Hair Stylist Tips & How To Build Clientele

Anomaly and I'm gon na call this real tea, no shade. My real name is Tanisha, and this is not a hair video. This is a video for cosmetology students and hairstylist, trying to build a clientele. I'M just going to tell you my experience and what I do. A lot of stylists don't want to share their tips and tricks of the trade, because this is a very competitive field. There are so many hair stylists out there. It'S just a very competitive field. Everybody thinks that someone's going to take their customers or someone's gon na duplicate them and yeah they may but you're. Just helping out your fellow fellow person, um new hair stylists need to be mentored and somebody's got to teach you something that's hard. I mean I had to learn it all on my own, and these are things that I'm doing that are better working for me. I'Ve moved to a new state. I'Ve been in this state for about two years now, so I had to build up my clientele when I didn't know anybody and it was hard because it's not like being in your hometown, where you know people won't, and you can't get your friends and family and Your friends can refer people I didn't have that here, so I had to build from the bottom up, and I've had customers that have been loyal to me have been coming to see me every since I started here, which is great. So let me just get into what I have some notes here. So if you see me looking down this, what I'm looking at so our first things. First, if you are in a cosmetology school once you complete it, don't think that when you get out you're gon na be booked solid, that you're gon na make all this money. Because when you first start out, you really don't make a lot of money and it's totally different than being in the salon I mean being in the school, then it is and the salon it's a totally different. My suggestions is to not go into a booth rental situation right out of cosmetology school. Do not go into a commission only situation right out of cosmetology school. Your best bet is to go to a salaried place to work. Someone is gon na pay you by the hour, plus Commission and tips, because you need to be in a place where you're gon na get a paycheck, no matter if someone's in your chair or not, you need something stable. So a good place to start is Regis. I started from Regis a company I started out small. I started at smart style, which is in Walmart. It was a horrible experience not because it was a horrible company was just that. I went to an all-black cosmetology school, which limited me a lot because everyone that came into the door to get their hair down there was like elderly and black. So that's what I knew how to do. When I started working at smart style, it was in a suburb all Caucasian, and I was the only black girl in the salon. So I didn't know what to do. I really didn't know what to do. You had to cut their hair wet. I'M used to cutting dry, they did a lot of color versus in our school. We didn't do a lot of color if it was, it was black, so it was just like overwhelming, and I quit like right after I started because I felt like I was inferior as a stylist and even the manager called me and was like you're. Okay, please come back and I was just like no I'm not coming back. I was like I'm not coming back so yeah. That was my first experience, yeah pretty bad. Once you're seasoned and you've built some loyal customers at the salary salon, then you can move into a commission situation and then go into a boo friend situation because after you start making so much money, you're gon na feel, like I'm doing all this work and I'm Giving someone half of my money because a lot of Commission salons 150 percent or they want 40 %. My first commission place was 40 % and that wasn't a good experience either, but I'm not going to talk about it um a good place. To start, like I said we just Regis owns a lot of different hair companies. They own a smart style. They own master cuts, they own super cuts and many other little chains. I worked for a smart style and I worked for master cuts. I'Ve never worked for super cuts, but a lot of girls from my school started out at Supercuts, which is a great place to start because they do pay half of your student loans. If you pay have so that's a good incentive and they give you training. So as soon as you start with super cuts, you're going to be in training, they're gon na teach you their way of cutting and then you're on the floor, and you learn how to be fast and quick cuz. That'S one of the things in this business. Is you got ta, be fast and quick and get those people in and out the door as fast as possible to make the most money in the shortest amount of time, but you still want to do quality work, so smart means super cuts is a great place To start, another thing is after school still take classes, you're gon na have to pay for them, but they are needed. You need to stay current on new techniques. You need to stay current on cuts and color, and everything that you know. That'S gon na keep you relevant, because, if you're not doing the up-to-date things no one's gon na want to come to, you know your products. Product knowledge know what's best to use the most expensive is not always the best, and I don't I don't like. I don't have just one product line that I like. I, like certain things from different product lines. I do stick with one product line for all of my color, but I know nothing about color that I can use other things if I have to, but some of the brands that I use as matrix Kendra, it's a ten mazzani karekare shea moisture. It'S just. I have such a versatile client base that I need multiple products to do different things, because I do Caucasian here I do Asian, I do Hispanic and I do black and mixed so and I do men so there's. I need a lot of different things for a lot of different people, because they serve different purposes, be versatile, be able to do men in women's hair, be able to do different