24th February 2025
It’s a big and scary word, C H A N G E – but does it have to be? Over the last 47 years I have changed my shampoo, conditioner, treatments, hair colour more times than I care to remember. Well actually I haven’t changed my hair colour for a few years, but once upon a time it was a weekly occurrence.
Pics from a long time ago, posted as proof of my hair colour changing days.
However, for the last 30+ years I have been trying products, mainly for hair loss, but a few others in between, and whilst I am a little bit nervous about moving away from something I have grown to trust (or my hair has 🤣) there is an excitement about trying something new that is exhilarating.
So why do so many salon owners, hairdressers and barbers stick with the same old same old product ranges year in, year out when there are literally hundreds of brands available in the professional arena? From my research, there are two main reasons, loyalty to the brands that are familiar to them, and fear of the unknown.
Both of these reasons can be analysed very logically.
Loyalty: It’s an incredibly powerful reason not to change, loyalty brings with it trust, and trust leads to confidence when talking about retail products and salons services. The products are known, the performance is known, and it’s very easy to just stick with them.
Fear: The reality is, when [we] become familiar with products, the thought of change can fill us with dread, but as stated earlier it can also be exhilarating and exciting.
Loyalty 2: This should work both ways, in fact there are a minimum of three strands of loyalty that need to be taken into consideration.
- The loyalty you have for your chosen brands.
- The loyalty your brands show you.
- The loyalty you and your clients have.
If we take these three as the main factors and break them down; you chose brands for lots of different reasons and over the years have remained loyal to the companies that supply you. You trust them, and you believe in the products. Your supplier should, in return, show loyalty to you, keep their professional business exclusively for salons and develop brands for mass market that are different. Your clients loyalty stems from their trust in you, they believe in your abilities, which includes the recommendation of products you have in your salon.
Fear 2: What would happen if you decide to move to different brands? is the earth going to to crash out of the universe? Are you going to lose all your clients? NO, of course not, you are simply moving to something new, and the fear factor will only ever be short lived. Are your suppliers frightened that you are going to leave them? Of course they are, your colour business is very important to them, whereas your retail offering, whilst important to the sales people you deal with, it’s simply not even on the radar for the hierarchy who make the big decisions about where products can be bought. And your clients, they trust you, so the fear factor they might have is negligible, what you say about change and new products is exciting to them, because, ultimately, we all love change, and all it takes is for your salon team to embrace change, get to know the new products you have chosen and share the [new] information with them, remember, hairdressers and barbers are the only TRUE PROFESSIONAL EXPERTS who can share advice with salon clients.
That word change can lead to great things, it can make your business stand out from the crowd, a destination that delivers something over and above mass market haircare, and all it takes is for you to do some research and find brands that fit your salon ethos. And if you need any help, I’m happy to assist.
#SalonProfessional #SalonExclusive #ProForPro #MakeTheChange
