Anyone can cut the hair, but only good hairdressers achieve success legitimated by customers who feel satisfied with the result in their change of appearance.
In addition to possessing the necessary knowledge, being a hairdresser involves managing the pressure, entering into social relationships and attending to the psychological aspects involved in the personal image.
With the end of helping you achieve it, we prepared 18 tips to stand out in the hairdressing trade.
1. Own strong foundations
Working on people’s heads involves the permanent risk of disappointing your clients with the final result, since a bad haircut is difficult to fix and you should wait until it grows.
But if you know the best techniques and a holistic understanding of what the hairdressing business means, your chances of impressing the client are high.
2. Update knowledge
Continuing education is essential in any field and hairdressing does not escape this rule.
Often, customers will want to make a flush of color used by a recognized actress, so it is advisable to take refresher courses on the latest trends to meet the new demands that arise from year to year.
3. Project a good attitude
The deal with the public implies that your mood should always be balanced.
It is important that clients perceive your willingness to understand exactly what they want to do on their heads, as well as your energy to turn the hairdressing experience into a moment of personal care and fulfillment.
In every business it works in the same way: if the client felt comfortable, he/she will return.
4. Appeal to flexibility
Hair is important for the personal image but many times clients must post appointments for work or family issues to which they will give priority.
Manifest your understanding and offer another possibility to re-standardize.
It is preferable to have a little patience to lose the client, since there are many hairdressers that provide excellent services and to maintain competitiveness, you should highlight for your work but also generate a link with customers.
5. Learn to listen
Many people go to the hairdresser not only to change their hair, but to participate in social gatherings.
It is an inherent part of the job although you must be able to concentrate on your work without neglecting what the client is sharing with you.
It requires a great ability to fragment the mind in different points of attention, but you must learn it if you want to maintain the clientele.
6. Understand the power of transformation
Those who attend to hairdressing salon frequently seek to make total changes of aspects such as going from very long hair to short hair, dyeing an extreme color or turning their curls into a limp hair.
Deep changes of appearance are often associated with a desire to modify some aspect of life, so your work has psychological implications on self-conception and the perception of the rest.
Therefore, you will be a wall of contention for certain clients and in some cases, the key to the attempt of a new life.
7. Read between the lines
Once the client explained what he wants to be in his head, you will have to know how to use the information taking into account those aspects that he did not mention but are inherent in his request.
The knowledge will be your source of permanent consultation to understand all the implications that you will come across with a color, a cut, a hairstyle or a texture change.
8. Customize the work
An eccentric haircut can look amazing on a famous singer but it will not always be the same for all clients.
It is essential to observe the person’s hair, the shape of the face, their features, the complexion, the physical texture and even the personality to determine if that will really make her as happy as she imagines.
Your job is to find the unique characteristics of the client to adapt your order to what will suit you.
9. Act like a sculptor
Being a hairdresser requires the ability to visualize what you want to produce in a shapeless mass.
You should be clear about the result before you start working, carefully observing the current shape of the hair to take it to the sculpture you imagine.
10. Think like a painter
In addition to the basic techniques used by the colorists, it is imperative that you handle the mixtures of colors, the ranges of cold or warm colors, contrasts, shadows and lights, to create a fantastic final effect.
You will have to develop the ability to apply ink with a brush that you fully control, setting the direction and achieving smooth transitions between tones.
11. Create as a designer
While some hairdressers prefer to stay in classic styles or those that dominate perfectly, creativity is an essential quality for those who work on personal image.
Innovation is not only associated with hairstyles, cuts or extravagant colors, but you can include a new technique in a commonly accepted by clients and transform it into a small work of art that stands out from the rest.
12. Handle the pressure
Hairdressers are exposed to a high level of pressure to deal with the image and self-esteem of people.
Success is directly linked to customer satisfaction, so a minimum technical error could completely change the original idea and end in a problem.
The main thing is not to lose your coolness: a calm mind thinks better solutions when faced with unhappy clients.
Even if you have followed the instructions to the letter, the frustration of not seeing yourself as you imagined may fall against you, it is important that you are calm and not get discouraged, but adopt a proactive attitude.
13. Avoid apprehension of mistakes
It is true that mistakes in this trade can alter the client more than in other areas, because the hair is associated with the self-esteem of the person and the concept that has on itself.
However, we make some mistakes so that at some point you will leave hair longer, shorter, redder or less than your expected client.
In these cases the important thing is to understand the error, analyze why it happened to learn from it.
The hairdressing requires an agile mind in the search for solutions that can be applied in the shortest possible time, which will only happen if you have qualified knowledge.
14. Being a perfectionist
When you finish each job, check that all the details that make up the end result to make sure that you do not want to reach the end of the line.
A perfectly executed job is your only guarantee to continue with the business, since the clients are your support and you have to prioritize their happiness to ensure yours.
15. Having business cards
Look for a printer and a designer who can design the ideas you have to make the business cards, which includes the name of your hairdresser, address, hours and all contact channels, including social networks.
You can always meet potential customers who deliver your card and you will generate a more professional impression by noting the number on a paper or by sending to WhatsApp message with the address.
16. Give visibility in social networks
Take pictures of the customer’s “before and after” to upload them in all the social networks of your business, which you must or should create to popularize your work and attract a greater number of clients.
Facebook, Twitter and especially Instagram, will be fundamental allies when it comes to disclosing your work.
Hairdressing is a trade that is measured by its visual results, so take advantage of the available digital tools and promote your personal brand on the network.
You can also use them to market services, such as offering discounts, promotions, and so on.
17. Attend specialized fairs
They are the best places to meet colleagues willing to discuss the latest trends or techniques and get discounts on products sold exclusively to professionals.
You will expand your network of contacts, supply your business and why not, you will meet clients from the world of advertising or modeling who need to hire a permanent service.
18. Exercise
Attending hairdresser can mean long days of standing in awkward positions to have better access to the client’s head. Therefore, exercising is essential to strengthen muscles, relax and clear.
