How Do I Build My Clientele as a Hair Stylist?

OK so building a salon clientele is impossible, right? No – WRONG!! Building a clientele as a hairstylist is easy. You need to think differently to everyone else and think ‘outside the box’. Today I am going to go straight into what you need to do as a hairstylist to get busy and get noticed fast.

1. GET OUT OF THE STAFF ROOM –  Get on the salon floor, grab a manaquin and get noticed. So many stylists including you can become very lazy and demotivated when you do not have clients booked in your column. Do you think sitting in the staff room is going to get you clients? Of course it’s not! Improve your skills.  Expand your portfolio, get creative, be passionate about what you love and enjoy. Let people see you. Clients and your team will be curious and have questions, they will look up to you and admire you when they see you taking your own initiative to improve your skills. Your passion will come through for the job you love.

2. RECOMMEND A FRIEND SYSTEM USING SALON SOFTWARE – Many salons have a Recommend a Friend or Send a Friend system in place BUT the majority of stylists are not consistent with promoting themselves this way. This is a proven method that works in salons, however for it to work effectively and quickly you need to: Be consistent Go that extra mile Be different Show you care Act professional Look the part Set yourself goals Solve problems Build trust your clients Give 2 to 3 send a friend cards to each and every client you look after. Be consistent with this do not stop doing this, you will see results. Download Salon iQ’s Tracker now -> Send a Friend Tracker Download Now Discuss how this system works clearly so your clients understand and can pass this onto a friend or family member. Some Salons have Salon software that can track Send a Friends or have a Send a Friend system built in for you to easily monitor. Here is an example of a Salon using the GAS system that Salon iQ created purely for recommendations. It communicates with the client by SMS informing them of the SAF promotion and tracks when that client books in. See stats of  a salon below that we have been following, they are quite impressive: 3. RE-BOOK YOUR CLIENT’S NEXT APPOINTMENT USING SALON SOFTWARE before they leave the salon – This is going to build your column and get you busy in 6-8 weeks time, so when you get to a few months down the line you have already got clients booked in. Some hair stylists find this a really big challenge to do. But it can be done subtly without the client even noticing your doing it. At the same time you are showing you are professional, you care about how your clients hair looks when they are not with you and that you know your stuff. Towards the end of the appointment, while you are doing your last minute touches, explain to your client how the colour is going to last or when he/she will start to see a possible change in the colour. You can also advise on when your client will need to come back to see you to ensure the style you have created is maintained and looks its best all the time. Clients want to be told when they need to come back to see you, they need educating, the need to have advice on their hair and to be given a plan on what to do in 4, 6 and 8 weeks time. Here are some exmaples: “So Hannah in about 4 – 5 weeks you will need to come and see me so we can keep your fringe at the perfect length for you” “Sophie we have really concentrated on the thickness through this section today, let’s make sure we keep it looking perfect for you and easy for you to do home. Get yourself booked in again in 6 weeks time for a Cut and Finish” “OK, thank you for letting me look after you again today, your hair cut will have an expiry date of around 6-8 weeks of which you will need a cut and finish to maintain the style, or perhaps we could do something a little different?” “I love the colour we have done today, don’t you? Lisa you will need to have your roots touched up in 4 weeks, get yourself booked in and I look forward to seeing you again soon” To all 4 of these examples the clients reply 99% of the time is going to be OK I will, they won’t even hesitate they’ll just book in. You have told them and explained to them what they need to do to have the perfect hair. Why would they disagree and not want to book in again and continue looking good? If you do feel a little nervous or not so confident in saying this then practice with one of your work colleagues when you have some down time. Please let me reassure you this should be standard as a hair stylist and part of your profession to recommend and advise of when the style and colour you have just created will need doing again. This really does work. You’ll have your re-booking % increasing close to 100% in no time.

4. BE DIFFERENT TO OTHER STYLISTS – So you have been looking after Mrs Smith for the last 3 years and she is stuck in a rut just as much as you? Mrs Smith likes to have her fringe just above her eyebrow becasue this is what she has done for the last 20 years. Mr Jones will only have grade 2 on the back and blended on top. Mrs Arches will not change from her classic bob as she finds it the easiest style to do at home. Yes we all have the clients that say they “want the same again please” NOOOOOO! they don’t want the same again not really. They just don’t know what else to have, or what will suit them and just need a little bit of encouragement or to have some advice from YOU, their hair stylist. I guarantee if they ended up seeing another stylist in your salon, that stylist would give their own professional recommendation and change something. Even if it was to add an extra colour, go one shade lighter, or add a little more to her fringe. It doesn’t have to be a drastic change to make it different, but it will keep Mrs Smith, Mr Jones and Mrs Arches coming to you time and time again and recommending you to their friends and family, it will show that you care and you want their hair looking the best it can possibly look through the year.

So we have gone through just 4 ways of building and adding clients to your column in the salon you currently work in. What are you waiting for? Get started now!

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