The Irreplaceable Human Connection.

By Kristie Kesic

In this new age where we all communicate via text and group chats, and book online rather than picking up the phone, as hairdressers we need to still acknowledge that we are a serviced based industry, built on the foundations of human connections and we can’t allow ourselves to lose sight of that.

Our job requires us to draw upon the ability to understand and read human behaviour for so many areas within the salon.

The most unused tool to help us with this is the salon mirror. Think about it, we stand behind or next to the client looking down on them. The only way we can have the eye contact or see what’s exactly going on with their face and body language is by looking in the mirror. Without even saying a word, by viewing a client’s body language you can tell if they are comfortable, if they are loving themselves, or they don’t like something.

The mirror doesn’t lie and will show all this. So, get comfortable looking into it, and being surrounded by them. Set up properly, the salon mirrors should also show you every part of the salon, so with one glance you can actually see into the whole salon and know what’s happening. Now this next one might be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but here goes.

I LOVE a silent appointment, but I don’t believe in the need to have a client flip over a card that says silent appointment, or tick on a pre-consultation form that’s been messaged to them whether they want to sit in silence, talk a little, or talk a lot. For me personally, if I had clients ticking a box as to the type and length of chat they want, I would be so anxious as to ‘was I talking too much for the little chat box ticked’? or, was I not talking enough for the ‘talk a lot’ box?

What happens if they ticked silent appointment, but they did feel so comfortable with you and in your space, they want to talk and now they think you're rude because you aren’t talking? Or the other way around… they’ve ticked lots of talk, but they’ve had a really shitty day, where everyone has needed something from them, so for the next hour, they just want to sit in silence. It’s the robotics of filling out a form to gain information like that, that deters from human connection.

As hairdressers we should know by reading the clients body language, tone of their voice, or type of response, when asking them a question with these things. We shouldn’t need them to put it on a card in front of us, their actions supply us with this knowledge already. I feel we are failing in our job, if clients feel the need to take actions like that, in order to make them feel comfortable during an appointment.

Some examples.

I know if a client walks in and picks up their book straight away, is working on their laptop, or puts their ear pods in straight after my consult, it’s clear they don’t want to talk.

If a client closes their eyes. They don’t want to talk.

If I client is giving me 1 worded responses, I know they don’t want to talk.

If a client is reading or working, and then I walk over after mixing up colour and they put their work away or book down, to me that says they want to engage in some form of conversation, so I will ask them how they are, and start a conversation, and then be guided by their body language and responses.

If a client starts off talking, and then goes silent, or then picks up a book or their phone etc, that indicates to me, it’s now time to let them relax and be in silence.

Let’s be honest a client has already judged us and our work online before they’ve even come into the salon, whether they’ve spoken to us via phone or text or email, for whatever reason they have already decided they feel comfortable coming in, so now it’s up to us to ensure their judgement of wanting to book an appointment with us is correct. It’s up to us build that relation to know what each client wants and then being able to accommodate each of their needs within a salon.

A client’s time is precious, and they have made the decision to invest their time and money in coming to visit you. How they spend their time in your salon, is also their choice. It may be the only 2 hours that client has where no one from work is interrupting them or they don’t have kids yelling out mum mum mum, every 2 minutes.

I take great pride when clients say, ‘oh I’m so sorry I dosed off’ My response is always, never apologise it means you were able to fully switch off and relax’.

On the other hand, some clients just want to come in and chat about everything and anything and just want to have an adult conversation. As hairdressers we need to be comfortable with silence and also comfortable with conversation.

So next thing to think about is, if each client wants a different experience from their time spent in salon, them how to you make each person comfortable without making anyone uncomfortable. This is where building a relationship with your clients and knowing what they want comes into play.

Some suggestions to accommodate this are.

If you know a client likes a silent appointment or would benefit from less noise in the salon, suggest booking them in on a day where you have less hairdressers working so less clients are in the salon. Or book them at the start of the day where there’s less clients in rather than the middle of the day where the salon is full of colours processing as well as appointments coming and going on the hour.

If a client is loud and LOVES a chat, don’t sit them next to the client that likes less chat or a quitter appointment. I will try to sit them at opposite ends of the salon.

I have clients that have run into their friends in the salon, and they want to talk to them the whole time, so I sit them together and turn their chairs to face each other so they can talk whilst I work.

I have clients that just love a chat and want to chat to everyone and anyone in the salon but I’ve noticed the person they don’t know and are trying to chat to is uncomfortable, so I will start on the side of their hair that places me between both clients so the conversation stops and I start talking to the chatty client and the other client is now comfortable being able to spend her time how she wants. I can judge this by looking at each client’s body language.

I have clients that will sit in silence and leave without saying much but will message me after saying how much they loved their hair, because that’s the way in which they feel comfortable showing their appreciation, and others will shout it across the salon so everyone can hear.

I truly believe we are one industry that can never be 100% replaced by robots or AI. YES, we need all those things to make our jobs easier, but they will never be able to replace true human connection and they don’t have the ability to be able to read a human’s behaviour and show true compassion like we do. We should take real pride in knowing that. Let’s not lose sight of the importance of human connections and remember the importance of looking in the mirror.

Kristie Kesic Owner Cobelle Creative @kristiekesic_colourist @cobellecreative