races of hair other than your own race. That'S going to keep you busy as well. It'S been a very good plus for me, I'm telling you because starting out all I'm gon na do was black hair and when I was in Texas, that's all I did when I moved here. I had to diversify and it's been the best thing ever. I love having a mix client base. I love it, find your niche and perfect it. If you are passionate about color, take all the color classes, you can perfect your color practice on your mannequins new techniques, and things like that perfected make it like. The best thing ever still be versatile in the services that you offer, but you want to be great in something something specific that will set you apart from another stylist, something that you do good it's better to do one thing great and have do a million things Mediocre so advertising couple things to do. You want to average. Whatever you advertise is the type of business that you're going to get so like, say, for instance, you're great at coloring it. But you want to start doing extensions. You want to start doing haircuts, but all you advertise is hair color, that's the type of client that's going to come in because that's what they see! That'S what they think that you can do. That'S what they're going to come in for so, if you want different clients, start advertising. Do some cuts. If you don't have any customers that you do haircuts on offer to do some free haircuts in exchange for pictures so that you can advertise that hey? I do cuts too, so the people will start coming to you, for you know, cutting their hair. People feel comfortable coming to you if they feel that you are competent in the area that they of the service that they are seeking work around people, that you can grow it and you can learn from one of the things that really has helped me is being In a salon, and I'm the only brownie in there, my salon is all Caucasian all the clients that come in are a Caucasian, I'm the only one that has different race clients, multiple races coming to see me, and let me tell you why that's great it's great, Because there's no competition or I don't have to worry about anybody still in my clients, I've been at previous ones where you know I'm off one day and someone comes in for me and somebody will be like I could do you and still my client or you Know they end up coming back to me anyway, because they jack them up, but yeah I've had that happen or people, stealing your products and using on while you're not there. I don't have that problem at the salon that I'm at now, one of the things that is wonderful about this is that I learn color and cuts because in a Caucasian salon, color and cut is a cash cow. Color cut, perms cash cow. They come in like clockwork and that's an area that I'm not strong in, because I don't get a lot of customers asking for color if they do want color it's black, so I hardly ever get to do on braids and things like that and I like doing Ombre and crazy colors and things like that, but I just don't get the customers asking for it, so I don't have the best expertise in that area, because I have less experience in that area. When I worked at master cuts, I did color all the time, but now I really don't so what thing about being in a salon where I'm the only brownie is what I'm doing here and everybody else has planes in their chair. They are amazed at what I do if I'm doing extensions they're like what the heck is. She doing. That is awesome and my daughter might want that or I might want that and other stylists don't offer what I offer. So I get clients from their clients and I'm not stealing their clients. If you understand what I'm saying, I'm not taking from them that their clients are referring people to me, they may know a mixed child that need their hair done. They may know some black girls that need their hair done. They may know someone that wants extensions, but don't know where to go they're, bringing customers to me and I'm getting them just by showing up to work and doing my work. It'S a great great thing. Great thing I like to work with stylists that specialize in different things like I just went over it. It'S also good. If you want to get better in a certain area, it's also good to work in a salon that, with someone that does do the things you do, because you can pick up different tips and tricks from them and they can kind of make sure you. But you have to find a stylist that is willing to do that. A lot of stylists, don't like it in the hair extension world. They don't want to show you their chips and tricks. They think oh she's gon na steal my clients or I'm giving you something for free or they just don't like it. So it's hard to find that if you find that take it up, if that's what you want to do, go ahead and do that business cards, I used vistaprint for all my marketing things like magnets business cards, postcards Flyers. Things like that I'll wait till they have like 50 % off free shipping things like that, and then I order my business cards. I put - I don't, have one around right now, but I put my pictures on my business card and I put my website. I put mine, I have a cellphone just for my business. I put that number, because I've had problems with people, customers calling for me and they get booked for somebody else or they have questions and no one knows answers to. So I have a separate cell phone. All my clients that call me on - and I don't have to worry about nobody jackin up my booking, so I have my cell phone number, the salon phone number. If they just want, they feel more comfortable calling the salon - and I have the address to the salon. So on your business cards, it's very important to put pictures of your work, because when the client walks away from you or if they are referring you to someone else, it's always nice for them to be able to see what type of work you do and they're More apt to come to you because they feel more comfortable, like in your