Stylists: How to Stand Out
Morgan Franklin: Welcome to the
Aspiring Stylists Podcast with
Tracey Franklin. Where to begin,
grow and aspire to become the
best stylist you can be. Whether
you're thinking about becoming a
stylist opening a salon, or
developing your skills as an
experienced stylist the next
step of your beauty career
starts here. Each week we'll
discuss strategic ways to
design, plan and execute on
becoming a stylist that excels
behind the chair and above the
bottom line. Here's your host,
Tracey Franklin.
Tracey Franklin: Trying to stand
out in a sea of talented and
qualified stylists can feel like
an impossible situation. And
remember, this isn't about
winning people over okay? This
is about staying true to
yourself and attracting the
people that you're supposed to.
What I think makes me stand out
as a hairstylist is my ability
and my desire to share my
successes and wins with my team
with my fellow stylists. And
even with my followers. I've
created this pipeline into my
career with the programs that
I've created for aspiring
stylist, this podcast, and even
through social media. What makes
my work behind the chair stand
out is my ability to find
something that I truly love
doing and make it my thing, my
niche. I've practiced and
perfected this skill through
dedication through hard work and
through keeping myself educated
on it. And that thing is hair
extensions. I have always love
this service. But when I first
started doing hair extensions,
the task was long, tedious and
really expensive. Not a lot of
people were wearing them. So I
had a few clients here and there
through the years, but nothing
to really build a career on. But
as I stayed plugged in to the
industry, they evolved. And now
I offer four different methods
and over 90% of my clientele
wears one or more of these
methods. I do feel like I have a
little something going for me
that has also helped me stand
out as a stylist. And that's my
big personality. I'm very
outgoing and very talkative. And
I really love to meet new
people. So honestly, this
industry is perfect for someone
like me, that doesn't mean a
more reserved person can't do it
well, but they will have to work
a little bit harder to stand
out. Because typically standing
out isn't in their comfort zone.
There was this one time where I
was low key kind of scared of
standing out. And that's because
I knew that if I stood out and I
was chosen for this particular
position, I would really be
getting out of my comfort zone.
And that was at a train the
trainer program. So I wanted to
work for an extension company
that I was partnered with as one
of their regional educators.
This would mean traveling to
salons around the country
teaching my favorite service to
other stylists. This idea kind
of both excited and terrified
me. I knew I'd love it. But I
had never done anything like
this before. And unknown parts
of it kind of scared me. But as
it turns out, I did stand out.
And I worked for the company for
several years after I did it a
few times and nerves wore off.
And I did love it and got pretty
good at it. But traveling took
its toll and I decided to stay
closer to home and work on some
other passion projects. So it's
no secret that there are salons
on every corner these days. It's
a very saturated market in
almost any part of the country
and in the salons or other
talented qualified people. So
Why will people choose you? I
mean, why will they choose you?
And when they have so many other
choices? That that's not a
question you're asking yourself
every day, then you're missing
the boat, because that's what
every client and potential
client is asking themselves. And
if you don't believe me, hit
pause, head over to Instagram
and look up some of the
successful stylists that you
follow and see if it's not
blatantly obvious what their
specialty is. For some it's
probably Bali asure extensions
or vibrant colors. Maybe you
follow some barbers who do like
the sickest designs and the
tightest fades. I mean, whatever
their thing is, I guarantee you,
it's obvious and yours should be
too. So what is the concept of
personal branding within the
beauty industry? I mean,
basically, this is the idea that
a brand is more than just a
logo. It's the way you do your
services. That's how you've
conditioned your clients to see
you as a stylist and a creator.
And so that they'll trust you to
always provide the best results.
It's all the little things that
you do that add value to the
guest experience the scalp
massages, essential oils, your
specialty products and services
are what's going to make all the
difference. People like to feel
like they're getting more than
they paid for. So how do you add
value to your guest experience?
