How to Prevent a Bad Haircut, Bad Color or a Bad Salon Experience... Avoid a Breakdown

Clients know what they like, But many have a hard time explaining their vision. Have photos to help them out.

Last week while at the salon, I noticed the most stunning little girl come in for a hair cut with her mom. Clutching tightly to mommy's hand, she was assured her beautiful, long, golden wavy hair was only going to be "trimmed", and that everything would be fine. The happy child bounced over to the stylist's chair. I though nothing of it other than that the child looked like a young Blake Lively with Goddess like hair. About 30 minutes later I heard sobs. The little girl was curled up in a ball in her mommy's arms sporting a new mullet hair cut. Her gorgeous long tresses were gone - she now looked like Joe Dirt.

Now, this is a high-end New York salon with seasoned stylists. I don't know how this happened, but I do know how it might have been avoided... A PHOTOGRAPH.

Time and time again I hear stories of hair color gone wrong, up-do's gone bust, and hair cuts that caused emotional breakdowns. I have had my fair share of my own until I had the epiphany (and no-exceptions policy) of bringing a photo to my salon appointment. It is difficult for any stylist to interpret exactly what a client wants without a picture. No process is too small for this rule, as witnessed with the aforementioned little girl. I went in to the salon once and asked for bangs... I left with a bi-level bob. Apparently what I described and what the stylist heard had some major discrepancies.

Let your clients browse your best work & styles on a tablet - BRILLIANT way to insure a HAPPY Client!

Clients:
The easiest thing to do is have an album of styles you like on your smart phone or tablet. ALSO print the photo out for your stylist. This is VERY important. My favorite haircut in the world came from an attentive stylist in NY that referenced my photograph 3-4 times during my haircut - she propped it up at her station! If you put your phone or tablet away - pray your stylist has a photographic memory.

My friend just took her teen daughter for Ombre highlights at a popular salon. I told her to take a picture - because Ombre can be light or heavy, and some like it to start higher that lower. She didn't listen, and they have been back to the salon 2 times now to correct the color. Teens are very particular about their style... especially since some are overly critiqued by their peers.

Great Advice for Hair Stylists & Colorists:
If your clients are not proactive in bringing photos of what they want, have some contemporary celebrity or entertainment magazines on hand for looks. Ideally, just like restaurants have their wines on iPad to peruse, it would be great to have your most popular looks on a tablet for clients to browse through as well. Also, a tablet is a great way to take photos of your work and have it on hand to showcase to new clients.

Ultimately this means your clients will have a higher rate of satisfaction, you will have a less stressful time interrupting and your tips and referrals will boom!