Earning your clients' respect is a pillar for success in hairdressing. Getting your clients to remain loyal and trust you, is a job in itself. Need some tips on how to do this? Associated Hair Professionals gathered together these five ways you can get your clients to respect you and your work.

1. Repeat after me: “I am a business owner!”
Whether you’re working at a franchise for an hourly wage, in a ‘ma & pop’ shop earning commission, renting a chair in a high-end boutique, have your own salon, or anywhere in between—you are a business owner. Your business is hairdressing and you’re responsible for keeping your chair filled. The sooner you recognize that you are a business owner, the sooner your clients will begin to respect you as the business owner you are.

2. Be online, professionally
We hear time and time again how important it is to have a presence on social media (and it is), but a website is what will set you apart from the crowd as a professional; it gives you online street cred. Window shopping happens online, and often your online presence is a client’s first impression of you.

3. Education? Education! Education.
Your clients have access to the same YouTube videos and Pinterest boards as you. Step beyond what they can get their hands on and educate yourself as the professional expert. Take advantage of webinars with industry leaders, online academies, and professional-only forums. Then don’t be shy about letting your clients know that you stay on top of your craft and are constantly expanding your expertise.

4. Protect your career.
Think of a service industry professional that you respect: doctors, dentists, contractors, physical therapists, psychologists, the list could go on and on. One thing those professionals have in common: they have professional liability insurance. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t visit someone that is going to work on my body, mind, or even my house unless they are insured to protect their career and my well-being as their client.

5. Respect your own industry.
As hair professionals, we are all part of a unique family, so-to-speak. Every other legitimate profession has a professional association to represent and protect the ‘family’ of professionals working within that industry. Show your clients that our industry is a legitimate profession, we do stick together, believe in each other, and respect our craft by joining our industry’s professional association, Associated Hair Professionals.