Making Decisions For Someone Else

In a hair salon, you may sometimes be tempted to make decisions 

for someone else.  The client has come in for a change or a total makeover.  You are very excited because you could possibly have found the solution to world peace.  Right?  Wrong!

At the beginning of my career, I was excited to build my clientele.  I would be so eager to please, I

fell for the “I can’t decide’, why don’t you decide” clients.  This is the one thing they never told us to be on the lookout for at school.  These statements in themselves are simple.  They give you clear instructions to “do whatever you like to my hair”.  What it does not say, but is the most important feature, is “I still reserve the right to make changes to your decision”.

You are asking yourself why this is important.  Well, here is a list of things that will go wrong in 

this situation:

• The client still has the final say on what you have done to their hair.
• If they hate it, you may have lost a client.
• You might learn that this “nice” client is a candidate for the “most contentious” award.
• You will also learn that the client was just having a problem deciding what they wanted done.  The minute you announce that you are finished, they will have changes.  These changes usually involve changing the whole look. 
• In the end, they will go back to the style they came in originally.
• You will feel stupid because you wasted all that time.
• Hopefully, you did not run into your next client’s appointment in the time you tried to fix the “mess” you made.