skills. So I always put pictures of your work on your business cards. Pass out business cards as much as possible. Don'T go up to people and just hand them a business card. Compliment them say: oh, you have a wonderful head of hair. Do you have a stylist come on in? I would love to do your hair or say if you I'm a stylist, I'm new, I'm trying to find new clients. I don't know if you have one yet, but if you know anybody, that's looking for a stylist, I have website you can go on there and look at all my pictures and if you like what you see um come in book me um I'll, give you ten. Twenty percent off also I'm shy, so I usually don't do that, but I should because I have tons of business cards. I never passed them out um the places that I do pass out business cards to it's like when I'm at Walmart or McDonald's subway Dollar Tree. When I'm checking out the person, that's checking me out I'll give them my card and because I know if I do they're here, they're interacting with people all day, and if I do the hair and it's the bomb people are gon na ask them, will get your Hair and then they're gon na say the hair fairy, and then I'm gon na get some more clients, so yeah I'll give them a certain percentage off and I'll tell them hey if your coworkers want to come in for whatever I'll give them a percentage off, they Tell me you referred them, or they say that they work at this establishment got customers from that. I feel more comfortable doing that than just walking up to random people, but how I do get people to talk to me is when I'm in Walmart. I have my hair, my makeup done. I have a nice neat, clothing and people will stop me and say your hair is so cute and I said oh thank you. I'M a stylist. Here'S a card. I have a website check it out beauty, supply stores. I put up ads at the beauty supply. I put up a big photo glossy colorful ad that has pictures. As on my information on it, I will tape it up on whatever wall that they allow me to tape it up on usually right when the people walk in or walking out can see it. I put business cards there. I keep a relationship with the people at the beauty supply and they have no problem doing that and when I come to the beauty supply, which is not often cuz. I don't my hair there anymore, but when I go, I go hair done makeup done nice clothes. When I walk in people automatically ask me who did your hair? Oh, my god, do you know a stylist I'll, tell them come see me or when I'm coming in I've seen people have my card in their hand and they'll have other stylist cards in the hand and I'll say: hey you uh check out that card to set The hair for it cuz, that's me, and if you come in oh, I look yeah, I'm great at whatever and come on in I'll, give you a percentage drop for a new customer and that usually works and use social media. I have car magnets on my car that opens up conversation at convenience stores um the mall, for instance, people will say: oh you do hair, and you know I I'm really wanting some color or I really need a new haircut or I can pass on a business Card that way, that way, I'm not poaching them. They'Re approaching me do your very best on every head of hair that you do no matter if it's a client that comes every two weeks or it's a new client, do it great every time and have your clients fill out a client information card with their email, Their address so that you can email them promotions, you can email them to remind them to come back for an appointment. Ask them if it's okay to take pictures. Have it in writing on the back of that paper have notes right now, if you do color right on the formulation write down the results, if not, you know, if you're not doing color right down products that you're using if they purchase any products from you, what Type of cut, or what type of style that you did if you liked it if they liked it so the next time they come in, if you forgot, you can just pull your little cheat sheet out and like oh, this is what I did and redo it. So that's a good thing to do and get your customers on a hair plan get them to where they need to come. See you every two weeks or once a month or you find out like if they're, okay doing their hair at home, if not get them on a plane, if they are get them on a plan to where they might only come, see you every six weeks or Every three months but they're coming back to see you if you offer hair extensions, and you have a client that has expensive hair, tell them to come back every two weeks. Get that get it washed properly, get it conditioned and style so that they can preserve the longevity of that hair. If they have cheaper extensions, they might not come back every two weeks, but have them scheduled them to come back every six weeks to get a new install or if they just want to have it for a special occasion, schedule them for the next six weeks to Come in and get a washed and styled in deep condition always be professional. Keep your hair up to date always look presentable because you represent your business. You are your brand, have a website, utilize style, sitcom. It offers online booking and text the customer a reminder before their appointment. It emails them after the appointment asking if they're happy or not after six weeks. If you have not read book that client, it will send them an email and ask you know why don't you come in for this service or we missed you or something like that? It handles a lot of different things and it's free. So it's a great tool. I love it all. My customers use it and I just love it. I'M trying to think of everything quickly. I think. That'S it quick note. If there's some videos, you want to see, tell me because some of my videos, you guys like some of your videos you do like. I don't know what you like, what you don't like. So tell me what type of videos you are interested in and I will try to get that out. I'M I do appreciate all my subscribers. I finally reached 5,000 um and I appreciate it. Thank you for watching bye,