The Consultation: Connecting With Your Client
One of the best things about what we do is connecting with our clients. We not only get to know them on a professional level, but we also connect with them on a personal level as well; we learn about their families, love life, latest diet, and essentially become part of their family. No matter if you’re naturally a people-person or not, there is an art to providing your clients the most effective consultation.
Today, we are going to share general tips for getting the most out of your consultation and continuing to build a healthy relationship with your client. If you are interested in learning more about how you can provide your clients effective services for hair replacement for men, visit the Hairskeen website.
5 Tips For Providing the Most Effective Client Consultation
An effective consultation is all about connecting with your client in a meaningful way that not only provides you the information that you need, but also in a way that helps them feel understood and heard. There are a variety of ways to conduct a consultation. However, in most cases, each should have each of these basic elements.
Positivity!
Positivity should be at the heart of the consultation. From the moment the client enters the salon, they should feel like they are important and their needs are a priority. If you don’t have a receptionist who can greet them, be sure to acknowledge them and let them know you will be with them in a minute. When it is time for their appointment, greet them by name or introduce yourself.
Additionally, do you best to lead the conversation in a positive direction — make it about “enhancing” their hair and helping them look and feel their best, not about how you can help them “not look bad.”
Ask the Right Questions
Another crucial part of a consultation is asking the right questions. When discussing your clients needs, ask them open-ended questions that allow your clients to talk about what they want from their hair now, their future hair goals, and their history. Also, if needed, ask followup questions to get the clearest picture of your clients expectations and how you can best meet their needs.
Listen
When you client is answering your questions, be sure to actively listen. This may seem like an obvious point. However, showing your client that you heard everything they said is incredibly important. It establishes a connection and builds your client’s confidence. As you listen be sure to:
- Make eye contact
- Nod or acknowledge what they are saying
Educate
Use your client’s consultation as an opportunity to educate them about how to care for their hair, how their hair will respond to certain styles, and what their at-home care may look like. Not only will your client appreciate learning about their hair and hair care, but knowing more about their hair may help them try new styles, be more receptive to your advice, and be able to style their hair on their own at home.
Provide Visual Aids
Though it isn’t always needed, to make sure you and your client are on the same page, it can be helpful to provide visual aids. Many clients may bring their own pictures for reference material. If they don’t, however, find pictures to look at together so you can know exactly what they are looking for — as they saying goes “a picture is worth a 1000 words!”
A productive consultation is at the heart of every successful client/stylist relationship and begins with these basic principles. Each client will communicate differently and as a result, each consultation will look a little different. Additionally, as with all things, practice makes perfect, and the more experience you have providing consultations, the better you will be at them and working with all types of clients.
Stay tuned for more posts and check out Hairskeen’s innovative products for hair replacement for men on our website.