There is no value in the back room …
Recently I have come across a lot of stylist down in the dumps about their book, retaining clients, and being slow behind the chair. Trust me, we all know how stressful it is to feel “broke” financially and “broken” by the industry. The beauty of this industry (pun intended), is that it is always changing and evolving! I am going to give you five tools to think about and practice while you are dealing with slow hours, days, or even weeks!
1: Set goals! : if i asked you what your goals are I bet one of them would be some kind of monetary number. “I want to make X amount of dollars a year/month/day. STOP! Just stop thinking about how much money you want to make or need to make and start thinking about how much value you have. Adding value to yourself and your work is KEY. Once we start to focus on our value doors start opening up. Ask yourself or your boss to see where you are lacking. Retail? Client retention? Add on services? Set a goal to attack where you are struggling the most.
2: Be present!: as a stylist who loves her clients and treat them like family, I understand that sometimes we can get wrapped up in sharing our lives and our problems with our clients. We have to be able to read our clients and know when this is an appropriate thing to do and when we need to just be present. Our energy is very present behind the chair and clients can feel when we are nervous or going through troubles even if we are not outwardly sharing information to them. LEAVE YOUR PROBLEMS IN THE BACK ROOM, if you can't leave them at home.
3: Save personal projects for personal time: have an hour to kill? Lets all get sucked into the trap of social media, or omg I need to pay a bill let me run to the bank. NO, we have to stop using down time for personal time. Are you the most sought after hair stylist in your town? No ? then you have work to do. Nine times out of ten you need to work on something! Use that hour or day to market yourself or take a class (there are several online classes that you can take to improve your skills right from the salon) INCREASE YOUR VALUE! Create awareness for your brand and your skill.
4: Grab a mannequin: Not only is sitting in the back room unproductive but who sees you there? Clients don't see you on the floor. My first time doing highlights in the salon on a client was a disaster! I spent 5 hours on this client just to cry afterwards, she hated it. I immediately got a mannequin and practiced for a hour with my boss and figured out some things I did wrong, I wonder how many potential clients saw my dedication to my craft? Go back to the basics, try something new and take images of it! Forever learning and forever growing.
5: Know your business: Keeping track of when the slow times happen is KEY to protecting your business. Keep a record of what times are usually slow and plan for them. Every business has a slow time or a “less busy season”, in order to not play catch up during those times we have to make a plan and execute it accordingly.
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