*These are the opinions and thoughts of the artists alone, and should serve as ideas and suggestions only. They do not represent any official or unofficial advice or guidelines from Joico or any of its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, or representatives. This content does not constitute any official recommendations on when or how to re-open. By reading this content you take any information herein, if you choose to employ it, at your own risk and Joico nor any of its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, or representatives will be held responsible for any resulting consequences. All salons and professional hairdressers should follow CDC recommendations and local government orders as well as adhere to local state board requirements for salon operations.
GINA BIANCA, JOICO GLOBAL BUSINESS EXPERT
Think of creating express services
“Think of offering express services that don’t include a blow-dry to get as many of your guests in as quickly as possible. A suggestion could be to include express foils, express root retouch, and express gloss. Then, you can send them home with a freebie treatment – like Defy Damage Protective Masque – to add value and replace the blow-dry.’
Set a first-month map
Week 1: Gray coverage (no blowouts, no pre-booking allowed)
Week 2: Foil work and Balayage
Week 3: Longer projects, box-dye “victims,” color correction
Give priority to our heroes
“You could spend the first week only accepting guests who were first responders, and have been working themselves to the bone during these hard times.”
You can try an online booking system
“You can try utilizing online booking whenever possible. But do be aware that this limits contact with your customers; and if customers don’t feel connected to you, they may go elsewhere.”
KELLY MCGOWAN, JOICO GUEST ARTIST
“I would suggest giving priority to those who had to be rescheduled in March and April.”
Upcharge for early access
“Consider charging a premium for those who want to get in first. By doing this, you’re not only taking those appointments, but you’re making more money for your time and getting clients in the door quickly.
Prep ahead
“To preserve time in between clients (since there will probably be no double booking). You may want to consider creating a sanitized box for each client that you can put together the night before. Use Dollar Tree plastic shoe boxes to store their sanitized comb, clips, capes, brushes, etc. At the end of each day, you can wash and sanitize everything together, which saves your daytime hours for taking care of clients. You can also use processing time to disinfect all the tools used to be able to reuse for the rest of the day.”
*All salons should follow CDC recommendations and local government orders as well as adhere to local state board requirements for salon operations. For suggested protocols and procedures we suggest resources such as PBA COVID-19 Resources.
Start with big-ticket services
“I would only take chemical and extension clients first; then fill in the extra time (if there is any) for haircuts.”
Keep it simple
“Thorough communication with clients is going to be very important. Explain to clients that required maintenance is most important. Huge transformations or high-maintenance color may have to take a back seat during right now. So keep things simple. Refreshing everyone should be the number-one priority.”
LARISA LOVE, JOICO GLOBAL BRAND AMBASSADOR
Communicate
“I think something to consider is to make an announcement on social media that requests clients text you for appointments; you may want to consider a fist-come, first-served method, if you do, explain that you will go in order of the texts when scheduling their bookings.”
Don’t stress over clients leaving
“Some things may be out of your control. If your client wants to go somewhere else because you can’t fit them in right away, I assure you they will most likely come back. Remember: A good stylist is a busy stylist and you have a wait-list for a reason!”
Consider hiring an extra set of hands
“If possible, bring in a talented assistant for basics (like root-retouches), to keep the clients patient until they can get a full service done by you.”
Offer quickie root re-touches
“I will be implementing a root re-touch that takes 20 minutes for gray blending (if not full coverage) using Demi Permanent Créme from LumiShine.”
