Tuesday, June 22, 2010

I'm an Artist, not a salesperson!

When you ask Rockstar James Hetfield of Metallica if he has "sold out"

He will answer: "YES! we sell out every show"

This is the attitude I would love to see more stylists have..

yes we are artists, we have sharpened our technical skills,

we can highlight, color, cut and shatter a bob with our eyes closed.

But why is it we clam up when trying to sell a bottle of conditioner?

Its very important to educate your client wile styling their hair. Show them what to use tell them why it works, and

finally teach them how to use it.

Here is an example:

During your client consultation you learned that your client "Susie" has fine hair and wants more fullness and shine.


The education starts at the Shampoo bowl:

"Susie, I'm going to use a body building shampoo & conditioner.

This will give you a clean shine and won't weight your hair down.

So just lay back and relax..... doesn't this conditioner smell wonderful ?

......mmmmmm......

Quick simple and to the point, you don't need to list every ingredient.


So now you are ready to style:

Okay Susie, I'm going to use ( your fav product or fine hair ) This will support the roots to give you the boost you are looking

for. Show them how to use it, you spritz it in the roots and as you are working it in.. hand it to them, let them look at the bottle, touch it, smell it.

Next, while blowdrying give them a little lesson, show them how to hold the brush, how to section their hair, how to position the blow dryer etc.

Give your client the confidence to do their hair at home, and you will be surprised how many times you hear: "wow no stylist has ever showed me how to do that before".


When you finish up:

Always walk your guest to the check out, put at least 3 of the products you used on Susie's hair right on the counter.

"Susie here are the tools I've used in your hair to give you the body your looking for. What would you like to start with today? "


I promise... if you teach them ........... they will buy!!


And to help manage your new-found success on the business side check out the iBeautify.net stylist notebook
Organization and planning built for hairdressers by hairdressers.
www.ibeautify.net

3 comments:

  1. Wow, your blog is a tad condescending to hairdressers who've been working in this profession and are quite aware of the benefits on retailing products to clients as well as to keeping the overhead low during this recession. Your blog suggests you'd like to see more stylists have an attitude similar to James Hetfield of Metallica. Why? There's no baseline on a true comparison/contrast of OUR INDUSTRY and a heavy metal band except that we all consider ourselves artists. Our mediums are what make us unique and different. Hawking shampoo and conditioner isn't the same thing as their concert promoters selling their schwagg (T-shirts, etc.)
    What you suggest in your blog, I do that with every client I work with. So for you to write me on Facebook to say "your comments inspired our latest blog post" sort of irks me only because I believe you are mistaken about MY perception on selling retail. As I've said, I do 'fetchNstep' products for specific clients who I know will purchase from me. What I also said was that I couldn't compete with those mass retailers and DIVERSION!

    Please don't assume I can't or won't or am afraid to talk about retail. I have a website which I presume you perhaps checked out. I have pages dedicated to 'educating' my clients or anyone who cruises my site on DIVERSION and how to properly take care of ones' hair and my schtick on retail. I don't advertise that I sell retail because I don't want to be stuck with products that may or may not move off the shelf because the packaging is constantly being changed or the company's I support are phasing out their core products and retooling their lines.

    Not everyone wants or needs to sell retail to their clients. Have you even considered that some of us stylists GIVE our clients products for FREE included with their services! I know how RARE and REMARKABLE! Yes it's true. I sometimes include with my quote and services performed the necessary tools to maintain their hair. And that example eliminates my need to 'sell' retail.

    Thank you nonetheless for saying I influenced this blog even though I don't feel you were sincere on saying I did.

    Kindest regards,
    --Pj Suttle

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  2. the reference to metallica was simply about selling and the play on words, not comparing hairdressers to t-shirt retailers.

    Maybe I was mistaken on your perception of selling retail, but it got me thinking and thats why I wrote this blog.

    Yes, diversion is a difficult thing to deal with, but not impossible.

    I dont make any assumptions about any one person's specific situation, simply sharing my thoughts and maybe someone can extract some benefit from it and maybe not.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, we're all kewl. Your generalized advice will help those who need it indeed. Have a beautiful day and stay cool - this heat is miserable! My hair is becoming bigger by the minute!

    ~Namaste~
    ---Pj

    ReplyDelete