Six Tips and Tricks for Your Hair Salon to Follow in 2022

"The best is yet to come." Frank Sinatra

He wasn't wrong.  

Whether you're a stylist, colorist, or salon owner, it's critical to your success that you know what the most talked-about hair trends will be in 2022.

We've rounded up six of the most powerful tips hairstylists need to have the best year yet — from the formula for a perfect hair wash to pointers on how to give your clients killer curls and beyond.  

Read on for the top tips and tricks hairstylists need to know for 2022 because it’s true. The best is yet to come.  

Supercharge Your Hair Consultations

Take appointments from standard to supercharged with an effective hair consultation! Keep in mind that consultations aren’t limited to new guests, so make time to keep providing comprehensive consultations to your existing guests too.

New Guest Consultation: First impressions are everything and this first consultation sets the stage for your ongoing relationship with the guest – so take the time to do it right! This conversation is where you build and maintain a connection, where you learn about their hair goals, and get on the same page for their service.  

Existing Guest Consultation: Don’t forget your existing guests! You won them over on their first visit, and now they’re back for their third, fifth, tenth appointment. Congratulations! Like making any relationship work, you can’t let the effort slide. Keep the consultation because while they may want “the usual” you won’t know if you don’t ask. Striking the perfect balance between making them feel like a regular and still paying the same attention you did when they were first in your chair will go a long way to keeping a healthy stylist to guest relationship.  

Good service turns 86% one-time customers into long-term brand loyalists.

Here’s what that looks like in your consultation:  

1. Ask for Inspiration Photos: Visual representation can be valuable because hair concepts are subjective. Ask your guests to bring photos to their consultation or have them pull up images on their phone while in the chair. Use celebrities with a similar skin tone, face shape, or eye color as inspiration. Also ask for photos from their best hair day. It can be hard to visualize a look with a mask on, so seeing them when they’re feeling like their most flawless self can be beneficial to understanding what they want to achieve.

2. Be Prepared: Before your guest arrives, refresh your memory by checking notes from previous visits, color formulas, and more. This review helps you to remember something personal about your guest, like their partner’s name or where they went for the holidays. Small, personalized touches make a big difference to your guest’s experience. Do you have a favorite cashier at the local grocer? The one who says “hi” to you with the familiarity of an old friend and who you bonded with over a shared love of mint Oreos? That’s how you want your guests to feel when they come to see you.  

Tip: You don’t have to commit all these details to memory! They say “Google is your friend” but Zenoti Employee App is your BFF for tracking service history, product orders, packages, memberships, digital forms, and more directly on the guest profile.

3. Utilize Digital Forms: Use Digital Forms within the appointment confirmation email to pose any questions ahead of time. Then set some time aside to review their responses before they arrive to get a well-rounded idea of what they’re looking for. Digital forms not only benefit guests by giving them time to think and reply authentically, on their own time. It also benefits providers as they can review the information ahead of time and go into the consultation feeling confident and prepared as the knowledge expert.

4. Ask Questions: Ask your guest thoughtful questions to understand their expectations and listen to the answers. Know that it’s ok to ask as many clarifying questions as you need to understand what they are after.  

5. Get on Their Level: Looking at your guest through the mirror or hovering over them in the chair can feel a bit impersonal. For in-person consultations that ease your guests’ COVID concerns, create a consultation area to put providers and guests at eye level, but not as close as they would be eye to eye at the station. Offering virtual consultations for your guests is also a great added touch of flexibility.  

Think About What’s Best for Your Guest

Don’t be afraid to say no. Then say yes. As a professional stylist, you’re an expert, and you must be realistic with your clients about the outcome of their service. It’s not about being nice and always saying yes to your clients, but more being kind and honest that not every cut or color will work on everyone.  

Take the time to evaluate a guest’s face shape, eye color, and skin tone before you pick up your scissors or mix a color formula. Understand their hair type and texture and pick the right tone to suit their skin.  

Bangs will be everywhere in 2022. From side bangs, blunt bangs, to a simple fringe. With over 3 Million hashtag mentions on Instagram, it’s up to you to educate your guest on which bang style is best for their face shape, style, and lifestyle. A busy mom with three children who has five minutes to get ready in the morning may not be the best candidate for high maintenance bangs and would be better suited for a face framing, low maintenance fringe.  

Natural color will see some enhancements this year. Can your guest pull off red? Yes, they can, but it’s all about finding the right tone.

Take Zenoti customer, Gene Juarez for example. Their New Year hair round-up features brilliant colors and vibrant tones and shows us just how different a blonde or red highlight can look.  

Putting what’s best for your guest’s unique style and physical attributes first goes a long way to make them feel confident that their appointment will turn out better than expected.

Learn more about the biggest beauty and wellness trends for 2022.  

Elevate the Hair Washing Experience

Give your guest an excellent hair wash and you have a guest for life. Consider these points to get started...

