As the industry reports a skills shortage and many salons are challenged to fill vacancies it’s vital that the success of the stylist behind the chair is celebrated. In this regular feature exclusively for Professional Hairdresser Andrew spotlights how colour services are an essential part of the Stylists success.
Whether it’s a subtle refresh or a dramatic colour change, clients are more excited than ever about using hair colour to transform how they look and feel about themselves. With Balayage being the most googled hair term and clients more aware than ever of colour techniques and trends, it’s time for Stylists to consider their colour business and how it can increase their turnover and therefore lifestyle and income.
The conversation around lifestyle and income should not be shied away from, each Stylist has ambitions and aspirations and for me it’s key that my team can see clearly what they can do to achieve these goals.
As the franchisee of Headmasters Mayfair, I’m acutely aware of how hair colour services make a huge impact to the profitability of my business. As a group approximately 37% of clients visiting Headmasters salons colour their hair. And having a strong focus on promoting colour services is helping Headmasters to achieve its overall target to increase colour sales by 5% YTD.
The current Headmasters collection is all about real women wearing beautiful, fashionable, confidence boosting hair colour. We’ve found clients buy into colour services they can to relate to, so making them front and centre of all marketing materials is key.
Ensuring that every client receives information on how they can enhance their features, skin tone and natural texture is a must. In industry surveys over 53% of clients claim they did not receive advice about other services that could improve their hair. This is alarming as I’m sure that we all think we do good consultations in the salon, but the evidence is that we are often missing client’s needs.
Imagine what an increase of five colour services per week could do. As the high street and our clients shopping habits are changing, personalisation is key and totally achievable through: consistent care, bespoke advice about your clients hair, professional expertise and great customer service.
To lift colour sales try focusing on:
Be realistic about colour sales targets, small incremental increases over twelve months will achieve massive results.
Digest the data from colour services i.e. frequency of client visits and focus on how can you encourage more frequency. I’m a great believer in the power of re-booking, so always invite clients to book their next appointment with you at their current appointment, especially when they are leaving the salon with a beautiful new colour.
Elevate your teams expertise and work closely with your chosen colour manufacturer to build on training and education. At Headmasters we have the largest number of L’Oréal Professionnel Colour Experts with over a hundred in the salon group.
And always remember to update your client’s record with the details of their last colour. A clients colour should always be evolving through our consultations, if we keep doing the same colour service every time clients can become disinterested, so a little refresh even if it’s just adding a couple of lighter or darker pieces around the face or a new toner can make a massive difference.
Remember clients want personalisation, so keep their colour service bespoke to them and see your colour business grow.
