The Art of Consultation Part 1

By Nathan Yip

Here’s a big one, grab a good cuppa and settle in, this is one I have been wanting to write for a long time! A topic that is very close to my heart and one I teach A LOT.

A great consultation is a true ART form of its own, it requires a lot of skills including Communication, psychology, body language, sales, recommendations, opinions, critical thinking and being able to adapt to varied personalities and communication styles to understand, relate to, and translate what another human is trying to tell you and what they have come to see you for (sometimes it’s not what you expected).

I believe the biggest issue is how it’s being taught. I understand as an educator that to teach a broad subject to a mass you have to have a structure and system, otherwise it gets too hard to try and teach philosophy and nuance.

However, what I believe is lacking in the education around consultation is the core principles is a verbal and non-verbal conversation to understand your client’s needs, to unpack their challenges and then conceptualise/ visualise their brief, plan and execute.

The first breakdown in consultation happens long before the client sits in the chair, consider this scenario: Jenny has moved to your area and wants to book in with you as she has heard great things about you, she calls up and asks for an appointment on Thursday, you reply Jade can do Thursday and ask what she wants to book for? Jenny is unsure, all she knows is the last stylist was amazing and she always just sat down, and they did whatever they needed to.

You press further and ask is it a tint or foils? Still unsure, so you ask does she go lighter, and she replies yes, so you assume and book Jenny for a 1/2 head of foils and a haircut on Thursday at 2pm. When Jenny comes in and is greeted and seated, Jade checks the book and sees 1/2 head foils and a haircut then proceeds to ask, “What are we doing with your foils today?” See what has happened here? Jenny Has not been given a proper consultation she has already been pushed into a direction via assumption. We have become obsessed with scripts and systems, what happens when you are trying to remember a script, you sound like a robot, and you spend more time waiting to ask the next question rather than listening.

Scripts will always give the same results because when you ask a certain question you will get the same answer and they don’t allow for side questions.

Consider how most consultations start: “Same as last time?” This is the worst one I can think of another is: “What are we doing today?” This will just elicit an answer for what they want... today. Not actually gain any important info or what their hair goals may be of the future.

To create a fantastic result and problem solve properly, you need fantastic responses. To get a fantastic response you need to ask fantastic questions - ask shit questions you will most certainly get a shit response, resulting in an undesirable result.

I hear many people talk about open ended questions but are they really open? Consider this and maybe try with your client, friend, or partner: Ask “Tell me about your car?” Leave it at that and see what they say, now try “Tell me what you like about your car” see what comes out, or “What are we doing with your car today?” All are open ended questions; however, they will deliver vastly different answers. I bet you find the more important question was the first as it fully allows the space for respondent to download whatever they feel is important for the situation.

Now let’s bring it back to hair, when I conduct a consultation, I simply start with “Tell me about your hair”. What I have found is that the majority of people will proceed to list (in order of their priority) what matters most to them about their hair. Most often I hear “My hair is dry, frizzy, heavy, dull” (Most of which are solved with a treatment and at home hair care - Pro tip, this is when you should be recommending these things as it will solve their number one concern.) then they will proceed to explain that they just need a “trim” of he ends, some softness around the face and some weight taken out etc.

What I simply do from there is unpack and digest each of their concerns in the order that they relayed them, I clarify I understood them by paraphrasing and repeating it back and then stop talking.

See what I did, I asked a human being a broad question about their hair, actively listened, addressed each of their points, paraphrased and repeated it back to them for clarity. Simple right, some who know me will laugh but I have learnt to say less and listen more.

Keep an eye out for the next edition of Hair Biz where I will share my biggest tips for consultation including Language, Facial Features vs Face Shape, technology and how to unpack photos.

If you want to chat more about this or enquire about consultation education catch me at @prettyvac_nt