Man-speak: From “greasing the wheels” to “foot detailing,” making your services approachable and “man-friendly” is the way to get him on board.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in guys taking better care of themselves (even if they’re going with the full lumberjack beard) and that includes manicures and pedicures. But for the guys who still aren’t sure, we spoke to John Nguyen, CND education ambassador, and Anka Miron, owner of Mankind Grooming Studio for Men in Toronto, to help walk you through the steps to giving that unsuspecting guy his new go-to service.
1. Give him a taste
When Miron’s male clients come into Mankind for a haircut, she takes every opportunity to try something new with them, opening the door for a conversation about grooming habits. “When any client comes in for a haircut, we do a hot towel on his face to cleanse his skin and then we do a hand massage and paraffin treatment to make way for a discussion about trimming nails and removing dirt,” she explains. Usually once her clients get a feel for these services, they start coming back for those specifically.
2. Educate him
We all know that the only difference between manicures on men and women is generally colour application, if any, though some guys are still apprehensive about regular hand and foot maintenance. As Miron explains, “Some guys come in with minor health conditions like ingrown nails or calluses and don’t know how to prevent these things, so we educate our clients from a health perspective.” Nguyen agrees: “It’s important to emphasize how the service is beneficial for overall hand and foot cleanliness and health,” he says, adding that most men respond better to more technical explanations than coming in to get “pampered.”
3. Make it snappy
According to Nguyen, “Providing express services is an excellent way to appeal to male clients because they usually don’t want to spend a lot of time fussing over their hands and feet.” He adds that a lot of his male clients will make their appointments either earlier in the day or later in the day to avoid some of the other traffic in the salon. When you’ve gotten your male client on board with hand and foot maintenance, Miron recommends that he come back seasonally as opposed to monthly so he gets the care he needs without feeling too high-maintenance.
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