Blog Spot - Elle Wilson

If You Don’t Show Up For Your Clients Now, Someone Else Will!

“The human voice is the most powerful sound in the world. It’s the only one that can start a war or say I love you. And yet, many people have the experience that when they speak, people don’t listen to them. Why is that? How can we speak powerfully to make change in the world?” — Julian Treasure

The beauty world is a noisy place. Especially during these crazy times, we are bombarded with opinions, facts, assertions, and so-called “authority figures” showing up everywhere. Most people feel the need to say something, anything, in the hope that someone will listen. The sad part of this is that whether or not what is said is true, people do listen and believe. They even go as far as making decisions about their beauty, even if the decisions are to their detriment.

To fine-tune our industry in authenticity and integrity, we need to own everything that is happening right now: The good, the bad and the ugly. This is where you come in. Someone who wants to educate themselves, and to undertake continuous education for one purpose: To support others to look their most beautiful, not just now, but for years to come.

You are so important when you are in your integrity. When you decide that your presence in the world isn’t about offering a quick fix, you become invaluable, to the people in our industry, striving every day to build an industry that is respected and loved.

To become a part of this unbelievable ecosystem that strives for this, you must always have the burning desire to research new offerings and find what is deeply of value to your clients. A worthy professional is a rare jewel. A professional worth listening to, not ruled by profit but by what matters most: being invaluable.

Let me be clear, I don’t believe there has ever been a more important time for the beauty professional to inform clients, educate them, lead them. If you don’t, someone else will. However, communication is a lifelong learning curve. Real listening has no agenda. It doesn’t come from lack or need. It is an open-hearted availability. So how does a business person navigate with authenticity?

To educate, you need others to be open to listening. But you have to listen to them first. Here is where it gets interesting. I am not speaking about listening to their life dramas, their stories, connecting with them through gossip or the latest TV shows.. That is just fluff. Great beauty businesses are not built on fluff.

They are built on identifying the needs of our clients and then providing them with results. but they are quite different. In the marketing world, it is often said that people more often make purchasing decisions about what they want, not what they need. Now ask yourself when you do that, are you ever truly satisfied? I know I am not; there is always the next best thing.

Whether it’s looking for another pair of shoes or a new salon, it’s all the same. If you don’t deeply satisfy the long-term needs of your clients, you will lose them.

Listening to your clients without an agenda is the kindest and most compassionate practice a professional can extend. Any professional. It’s a caring that builds a deep bond between two people and will return goodness to each for years to come.