Consultation Do's and Don'ts 2

In my last post I spoke about the minimal requirement of the stylist when it comes to a consultation. I went over the basic (and my not so not so basic) expectations you should have of your stylist.

The one aspect that I left out was the discussion of cost. It is one of the most important and least discussed factors in and around the consultation process.

Why is that? Well, there are many factors in play, so lets discuss!

The first factor can be the nature of the transaction itself. We are a service industry, period. Yes we sell beauty products and tools, but we are NOT a retail business that just sells widgets. We sell a service that includes our experience and expertise. I know this seems obvious to most but you could not imagine the number of times I have people come in and try to bargain down the cost of their service, like they would at a car dealership.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about clients who ask about cost and how we can adapt a service to their budget, that is a perfectly acceptable conversation to have and I have them every day behind my chair. I'm talking about the clients who, when given a quote, keep trying to wheedle, bully, or guilt-bargain me down to what they want to pay. I always stand my ground... I have 30+ years experience and thousands of hours training behind me, not to mention my responsibility to the owner to help them pay the bills ... but some stylists don't feel as secure in their experience and have a hard time with these conversations.