According to Jay Williams, author of the new book Leave Your Mark, eight out of 10 guests who chose to leave your salon do so for a reason unrelated to the technical execution of their hair service. Yet the vast majority of advanced education that is offered in salons is technical in nature.
Williams believes that 80 percent of people are falling short in their current roles due to a lack of interpersonal skills and his book aims to address that. His new book addresses the issues of emotional intelligence, trust and influence and is designed to shift permanent thinking rather than temporary behavior.
Written as a kind of field guide, the book can be used by salons in their staff meetings. Each of the book's lessons has a story and an exercise that can be carried out by team members in advance, then reviewed and discussed within the meeting.
"Each lesson has a tangible takeaway, and it isn't written just for stylists," Williams says. "It's for everyone who interacts with the guest in the salon environment," he says. "It builds a compelling case, both from the human aspect and the business aspect, for what we do and how we do it."
"With simplicity, Jay Williams is able to convey what a business-minded stylist, salon owner or sales executive needs to understand in order to build retention, referrals and productivity," says Fred Phillips, executive vice president of Eufora. "The difference between measuring intelligent quotient and emotional quotient is literally the difference between night and day, and it's a life changer."
Gayle Fulbright, owner of Headlines The Salon, in Encinitas, California, recently asked her team to read the book and they were so impressed they invited Williams in to conduct a workshop. SALON TODAY invited Fulbright and her team to review the book.
Salon Today: What is the book about?
Fulbright: "It's about the importance of what we do as salon professionals, we touch the lives of our guests. It really looks deeper into the WHY we do what we do. We do not just make people look beautiful, we leave a mark on their lives.”
Salon Today: What did you like best about the book?
Fulbright: “I liked how this book has us look at the other part of what we do as stylists. We must develop trust, we need to know how the simple act of listening is so important. It's not just how we make our clients look, it's so important how we make them feel. This book has changed the way our team thinks about the salon experience they are creating for each guest--it's transformed their behavior. ”
Salon Today: For you, what was the biggest takeaway message?
Fulbright: “I liked the concept that we all have superpowers--our strengths--and when we understand and utilize them we work with much more confidence.”
Salon Today: What is one idea from the book you will implement in your personal or professional life?
Fulbright: I’ve learned to be much more aware of my Superpowers and use them in my day-to-day leadership and personal relationships.
Salon Today: Why would you recommend this book to peers, colleagues or your staff?
Fulbright: “I purchased copies of Leave Your Mark for our entire team the beginning of the year. It was a great way to start the New Year and we all agreed to read and share what we all got out of the book. My feedback from the team has been positive, with many of them taking a new approach with their clients through listening better and understanding how developing a deeper trust is so important to rebooking, retailing and referrals. IN fact, we were so impressed with the book and Jay’s message, we invited him in for a day-long workshop to dig deeper into his approach to building better relationships with ourselves and our clients.”
Here’s what some of the Headlines team had to say about Leave Your Mark after Williams' visit:
"I love how he really grounded that we as people in the beauty industry are about more than just beauty; we are about people. And the people who sit in our chair have a story and a reason for being the way they are. Part of our job is to cater to that person in a way that means something to them and to take the time to ask questions about that person so that we may find a way to make them feel cared for, important, and in turn, beautiful!"--Tori Peck
"Jay has a creative technique to help you shift your thinking. Think of a goal that you want to achieve and make it happen. There are endless opportunities for you as long as you take a chance and take an action. You will make an impact on yourself and those around you by leaving your mark. Jay's ability to get your mind to think in a different way allows you to see the bigger picture and gets you to believe in yourself to grow."--Brittni Gallucci
"In life and in the beauty field, the reason people leave you is not about how much you know, but rather the effort you placed into the connection with the other individual.”--Fernando Bermudez
"In a consultation with a guest, if you aren't clear about something, stop and ask questions. It's not the first question, it's always the second that gets the answer. We don't always have the answer of what's important to the guest. We just need to ask questions to find the answer."--Kristina Crawford
"Building a relationship between the stylist and the guest is so important in managing and understanding the trust between the two. It's a foundation of the relationship between the guest and the stylist and the most important."--Zack Fulbright
Click here to learn more about Leave Your Mark or to purchase copies of the book--100% of the profits from the sale of the book go to stop human trafficking.
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