February 07, 2020
hi everyone! we're here with miss beautiful malia, and she (just like most clients) has some challenges with her hair. a common complaint we hear from our clients is that “stylists just don’t get what they want”.
in our opinion, that happens because the stylist didn’t do a thorough consultation with them. we thought this was the PERFECT opportunity to teach you how to do a FULL HAIR CONSULTATION.
in this blog, we will explain the importance of each of the question and then give an example of what a client might say. the best way to get a feel of how the consultation should be done is to watch it live and in action.
you can do so @nvennhairbeauty on youtube or click the video that is linked down below.
it’s uber important to ask your clients what they are struggling with. WHY??? because those are the list of things that you need to change and/ or fix to win that client over. we need to remember that we were taught how to do hair and they weren’t.
if you can teach them how to have beautiful hair every day that they aren’t around you, you will have won them over for life.
stylist: “ what are you struggling with?”
client: "well, it's kind of just a mop. i don't really know what to do with it. it's not curly. it's not wavy. it's not straight. it's like very fine and crazy and i just, i don't know. i don't know what to do with it.
i don't know what products to use. i don't know how to style my hair to make it look good. my hair was straight until i was like 14, and then it got a texture like this”
Stylist: “how would you like to wear it?”
continue to ask questions until you get a clear understanding of how to fix their struggle. i have NEVER had a client get upset with me for asking too many questions to try and understand how i can help them love their hair.
stylist: “ok so you prefer to wear it with your natural texture most days but you like to have the option of wearing it straight. is there anything else that bothers you?”
client: "honestly, i have tried a ton of products and i obviously don't know how to use them properly because it never turns out right. and it just feels like a mop and it feels like it doesn't know what it wants to be.
doesn’t want to be wavy, curly, it doesn't know. and everyday it looks different, and i just want my hair to look beautiful. i feel like right now it's just a frizzy mess."
stylist: “how do you feel about the bangs that you have right now? do you wish you had more body? is your hair staticy? Etc.
PRO TIP: it’s YOUR job as the stylist to figure out what is challenging for your client. if your client knew what was wrong with their hair, chances are they would have been able to figure out a way to fix it. ask lots of questions until you feel you have a good grasp on the problems at hand.
this question is important because these are all the things you want to keep the same! if they tell you they love their length then obviously don’t cut it short! if they love their bangs, then obviously don’t change their bangs.
stylist: “what is beautiful hair to you?”
client: “i wish i had ...”
stylist: “what do you love about your hair?”
client: “i love the thickness of of my hair.”
stylist: “anything else?”
client: “not right now. i used to be able to wash my hair and go. now it never looks like that anymore, even with me trying to style it.”
stylist: “tell me about how that used to look like and how you used to wash it”.
PRO TIP: don’t be afraid to tell your client if what they are asking for is unachievable or unrealistic for the current state of their hair. they aren’t upset because they can’t have something, they are just upset when they think they are going to get something and end up with something else.
this is a big cause of why clients are struggling so much at home. they are either using the wrong products or no products. imagine if you needed to do hair all day and had NO products to use.
how would you give clients the volume that they want, or tame the frizz that they have or protect their hair from being burned? once you figure out their product regime, you can adjust it. this is where your “education and your retailing to your clients should start!”
stylist: “what are you currently using in your hair?”
client: "right now i use nothing. i use shampoo and conditioner. i don't use a blow dryer. i just let my hair air dry, so basically just shampoo and conditioner. i'm using something for dry hair that i got from a hair dresser that i saw a long time ago and i found it in the back of a drawer.
and then before that i was just using drugstore stuff that i learned was really bad for my hair because of parabens or something. but i learned that that was bad for my hair, so i stopped using that and then i found these products, and i'm kind of just using them up, but they make my hair very oily."
stylist: “just because they are professional, doesn’t mean that they are good for you necessarily. i would describe some professional brands as expensive drug store products. and even if it is a good brand, it doesn’t always mean that it is good for your hair.
i really believe that it is important to use natural products. natural ingredients will actually penetrate into your hair rather than building up on your hair shaft.
client: “oh i never knew that!”
stylist: what you also need to know is that CURLY HAIR NEEDS MORE MAINTENANCE….
