Communication is key

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The single most important aspect of getting a good haircut and/or color service is communication. Now, it is the job of the stylist to make sure that communication is happening and to make sure they are interpreting your ideas properly. But it is also the clients' job to make sure they can communicate to the stylist.

But how?

I have some clients that have a very hard time communicating ideas (especially of an artistic nature) to me. I try to make sure I ask them all sorts of questions to help bring their ideas out into words. But sometimes words do fail. If that's the case then pictures are, in fact, worth a thousand words (or at least a great haircut.) That, of course, doesn't mean you bring in a bunch of pictures of your favorite movie star. You can - that does help as well. But sometimes the best thing you can do is bring in a picture of yourself that has the very hair cut you are going for. That will, most times, be enough for the stylist. And if that's not enough then just a few words here and there will make up for what the picture doesn't show.

And if you can't find any pictures than sometimes it's always easiest to tell the sylist (or ask the client) what you (or they) DON'T like about their hair. For some reason people have an easier time telling you what they don't like versus what they like.

No matter how you do it, communication will, more often than not, save you from a bad hair day.