If your book is 80 percent full, you’re ready to raise your prices. There’s no other way to address that; you can’t add hours to the day, so just accept that you’ve gotten so good at hair that you’ve outpriced your old self!
It’s best to have a multi-tiered structure in place at the hair salon—such as
hair designers, senior hair designers and master hair designers, with each title including several price levels. Your name tag should reflect your title, and the receptionist should use it when she’s booking you. When you’re promoted to hair designer 3 or senior hair designer 1, naturally you’re excited! Informing clients should feel like sharing happy information, not lowering the boom on their wallet. Give yourself about six weeks between the first announcement and the implementation of the increase. That way you can tell every client personally that the next time she comes in your price will be higher—and name the exact dollar figure..
If all along you’ve mentioned the
continuing cosmetolgoy education you’ve taken, new skills you’ve learned and shows you’ve attended, clients will understand that you’ve been investing in your career and in your ability to keep them looking good. If you offer a shoulder rub or other customer service extras, you’ll gain their trust and appreciation. If all else fails, at least keep them in the hair salon by offering to introduce them to a lower-priced designer. Then start recruiting again, this time attracting clients who want to pay for a more seasoned hairstylist.