SHARE YOUR VOICE
We asked our members for tips, tricks and suggestings for surviving, adapting and thriving in 2021. Sara Lou Manning, Custom Design Hair, Rogers, AR
Show kindness. I go back in my files and send a note of encouragement to clients who are not getting out, not well, etc., or are not coming in my door. A lot of people who were getting dressed for the office are now staying home. Working in front of a screen all day, they have a changed standard for how they feel they need to look. Some have changed from bonded hair to clip ins while others have more time to research what to do about hair loss. That is a great market to reach out to. We are a salon for people that have hair issues. Sometimes we have clients with great hair but they need handicap accessible. That’s us. Sometimes I even make house calls for them. I’ve also expanded my days and times available. If someone needs to come in on a day others are not around, then I make it happen.
Alice “Nicki” Mohler, Image Maker Salon and Wig Studio, Lynchburg VA
In trying to gain the client business we have broadened
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into maintaining wigs – shampooing, reconditioning and reshaping. It is not a market I have ever delved. Into. With some salon clients lacking a desire to maintain their physical hair because they are working from home, many are reaching for their wigs. We have also highlighted that our business is small – and easily maintained as a 1-1 ratio client to stylist-consultant. My thoughts are also to provide an online service for Zoom consults for fine hair solutions. Our business won “GOLD” in the Best of Wigs local contest. I am buying “Talking” banners to emphasize we are the “Best of” – it’s a great marketing plan. It came at the right time.
Nina Miller, Nu Hart Hair, Johnstown, PA During 2020, how many times did you hear, “Its been a bad year?” When I hear that I count my blessings.
The first part of any new year seems to always be slow but just as business started to pick up COVID 19 hit. SHUT DOWN. I took this time to reconnect with clients! Many were so happy to have a call. By the end of the day my voice was tired, but it gave my clients a chance to understand they are important. And, it gave me a chance to provide mail-in and sidewalk service. If the restaurants can do it, why can’t I? Being careful to make sure nothing would be cross contaminated, I could at least be able to clean and style hair systems and wigs. I was also able to provide instructions. It was a great time to clean too! My partnership with Operation BeYoutiful grew as well. This is a nonprofit organization that provides my studio with the funds to purchase, at cost, medicalgrade and better quality wigs for women and girls with medical hair loss. They also provide funds so I can pay my staff for their work and time. The salon makes no money however, the reward is in being able to provide a great product and professional service and make a big difference in a person’s life. We are involved in fundraisers. The walks for cancer put us out there to be seen by
the public. This has opened the doors to newspaper articles and recognition on the local news. Great things happen when you give back to your community. With COVID 19 restrictions it has been difficult to do a lot of the fundraisers, though the Joyce P. Murtha Breast Care Center had an outdoor walk. We put up a table and gave out information and small gifts, and, again, a photograph in the local paper. For being in an industry that people don’t talk about, the pandemic has opened the door for conversation.
Isaac Sanchez, Hair Again, Fresno CA
When asked if I would give my my thoughts concerning the situation we are in with regards to hair supply, and my view of the industry as a whole my first thought was, we need to evaluate the way our suppliers have responded to the shortage. Sad to say, in my experience they have done a poor job. I suspect they did not foresee a shortage of this magnitude. Program hair started out as a great idea, we have been doing programs since the 1980s. Please note, I’m referring to male clients that request bonded services, which 99% do. Suppliers started producing program hair, labeling them four, six and 12 units per year. Have you been able to increase the cost of your programs, as related to the price increases from the supplier? All a moot point now, because there’s no hair. As of last May, we have deliberately been discontinuing offering programs to our clients. Something I wanted to do for some time, I’ve now been forced to. It’s a challenge to supply our clients with hair. Clients with custom hair have waited months to replace their worn-out systems, and I have lost clients because of the shortage. Potential clients are told that it is advisable to purchase four units because of the shortage, provided I can find stock systems for them, or they have to wait six months or more for custom, and still have to purchase four to six units. In 2009 we added low-level laser therapy to our services and continued in that direction. Today, not only are we offering nonsurgical hair replacement for men, we have expanded into a medical facility
