How to Talk to Clients in the Salon

Want to improve customer experience and enhance customer loyalty by learning how to talk to clients in the salon? Positive relationships between hairdressers and clients are the bedrock of a successful business. Salon owners must cultivate these relationships to guarantee future business.

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1. How to Greet Clients in a Salon??
2. How Should Hairdressers Present Themselves in a Salon?
3. How Do You Start a Conversation with Clients?
4. How to Communicate with Clients in a Salon?
5. Salon Small Talk
6. Examples of Good and Poor Communication in a Salon
7. Conclusion

How to Greet Clients in a Salon?

Warmly Greet a Client

Your number one task is to make them feel welcome and at ease. Introduce yourself, your team and make the client feel confident about their decision to choose your salon.

Smile And Keep Eye Contact, Positive Body Language

Greet your salon clients with a smile and make sure to thank them for honoring their appointment. Maintain eye contact and positive and approachable body language to improve trust and helping them feel at ease during the appointment.

Be Hospitable

Go on to introduce them to the hairdressers team and salon assistants. Introductions are a good ice breaker for later when they have to tell you what they want hair-wise or blurt out about general life.

Be Confident And Professional

To build trust, show that you and your team of stylists are knowledgeable not only about hair but also a wide range of topics. Gossip should be laid back but not too informal.

Use The Client's Name

Another essential ingredient for a warm welcome is calling your customer by name. The human brain jumps for joy when someone hears their name. When you call a customer by name, it means that you see them as people and will treat them that way instead of just making money off them.

Keep The Client Informed If They Have to Wait

Long wait times are not good for your clients. Remember that it is pretty expensive to acquire new customers than to retain your current one, hence you need to be courteous. Read on to master some salon conversation starters.

How Should Hairdressers Present Themselves in a Salon?

If you need salon customers to trust you with their hair, money, and secrets, you must look the part.

Build an aura of professionalism around you. Your presentation is of the utmost importance because you are in the business of helping others look good. It is imperative to present yourself in the best possible light. Practice what you preach.

Keep your clothes and shoes clean and your overall look including nails polished. Your makeup should be on point and your hair flawless and fashionable. Nothing accelerates customer attrition faster in salons than an unkempt, dirty look.

Salon management team must explain to their staff what image they want to project and how to communicate and behave in a salon environment.

How Do You Start a Conversation with Clients?

The hair stylist's chair is similar to a psychiatrist's couch in that it activates people to express themselves freely. This should be easy. Now, the question is how do you start conversing with a client in a salon?

Make a Compliment

Mention something positive about your client —their look, their mood, their timeliness, etc. so that you can easily make friends with them during the course. Make sure your compliments are thoughtful and sincere.

Ask About Their Hair Routine, Products They Use, Etc.

There are many ways to start a chit-chat about hair, for example: How is your hair? What are some of your best hair products? What amount of time are you able to dedicate to it? How would you improve your hair if you had a chance?

Ask What They Like About Their Hair

Ask about their hair if you want to keep the small talk happy, light, cheerful, and pleasant. This can save you from the temptation to gossip.

Ask About The Result They Want to See

Your goal should be to give them options that will alter their perception about new hairstyles or conditioning treatments and allow them to use them more effectively.

Comment The Weather

When learning about salon conversational art, many experts will tell you to start a small dialogue by commenting about the weather. Ask your client about some of their plans given the day's weather. This may give your ideas for how better to style their hair for their plans.

Ask About Their Holiday Plans

Your clients may want to discuss the holidays more than the salon menu or hair salon topics. You can ask customers where they have been recently, where they plan to go on holiday and what places/things are on their bucket list.

How to Communicate with Clients in a Salon?

You can start small gossip with any client — whether young or old. Your senior clients might communicate slower, but that doesn't mean they are stupid. Your younger clients might converse with their faces buried in their phones, but that doesn't mean they are uninterested in the chit-chat. In each case, the subject matters, show respect, patience, and good listening skills.

Be a Good Listener

Listen to your clients, watch their body language, and how they say them. Be as attentive as you can to the answers you receive and reciprocate as much as you can.

Be Patient

Don't interrupt even if the client seems confused. Don't stress if they immediately get what you try to explain. Let the gossip flow with ease.

