If you're not earning what you want to earn, look in the mirror. The person staring back may be your own worst enemy, says industry consultant Mark D. Foley.

"So many salon professionals hold back and don't provide the highest level of service to the client because of their own fears of rejection," says Foley, author of How to Double Your Haircolor Income in 30 Days or Less and The Motivated Salon. "They have to get out of their own way and give the maximum contribution to their clients."

Whether it's upselling a cut client to a color service, getting a facial client to add body care services or building the ticket through retail sales, Foley maintains that the only negatives are all in the professional's head. "Do you think $100 or $150 is a lot of money?" Foley asks rhetorically. "It's not. People will pay that for many other things. At the salon, they're paying for something that can truly transform their self-image!"

If the client is coloring her hair at home, you have the opportunity to upgrade her fashion sense by showing her the difference in what you can do for her color at the salon. If she's already getting one salon color service, you can explain the more sophisticated results from highlighting, toning or glossing. You can tint her eyebrows and eyelashes. Says Foley, "You can be getting in three or four color services if you're geared toward doing that."

productive consultation

Conduct every consultation with the final ticket total in mind, he advises. If you set a minimum goal of $100 per visit, for example, figure out what you must sell that client in order to reach that goal. If the client already is spending that much and you want to raise it to $125 or $150, then calculate which added service the client must have, or which products she must purchase, for you to reach that goal.

"A lot of stylists are woefully weak at the consultation," Foley laments. "They hold the consultation at the cutting station, so it ends up being a discussion about the haircut. The client has already purchased the haircut! Have the consultation separate and away. Don't be one of those stylists just taking orders from clients instead of making sales. A lot of this has to do with the hair designer's self-esteem in terms of taking the initiative in these discussions competently and confidently."

throw the seed

Foley says salon professionals are slow to accept their dual role as artist and salesperson. "To their own financial peril, many designers refuse to take the role of the salesperson," he notes. "But the stylists I know who are achieving the greatest results are those who embrace the sales role, fine-tune it and introduce add-on services to their clients. The way to reach your dollar figure goal is to get each client involved in multiple services. Each visit gives you a powerful opportunity to have a meaningful impact on, literally, that client's quality of life. Embrace the role of being a salesperson of fashion and design."

Foley even references the Bible in urging salon professionals to get out of their comfort zone in order to help clients and, in turn, help themselves. When you upsell services and suggest retail products, you're planting seeds, he says. "Some of the seed will take good root and grow-and produce a crop 100-fold," Foley promises. "But you have to throw the seed."