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42 The Colorist | MARCH/APRIL 2015 | thecoloristmag.com Keratin Complex's Deb Gavin explains how changing the way you speak to clients about hair color can help you take control of your business and boost revenues. poi t of view PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF DEB GAVIN the language of color Y our client asks for the same color service at every visit. You haven't been able to increase your pricing in years. Your client is totally against the service you know that her hair needs. If these scenarios sound familiar, the problem could be rooted in the way you're speaking to your clients about color, says Deb Gavin, international creative director for Keratin Complex. "Rather than communicating with clients about color using certain mainstream words, I try to use a language that broadens their perspective, so that I'm the one who is always in control," Gavin says. T is verbiage, or "language of color," as Gavin refers to it, is a common theme throughout all of her educational programs, whether it's a Signature Techniques class she's teaching at the Keratin Complex Academy, a session on the trade show fl oor or a distributor event. Making a simple language shift, she says, helps alter clients' mindsets so they're more open to trying diff erent looks, which makes it easier to up-sell each service. "You'll never hear me talk to clients about highlights, for example," says Gavin, who is co-owner of Fresh Hair Studio in Southampton, PA. "Instead, I'll talk about detail slicing, because highlights means blonde to most clients. I'll never talk about lowlights to clients either; they think that means brown. Instead, I'll talk about shadow pieces. If I tell a blonde I'm going to shadow her hair like a 7-year-old and it's going to showcase her blonde so it appears lighter, she'll say 'yeah!' But if I say I'm going to lowlight it, she'll say 'forget it!'' Similarly, Gavin advises avoiding using common words for color categories, like "permanent" or "semipermanent," since many clients have a negative connotation toward them; she suggests using "lift color" and "nonlift color" instead. "It gives me the control to put on their hair what needs to be put on their hair," Gavin says. Other language shifts Gavin advocates are saying "canvas cleanse" instead of "bleaching shampoo," "alternative color" rather than "corrective color," and "background foundation" versus "touch-up." Gavin says that using alternative language makes it easier to up- sell, because clients become more open to trying new services and, in turn, are less accustomed to paying the same dollar amount each visit. "You should be able to consistently add $20 to $40 onto a color service," she says. "Each visit you might add on something based on the hair needs, so clients become very fl exible about what they'll allow you to do. It allows colorists to give their clients something new each time so you are the one steering the ship of the journey." You'll never hear me talk to clients about highlights," Deb Gavin says. "Instead, I'll talk about detail slicing.