THS Blog

A TYPICAL WEEK OF A FREELANCER IN LOCKDOWN – WITH L’ORÉAL PROFESSIONNEL

Life as a stylist may look a little different these days, but that’s no reason to fall behind on productivity… But first – let me introduce myself and give you an insight into my career as an Education Manager for L’Oréal Professionnel.

My obsession for doing hair started in the early ‘80s, where I cut and styled fellow students’ hair. I loved it so much that I quit school and started working in a salon. At the age of just 17, I had the opportunity to buy the salon I was training in. Unqualified and seeing myself as a young entrepreneur, there was no way I would let this chance pass me by. I was successful in my goal and had this business for 18 years. 5 years in, I was hungry to get a second salon and bought one close to where I lived. I ran both salons side by side for 13 years and loved every minute.

During my time as a salon owner, I was approached by a product company to freelance for them. This led me to start educating like-minded stylists on understanding and using the products I used (and loved) for years. I enjoyed this role so much that I then enhanced my skills to the point the company approached me to go full-time. I decided to take on the challenge and after selling both of my businesses, I accepted the job role and continued my career at L’Oréal. My passion in Hairdressing Education for the freelance indirect market has led me to become the Education Manager for L’Oréal Professionnel that I am today.

Now that you’ve got to know me a little more, I’m going to share some tips on how you can structure your week during lockdown. It’s a difficult time for our industry, but if you are savvy and utilise the time wisely, you’ll be more than ready for re-opening.

MONDAY

Start the week on a positive note and connect with your clients to let them know that you are still thinking about them. Communication remains key and now, more than ever, clients are looking to social media for updates and connection – not to mention inspo for a post-lockdown hair appointment! 

Virtual Consultations: maintaining a professional relationship with your clients may seem difficult in these times, but it’s not impossible. The best way to do that during lockdown? Virtual consultations. Prepare your questions ahead of your consultation to get an idea of how you can help your clients. Here are some questions you could ask:

• What do you love about your hair?
• What do you want to change?
• Could you please send me photos of the front and back of your hair?
• These questions are sure to provide you plenty of opportunities to exercise your expertise and get your clients excited to see you again. 

Go Live: take to Instagram or Facebook and stream tutorials/how-to videos for your clients, asking them what you should cover next and keeping them engaged. This is a great way to tailor your content to what clients are personally seeking advice on. 

Keeping Connected: keep updating your clients on your reopening date, how they can pre-book and reminding them of all the care measures you have in place to prioritise hygiene and safety. And for your best clients, send them a DM to see how they (and their hair) are doing, and remind them to come see you when they can! 

TUESDAY

Revamp Your Workspace: is there anything you could do to improve it? Perhaps a fresh new coat of paint or new chairs would make your working environment more inviting to clients when you re-open. Even the addition of a house plant can upgrade the ambiance. 

Update Your Menu & Inform Your Clients: use this time to create new service packages and enhance your menu so that you are organised for when lockdown measures are eased, and your clients are back in the chair. Keep your clients updated on any new services, perhaps express services that reduce the amount of time they need to spend in the salon if you are open, or any special offers you have coming up. You might want to encourage clients to book a package of services, such as multiple haircuts for a special price/added value or a ‘Welcome Back’ package.

Trends: tell your clients about the latest looks for the season. You can do this by sending bespoke hair colour ideas that you think they would crush- clients love a personalised recommendation!

WEDNESDAY

Take “A Day Off”: remember, it’s okay to take time out for yourself so you don’t have to work every day of the week if you don’t want to. It’s important to look after your mental health during these uncertain times when you are out of work, so make sure you do this by exercising, taking a luxurious bubble bath or talking to your loved ones regularly. 

THURSDAY

Admin Day: no one likes doing admin, but the books don’t do themselves! Use this time to do admin tasks that you normally wouldn’t be able to easily fit into your busy schedule… or perhaps you even avoid! Organise your accounts so that they are up to date and you are prepared for when you can re-open again. You could even browse different payment platforms to find the most user-friendly or best value – will you ever have time to do this again? Take advantage! 

FRIDAY

It’s nearly the weekend! Take this time to brush up on new skills, from social media to learning a new hair technique and work on your digital strategy. Here are our 5 top tips for staying digitally relevant: 

1. Make sure you have your Instagram account set up as a business account. This unlocks different features on Instagram and reassures clients that you are a professional;
2. Use at least 10 hashtags in your Instagram feed posts to increase your visibility (using local hashtags will attract more local followers). Disguise your hashtags by doing them in the comment section- this makes for a more aesthetically pleasing IG feed; 
3. Try to use Instagram Stories every day or as often as you can to remain consistent and present. You will remind clients to get in touch/book in and build stronger connections;
4. Write captions that give value, are emotive or informative – encourage engagement by asking questions and starting conversations;
5. Use the Instagram Highlights sections to showcase your work. The best way to impress future clients is by showing off your biggest hair transformations!

