The sos theory's alexandra girling talks retail

Yesterday we shared an exclusive extract of Alexandra Girling's hairdressing guide, The SOS Theory. Using her 17 years of hairdressing experience, Alexandra gives friendly and informal advice on all the non-technical aspects of hairdressing. Designed for newly-qualified stylists, the book looks at tricky topics like consultation, building a column and retail and reveals how getting them right can reap huge benefits both for your career and your personal development. Having looked at consultations yesterday, today we tackle the tricky topic of retail. Failure to retail is not fulfilling your job description. Plain and simple. As an early Hairdresser, my retail was shocking. Diabolical in fact. My argument, in ignorance, was "I am not a saleswoman, I am a skilled tradeswoman." I can cut your hair, and that’s enough for me. I can provide solutions to your problems by styling it, colouring it and removing your visible regrowth with my incredible colouring skills. I'll even top it off with a beautiful haircut to frame your best features and detract from your less appealing ones. But hang on – the work I have put in is visible when that client leaves the door. That night the client looks and feels fantastic, but by morning, after a night of them running their fingers through salon fresh hair, sleeping on top of it, sweating into it, and waking up and washing it, what becomes of it then? Exactly. Nothing becomes of it. The colour fades after just one wash, if they are using the standard shampoo and they know no other to prefer. A well known dandruff shampoo has the same PH as oven cleaner. What effect do you suppose that has on the hair? Not a good one. The client loves their hair, but will go home and pepper it with sulphates, parabens, pthalates and other nasties that will suck the colour molecule from the cortex and leave them with the remnants of what was once a beautiful colour. Your beautiful colour. Or worse, their freshly revitalised, strengthened hair will become weaker, it will either snap or become so dry it will become impossible to style. When the client goes home and their hair looks incredible, they are full of praise for the person responsible for it. They are likely to dish out your cards because they want a discount and want to provide friends with a service from someone they know will carry out the job well. But two weeks after the colour and cut, the client isn’t great at home styling and has been using a general dandruff shampoo because you didn’t recommend anything else. The colour is looking poor. If you take a blonde client to a much darker base, no matter how much you pre pigment, or how much warmth you inject into the shade…. if you are colouring over pre-lightened hair especially…if that client then uses nothing but a general dandruff shampoo, their hair could potentially fade out into a khaki green colour. Yes. I said green. That is the reality of failing to retail, or even advise. What if the problem is that your client’s hair is so poorly maintained at home that it cannot retain a colour molecule, because their cuticle is in poor condition and their aftercare routine is non-existent? Their friends will scrub you straight off their must-visit list. And your client, through no fault of their own will possibly make the subconscious connection between you colouring their hair and it turning green. That’s not your fault, right? Wrong. That is your fault, because you taught them nothing more. Want to know how to do things differently? Order a copy of The SOS Theory here - it's available either as a paperback or as an eBook.