What about having a strong self
image is that important for
stylist and other beauty
professionals? I have watched
what sometimes feels like a
decline of stylists
presentation, and by that I mean
that stylists are showing up far
more casual than they did 20
years ago or II even five years
ago truth telling, and I've had
a hard time getting on board
with it all. Sometimes, I feel
like no matter what dress code
you adhere to, there should
always be a standard in an
effort to impress should always
be made. sweats and ball caps
are not the vibe in my opinion,
not when they're paying hundreds
and sometimes 1000s of dollars
for their services. At the very
bare minimum, style your hair
and put on some lipstick, honey,
we have the 10 commandments at
my salon and one of them is we
are the face of beauty, thou
shalt show up beautiful, your
unique brand should be based on
who you are and the work that
you want to do. So here's what
my current brand looks like. I'm
a high end colorist and
extension specialist. I'm an
educator and salon owner. My
color scheme is earthy, vibrant
tones, lots of green, my fashion
aesthetic boss, babe, lots of
colorful power suits, my likes,
being in nature, good food,
animals, especially dogs. And
traveling. My loves are my
family, my team, my students and
my friends. All of this
information is wildly apparent
in my daily life and on my
social channels. It's what makes
me me, it's my brand. So when
you think about famous
hairstylist that have carved out
a really unique brand for
themselves, who do you think of?
Maybe you think of guy Tang and
how he's used fantasy colors and
online education videos to
create this new path or himself
in this industry. I still follow
him and Good lord, I think now
he's even trying to be a rock
star. So things change, right. I
like to use Paul Mitchell as an
example. So you'd have to be
living under a rock to have
never heard of Paul Mitchell.
He's got products that have been
branded in the same white
bottles with black riding for
over decades now. He has
Institute's named after him all
over the country, and I'm sure
in other countries as well. And
when you look at him, he always
has on a dark suit with his hair
slicked back in a ponytail, and
many times he's photographed
with a beautiful blonde. This is
branding at its finest. I did
not even have to Google this
stuff. This is just what I knew
about him from memory from being
in the industry. That is
branding at its finest right
there. I want to dive into
technical skills versus soft
skills, I want to talk about the
balance between having a great
technical skill set, and having
good soft skills like
communication and customer
service. I mean, you really do
have to have both to be truly
successful. And having good soft
skills is like having a safety
net. When the technical work
falls short, it's inevitable,
you're going to try something
new. And it's not going to turn
out like you had hoped. And
knowing how to smooth that over
will take some finessing and if
you've established a good
rapport with your guests, this
is going to be much easier. I
mean, does it even matter if
you're the best colorist in
town, if you can't talk to
anyone it doesn't, you won't be
able to communicate those vital
details of your guest
interaction like asking for
referrals and recommending
products or even asking them to
pre book my outgoing style is
tend to build way faster than my
more shy or reserved ones. They
get out there and talk the talk
and the connections. They're
building through this great
communication. It makes people
want to come back and it makes
people want to take you up on
those product recommendations
and tell all of their friends
about you. Having a great sense
of humor doesn't hurt either.
People want to have fun while
they're getting their hair done,
especially if it's one of those
doozies of an appointment. I
think soft skills are way harder
for this younger generation. I'm
sorry, I don't mean any offense,
but I do I think it's harder. So
much of their interaction is
done with filters and apps and
not face to face interactions
that other generations had. If I
wanted to hang with a friend
back in the day, we had to go to
each other's house or meet at a
park. I mean, yeah, we talked on
the phone, which by the way, no
one does any more either. It's
strictly text these days. But
God we wanted to get out of the
house right? We wanted to get
away from mom and dad. So we had
to get out of there and that
required more face to face
interaction. How do you make
your clients feel will be what
usually determines whether or
not they come back to you or at
least what keeps them coming
back to you time after time.
Good technical skills will buy
you a few appointments. But most
of the time if a good connection
isn't made, it's not going to
last. Making your client feel
good. Looks like consulting with
your client every time you're
finding out what's missing. Ask
her what her hair would look,
feel and smell like in a perfect
world and then be quiet and let
her answer. Hear what she's
saying and then swoop in like a
freakin hero with those
solutions. It also looks like
paying them compliments on their
shoes or his cologne. Make them
feel noticed and appreciated.
And lastly, take their damn
picture. I've heard clients in
the salon talk about being sad
that they aren't on the screen
on the advertising that we do in
the salon or they're asking why
they haven't pin in any of our
reels, I mean, just ask if you
can take their picture, it makes
them feel like you're proud of
the work that you're doing on
them. Building a loyal clientele
is about building trust. If you
can't talk to them, then you
cannot build that trust. And I
know for some this will be so
far out of your comfort zone.
