All About Hair

243 Five Tips for New Stylists

Danise Keilitz Season 4 Episode 243

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This episode is like having a friendly mentor by your side as you navigate those exciting first steps in your salon career. We’ll talk about how to build great relationships with clients, sharpen your technical skills, and manage your time like a pro. Plus, we’ll explore the magic of product knowledge—because knowing what to recommend doesn’t just boost sales, it builds trust with clients. And let’s not forget professionalism, which goes beyond just showing up on time. It’s about how you present yourself and honor the salon’s culture and policies.

Whether you’re starting your journey or helping others begin theirs, this episode is packed with practical tips and insights to make those first steps in the beauty industry confident and successful ones. Let’s dive in and set the stage for a rewarding career!

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Speaker 1:

Breaking into the beauty industry can feel overwhelming, but with the right tools and support, it's totally doable and even fun. Whether you're fresh out of cosmetology school or gearing up for your first salon job, or maybe you're a salon owner eager to help new stylists succeed, this episode is for you. With 30 years of experience and the success of running four award-winning salons under my belt, I'm sharing the five essential focus areas every new grad needs to thrive Client communication, technical skills, time management, product knowledge and professionalism. This episode's like having a friendly mentor by your side as you navigate those exciting first steps in your salon career. So, whether you're starting your journey or you're helping others begin theirs, this episode is packed with practical tips and insights to make those first steps in the beauty industry confident and successful ones. Let's do this.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to All About Hair the podcast for anyone who loves the hair industry. I'm your host, denise Kylitz, a former stylist educator and owner of four award-winning salons with over 30 years of experience. Whether you're refining your skills or expanding your hair knowledge, you're in the right place. Join me for expert tips, industry insights and practical advice to help you thrive in the world of hair. This is all about hair. All right, let's jump right into it. Our first must-know tip and, as a salon owner, keep this in mind when you're hiring your graduates First of all, put yourself in their shoes. They're scared. They've never worked in a salon before, right, and as a graduate, you're scared. You've never worked in a salon before. So what are the top five things that you need to know right out of the gate? That's going to set you up for success.

Speaker 1:

Okay, tip number one the art of client communication. I cannot stress this enough. This is going to be probably I don't know 75, 80% of your success how you communicate with your guest. So picture this you're about to start your very first client appointment. What do you say? How do you make them feel comfortable and confident in your skills? It's a real anxious moment and, to tell you the truth, even after years of being on the floor, sometimes you still feel that way when you have a brand new guest coming in and sitting in your chair, because everybody's different. So what do you do? You listen very carefully to your client's needs and preferences, okay, ask a lot of questions and then provide honest recommendations If they're requesting something that you really don't think would look good on them. It's your job and your responsibility to let them know that you're the professional and just always remember that excellent communication that leads to client loyalty and referrals, even if you are just starting and you don't know what you're doing and you have a brand new client and you said look, I've never cut this haircut before, so I might have to ask for help. But trust me, I'm not going to let you go without being happy. That goes a long way. And, salon owners, you need to give your newbies permission to do so and help them.

Speaker 1:

Of course, tip number two your technical skills. Yeah, you do need technical skills. You can't just go on your client communication. That's not going to do it. So, mastering the basics as a fresh graduate, you're going to want to make sure that you've got a solid grasp on the fundamental techniques like cutting, styling, coloring. These are your bread and butter services.

Speaker 1:

But remember, it's not all about knowing it all, it's about perfecting what you do know. So practice, practice, practice and refine your skills, because the world of beauty, our world, it is ever evolving. Take all the classes you can. Salon owners, get classes in your salon. Set up some kind of skill assessment program. If you need help with that, we have one. Just reach out, we can help you develop yours. That was a game changer in our salon when we had our skill certification program, because we hired directly out of school and really salon owners. This is where you need to go now directly out of school and really salon owners. This is where you need to go now. Don't just sit there and complain that nobody wants to work. People are still in cosmetology school. They need a job, okay, and it's up to you, as a salon owner, to teach them the ropes. It's okay. Just have to change your mindset just a little bit and they're wanting to learn.

Speaker 1:

Tip number three the art of time management. Okay, wow, working in a salon can sometimes feel like a whirlwind, right? There's all kinds of things going on. You got appointments back to back and clients are late, but they expect you to be on time. So, being efficient, getting your haircut skills, your haircut services, your coloring services timed proficiently, you know, make it a game. Stay organized, make sure you have all your tools clean and in place and make sure that you're on schedule. Complete your appointments on schedule. I know that we used to time things a lot and part of our skill assessment was timing. You know how. How long does it take to wrap a perm? How long does it take to put a touch up on? You need to know your timing and, yeah, when you're first starting out, it's going to take you a little bit longer, but you have to speed up the process. Trust me, it's a game changer If you can get your time management under control game changer.

Speaker 1:

Now let's talk product your product knowledge. Tip number four it is not all about your scissors and your combs. It's also about the products that you use on your client's head. Take the time to learn the products that your salon is carrying. You don't have to know every single ingredient in the bottle, but know at least one or two things that this product could do for your guest and just understand what those benefits are and how they can benefit the person sitting in your chair and then recommend that product.

Speaker 1:

I can't tell you how many times I've been in a salon and, trust me, I don't need any more products. I got all the products I can. I ever need right, but I still want to buy something. I still want that magic potion. I want to know what's going on my head. Look and when you recommend something you don't have to like be a salesperson. You are just recommending saying, hey, you got frizzy hair. Here's what I would recommend for that. Okay, maybe stick it in their hand, show it to them, let them smell it, touch it, feel it. This builds trust with your clients and it does boost retail sales, so it's a win-win.

Speaker 1:

And last but not least, being a true professional. Yes, and I feel like this is overlooked, I guess. So it's more than just your skills. It's your entire presence, everything about you. You got to dress the part, you got to maintain a clean and organized workspace and you always have to adhere to the salon policies and the handbook of the salon you're working at. So your professionalism it extends to how you interact with your team members and, of course, your clients. Do you shake their hands? Do you give them hugs? Do you listen, uh, making eye contact? Do you show up at work with your hair done, nails, clean, makeup on? If you wear makeup, or are you coming in with a messy bun, wrinkled shirt, crocs, I don't know. You know that just doesn't look professional. So it's up to you to be a true professional. So those are the five tips the art of client communication, the technical skills, the art of time management, your product knowledge and being a true professional. As a graduate, when you start your first salon job, the principles hold true. These are the five things you need to concentrate on and really, really, it'll step up your game and it'll give you a head start on being successful.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that's it for today's episode of short and sweet, and I hope you found this valuable and, if you did, could you please go over to the podcast? Maybe leave us a review? I would love, love, love that, and remember the beauty industry's always changing, so you got to keep learning, you got to stay passionate and you got to keep making the world a more beautiful place. One client at a time, every client every time. If you have questions or you want to share your own experiences, I would love to hear from you.

Speaker 1:

Don't hesitate to reach out on any of our social media platforms and, as always, remember when you know better, you do better. Thanks for tuning in to All About Hair. Here's what I'd love for you to do next Take a screenshot of this episode and share it on your Instagram stories. Tag me at Denise Keilitz so I can see you're listening. Sharing helps more people discover the podcast and if you're really enjoying the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find us. Thanks again, I'm Denise Keilitz, and remember when you know better, you do better. See you next week.

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