Stop Budget Judging

Let's start with the 3 don'ts

1. Don't assume

2. Don't assume

    3. DON'T ASSUME

Why is it so hard for hairdressers to enter this industry with the confidence necessary to be able to state proper pricing?

Is it because as hairdressers we normally start our careers with debt of our own, or perhaps we have financial issues of our own? Maybe we grew up in a home that didn’t talk about money. No matter what our reason it creates an issue when charging our worth.

I had a guest who dressed like a social security pensioner from Ft. Lauderdale who used layaway at Kmart.  I later found out that this same person also owned half of downtown. Lupe Voss, platform artist for Aveda and founder of Haircolormagic, once shared a story with me about going to Nordstrom to buy shoes after a workout.  The clerk, based on her post-exercise casual look, made assumptions about her ability to afford the shoes she asked to see.  

To quote Pretty Woman: “BIG mistake.”

 Do not spend your clients' money for them

Don't assume you know how much they are willing to spend.  It's like a stylist version of mansplaining.  This is not kindergarten, this is business.  Run your business successfully in 2019.

• Give each client options for their hair service and communicate the price for each choice. Let them decide.

• Tell each client what you recommend they use to maintain and recreate their look at home. Let them decide.

• Don't be afraid to talk money. This is business but it is a business that involves connection and nurturing. Listen with a caring heart, offer options if budget is a concern. But have that conversation. LET THEM DECIDE.

Share your stories and thoughts with us in the comments below! 

Kate Wright, lead blogger

@colormewright

Failed Consultations

There's one rule of thumb that we don't discuss when it comes to consultations and it is this:

WHEN CONSULTATIONS LAST LONGER THAN 15 MINUTES, THE CLIENT WILL BE UNHAPPY WITH THE SERVICE.

Why is that?

Indecision, indecision indecision.  There is a difference between offering options to a client, and a client having too many ideas and is unwilling to decide on an option.  You will know these clients from their behavior:

• Shows multiple pictures each with a different look.  Includes phrases such as 'I like this but I also like this.'

• Needs constant reassurance about their choice.

• Fusses with hair while talking, doesn't meet your eyes.

• Indecisive even after agreeing to a look.

• Might use industry terms to describe their goal but those words and what they want do not match up.

What is the best way to work with these clients? Start at the beginning. Instead of asking for pictures, ask how the client wants to feel. Younger? More modern? Happy? Bohemian? Sexy? Who doesn’t want to feel sexier…

If the client doesn’t know how they want to feel, be assured they know how they DON’T want to feel. ‘I don’t want to feel like a soccer mom’ is a phrase we hear often.

Avoid industry terms. This client does not care or even know what amazing technique you just learned in class. Keep it simple. Use feelings, use names of hues (opal, buttery, wheaty, chocolate) instead of what level you want to take them to. Don’t use specific measurements in a cut, use ‘collarbone’, ‘below jawline’, ‘shoulder blades’. Why? You are a craft hairdresser. We don’t go into restaurants and tell chefs how to make their entire meal. We don’t tell doctors what treatments to use.

If the clock is still ticking down and an agreement has still not been reached, remember to stay in control.  Sometimes these clients will require you to reschedule their appointment.  There have absolutely been situations where the client is so indecisive that they talk their way through the entire color consultation and the next client is waiting.  Stay in control. Control can mean saying ‘no’. This is not the end of the conversation; know the skills of the stylists near you and refer the client to them if it is within their specialty or reschedule the client on your books at a different time. ‘No’ does not have to be the final answer.

It's not called being a hardass.  It's called being a professional and refusing to be bullied into services that wont work.  Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and kindness, even the indecisive clients.  There is also a difference between being reasonable and being a doormat, and we give you permission to be open and honest with the client in your chair.

Kate Wright, lead blogger

Tones & Gemstones

No one wants caramel highlights anymore, well maybe they do but caramel isn’t everyones favorite flavor. We don’t even know what caramel means anymore; is it an 8 gold? a 7 auburn? It’s time we start elevating our color services with new descriptive words.

GEM - TONES

Introduce your pale blondes to a more golden, softer dazzling Citrine root while keeping them light and bright in areas that compliment her face shape. 

For a client who wants to awaken a new personal power, Tigers Eye is such a beautiful chocolate-y, golden combo that’s sure to keep your client feeling fabulous. Brunettes can have fun too!

Try a Black Onyx root melting into Ruby for your fiery red-heads.

There are hundreds of dazzling crystals to get inspiration from: a few of my favorites include Smoky Amethyst, Jasper, Garnet and Amber. The transition can be so easy and rewarding. Wow yourself with how creative you can be and experience a new world of hair color! 

What are some of your favorite descriptions for hair color? Leave your responses in the comments below.

