People are so easy to deceive!

I am big on honesty and transparency. Often to the point that it is detrimental to my business and relationships. The truth is that I am just not smart enough to keep track of lies or fabrications I may tell others so I believe that if I just tell the truth, everything will work out.

Had a call from a gentleman this week inquiring about my services in cleaning and styling his hair system. He said he had been purchasing his systems for many years from a competitor that now was leaving the business, and was looking for someone that could provide exactly what he had been buying from his former replacement specialist.

After asking a few questions I realized this man had been taken advantage of by his provider and had no idea of how the market has changed and that better products with much lower price tags were now available. This man was paying $1200.00+  for his systems, and then paying several hundred dollars to have them re-ventilated (new hair added) when the hair fell out in small areas. I told him that I could provide top quality systems at 1/3 the price and that it was best to just replace the system more often than to re-ventilate it for years on end. I explained that the hair used in these systems gets old and damaged, and just re-ventilating an area still leaves the rest of the piece with old, damaged hair. I also explained that if his base was thick enough to hold up to these repairs it could not look natural. Today's bases are very thin and look like natural hair growing from the scalp.

Unfortunately this was not what the man wanted to hear, because I could not even get him to come in for a consultation so I could show him the new products. As I went for my daily walk with the dogs, I thought to myself if I should have just kept my mouth shut, given the man his cheap system and charged him what his provider was charging him now. He was happy with what he was buying, who am I to tell him it is all wrong?
I would have made much more money by keeping the client in the dark, and he could continue to believe he was buying the best and looked great.

My conclusion was that for my own peace of mind, I could not take this client on and lie to him. I know that if a client does not look great and understand the downside to some hair additions, I don't sleep well. No amount of money will enable me to feel comfortable lying to my clients. It simply is not worth it.

In today's business climate, it is acceptable to use tactics that to me are just plain fabrications to get the customer's money. promise them anything and when you can't deliver, too bad! I personally can not live with that. I may never get rich, but I will sleep at night.

www.chrisforhair.com 

Hair replacement from the Internet

I often receive emails and calls asking how much I would charge to cut in a hair system purchased from an online retailer. Unfortunately I have learned the hard way to pass on these potential clients. My reasons are somewhat complex, but the bottom line is that the hair system itself must be of good quality or no professional can make it look natural.
All vendors claim their replacement products are of the finest quality, but my research tells a much different story.Recently, in desperation, I purchased an all lace system after talking to the vendor on the phone. He answered all my questions, making me trust that the system would arrive and be sale-able to a client that had been a "club" member.  I told the vendor that if I was happy with the piece I may add him to my vendor list hoping this would encourage him to give me a quality product.
The system arrived within one week as promised, but when I opened the package I was horrified! The base was so flimsy that I knew it would hold up for a week or two, but no longer. The hair was an off color that had a tin look to it, and I am fairly certain it was animal hair, not human. The knots were bleached in the front, but the tie job was so coarse that one could see every knot without even trying.
I showed this system to several clients to get their opinion, and each one said "Oh, my God, that is horrible!"
The piece will serve to show potential clients what they can expect from online retailers, but hopefully it will also enable me to make the point that it takes more than a WalMart quality hair system to look believable in the real world.
At Chris for Hair we believe that it takes a great quality product along with superior service and an ongoing relationship to satisfy your need to have great looking and believable hair. We work hard to deliver all of that to our clients.
www.chrisforhair.com