Everyone at the office knows about my ongoing saga with my hairdresser. Let me fill you in on the story….

I’m a long time customer (10 years), I rebook before I leave the salon, I attend every 7-8 weeks for a colour, cut and blow dry. In all these years my hairdresser has never once recommended that I buy any of her retail products (they are all lined up nicely on a shelf by the till). Are you selling enough retail for the number of clients you have? They should be a big part of your business.

Fair enough you might say, however I have been trying to get my hairdresser to recommend these products to me for most of that time. Not by directly asking for the products though but by asking these sorts of questions…

My Questions:

1. ‘I hate these frizzy bits on top of my head how can I get rid of these?’
2. ‘What sort of shampoo and conditioner should I be using, my colour seems to be fading quickly?’
3. ‘What’s that you use on my hair before blow drying?’
4. ‘What’s Olaplex?’
5. ‘Do you do nails now in the salon? Mine are really weak and always split.’

And many more! The sorts of answers I get are…

Her Answers:

1. ‘Use a little bit of conditioner to keep the frizzies down’
2. ‘You need to use a colour care shampoo and conditioner’
3. ‘It’s a serum to stop the flyaways’
4. “You don’t need Olaplex your hair is lovely and silky and shiny”
5. “I have acrylic overlays done on mine they are amazing, but we don’t do them as the salon around the corner do them so we are doing gel nails instead”

What’s wrong with the retail?

I did appreciate the honesty with the Olaplex treatment but the others were an open invitation to recommend the salon’s retail products or cross-sell services to solve my concerns. I then ask in my own head, why does she not want to recommend these products to me?

• Doesn’t rate them?
• Thinks they are too expensive?
• Thinks I can’t afford them?
• Not listening or thinking about my needs as a client?

Clients are walking, talking adverts

When your clients leave your salon or clinic do you want them to be a walking, talking glowing recommendation of your business? Of course you do! So if that’s the case, you need to make sure that you are doing everything you can to make your clients the best version of themselves. That means recommending your products to clients.

Are you listening?

We all get engaged in general chit chat during services but make sure you are also listening to hear what your clients need. They might not directly ask you but they might ask what you recommend… What would you do about this? What do you think that is? How can I deal with this issue? Listen for the clues to help your clients and ultimately improve your sales and income. Don’t miss a trick!