Instead of settling for whoever walks in the front door of your salon business, take action to build your haircolor clientele continuously. Lauren Gartland is the founder of Inspiring Champions, a business training and coaching company working in the professional beauty industry. Gartland regularly instructs beauty professionals on how to grow their business, find new clientele and create their own perfect clientele. Gartland shares some tips to generate interest in your haircolor services:

Define Yourself

Gartland shares, “You have only 11 seconds to create a powerful first impression. Make sure you show your passion for who you are and what you do.” Create your own exciting defining statement that will vividly describe what you do. Your statement should be simple, conversational and repeatable. It should focus on what you do, who you do it for and include two separate aspects of your professional expertise. For example, you could say ‘I’m a master hairstylist specializing in precision haircuts and advanced haircolor services, serving clients who are looking for the very best results.’

Try writing out lots of defining statements. Write down ten a day for a few days and then highlight the five you like best. Gartland shares, “Your defining statement should light you up like a Christmas tree – you should be on fire when you read it! Think about your favorite clients. Consider some of the things you have done for them over the years? You’ve given them new fun looks, professional polish, self-confidence, a consistent level of service, quality and results. You could work some of these things into potential defining statements. Remember that the words have to resonate with you first. You have to own your statement before other people will respond!”

Create Advocates

The first step to building an advocate system is to put together a list of the 25 most important people in your life who are in a position to impact your business. If you don’t think you can come up with 25, then start with 5 and build up from there. Choose your most enthusiastic clients, business people in your neighborhood, or people who believe in you and your work. Surround yourself with those true fans. Gartland notes, “Know the difference between an advocate and a supporter. A supporter is someone who may be a regular client or business acquaintance yet is not fully invested in your success. An advocate is someone who will go out of their way to help you and see you succeed!” Your advocates should know your defining statement and be enthusiastic about referring new clientele to you. Joining a local business networking group is a great way to meet advocates. Contact your local Chamber of Commerce to get a list and visit at least three to five groups before committing to one.

"Your defining
statement should
light you up like
a Christmas tree!"

The most important step in forming your advocate group is keeping in touch with them. However, your connection should come from an air of neutrality. Do not continually ask members of your group for referrals or just contact them when you need them. Give back by also working on their behalf and investing in their success as well. Advocate systems are about building relationships and staying connected. Gartland shares, “Never let an advocate get more than 30 days away from you in communication. Find different ways to contact them and get creative by mixing it up with telephone calls, postcards, holiday greetings, small gifts or homemade items. Send them regular news on your services, seasonal promotions, inspirational messages or other fun communications.”

Creative Promotions:

Create fun, inspiring promotions to educate and motivate your clientele to explore your haircolor services:
Think Out of the Box: Don’t let your clients color their own hair with store bought haircolor in a box! Let them know that professional haircolor applied in the salon will give them superior results with lasting, healthier haircolor. You could show photographs of common home haircolor mistakes such as a brassy blonde highlight job or a too dark, flat, brunette result.

Promotion: Have clients bring in an unused boxed haircolor kit for a $10 or a 20% discount on their haircolor service. Or, if they’ve just colored their hair and hate it; they can bring in the used box for a $10 / 20% discount on fixing the botched haircolor. If they’ve already thrown away the box, perhaps they could pose for a “before” shot and you can take an “after” shot for your future promotions! You can donate any unused haircolor products to a local women’s charity.

Do the Haircolor Math:

Tell your clients about the importance of professional haircolor maintenance products. Share with each client what their haircolor number is and what their corresponding pH level should be. Explain that to maintain their hair’s pH balance, they need to use the professional products from their haircolor line that are created specifically to maintain those levels.

Promotion: Have clients bring in their current shampoo and conditioner to receive a 15% discount off new haircolor maintenance products. Donate the gently used products to a local charity.

Haircolor That Whispers, Talks or Screams!

Doing a thorough client consultation ensures that you discover the needs, challenges and desires of your client. Ask them if they want their haircolor to whisper, talk or scream? This will clue you in to their psyche and whether they really want subtle highlights, chunky streaks or bold, brilliant tones!

Promotion: Have clients select three adjectives to describe what they want their haircolor to say about them. They may say, ‘polished, professional and confidant’ or ‘sexy, youthful and fun.’ Then, offer them a $10 / 15% discount off any new first-time haircolor service that will provide the desired results. Include highlights, hair extensions, a glossing, conditioning treatments or any additional service that will fulfill their complete haircolor service needs!