                                

Some clues that you are doing assembly line hair -  

*Men sit down in your chair and describe the cut they are looking for by telling you what number clipper guard to use. “I like a 4 on the top and a 2 on the sides.” 

*You have a number of female clients who are all wearing very similar hairstyles or colors. You have a particularly bad case of assembly line hair if you are also sporting the same cut or color as the majority of your clients. 

*You have attended an educational event and come back complaining that you didn’t see anything that you could use on your clients. 

*You don’t attend any educational events at all.  A few ideas to help you get off of the assembly line -                                                       *Take a trend class or borrow some haircutting DVDs. Really try to visualize how you can implement what you are learning, picturing someone to try it on. When your clients come in, sell them on what you have learned. 

*Change up your client’s cuts and colors. Add some new highlights or low lights. Get out of the habit of pulling out the client card and mixing up the same old formula.            *When you see someone that has amazing hair, stop them and invite them in to see you. Compliment them on their look and mention how honored you would be to do their hair next time. Just having some clients with a new look will help to energize you. *Do something new with your own hair. Change it up so it always feels new. An educator once told me that stylists should change their look every three months to keep their clients interested.

It’s easy to feel like your clients don’t want to try anything new when you spend your days doing ½ inch trims, but if you continue to learn and suggest new cuts, colors and styles, your clients will begin to see you differently – as someone who cares about their craft and as the creative soul you are, rather than the person who just trims their hair every 6 weeks. Let your work speak for itself.