PRO TIP: take the opportunity to teach your client about their texture and how to work with it. when you teach them why you are doing what you are doing and what products you are using and why, you are no longer “SELLING” to them. your product recommendations become more like a “prescription” that a doctor would give to one of their patients.
again, it’s just to understand the client’s routine. if their hair has a lot of split ends, maybe they are over washing it.
it’s also a good time to figure out what shampoo and conditioner they are using. using the right shampoo and conditioner is the EASIEST way to have nice hair because they are doing it already anyways.
stylist: “how often are you washing your hair and what are you washing it with?”
client: "i wet my hair every day to style it. i use shampoo every second to third day depending on how oily it gets. i’m currently washing my hair with stuff i got from the drug store."
stylist: “thats a bulk of your problem right there! at the end of the day, all ingredients cost money. there is no way that a $3 bottle of shampoo will have the same quality as a $30 bottle of shampoo.
the cleansing agents used in drug store shampoos are so harsh and just strip your hair of everything good and bad. today, once i shampoo your hair with nvenn’s wash, you will INSTANTLY notice a difference! your hair will feel like i conditioned it after i rinse the shampoo out.”
again, this is just to understand their routine and how you can improve it. If they say they are only willing to put 5 mins in each time they wash it, don’t suggest a style that would take them 30 mins to do! however, you can tell them you have the PERFECT style for them and ask them if they would be willing to invest 10 mins instead of 5mins.
---> THE GOAL IS TO SET YOUR CLIENT UP FOR SUCCESS
stylist: “how often are you washing your hair and how long do you spend on it?
client: "i wash my hair in the morning, and i can devote like 20 minutes to my hair. i can't see myself spending an hour on my hair ever. right now, because i don't know what to do with it, i literally come out of the shower and scrunch it and go okay with no product, no problem."
stylist: “so how about when your hair straight? how often do you wear it straight vs curly?” etc.
stylist: “if i could show you how to style your hair straight without damaging it too much would you style it straight more often or no?”
client: "oh, absolutely."
PRO TIP: i always tell my clients that i need them to be 100% honest with me because this is the best way for them to get a style that will fit their lifestyle. basically, a stylist’s job is to make sure that their client LOVES their hair from when they walk out that door until they come back.
the NO. 1 complaint i hear from clients is that their hair is only nice when they leave the salon and then it looks crappy until they are back again.
this question is VITAL! often a client will come in asking for something because it is something that they have been asking for for YEARS, just out of habit. they have no idea that they have been asking for something that will take them a way from their #dreamhairgoals.
IT’S YOUR JOB AS A STYLIST to figure out what they want and give them what they want NOT what they ask for.
that tells me a lot about her personality. she just wants to be able to style her hair. she's really open. that tells me her personality is adaptable. she likes changes, she probably changes her hair color, she probably changes her cut every so often, etc.
these are all things that you want to know about your clients, because if i have a change agent (this is what i call them) in my chair, and she comes in to me looking like this and says, "ooh, i want to be black today", i'll be like, knowing that you want to have black hair and knowing that you love to change here, why don't we do it in stages?
i know she likes a lot of change. so this is the biggest question today. this is a question you'd ask your clients if they're going to change their hair; on a scale of one to 10, one being you look exactly like this kind of color, this kind of cut with it just trim and trimmed and freshened up, that's going to be one. or, 10:
we all have a different scale of what “a lot of change” is. having them give you a number just helps the 2 of you to get onto the same page.
stylist: “how much change do you want to see today on a scale of 1 to 10?....”
client: "i don't want like a purple fauxhawk or something like that, so maybe like a five."
a style isn’t a 10 out of 10 unless it suits you, brands you and is practical for your life. if i have a client that travels lots to sunny destinations, i may not suggest giving her a straight across bang that would have to sit on her forehead to look styled.
if i have a client that is a runner or is at the gym all the time, maybe they need their hair long enough to go into a pony tail. these are all things that you need to figure out during their consultation.
stylist: “what do you do for fun? do you vacation? what do you do on your free time?”
client: “i’m moving to australia for a year!”
stylist: “ok clearly you will need something that will be low maintenance for you while you are away.”
this question is also really important! you want to make sure that the style that you are suggesting will look good on them until they are back again. i ask them how often they will be back, how long they expect their salon visits to be AND i get an idea of the price point they are looking at spending.
most clients have NO IDEA the kind of upkeep different styles need. it’s YOUR job as the stylist to hold their hand through understanding this process.
stylist: “what’s realistic for you to be in the salon? 6 weeks? 3 months? once every 6 months?”
client: “i would do whatever.”
stylist: “ok so they style you are wanting is actually a big job BUT we can get away with only doing it once every 6 months. that being said, you will need to tone it every 6 weeks to maintain the vibrancy.
the big appointments will cost and will take this long, your toner appointments will cost and take this long. does this seem like something that will fit in your lifestyle?”
now you have a good idea of what the client is like and what will be easy enough for them to maintain. to wrap up the consultation, you can just ask the client if there is anything else that they wanted you to know before you suggest the PERFECT style for them.
next week we’ll be TEACHING you how to properly wash, straighten, and STYLE your hair. in the meantime, head on over to nvenn.com to check all of our products. you're going to love them all. they have the strength to style thick hair, and they are invisible enough that they can style fine here. we also give away free products every month at www.nvenn.com/giveaway. we draw for the winner on the first of every month! 💘
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September 10, 2020