I hope that these tips have provided you with some areas to focus on so that you can structure your days and form a weekly routine for yourself. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and it won’t be long until you can get back to work and do what you love once again.

Wishing you all the best x

This blog has been provided by L’Oréal Professionnel. Here at THS we have a large range of L’Oréal Professionnel products on our website. Check them out here!

In line with the latest Government guidelines our stores are all closed to help do our part in stopping the spread of Coronavirus.

Our website www.tradehairsupplies.co.uk will remain open for online orders which we can process safely and securely for your personal haircare and beauty needs. At this time unfortunately we cannot guarantee next day delivery. We will have staff in on Monday and Thursday every week to take phone orders (01325 467761) and process any online orders for delivery Tuesday and Friday.

If you need any help logging in, please info@tradehairsupplies.com and we’ll get you set up as quickly as possible.

Do you need financial support during this Lockdown?

One off grants have been made available for salons, we’ve listed the support the government is offering:

• £4000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under.
• £6000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000.
• £9000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000

2020 has been a year of endless uncertainty and we know you must be counting the days until you can reopen your doors. Having to close your business, even if only temporarily, is a very difficult experience for freelancers, salon owners and staff. We know that keeping your business alive has been hard for you and many others, and we want to help you fight in any way we can.

To help you comeback kicking next week we have created a guide for reopening.

Communicate with your Clients and Stylists early:

Make sure your clients are updated on when you will be reopening as well as getting in touch with those clients that have had to have their appointments rescheduled. Getting in touch early means that you can get your schedules ready so there is no confusion when you open your doors. Make sure your stylists are in the loop too. It gives you a chance to check in on their wellbeing and gives them reassurance going into what will be a busy few weeks.

Use this connection time to share the specific changes that will be present in the salon when you all return, these won’t likely be as drastic as after the first lockdown but it is good practice to reiterate to both staff and clients the procedures in place. Whether you choose email, phone call, text, social media, signage or all of the above to communicate with your clients and stylists, you want to let them know what to expect well BEFORE they arrive.

We have some great assets you can use on our Facebook page, feel free to download them to use on you own social media page.

Review and update your team list and their schedules:

Lockdown has been a major challenge for all businesses, especially within our industry due to the close contact. Like many other sectors, salons have had to adapt to a new way of working – whether it be having to furlough staff or the new PPE requirements, it has been a steep learning curve.

Before reopening you will want to review your team member list and make sure everyone is updated regularly with reopening details. Your team may also have different work schedules now, so make sure those are updated.

Social Media is one of your strongest allies:

With people hunkered down at home during COVID-19 there are more eyeballs than ever online so make sure it is your business that gets found. Social Media marketing has increased by businesses all over the world.

Social Media marketing is something every business should be doing – if you need some quick tips check out this handy guide from CoSchedule once you have finished on our blog!

One of the key selling points for Social Media marketing is the ability to engage with your clients when they are not in your salon. You can also integrate many online booking systems directly into Facebook for free meaning you can also take bookings while you are away from the salon.

Check that your service list is accurate:

Have a look at your service list, including prices and service duration. Are there any changes you need to make? Perhaps you have chosen to no longer offer particular services while you focus on others. Or maybe you have been considering offering extra services but had no time to add them to your menu. Now is the time to do that. Make sure your service list is correct so clients know exactly what treatments they can book with you.

Consider what your approach to offers and discounting will be:

Following on from updating your service lists – It is likely that many salons will be offering discounts to drive more bookings when they reopen.

However, some may decide to freeze all discounts whatsoever. Before you reopen, you need to be thinking about what is best for your business and what approach you would like to take when it comes to discounts and offers.

Getting orders in early:

Next week is looking to be another busy week of appointments so it is important to be ready in advance. Try and get your orders in early so to avoid rushing last minute, make sure to check your schedules for clients that use specific products and order them sooner rather than later. That way next week you can focus on your clients and not have to worry about stock levels and last-minute orders.

If you do find you are running low, remember that all our stores are open as normal, and we also offer next weekday delivery on all orders before 2pm (Mon-Thurs) via our website.

We hope that you will find these tips helpful and can help add some clarity in these uncertain times. We are all in this together and we are here to help you in any way we can by phone or email. Just visit our contact page for all details.