The Proper Hair Consultation to Keep Your Clients Happy

How important is a hair consultation before any appointment? It’s the foundation for understanding your client’s needs, preferences, and goals to deliver the perfect result. This blog breaks down why consultations matter, how they build trust, and the steps to make them effective. Whether you’re a stylist looking to improve client satisfaction or someone curious about the process, this guide has you covered!

Hairstylists—people who change the world one head at a time. Wouldn’t you agree?

Our guests not only come to us for services, but they also come to us for comfort, encouragement, and honesty—and that's where the right hair consultation can make or break an appointment.

The relationships we build with our guests are priceless. It is important to understand our true duty is to make them leave our chairs with a bit more sparkle in their eyes.

Think of a consultation as the road map to your service. Asking the right questions can set you up for a successful cut, color, or style. Many times we have people in our chair who don’t know what they want.

Other times, our guests can have unicorn expectations, or unrealistic expectations. It is our job to set the stage for expectations early on, and discover what will look best to fit their lifestyle.

Performing a hair consultation during each and every service can be crucial to meeting the expectations of each client AND to the success of the salon.

Here are top tips on how to perform a proper consultation—with every guest, every time.

I cannot stress enough the importance of embracing your canvas. Stylists talk to their guests with their heads down combing endlessly through the hair talking about their fun weekend for 15 minutes and the service for five minutes.

There is no way to see if the color is uneven or what cut they had previously without properly examining the hair. Put the comb down and feel the texture of the hair.

Find out if it has been compromised. Does it feel dry? Oily? Stringy? Has the color faded since the last service? All of these things can affect the result of your service and recommendations.

Asking the right questions not only about what they want but what their lifestyle is can make it easy to find a solution and prevent any hair mishaps from happening to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of an unhappy guest.

You’d be surprised how many of our regulars want change, but never mention it. And, it is inevitable that some regulars do not want change and forget to mention that in the consultation process.