Selling Wellness through Emotional Appeal in Salon Marketing

Selling Wellness through Emotional Appeal in Salon Marketing

We sometimes treat it as a joke, but the truth is that “having a good hair day” is a real thing. Nearly 7 out of ten women say when their hair is on, they feel more confident and capable. Conversely, a Yale University study found that “having a bad hair day” is a real phenomenon as well. Both women and men who felt insecure about their appearance also experienced lower self-esteem and higher social insecurity and self-criticism.

As stylists, the work you do directly affects the extent to which your clients experience these good and bad days. The extent to which they know how to properly care for, maintain, style and apply products in order to achieve the look that brings them confidence all depend on the extent to which you educate and provision them.

Emotional well-being is only one aspect of the type of solution you’re really providing. I don’t have to tell you that each client’s hair, skin and scalp present unique challenges that require personalized care and product cocktailing; but how can you get clients to buy in when it comes to the products and services that will enhance physical and emotional wellness?

Selling wellness isn’t always a matter of pointing out features and benefits. If a client isn’t experiencing discomfort or some other type of negative consequence, they might not respond to marketing that identifies their physical conditions, however real, and offers up solutions.

Selling Wellness: Salon Marketing with Emotional Appeal

The University of California, Riverside talks about seven different dimensions of wellness. Each of these offers you the ability to dialogue with clients in new ways when it comes to prescribing salon retail and services – the products and services that will truly enhance their well-being.

  • Social Wellness
  • Emotional Wellness
  • Spiritual Wellness
  • Environmental Wellness
  • Occupational Wellness
  • Intellectual Wellness
  • Physical Wellness

Earlier I referenced social wellness, which impacts a client’s confidence in their ability to relate and connect to the people they will encounter, including colleagues, friends, loved ones, family and the general public.  Selling wellness by marketing services and products that guarantee more good hair days (good skin days, good make up days, etc.) appeal to the client’s desire to succeed in relationships with others, which is impacted by how self-assured, stylish and physically attractive they believe themselves to be.

Similarly, emotional wellness references the extent to which your clients feel they are able and/or prepared to deal with the challenges that life might throw their way. Included is whether they feel they are able to acknowledge and share their inner feelings. As a stylist, you can impact their self-confidence by setting them up for those good hair days, but you can also validate their feelings, emotions, fears, joys and challenges when they are interacting with you and your team in the salon.

Spiritual wellness is achieved when clients are able to feel at peace and harmony with themselves, others and the world. A key aspect of spiritual wellness has to do with common purpose. When you and your client are on the same page, pursuing a common purpose (their appearance and well-being), this is a type of the harmony that human beings crave.

Environmental wellness takes dialogue to outside factors. You can appeal to the client’s desire for environmental wellness by recommending product lines whose manufacturing or ingredients align with their unique values or guiding principles. You can also talk with your clients about how the outside environment (water, air, weather, etc.) might be diluting the health of their hair, skin and scalp.

Similarly, occupational wellness references external aspects of a client’s work life that might be adversely affecting the condition of their hair, skin or scalp.  Understanding the environment that your client works in, the type of work they do, activity level, etc. can all help you do your job better and give you insights into products or services your clients need as a result.

Your client’s intellectual wellness directly impacts their openness to your ideas and suggestions. Likewise, your own intellectual wellness is going to determine your own openness to what they are trying to communicate to you. Intellectual wellness is demonstrated not only in open-mindedness, but willingness to learn and keep learning as well.  Selling wellness at the wrong time or with the wrong message for an individual client means that you have work to do in gaining a better understanding of your client and what motivates them. It’s also important to remember that their mindset and motivations will likely change over time.

Last but certainly not least, physical wellness speaks not only to specific, identifiable physical conditions and problems clients may be experiencing, but also to quality of life. Stress, fatigue, diet, exercise and many other factors can influence physical well-being. As a stylist, you may be the person who begins to see small changes before others do. By telling your clients about any changes you observe and asking questions about their lives and lifestyles, you can become an even more powerful influencer in guiding their service and product choices.

You’re never really selling products or services when it comes to salon marketing, you are selling wellness, well-being, satisfaction, self-esteem, confidence, and many other emotions. You are marketing solutions to problems – problems that you might have to dig deep and observe closely to find. The more you hone your ability to identify and dialogue about client well-being, the more they will look to you for advice and take your recommendations to heart.

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