Author: Jenna White | San Francisco Hairstylist
March 16th, 2021
March 16th, 2021
As you likely know, California salons have been shut down for most of 2020 due to COVID, meaning I haven’t been able to practice my craft. It’s been bumming me out a lot lately, so my husband surprised me with a road trip to a remote Airbnb in a scenic part of Washington. The surprise included a haircut by the one and only Douglas McCoy at his salon for some badly needed hair TLC (salons in Washington have been open since June 1st)! I used the opportunity to write a post on how a legend operates his salon.
Background
Douglas spent an amazing 23 years doing hair, with accomplishments that include being a National Educator, working six seasons of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York, and being featured in leading industry publications like American Salon. This legend puts out content (check out his videos and photos here). He’s a two time winner of LO-Fi Video of the Year and Best Overall Video of the Year from the Hairbrained Video Awards. When he’s not busy traveling the world, he can be found doing hair at his salon, House of POp, based in Spokane, Washington.
Brand
I think how salon professionals convey their brand message is just as important as the message itself. Douglas is a master of his brand, which you can feel from the way he describes his salon on their website: “The Salon you see today is unapologetic for its attitude in the client comes first, meaning not only are they treated like family but we focus on education of our team to provide outstanding cuts, colors, and blowouts. Unpretentious by nature we strive to make each client feel at home within our walls and have a conversation with us about their hair. Working together we create masterpieces and educate our new friends on how to create that same look at home”. Check out the full overview here.
Four Points of Contact
One thing that immediately stood out to me was the four touch points the front desk had with me before and after the appointment. These included:
House of POp’s approach to educating guests about rebooking also stood out to me. Reminding clients about rebooking is important, and can be done in a gentle way digitally and automatically so you don’t have to think about it. For example, their text to me three days later said: “We hate making our clients sad. Our appointments with Douglas fill up fast, so book early to avoid disappointment”. It also included a link for rebooking, making it simple and easy for me to act immediately. Some of the jargon they used in their communication stood out to me as well. For example, they used the phrase “amend your appointment” instead of “cancel your appointment”. It signals the customer to think about moving the date instead of cancelling.
Stock Up on Barbicide
Douglas pointed out twice during our conversation that you can never stock too much sanitizer at the salon. Even when you think you have enough, it’s best to keep extra on hand because during COVID it may not be easy to find. In a recent update email to customers, the well known company BARBICIDE shared that “during the first six months of 2020, [they had] shipped more BARBICIDE to [their] distribution network than [they] did in all of 2019”. They also said that “currently, there is a global shortage of Tertiary amine, a raw material needed to produce quaternary ammonium (quats), the key ingredient of nearly every disinfectant sold”. According to CleanLink, some manufacturers have been able to mitigate the shortage through strong supply chains. If you haven’t been stocking up on barbicide, recommending that you start.
Current Hair Trends
I asked Douglas what trends he’s seeing with haircuts right now. He responded that “Mannequins have haircuts, people have looks”. With that in mind, he shared the following two looks that he’s seen a lot of this year.
The first is the concept of French bobs. Clients often ask for this haircut, but don’t understand what they’re asking for (this clip from British comedy-drama Fleabag is a perfect example). A sign that your client is about to make this mistake is hearing them ask for a French bob, but to “keep the length”. The hair is usually styled in waves with an effortless vibe. According to French NYC celebrity stylist Rudy Martins in Who What Wear “Most French girls had this haircut as children in Paris (often cut by their own mothers!). While the cut has a sweet and innocent touch, it's also innately cool without trying too hard”. In the Who What Wear article, scroll down to “Bowl Cut (Short Bob + Short Bangs)” to check out the look.
The second trend is preserving length. With many salons closed or operating at 50% capacity, people are testing long styles they didn’t have the patience to grow length for in the past. However, Douglas believes this trend will be short-lived, and clients will be coming back to the salon in need of a big change to shake things up after the trauma of being stuck within the same four walls. To sum these two looks up, people are looking for effortless hair that allows them to feel like a huge change has been made.
Elevating Your Craft
Team appreciation is part of the culture Douglas has built at House of POp, and one of his many talents is training amazing stylists. I wanted to understand the mindset he thought was needed in order to be a great stylist. His response was that it’s part tactical and part mindset. To achieve the former, look for education not from the most trendy stylists, but from the best ones. For the latter, approach an artist you think wouldn’t give you a class and see if you can convince them to teach you one thing (haircut, color technique, etcetera). It forces you to test your ability to sell someone on an idea, which is what you are doing with clients, and in business, every day.
