16th December 2020
As with previous ‘updates about Don’t Sell, all new text is in CAPS
Challenging behavioural patterns is a task that we either choose to do or not.
RIGHT NOW, AS WE FACE ANOTHER POTENTIAL LOCKDOWN AFTER CHRISTMAS, AND MORE RESTRICTIONS TO OUR EVERY DAY LIFE, IT REALLY IS TIME FOR YOUR TEAM TO CHALLENGE THEIR BEHAVIOUR WHEN IT COMES TO RETAILING AND UP-SELLING SERVICES IN THE SALON. STRIKE WHISLT THE IRON IS HOT AND GET EVERYONE ON BOARD WITH THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION YOU FIND YOUR BUSINESS IN.
In hairdressing, sometimes, we decide not to challenge the fact that retailing (or put another way – simply recommending product), can create an emotional response.
ONLINE SHOPPING CHANNELS ARE HARNESSING THE EMOTIONAL, FEEL GOOD FACTOR OF REAL TIME SHOPPING AND MAKING THE EXPERIENCE WHEN BROWSING WEBSITES FEEL MORE INTIMATE. THIS STARTED LONG BEFORE LOCKDOWN BUT HAS GROWN EXPONENTIALLY OVER THE LAST 9 MONTHS, AND YOUR CLIENTS ARE RESPONDING BY SPENDING MORE MONEY ONLINE…. YOUR JOB IS TO MAKE YOUR E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS ENTICING AND ENGAGING AND SOMETHING THAT ALL YOUR TEAMS TALK ABOUT WITH THEIR CLIENTS.
IN SALON…The client says yes or no to our recommendation. When they say no, we are affected by the rejection and it impacts how we communicate about home care with everyone. Not just on the day we are rejected but the day after and the day after that too. And when the client who said no returns, 6 – 8 weeks down the line we go into automatic ‘don’t recommend’ mode because we remember they used that terrible word no last time.
LOCKDOWN HAS INCREASED THE TIME GAP BETWEEN APPOINTMENTS, PEOPLE BECAME USED TO THEIR HAIR NOT BEING CUT AND COLOURED AS REGULARLY AS IT USED TO BE.
BUT, AFTER THEY HAVE VISITED YOUR SALON, IF THEY SEE THE MESSAGE THAT WAS COMMUNICATED TO THEM FACE TO FACE THE NEXT TIME THEY CHECKS THEIR SOCIAL PLATFORMS, THE SUBTLE INFORMATION REGISTERS AND THEY RECOGNISE THAT THEIR STYLIST, THEIR SALON, ARE COMMUNICATING WITH THEM IN A WAY THAT IS APPEALING TO THEIR NEW FOUND LOVE OF SHOPPING ONLINE.
This is the quandary faced in salons up and down the land. Salon owners want their teams to actively promote home care, hairdressers tend to actively shy away from it because rejection is something difficult to deal with.
FACE THE QUANDARY HEAD ON, TALK ABOUT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES IN SALON BUT THEN DELIVER LOTS OF UPDATES AND INFO ONLINE VIA WEBSITES, BLOGS, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM ETC.
Your clients all buy something for their hair from somewhere, be it supermarket, chemist, on-line or from their salon. And they don’t just buy one thing! Most of us, myself included, have a bathroom cabinet groaning under the weight of products we bought from somewhere that they don’t use.
LOCKDOWN SAW AN ENORMOUS INCREASE IN PEOPLE SHOPPING ONLINE, NOT JUST FOR ESSENTIALS BUT FOR LUXURY ITEMS AS WELL (SHAMPOO, CONDITIONER ETC). THIS HAD A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON ANY BUSINESS THAT WASN’T OFFERING AN E-COMMERCE PLATFORM FOR CLIENTS TO PURCHASE FROM.
IT ONLY TAKES 3 MONTHS FOR A HABIT TO BE BROKEN AND IF YOU HAD CLIENTS WHO MADE REGULAR PURCHASES FROM THE SALON, THEIR SHOPPING PATTERNS WERE FORGOTTEN ABOUT.
How does this happen when hairdressers have everything at their disposal that they use on their client’s hair?
From the shampoo to the hairspray and everything in between, there are so many products and pieces of equipment that are used without proper explanation, is it any wonder a client takes themselves off somewhere and buys a tub of something or other that looks similar to what was used on their hair, gets it home, discovers it doesn’t do the job and then dumps it into that [groaning] cabinet.
First things first then, hairdressers have to stop worrying about that tiny little word ‘no’ and start embracing the challenge of aiming to get clients using what is recommended (and used) in salon.
Let’s call this the rule of 10.
