Make Space in the New Year for Your Dream Clients

Gabie Vossler @gabievossler specializes in blonding in Honolulu, Hawaii and has been a MODERN SALON 100 Gamechanger. She is also very quick to share her experience and coloring know-how, whether its around how to manage client expectations, how to achieve beautiful dimension in a cool blonde, how to explain all those confusing coloring terms to a client or even how to work with Aveda color to lift without lightener.

Now, she is helping us understand how she became more selective with her clientele, creating a more joyful working environment and a profitable one, as well.

Enjoy this post from @gabievossler:

“I get so stressed when so and so is on my books, how do I let them know I am not the right fit for them?” I’ve seen and heard the question asked over and over in hairstylist forums, from fellow stylists in different salons, etc. I used to relate to that feeling until I was tired of that stress and wanted to make room for my dream clients.

Control Over Building

"I have worked as a colorist/stylist in Orange County, California, North Carolina, Hawaii, and next up I will be moving to Salt Lake City this Summer 2020. Stylists know moving to a new state means rebuilding a clientele from scratch, which also means going through about one year of carving out a clientele that fits with you in all aspects. What does that mean? I didn’t used to know. I would take whatever walk in came in because that is what was preached to me in the early phases of my career but is that actually best for everyone?

What Do You Really Want?

"Dimensional blonding really made me happy at work so I started to mostly project that on Instagram. I used the hashtags that worked to attract new blonde guests and was beginning to build a clientele I really clicked with and had a passion for the work I was doing vs just taking a walk in because it was a dollar sign. I noticed it was extremely rare to have an issue with someone that sought out my work on Instagram, however, the clients matched with me at random had a history of not showing, being late, never being happy, disrespectful, etc. Once I figured out I wanted to leave room for my dream clients that made working enjoyable, not unnecessarily stressful, and I knew I was going to need to filter them off my book.

Taking Action While Being Professional

"I don’t want to make it sound easy, so let me start by telling you confrontation can make me shaky, embarrassed, and I want to back down ( but won’t). I’m telling you this because it is not easy to tell a client, in a professional manner, that you may not be the best fit for them. Reason: you don’t know how they will react. If you have conducted yourself in a respectable manner with this person in every interaction, more than likely they will move on.

"When I decided to take control and not deal with rude clients anymore, I made a few phone calls, spoke in person, and that was that. (I’m talking the ‘over 15-minutes late, and over 17 times, client, the grab the brush out of your hand each time and scold you, “no one can do my hair right” client, and the book two 3-hour services just to have a consult’ type of guests).

"Quick tip: The consultation can be very telling. It is always ok to not do a service you absolutely do not feel comfortable with and wish I was told that at the start of my career. I was told to take everything to build; bad advice in my opinion.

What Happened After

"Getting rude clients off of my book who made coming to work unnecessarily stressful made room for my awesome guests now. I want to change the thinking in our industry from “the client is always right” and “take every client to build.” Having moved and rebuilt a clientele from scratch in several states, I get it, I know it takes a lot of work and time to build but not at the expense of our happiness, passion and integrity.'--Gabie Vossler