A fifth-generation hairdresser, Gerd Hoher is president and founder of artease®colors, a premium professional color line that is quickly becoming the gold standard for colorists around the globe. With nearly four decades of expertise under his belt, this master colorist offers the following advice to salon professionals. These are the “rules” that, according to Gerd, every successful colorist should know and live by.
Rule 1: Treat all hair color as a living, breathing entity…one that you need to care for and always evolve with.
Rule 2: Rediscover your client with every visit. Take the time to ask a few key questions about their color, how they like it and what they might like to do differently with this visit. Pay attention throughout the visit to what they say about changes in their lifestyle, activities, medication, etc.
Rule 3: Don’t be afraid to try or offer new ideas, techniques, and color choices. Be creative, making suggestions to your clients for subtle changes that would better complement their lifestyle, face shape, coloring and, yes, even their budget. If nothing else, make color suggestions based on the change of season. In this way, you ensure that your client doesn’t look elsewhere for originality.
Rule 4: Take advantage of visual stimuli. When you have a client in your chair, remember that you have a captive audience…an audience that wants and needs to be stimulated with new ideas and trends. Have fashion and celebrity-oriented magazines readily available, along with lookbooks and possibly even videos that can help them to discover new trends and inspire them to effectively communicate their own ideas about their hair.
Rule 5: Work professionally and neatly. Keep in mind that the salon is full of mirrors and clients tend to look around the environment. Maintain a tidy workstation and your color application set up clean and disciplined. This sends the message that you are serious about your work, your business and your clients.
Rule 6: Keep your color skills finely-tuned and always look for new processes, techniques or color choices to make your work fun and interesting for both you and your client. Hair color is fashion and your clients should view you as a trendsetter, aware of what’s new and happening.
Rule 7: Keep color formulations simple so if your client wants to maintain his or her current look, you can easily replicate it. Remember, simple doesn’t mean boring.
Rule 8: Take pride in yourself and your work. Always keep your appearance professional and NEVER let a mediocre head of color leave your chair!
