1. Be smart, well presented and polished
Your personal presentation is vital to making the right impression. Looking smart and well polished not only gives the right first impression to your colleagues and clients, it actually makes you perform better too. When you look the part, you act the part. Your salon will have a dress code but within that code there is usually room for your own style. Your hair is, of course, key to your look and it has to be perfect. Take your time with it, make it beautiful, sharp etc but above all, make an effort. You are a walking advertisement for you, your salon and your industry. What you wear doesn’t have to cost a lot of money but the wrong look may cost you a client.
2. Check your bookings
Ideally you have studied your diary the night before, but if not, make a special effort to get in early and make sure you know exactly what you are doing that day, down to the last minute. Follow the ‘100k Hairdresser Smarter Appointments’ and you will never go wrong with bookings, but here are some free tips; make a personal note of your appointments, know who is walking through the door, know how long their appointment will last, never go over time, fill your white space appropriately.
3. Construct tailor-made conversation for your clients
Every client is different and you need to respond to them differently. When you know who is coming in you should also know what they like to talk about. Gen up on their favourite topics, be ready, willing and able to talk to them about what they are interested in, what they do for a living and their kids. Make notes so you never get it wrong. If you have a new client, ask them about themselves, their lives and their work. BE INTERESTED, be attentive and be on the ball. Please avoid asking where they are going on holiday! Your new client will come back if they know there in an interesting conversation to come back to.
4. Keep current
Do you know what is going on in the world? Did you watch the news last night? Keeping current assists conversation and it shows you are intelligent and willing to learn. Be interested in life, it shows on your face. Keeping current is not just about current affairs though, keep current with your industry too. Its changing ever day, its evolving and you don’t want to get left behind.
5. Check your Salon’s online status
Does your salon use Facebook, Twitter and email, and does it have an active website? It should. It’s vital to keep with the times as so much is now done on-line. However, there is no point in having an on-line presence if it’s out of date. You must maintain your website, Twitter and Facebook pages, respond to your clients’ enquiries and stay current. This means a little time every day spent looking at any feedback, responding to it, tweeting relevant things your clients may like, announcements and keeping your website polished and bang up to date. On-line tools are important opportunities for promotion and marketing but they also show how willing you are to embrace business.
6. Maintain your salons brand and focus
Your salon’s brand – if it has one – is integral to its success. If you are an employee, then part of your role is to understand, promote and maintain your salon’s brand, indeed you are essential to it. If you are a salon owner, then you need a brand, and that brand is born out of the core focus of your business. All staff should understand this focus and be singing from the same hymn sheet – otherwise the message is lost. Your clients perception of your brand should be evident; do they come back? All your on-line activity should solidify what your message is too. Maintain your focus and your brand every day and keep your staff motivated to deliver it.
7. Assess your goals
100k Hairdresser says, “you can’t hit a goal you can’t see.” Firstly, do you have any goals? If not make some. Setting goals is the first step to taking control of your destiny. Write your goals down, make them visual and keep them with you. Where is your career going? What do you want to achieve? How do you want your salon to look? Do you want more customers? Goal making is vital to success and some of the world’s richest most successful people make hitting goals an everyday priority. How are you doing today?
8. Get feedback
We all need to know how we are doing. Feedback is an essential building block of confidence and human beings need it to prosper. Professionally, feedback from your clients, staff, colleagues and boss, not only shows you how you are doing, but gives your work meaning. Have you asked your colleagues what they think of your work? Your boss? Your clients feedback is probably the most important. Don’t be afraid to ask them what they thought of your service, would they fill in a comment form? Do they have any suggestions on how you could improve. Improve yourself; ask for feedback today.
9. Positive daydreaming
Did you know that positive daydreaming can actually make you more creative, enhance your social skills and make you more intelligent? It’s amazing, but it’s true. 10 minutes a day of letting your brain meander, wander and positively imagine can be better than therapy. Contrary to popular belief, daydreaming allows you to engage more fully in the present moment, plan and coordinate your work and it is a habit of highly effective people. Today, imagine wonderful things; great clients, great feedback, a brilliant boss, more money than you can count, feeling happy and feeling fulfilled. Where will you mind wander?
10. Learn
And finally in ‘The 10 things every hairdresser should do’. The world’s most successful people know this – you should never stop learning. Learning is key to progression and success. Do you know it all? You are absorbing things every day, from your clients, colleagues and boss but 5 minutes a day is all you need to keep learning. Be interested, be attentive and ASK QUESTIONS. Asking the right question is the quickest route to learning something new. What questions can you ask today?
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