1. Training and Experience: Turn a 5-minute experience into a luxury your guests won’t soon forget by ensuring everyone, from stylists to assistants, is trained in your brand’s hair washing technique. Hair washing is a sensory experience and a service that you can significantly impact without a lot of effort.

2. Let’s Face It: Sinks Can be Uncomfortable: Put yourself in your guest’s shoes by sitting in the chair yourself. Ask yourself what you would need if you were getting your hair washed there. Would a towel under your neck help support the weight of your head? Would putting your feet or knees in a specific position make you feel more comfortable? What about offering a towel to cover their eyes from the bright salon lights? When you have a guest in the chair, remember what made you feel good and make recommendations from that authentic place.  

3. Think About Texture: Consider your guest’s hair texture before reaching for a shampoo and conditioner. For example, if your guest has fine hair, use volumizing products and avoid using too much conditioner on the roots.  

4. Scalp Massage? Yes, please: Chances are your guests will jump at the chance to have a complimentary scalp massage, so why not ask them? Consider creating a signature hot oil scalp massage or added essential oils to the rinse water.  

Share Your Knowledge

According to Mintel's research, many people don’t have the skills they need to recreate salon hairstyles at home.  

There's no question that your guest will appreciate you taking time throughout the appointment to not only share tips that they can use at home but also insights on the products that you are using. In fact, more of today’s consumers are taking a higher interest in the ingredients of products and how they are made. You'll have had extensive vendor training on the products you use and sell, so share this knowledge with your guests (beyond your responsibility to tell them the basics) without overloading them with too much unnecessary detail. Ultimately, if you instill confidence in your guests and show them that you’re the expert, they will return to you because you make them feel good. They'll also be more likely to accept your add-on recommendations.  

What could that look like?

• Show them the brush and tools they need to get style you gave them at home
• Recommend the ideal products for their hair type  
• Share quick techniques, tips, and tricks for drying or curling their hair

They don’t need a play-by-play of everything you’re doing, or to feel like they’re sitting through a seminar while getting their hair done. Share only the hairdressing tips, tricks, and products that would help the guest you have in the chair. The best way to hold a blow dryer can go a long way to creating a memorable experience for your guests.  

Are you looking for inspiration? Check out our recent Zenoti article: From One Stylist to Another: 9 Hair Tips Your Guests Will Love.  

The more you know, the more you can share. Woth over 100 courses, Zenoti University has something for all beauty and wellness providers. Learning is free for Zenoti customers so consider this your hub for provider education.  

Host Educational Events

Educational events are an excellent way to engage with your guests, amplify your providers, and attract new prospects. After all, you have all that wonderful knowledge so start using it to get your brand noticed. Use Instagram Live or TikTok to show your guests how to recreate the top celebrity styles from “fluffy hair” to the dimensional curls they’re after. Then at the events you can promote relevant offers such as savings on the retail products or tools that you’ve used to create that specific look!  

Here’s how to get started:

1. Poll your social media community or review your guest profiles to find out which style your guests want most.

2. Schedule an Instagram Live session or series of TikTok videos to demo the technique, tools, and products they need for the look.  

3. Promote the event on social media, in email, and in-salon.  

4. Host the event! Make sure the featured provider cross-promotes it and use insights from the event to decide what to focus on next.  

Since there’s nothing better than shiny, bouncy hair, an example of a great event to get your guests engaged could be focused on taking the blowout experience to the next level. Zenoti customer, RUSH Hair & Beauty shows us that glossy hair is always in style and sharing tips on a top-notch blowout will set you apart from the rest.

Glossy, Glazed, and Glamourous

Speaking of shiny, we predict that hair gloss and glaze treatments will be one of the top add-on color services for 2022.  

“I don’t get my color done without one. And often go in between services. It’s lip gloss for your hair!” - Sarah Simonelli, Director of Customer Success at Zenoti  

Indoors and out, winter and summer, shine gets noticed. It used to be that lip gloss got center stage but now, with mask mandates, hair is your accessory, your personality, and your shine.  

Most luxury hair color lines have a complementary gloss – that's how important they are. And every shiny head you see at the Oscars or in the inspiration photos your guest shared in their consultation has one. Consider it a topcoat for your guests’ hair and a great way to ensure they leave the chair feeling their best!  

Hot Tip for Hair Salon Owners: If your colorist is in high demand, consider offering gloss and glaze treatments as an add-on that can be booked with junior stylists. This opens your colorist’s schedule for higher-value services, gives junior stylists exposure, and provides value to your guests. A win-win-win!

Take this trend home and elevate your retail experience by offering a range of at-home gloss and glaze treatments that your guests can use in between appointments.  

Key Takeaways

There's something for everyone in 2022, from consultations to hair washing techniques to the finishing touches with blowouts and shine treatments.  

Take what works and leave what doesn't. Make it authentic to you and show your guests that the health of their hair is always your top priority.  

At Zenoti, your success is our top priority. Join the thousands of salons who have already discovered the power of Zenoti.