"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
~ Maya Angelou
This is probably one of the most impactful quotes that I remember from my younger years. When I thought about how I make someone feel, I wanted my clients to feel like their decision to hire me as their hair & makeup artist for their big day was the best decision they ever made! It had to go beyond the initial consult & good artistry - it had to be an experience from initial contact thru the final finished product.
The ONE thing I did was to create the experience! Going above and beyond those expectations that someone would normally get in any given industry. I call it the "Louis Vuitton Experience" - Let me explain what I mean.
A few years ago, I thought I knew what a luxury experience was (spoiler, I did not). I had been in luxury stores and window shopped. I visit Tiffany's occasionally, but I would not even consider it the same as the LV Experience. I had always dreamed that one day I would own a LV purse...yes, they are not in everyones daily budget, but it was one thing that I had always wanted (should I win the lottery...you know that saying right?) I had worked hard all year and we were headed to the Houston/Woodlands area in Texas to visit family. We decided to go out for dinner one night at a shopping center that had a Louis Vuitton store in it. I had never been in one and was really just wanting to go look inside. As I walked around, there were plenty of purses that I did not like, but one caught my eye. Very small (like just big enough for a phone and maybe a driver's license/few credit cards and keys). The lady behind the counter was so sweet. She let me hold it and look at it. My husband (and yes, he did know the approximate cost of these particular purses) said, "let's go to dinner, and you can think about it." He had been saying that he didn't think that I would end up being happy with that one because it was going to be too small...but, I was looking at it as I liked it good enough and the price.
So, we went to dinner and we both looked online to see if they had the same design but a little bigger. Guess what, they did! So after dinner, we went back to the store and the lady that was helping us said that they did have that one in stock. She pulled it out of the box and let me look at it on my shoulder in the mirror. Yep! my husband was right. This size did look much better. It wasn't that much bigger - just enough though. The sales person, not once tried to persuade me with one or the other. She just listened and handed me the ones I wanted to see. I liked that.
I loved this one...but I am not gonna lie, the sick feeling in my stomach for spending that much on a purse just creeped up...but my husband told me - "you worked hard all year - get yourself something nice" and it all subsided when we told her we would take it. After she rang it up, she said she was going to the back to wrap it up. Before she did, she offered my husband and I a glass of champagne. WHAT??!!?? A glass of champagne for purchasing a purse? You would think that I did just win that lottery!
We sat, sipped our champagne and waited for her to bring out the bag all wrapped up in a box. That was an experience! I felt like a princess walking out of there and had a grin from ear to ear! (and there may or may not have been some happy tears)
THIS is the experience that I want you to have as one of my clients - I want you to feel like you just made the best decision for your beauty and you are so excited for our team to be there on your wedding day or special event!
I make sure to respond quickly to inquiries and set up a quick phone call to not only hear about their wedding day or event, but to genuinely connect and answer all of your questions & concerns. I don't rely on email/text/messages for our initial contact as this is too impersonal. You deserve my undivided attention! Once booked, you can expect to receive a handwritten thank you note with a special little gift inside to let you know that I am forever grateful that you chose me and my team! I offer assistance in finding other vendors that you may not have booked yet. I am always looking for new ways to make this experience better! These are just a few things to "LV" the experience.
If you are a bride, think about hiring someone that gives you a Louis Vuitton Experience. If they say they are a luxury beauty professional, it is more than just the products that they use, it should be the way they make you feel beyond that from first contact and beyond!
If you are a beauty professional, consider the experience that your brides and clients are getting from you. It should be more than just applying makeup or styling their hair. They should be shouting your name from the rooftops when someone they know needs a beauty professional! How you make them & their family/friends feel will carry through to repeat referrals!
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