But as one of my mentors used to
say you gave up the right to be
shy when you became a
hairstylist. It starts with just
having a list of questions that
you feel comfortable asking a
first time guests just have a
list. Ask them about their
occupation, what they do for
fun, ask them about their pets,
their hobbies and where they
grew up, keep it light for their
first appointment and let the
guest take the conversation as
far as they feel comfortable. If
they're very quiet and more
reserved, then you know, you
don't have to try as hard,
right? But if they're chatty,
then you need to keep the
conversation going. It's so
important. Having good soft
skills will definitely affect
your client retention, as the
relationship continues to build
your clients become permanent
fixtures on your book. And
hopefully, that's what you want.
Some will stick around longer
than you like I'm sure I'll have
to do a whole episode on that.
Being able to talk to my guests
about my referral program has
helped me build my clientele
through the years and then
replace clients as they've
dropped off time and time again,
it's super simple. And it sounds
like this. Hey, Susan, I'm
trying to build my clientele.
And I was just hoping you would
do me a favor. I love having you
as a client on I would love to
have more people just like you
on my book. Can you think of any
friends or family that you could
give one of my cards to for a
discount, they get 20% off their
first service with me. And if
you'll write your name on the
back of this card, when they
bring it back, you'll get 20%
off your next service with me to
Does that sound good. And then
give her two cards. And that's
it. Having a good consultation
process is the only way to know
what's missing in your client
service or product plan. You
have to be asking the right
questions. So you can recommend
the right services and the right
take home products. A client
that's concerned about dry
brittle hair isn't likely to
walk out without a treatment and
a mask to take home. If you
sound like a professional when
you're consulting with her, this
is not upselling I really have
mixed feelings about that word.
This is about solving your
client's problems and helping
them reach their hair goals
that's not being salesy or
pushy, make your recommendations
and be done detach yourself from
their response. If they say no,
it's not about you, for whatever
reason, they can't do it today
or buy it this time. But you
have planted those seats. And
when they're ready, they know
exactly what to ask for. So what
about leveraging your social
media and technology? I'm
finding social media to be way
more fun these days. Sometimes
it just feels like another thing
I have to do another part of the
job. But I am finding more ways
to make it fun and to engage
more with people. And it
definitely helps. At the end of
the day, very few will get out
alive without using social media
as a tool. It's just too big.
Now it's too widespread. It's
just too necessary. So what
about being your most authentic
self online, I made a decision
recently, to just be me to
create content I like creating
and to share my sense of humor
as well. I love sharing tips,
giving advice and celebrating
other successes online. But I
also like to make people laugh.
And so now I do that to your
page is all about you the work
you love to do, the people you
spend time with and the places
you go, be you do you what you
post matters. If you are still
actively building your
clientele, then you need to find
the balance between your extra
meaning funny content, personal
content, I mean, all that has to
balance well with your
professional content. I think
it's wonderful to show personal
snippets of your life on your
professional page. My followers
love it. But like I said, if
you're still building then your
content needs to translate to
dollars and that means
attracting clients through your
beautiful work. I do think there
is a direct link between
stylists who are showing up
strong online and stylists that
are fully booked in the salon. I
believe the more you post and
engage with your followers, the
more your stuff shows up in
people's feed, and I want to be
in people's feed and you should
want to be in their feet as
well. So you should be being
consistent with how much you
post. Posting twice a week is
almost a waste of time. Notice I
did say almost because I'm a
firm believer that something is
better than nothing. But I will
say when I started posting six
days a week my reach expanded
exponentially. I just don't make
a big deal out of it. I get tons
of content through the week
little videos and pics here and
there and I put some stuff
together and save it in my
drafts. And whenever I'm ready
to post there they are. It's
just part of it. job now and the
stylists in my salon that post
regularly attract far more
clients than those who don't.
posting your work is a great way
to showcase your talents. But a
Client Testimonial is just as
good. Someone out there singing
your praises is the best
promotion there is. I mean,
studies show word of mouth is
still winning as the top way
your clients are finding you.