Background
Douglas spent an amazing 23 years doing hair, with accomplishments that include being a National Educator, working six seasons of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York, and being featured in leading industry publications like American Salon. This legend puts out content (check out his videos and photos here). He’s a two time winner of LO-Fi Video of the Year and Best Overall Video of the Year from the Hairbrained Video Awards. When he’s not busy traveling the world, he can be found doing hair at his salon, House of POp, based in Spokane, Washington.
Brand
I think how salon professionals convey their brand message is just as important as the message itself. Douglas is a master of his brand, which you can feel from the way he describes his salon on their website: “The Salon you see today is unapologetic for its attitude in the client comes first, meaning not only are they treated like family but we focus on education of our team to provide outstanding cuts, colors, and blowouts. Unpretentious by nature we strive to make each client feel at home within our walls and have a conversation with us about their hair. Working together we create masterpieces and educate our new friends on how to create that same look at home”. Check out the full overview here.
Four Points of Contact
One thing that immediately stood out to me was the four touch points the front desk had with me before and after the appointment. These included:
- An email after I booked
- A text reminder the day before
- A text after the appointment thanking me and asking for a review
- A text three days later giving me the option to rebook
House of POp’s approach to educating guests about rebooking also stood out to me. Reminding clients about rebooking is important, and can be done in a gentle way digitally and automatically so you don’t have to think about it. For example, their text to me three days later said: “We hate making our clients sad. Our appointments with Douglas fill up fast, so book early to avoid disappointment”. It also included a link for rebooking, making it simple and easy for me to act immediately. Some of the jargon they used in their communication stood out to me as well. For example, they used the phrase “amend your appointment” instead of “cancel your appointment”. It signals the customer to think about moving the date instead of cancelling.
Stock Up on Barbicide
Douglas pointed out twice during our conversation that you can never stock too much sanitizer at the salon. Even when you think you have enough, it’s best to keep extra on hand because during COVID it may not be easy to find. In a recent update email to customers, the well known company BARBICIDE shared that “during the first six months of 2020, [they had] shipped more BARBICIDE to [their] distribution network than [they] did in all of 2019”. They also said that “currently, there is a global shortage of Tertiary amine, a raw material needed to produce quaternary ammonium (quats), the key ingredient of nearly every disinfectant sold”. According to CleanLink, some manufacturers have been able to mitigate the shortage through strong supply chains. If you haven’t been stocking up on barbicide, recommending that you start.
Current Hair Trends
I asked Douglas what trends he’s seeing with haircuts right now. He responded that “Mannequins have haircuts, people have looks”. With that in mind, he shared the following two looks that he’s seen a lot of this year.
The first is the concept of French bobs. Clients often ask for this haircut, but don’t understand what they’re asking for (this clip from British comedy-drama Fleabag is a perfect example). A sign that your client is about to make this mistake is hearing them ask for a French bob, but to “keep the length”. The hair is usually styled in waves with an effortless vibe. According to French NYC celebrity stylist Rudy Martins in Who What Wear “Most French girls had this haircut as children in Paris (often cut by their own mothers!). While the cut has a sweet and innocent touch, it's also innately cool without trying too hard”. In the Who What Wear article, scroll down to “Bowl Cut (Short Bob + Short Bangs)” to check out the look.
The second trend is preserving length. With many salons closed or operating at 50% capacity, people are testing long styles they didn’t have the patience to grow length for in the past. However, Douglas believes this trend will be short-lived, and clients will be coming back to the salon in need of a big change to shake things up after the trauma of being stuck within the same four walls. To sum these two looks up, people are looking for effortless hair that allows them to feel like a huge change has been made.
Elevating Your Craft
Team appreciation is part of the culture Douglas has built at House of POp, and one of his many talents is training amazing stylists. I wanted to understand the mindset he thought was needed in order to be a great stylist. His response was that it’s part tactical and part mindset. To achieve the former, look for education not from the most trendy stylists, but from the best ones. For the latter, approach an artist you think wouldn’t give you a class and see if you can convince them to teach you one thing (haircut, color technique, etcetera). It forces you to test your ability to sell someone on an idea, which is what you are doing with clients, and in business, every day.
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Stylists, if you want to see Douglas Mccoy in action check out this video that he posted in June of surface layering!