Use Anything That May Help

Start with things you see around the room - or things you have noticed about the customer. Give examples or show pictures. Keep up with the news, pop culture, and trending subjects not to miss out on anything. That way, you have topics prepared based on your client's interests.

Ask Questions and Give Appropriate Advice

Get more details about their hair and offer sound advice. Your salon service may involve explaining to your clients without hurting their feelings that their preferred cut doesn't work with their hair or complexion. Suggest better options.

Don't Judge or Assume

Listen without judging and ask before you assume anything. Understanding clientele is essential to effective salon conversation.

Behave Professionally

Don't get involved in controversy or gossip. Listen more so you will be able to understand them better. If they are not in the mood for conversing, it's essential to respect that.

Be Aware of Your Body Language

Your facial expressions, listening and gestures matter in these conversational art too. Just like your words, keep your business approach friendly and sincere for a better customer experience.

Stay in Touch

Keep the chit-chat going even after the client leaves the salon. Data by Sprout Social shows that 4 in every five customers, whether men or women, want to be engaged on social media. You can connect with them on social media or through email address. You can share news, send business surveys or helpful family healthcare tips to their email address.

Keep Track of Important Info

Consider using a custom tracking business solution to track and maintain appointment records and important notes for each clientele. It can help you send personalized digital messages, remember special days such as birthdays and anniversaries, and pick off where you left on their next visit.

Salon Small Talk

The key to small talk is asking the right questions. And, according to Harvard researchers, to have an effortless and enjoyable chit chat, listen keenly, and ask follow-up questions. These salon communication tips and tricks can help you keep your salon clients engaged.

Hair-Related Topics

Dish out new helpful info about hair care, hair products and style tips based on what the client wants.

Work and Ambitions

Work is a tried and proven conversation starter for the hair salon industry. Ask interesting questions such as "a sister of mine wants to join X profession, would you mind passing on any advice you have?"

Pets and Kids

Your clients may want to chat about pets at home, and it would be a lively hair salon conversation if you own or understand pets. Keep it professional, though.

Hobbies and Passions

What is their pastime activity, what do they like doing at home? Music, sports, or TV shows? These are very simple questions to get the salon client-hairdresser discussion going.

Events, Sports, and Multimedia

Ask if she is familiar with a song currently on the radio or an ongoing sports competition. Netflixed anything cool lately? Describe. When you choose something trendy, you could start with something that keeps them excited for the entire salon-style session.

Salon Topics to Avoid

Politics

Politics must never be the subject of a conversation between hairdressers and customers. Things tend to go awry quickly when talking about politics. If the salon client expresses a political opinion that contrasts with your own, try to remain calm.

Religion

It may appear unprofessional to question clients about their religious beliefs, and they might not be receptive to discussion. It can directly impact the chances of their return visit and have adverse effects on your style business.

Finances

You should never inquire about the salaries of your customers, regardless of how curious you are. Also, do not answer questions about your money matters. They visit salons for style, not to consult finance.

Do not miss our post Hair Color Consultation Questions.

Examples of Good and Poor Communication in a Salon

Do: Listen and show interest. Slow down and consider the feedback you get.

Don't: Just brag about yourself and your opinions or try to sound interesting by firing rapid questions.

Do: Encourage openness. Your facial expression and approach must inspire your clients to speak.

Don't: Make the client feel ashamed of doing something wrong before in their life.

Do: Be positive and friendly. Initiate light topics, keeping it accessible for customers who probably want an escape from head-scratching topics.

Don't: Be Debbie Downer or forget that the end goal is to win their love and loyalty.

Conclusion

Follow this guide to master how to talk to clients in the salon. Remember to take notes and keep track of essential data to personalize your business better. A straightforward, personalized approach and the art of what do you talk about in a salon forges a strong business relationship and gets the job done.

Citations

Connected marketing: the viral, buzz and word of mouth revolution
https://books.google.com/books?hl=ru&lr=&id=YFYg

Advising the small business client
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0266242607074517

Intercultural Communication for Global Business: How leaders communicate for success
https://books.google.com/books?hl=ru&lr=&id=LA08EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT16&dq=How+to+communicate+successfully&ots=BP4resGs0X