The Power Of Testimonials and A Portfolio

When a customer is looking for somebody to fit their hair extensions, the first thing they are likely to do is search for images of your work. Your website & social media accounts can be jam packed with everything you need to know about hair extensions, but ultimately your potential customers are going to want an idea of what they will look like, and images of your happy customers are what they are looking for. Secondly, once your potential client has seen pictures of your work and likes what they see, they may also want to read some feedback from your previous customers. What they thought of the quality of the hair, your services, how easy you are to get on with etc, are important pieces of information to new customers, therefore client testimonials are also equally as important. Here we will take a look at best practises for portfolios and testimonials for your hair extension business, so that you can bring in as many new customers as possible.

Before And After Shots For Your Hair Extension Clients

These are going to be one of your most valuable tools for bringing in new customers. Your customers will be able to see how previous clients have transformed with hair extensions, which will help them to imagine how their own look can be changed, and encourage them to contact you for further information.

What Type Of Images Should I Collect For My Hair Extension Portfolio?

You should try to collect as many images as possible from different types of clients. You will want a before shot, preferably from the back, and then an after shot from a couple of angles. You may also want to include a “during” shot, so that clients are able to see how neat and precise your work is, and the size of your bonds. You will want to collect images from every client you see, with their permission of course, and in particular any clients with unusual styles and colour as this will show your versatility. As a minimum you will want to have at least one before and after shot of: A brunette client (Find out how to colour match brunette hair extensions.) A blonde client (Find out how to colour match blonde hair extensions.) A red head A mixed blonde (Find out how to colour match mixed blonde hair.) A mixed brunette (Find out how to colour match mixed brunettes.) A very short style e.g. a bob It may take some time to collect these images, and to start off your portfolio you should include every client as the more images you have, the busier and more popular you will appear, growing the confidence of your potential client.

What Not To Include In Your Hair Extension Client Portfolio

Although we would encourage you to photograph as many clients as possible, not every client or fitting will be suitable for a portfolio shot. Reason for this include: Incomplete Before And After – Do not include an image of an unfinished set of extensions. This would include not having had enough time to straighten the client’s hair after the fitting, or not having enough time to trim and/or blend the extensions. Your clients will only want to see the finished result, and uploading unfinished work will give the wrong impression of your abilities and skills. Incomplete Hair Extension Colour Matches – From time to time you will have a client for example who has dyed brown hair that has faded since your colour match took place, and therefore it needs to be redyed after the fitting takes place. This will result in the hair extensions appearing darker in colour than they will be once the natural hair has been corrected to match, again, giving the wrong impression to your potential client who believes you have applied the wrong colour when in fact they do not have the complete story. Unusual customer requests From Hair Extension Clients– If you have a client who has asked for something out of the ordinary, e.g. a client has blonde hair and would like purple and pink streaks in her hair extensions, only include this in your portfolio if you are happy with the finished result. Your client may be thrilled with the outcome, but if you do not feel it reflects you or your general style, miss this one out of the portfolio.

You Can Never Have Too Many Pictures In Your Hair Extension Portfolio

Having a large number of before and after shots is great for your portfolio, however once you have 10-20 clients try not to be tempted to stop. Returning visitors to your social media accounts or website will be keen to see your progress, and to see new and exciting client hair makeovers, therefore try to stay on top of your portfolio by continually adding new hair extension transformations.

Hair Extension Testimonials

Testimonials are another great way to let your potential new clients know how good you are at your job, and how much your clients love the hair extensions you fit. You should try to ask all of your clients to leave you a review, either on your social media accounts, or via email so that you can upload this to your website.

How To Ask A Client To Review Your Hair Extension Business

When asking for a review you should ask your client to be 100% truthful and honest, and ask that they review the process as a whole. This means that you are not just looking for them to say “thank you for my amazing hair extensions, they look great”, but to also include details of their experience as a whole. You could ask them to review you personally, how easy you were to get along with or how comfortable you made them feel. You could also ask them to write about your communication skills, e.g. “she always got back to me quickly by email” or “she had lots of great advice to offer”.

Don’t Be Afraid Of A Bad Review

You will not be able to please everyone all of the time, and as every successful hair extension technician will tell you there is always an unhappy customer somewhere down the road, sometimes through no fault of your own. If you do receive a bad review, do not see this as a personal attack against you, but as a chance to better yourself. Take on board their comments and process what you could do differently to ensure it doesn’t happen again, or what you could have done to turn this into a positive review. There will be some occasions where there wasn’t anything you could have done differently, however by self-critiquing and taking on board others comments you will better yourself as a hair extension technician, and as a result better your business.

Keep Your Hair Extension Testimonials Up To Date

Testimonials and reviews are an ongoing process as your business evolves, therefore try to get into the habit of always asking for a review of your service. Not everybody will have time to do this for you, however the majority will do their best to help, and like your portfolio you can never have too many reviews.

Struggling to get enough clients for testimonials and portfolio shots when starting out

Portfolios and testimonials are incredibly important for showcasing your work to your potential customers, therefore when starting out with your business make it a priority to get as many pictures and reviews as you possibly can. If you are not able to get these off of new customers as you are still in the process of building your clientele, why not do a few of your friends and family for free or just the cost of the hair to gain some experience and build your portfolio. Working for free at the beginning may not be how you saw your business growing, however it is a great way to get the ball rolling and with all of your new portfolio pictures and wonderful testimonials new customers will be knocking down your door for you to squeeze them into your busy schedule before you know it.

SimplyHair Trade Account

Are you a mobile hair extension business? Are you thinking of introducing hair extension services into your salon? At SimplyHair not only do we offer very competitive pricing, we also offer an exclusive trade discount to our professional customers.