Kate Wright, Lead Blogger

@colormewright

10 Steps For Proper Netiquette

Dear Abby,

It has come to my attention that with the predominance of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as the primary means of communication in today's world, some people don't know how to behave.  Cyber bullies and trolls and even normal netizens with opposing opinions lead the users of these platforms to act atrociously at times.  What's a gal to do?

Sincerely, 

Sick Of Idiots ~ NY, NY

Dear Sick,

Facebook doesn't offer a finishing school, so I get it.  As a society we have forgotten the old adage: 'If You Have Nothing Nice To Say, Don't Say Anything At All.'  People with extremist views can connect with ease to hype each other up.  The ability to do honest research is plagued with fake news sites whose content is swallowed as the honest truth.  The soapbox set-up these sites allow us to stand on and shout our views often lead to real world consequences and every time the original poster seems surprised.  To limit collateral damage to mental health and actual careers, I have compiled a Top Ten List of Behaviors to Strive For And Avoid on the Internet.  Good luck!

1. Adhere to the same standards you would use when communicating in real life.    

2. Don't post angry.  Posting when under extreme emotion starts flame wars.  Use your internal pause button and really ask yourself 'would I be ok if my mom/best friend/grandparent/child read this?

3. Use proper spelling and grammar.  In a world that is dominated by words, using them correctly boosts your online image.

4. Be forgiving of other people's mistakes.  Sure, the same question asked over and over and over again might be frustrating, especially with search functions in Facebook groups and Google searches for the rest, but remember: not everyone has the same user savviness as you.  It takes less effort to scroll past an annoying post than it does to engage in it.

5. Social media should not be updated more times than the amount of glasses of water you drank today.  Feed hogs are usually annoying.

6. Don't mass message people.  Included in that are don't create groups and invite every person on your list to it just to hock a product.  

7. Big Brother is watching.  Don't go in industry Facebook groups and be negative.  Most likely there are higher ups/salon owners/potential mentors seeing you act like a shit.  You could (and we've seen it happen) lose business opportunities.

8. Instagram has a ton of bots.  Get a rush of adrenaline when a quasi-celeb likes your photo?  Don't.  The likelihood is that it's their PR firm or a 22-year old in marketing re-tweeting while on the 405.  Strive for the real life compliment, not a like button on the internet.

9. Don't Feed the Trolls.  Conversely, don't be a troll.

10. Say 'Please' and 'Thank You.'  Seriously.  This goes a long way.

Top Hashtags For 2019

We all use them, we all <3 them, and we all hate them.

Face it: hashtags are wonderfully overwhelming. Most of us in the beauty industry are using Instagram, more than any other social media outlet, to beef up our online presence. Why?

Because a picture is worth a 1,000 words. Taking a decent photo of beautiful hair and posting it online is not enough. To build a following on Instagram, proper hashtaging is of the upmost importance. Hashtagging categorizes your photos that fellow Instagram workers can see when they hashtag surf.  Some hashtags are for personal use and some are followed daily by millions.

It might feel sleazy and manipulative but the truth is that there is an art and an algorithm for success with hashtags. Users are more active at different times of the day and even on different days, so posting during the busy traffic times will help get more attention.  Keeping the initial tags in the picture description to a maximum of three keeps the post clean when you cross it to other social media (i.e. posting to Facebook and twitter simultaneously from Instagram). Don't worry, your picture will still be surf-able.

JUST A HEADS UP!

Instagram has allegedly started to implement shadow-bans on accounts using too many and repetitive hashtags. What does this mean? Shadow-banning is the when we post a photo on Instagram but it does not go into the categories we hashtagged, the location we posted, or show up on our followers feeds. Essentially no one will see our post unless they visit our page. Our advice is to use only three hashtags in each post, changing them up each time. This will help you avoid the shadow-ban.

CLICK HERE to see if your photos have been shadow-banned by Instagram.

Throughout the last few years Destroy The Hairdresser has been experimenting with industry hashtags to see which ones get us the most attention. Feel free to copy and paste the following hashtags into your Instagram posts (only using 3) to get more followers and likes. Make sure you save the hashtags in your notes or somewhere on your phone so you can easily access them when you need them!

#destroythehairdresser #modernsalon #hairbrained #saloneducation #behindthechair #hair #salonlife #beauty #hairstyle #haircolorists #haircolor #hairtutorials #hairtrends #trendyhair #beautifulhair #hairpainting #bayalage #hairdresser #style #hairporn #balayage #haircolor #haireducation #hairoftheday

3 WAYS TO MAKE IT MORE PERSONALIZED

1. TAG YOUR BRAND

Which ever company you are working for or what ever products you use. Tag them.

2. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE DAYS OF THE WEEK

People love a #Transformationtuesday or a #tbt so have fun with it. You can also make up your own like #sassybitchsunday or #SBS (I use that for brunch time) 

3. WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?

Hashtag your location. When clients are trying to find new stylist in their area they will search hashtags.