Written by Ryan Fox, Published by Hairdressers Journal Feb 2018

With many human interactions now taking place via a screen through email, text messaging aps and social media, are we losing the art of conversation? Here Ryan Fox, Salon Consultant explores how getting your salon team back to basics could help you WOW your clients and uncover gold!

The issue

Did you know that your team are probably missing lots of opportunities to WOW their clients and generate loads more income simply because they are either not engaging in good conversation or because they are not seeing the opportunities that are presented to them.

Action to take

Step 1 the basics

Train your teams in some client service skills so that they have some structure to follow, some sentences they can use and, so they understand how to start, continue and ultimately lead a conversation with a client. Without this ability you can’t move on to Step 2.

Step 2 the WOW factor where the gold lies

Once you have the conversation flowing you then need to know what “gold” you are looking for and how to identify it. For this you need to map out and explain to your team the service standards and the steps the client takes during a visit to your salon. Then you need to train them how to pick out the golden information and turn them into opportunities. When I train stylists how to do this I call it knowing the difference between Process and Conversation, i.e. what requires a response where we need to take action and what is merely small talk and can be left in conversation. 

Here are some examples of salon conversations and how to take them into process to WOW the client

I’m going on holiday?

Left in conversation

That sounds lovely, I’d love to go there, or I’ve been there its really nice, go and see so and so blah blah, blah

Taken into process

That sounds lovely, I’d love to go there, or I’ve been there its really nice, go and see so and so. When is it you are going, lets get you booked in for your appointment just before you go so your hair is ready and I suggest you have the treatment to prepare your hair for the sun. Also, we have the travel size sun products that will protect your colour and stop your hair drying out. We’ll also get you booked in for when you come back too with a moisture treatment to get it back in shape.

Extra Gold

2 x Cut and Colour Appointments booked + 2 x Treatments + 1 Travel Product Pack

Total Extra £200 + £20 + £25 = £245

My Husband?

Left in conversation

That’s a nice thing to do, he sounds a good catch or no I can’t believe it, Men eh blah blah blah

Taken into process

That’s a nice thing to do, he sounds a good catch or no I can’t believe it, Men eh. Perhaps he deserves a treat why don’t you book him in for a haircut and a nice treatment with a head massage! Or let’s get his hair sorted out then and give him a bit of a makeover, let’s get him booked in at the end.

Extra Gold

1 New Client appointments + 1 x Treatments.

Total Extra £35 + £20 = £55

Latest Fashion Trends?

Left in conversation

Do you think its ok to wear your pyjamas in public? Baggy trousers seem to be making a comeback, I know it’s madness blah blah blah

Taken into process

Do you think its ok to wear your pyjamas in public? Baggy trousers seem to be making a comeback, I know it’s madness. Have you seen the latest hair trends though, it’s probably the best way to get a new season look. It's a good deal cheaper than a whole new wardrobe. I’ll show you some examples from our latest look book on the iPad. I know you are only booked in for a cut today, but I do have a gap straight after so if you wanted to, perhaps we could add some warmer tones too with some colour?

Extra Gold

Restyle Upgrade + Additional Colour Service

Total Extra £10 + £60 = £70

So it’s important to have the small talk and get the conversation going but once you have, you need to listen for the “cries for help” and translate them into opportunities.

These are just 3 examples that a typical stylist could easily do in one day if they know how. Times that by 5 staff x 5 days that could be an additional £9,000 in sales for the week. Do that every week and you could double your salon turnover!

This is what I teach on my Client Service Training to stylists and therapists.

For more information see Client Service Training