We’ve been discussing how to keep current by continuing your education. Now that you’ve taken the education, how do you let your clients know? This has been a three-part series about how to post your educational certificates. We want our clients to know about our accomplishments and that we’ve taken a class. So far, we have talked about posting our classes on our salon website. We also talked about posting on Facebook.

Today, we’re going to talk about ways to post your achievements in the salon. Put the official document or participation certificate in a nice frame at your station or on a wall nearby. Display it only if there is room on the station and it won’t clutter our work area. Let’s face it, clients will be sitting at the nail station and they’ll see. This is also a conversation piece or ice breaker for new clients. Clients will see it neatly framed and they will automatically ask questions and start a conversation. This is a great way to tell them what you’ve learned and what you plan to implement from your class.

This should be easy conversation and should be kept light. Don’t bore clients with all of the technical details and talk over their heads about our industry. Just casually mention some of the highlights. Mention you learned new application or filing techniques. Tell them about the new products that are coming out or that you’re excited about. Tell them what your favorite part of the class was or who you trained under. They will appreciate you sharing your experience with them. Remember when you get excited about something new, your clients do too!

In our nail drying area we have a large corkboard on the wall above the UV nail dryers and fans. On this board we post small articles from magazines that are nail, skin, massage, or hair related. Before we recycle the last month’s magazines, we go through them and cut out articles that would be good information for our board. We post advertisements about products and flag them with a small red or blue tag that says, “Available Here & Sold Here” We laminate the articles and post them on the board.

This is also a great place to post education highlights! This is a wonderful idea that came from a staff member. We change the board every month and have a folder filled with a collection of fun stuff. Our clients love this idea too, because otherwise they’re just sitting there staring at the clock. They look forward to each month’s “Snip Its.” Clients say, “I actually learned something while sitting here!” Plus, it makes the drying time fly by. The board is created each month by staff members who have open time. Usually two people work on it together. This helps to keep the staff busy, they learn about industry related topics, and it’s enjoyed by our clients. That’s a win, win, win situation!

At the entrance to my salon we have an easel with another large corkboard. On it we have a laminated sheet of paper that says “New @ Snips.” The board is filled with educational photos, class certificates and a brief description of the classes attended. We also post pictures and information about new products such as the new Germany collection from OPI. We posted a picture of the new colors along with the release date. We created anticipation for the new collection. We also post information about joining our text club, Facebook page, and e-blast club. We change the board monthly and always have a variety of information to post. This is a great way to post your education classed for all of the clients to see.

Posting your educational accomplishments in unique ways — one more way to help you stand out above the rest and become the BEST!

— Jill