PSA: The client who said "just a trim" actually wanted 4 inches off

Had a walk-in yesterday who sat down and said she needed a trim. I clarified twice what trim meant to her. She said oh just a little off the ends. I took off maybe half an inch and she nearly cried. Turns out she wanted 4 inches gone and thought trim was a salon code word for a major cut. How do you folks handle the word trim without making the client feel dumb?

2 comments

2 Comments

mary_kelly29d ago

Read that some salons now use little hand mirrors and rulers together for this exact reason.

ryanj6029d ago

My sister is a hairstylist and she has people do this to her all the time. Honestly I think some of it is on the client for being weird about it. If someone wants 4 inches off just say you want 4 inches off. Why play games with the word trim? It sounds like this person had some weird idea that trim was a secret code or something. Half an inch is what most normal people mean by a trim. I don't get why you would need to bend over backwards and make yourself feel bad because someone got their wires crossed. Sometimes clients just need to be adults and say what they actually want.