How can I control my life when I can't control my hair?
The above title is the reason most clients see us. When they are stuck somewhere and no longer know how to manage, or when they are heartbroken, they will see us for a change of hairstyle or hair color to represent a brand new start. When they are inspired by some new looks from Hollywood e.g. when Victoria Beckham was wearing the infamous bob cut, they come to us to help inject a dose of glamour into their lives. We are indeed very important people, responsible and accountable for the happiness of women and their well being. The next question is to find out how responsible are we, really?
“Responsible” (ri-spon-suh-buhl) according to the dictionary means “answerable or accountable, as for something within one’s power, control, or management. Capable of a rational thought or action”. Have we ever wondered why most customers have poor impressions about hair coloring? Have we ever wondered why most professional models are so unwillingly to accept hair shows? Even when they can, guess what are the most common no-no’s…..no “bleaching”. Yes, we all know that especially those of us who organize hair shows. No matter whether they are customers or models they do have something in common, the poor perception about hair coloring. I mention perception because deep deep down, we are the one who are responsible. Remember the definition of “Responsible”? – “being capable of a rational thought or action”.
I was having this conversation with my colleague who is responsible for sales; we do have a very comfortable café with lots of cakes, bagels and all sorts of coffee and other beverages on sale at our office so it makes sense to find some time to connect with colleagues while having a cuppa. She told me that salons in Taipei are generally ok even if they feel the technical work like color or perm could damage customer’s hair at that moment as this provides them the opportunity to sell hair treatments as well. Here are my thoughts; do we sell hair treatments only for damaged hair clients? Is that how the poor perception about hair coloring started? There are a few consequences if we do not make a rational decision for the customers. First, the customer will think twice if we offer our color services again in the future, so why not think of long term business relationships and gain trust instead, of short term gains. Second, we are not educating customers about the importance of treating hair. The way we do salon business now should not be the same as we did five or ten years ago. Just look at skin care; there are cleansers, toners, serums/essences, day creams, night creams, sun blocks, eye creams, face scrubs. Have I missed any more face products because I am sure they are more! Customers are fully aware about these face products and it has become a necessity. How could hair care evolve to become this important to people’s daily routines? FYI Scalp, hair and skin share the same structure; however scalps are even more complex.
Let’s organize a debrief session with your team on how we could be innovative. Share our knowledge and experience with our colleagues. Educate customers about the science of hair and why we should treat it, and how hair could become damaged or dry. More innovation news to share about hair care; there will be scrubs for hair and scalp in the near future and there are already organic ingredient in shampoos. Professional hair care companies have already started to kick off the path to evolve in professional and salon retail products. Are you ready to evolve or would you rather choose to be comfortable? Make a choice, because no one but you yourself is responsible for the decision.