The rule is based on the simple principle that stylists use at least 10 different products and pieces of equipment whilst delivering their service:
- Shampoo
- Conditioner / Treatment
- Comb / Detangling brush
- Styling Product
- Dryer
- Styling Brush
- Heat Protector
- Hot Tool
- Styling Product
- Finishing product
At least 10 things customers see and feel being used and are inspired about enough to go searching for similar products themselves. A key factor in this searching around is that they have not been recommended what to use when they’re in the salon.
ONLINE PLATFORMS AREN’T CONCERNED IN THE LEAST ABOUT HOW MANY PRODUCTS THEY PLACE IN FRONT OF THEIR SHOPPERS, THE ALGORITHMIC EQUATION THAT SHOWS LOTS OF PRODUCTS UNDERSTANDS THAT [SHOPPERS] ARE MORE LIKELY TO ADD MORE THAN THEIR ORIGINAL SEARCHED FOR ITEM INTO THEIR ‘BASKET’
‘But my client always says no,’ I hear hairdressers up and down the country saying.
My response: “Why are they saying no if they see the results you create by using these 10 things?”
IT’S TIME TO START ASKING REAL QUESTIONS TO EVERY CLIENT ABOUT WHAT THEY USE ON THEIR HAIR AND WHY! IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IS BEING USED AND WHAT INSPIRED THE INDIVIDUAL TO PURCHASE, YOU WILL NEVER GET PAST THE CLIENT SAYING NO TO YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS.
It goes back to the fact that hairdressers tend to miss out on talking about product because of some deep-rooted memory of a negative response that happened once upon a time that knocked their confidence for six and became a warning beacon that subconsciously flashes the moment conversation about products begins.
Honestly, 9 times out of 10, the majority of hairdressers don’t open up the dialogue because the ‘no’ word is too big a thought to cope with. Maybe stylists give it a go every now and again to try and get back on track and start selling again. Therein is the second problem.
1: That word no…. it hurts.
2: Selling…. It doesn’t work the way hairdressers want it to.
Mostly these two factors cause a mental block and retail falls by the wayside.
SELLING NEEDS TO BE AN ACTIVE PART OF EVERY CLIENT VISIT, BUT DON’T SELL ANYTHING, SIMPLY OPEN UP DIALOGUE, HAVE A CONVERSATION, CREATE A STORY ABOUT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS ONLINE AND IT’S WHAT REALLY HAS TO HAPPEN IN SALONS IF BUSINESSES ARE TO SURVIVE AND BRIGN IN EXTRA REVENUE.
And yet it cannot be ignored. Your clients buy products from somewhere. What needs to happen is they need to start buying it from you.
On-line shopping has had a dramatic effect on all businesses and is only going to continue growing.
With revenues at an all-time high of FOR BIG ONLINE SHOPPING PLATFORMS in the UK, these are worrying times for the high street as more and more major retailers close branches, whilst trying to maintain some presence in towns and cities. At the same time they’re actively trying to grow their online business.
THE DEMISE OF SOME OF THE UK’S BIGGEST STORES HAS CREATED A CHANGE ON THE HIGH STREET AND CONSUMERS ARE BECOMING MORE IN TUNE WITH REAL-TIME SHOPPING AND SUPPORTING THEIR LOCAL BUSINESSES.
Salons, alongside coffee shops and eateries, have the best chance of survival but hairdressers must adapt and develop their offering. This has to include a more dynamic and engaging approach to retailing.
The challenging option then is to ignore the ‘no’ word. That’s all it is. A little word shared in a moment that happens every now and again.
THE CHALLENGE NOW IS TO SIMPLY ‘GO FOR IT’ THE TIME IS RIGHT TO TALK ABOUT EVERY THING YOU HAVE TO OFFER, FACE TO FACE, ON YOUR E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS AND DEFINITELY IN YOUR SOCIAL POSTS.
Don’t sell anything anymore but do focus in on the rule of 10 and accept that every client, or at least 80%, use on average the same number of products and pieces of equipment on their hair at home.
How many come from within your doors? That’s the real challenge. Aim for the 10, then aim beyond.
Think about how your team talks about products and how it can become more relevant to the way shoppers shop in this day and age.
Look at what on-line shops do when they encourage you to purchase more than you intended.
CHECK OUT HOW THEY HAVE RESPONDED TO THE PANDEMIC.
Look at how supermarkets and chemists are fighting back as best they can.
CHECK OUT HOW THEY HAVE BECONE MORE ‘USER FRIENDLY’ ENCOURAGING YOU TO SHOP FOR MORE PRODUCTS.
Then use some of these key factors to turn your retail into something dynamic and powerful.