Here are some things to avoid
when using social media. There
are a few things I feel like you
should avoid when you're using
social media as a marketing tool
and as a tool of communicating
with your clients. And I feel
like that is performing
consultations through online
messages, you know, sending pics
back and forth trying to figure
this all out. I mean, those need
to be done in person, you need
to be able to ask all the right
questions and to be able to look
at the integrity of their hair,
you don't even have to do a test
strand. So consulting face to
face is really important.
Another thing to avoid is
engaging in any gossip or trash
talk about other stylists or
really anyone it's super tacky,
and it can be traced back to
you. So just don't go there.
Lastly, trying to price things
without really knowing all the
steps and how much color it's
going to take to get the job
done. Again, this just really
goes back to having a really
great in person consultation
process. So is it even possible
to stand out as a hairstylist in
2023 Without an online presence?
I mean, I believe although not
impossible, it will be really
hard and harder than it needs to
be social media is necessary all
and it doesn't have to feel so
hard. If it's a matter of not
knowing where to start, then
find a course go to a class.
Hey, I bet you can find a class
about social media on social
media. But either way, the
payoff is worth the work and the
price is zero, it cost $0 to
market yourself on almost every
social channel. And I'm not
talking about devoting hours a
day to this, it takes no time to
take a few videos and a few
still shots and you can create a
week's worth of content to post
with. I've had people tell me
that being on social media was
hard. And they found themselves
constantly comparing their work
to other stylists work well
first of all, quit that shit.
Okay, Comparison is the thief of
joy and a total waste of time.
But if you just can't stop
yourself and get on there and
post and hop back off, don't be
scrolling, if scrolling steals
your piece and don't do it. But
you do need to post your work,
people need to see what a badass
you are. So let's start building
our brand. Start building your
brand by focusing on attracting
the work that you really want to
do. If you want to be a brow
boss, then you need to be
getting a ton of content every
time you do a set a browse.
Again, a few videos and a few
quality picks. And you can post
the same browse for a week, do a
model call and get one of your
hot friends a discount. So they
let you do a photo shoot with
them when you're done. Knowing
what you want others to know
about you is your first step. So
develop your specialty and let
the whole world know that you're
the best at it. If you are a
stylist really struggling with
communicating with your clients,
and you've been trying for a
while with little success,
perhaps you should join a group
like Toastmasters. These are
small groups that allow people
to present in front of people
and help you develop that skill.
But no matter what, please keep
trying. I mean, I've seen
stylists who were so shy and
quiet when I hired them. And
they've totally come out of
their shells. And they've
created these amazing
connections with their clients
and our team members. You know
who you are online and who you
are in person has to be the
same. You have to have
integrity. It's a very important
characteristic to have when
you're trying to attract new
business. And what I mean by
that is you absolutely need to
be the same person face to face
as you are online. If you post
videos of you and your client
laughing and having a great time
and they book an appointment on
a day when you're on one, and
you're quiet and you're
disconnected and they feel full,
they're probably not going to
come back. I'm not kidding when
I say that it is just as
important that you connect with
your guests on a personal level
as it is that their service
turns out, right. It's not just
about the hair for everyone.
This may be the one good thing
that has happened to our guests
that day. We are their day
makers and the literal highlight
of someone's day. You see what I
did their hairstyles, you know,
I'm right. Many of our clients
come in and say I've been
looking forward to this all day
or oh my gosh, you have no idea
how bad I needed this. Be a
friendly and welcoming service
provider online and in person.
Standing out as a stylist comes
from standing out as a person
buying the services, the people
and the clients that bring you
joy and the rest will fall into
place.
Morgan Franklin: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of
anytime soon. The Aspiring
Stylist Podcast with Tracey
Franklin. If you enjoyed
listening and you want to hear
more, make sure you subscribe on
Apple Podcast, Spotify or
wherever you find your podcasts.
The Aspiring Stylist Podcast
with Tracey Franklin is a Morgan
Franklin Production. Today's
episode was written and produced
by Morgan Franklin editing and
post-production by Mike
Franklin. Want to find out more
about Tracey and the Aspiring
Barber and Beauty Academy go to
aspirebarberandbeauty.com
