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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Can you get $30,000 for a hair cut?

I can read you mind on this question. No one would ever pay that much for a hair cut.
Well here is a Stylist in London that gets that kind of money. Outrageous? Yes, but how do you up your price? How do you convince a customer that you can be worth more than the cost of typical haircut? It's service, that extra time or product that you spend on your customer. That great cup of coffee for the morning appointment of glass of wine for the evening appointment. This case is extreme, but find something that will bring your service to the next level.

From the New York Daily Post
by Sherryl Connelly

If a haircut costs $32,339.98, how often would you go in for a trim?

British stylist Stuart Phillips claims that regardless of the recession his Covent Garden salon is crowded with clients willing to pay that price. Many of them are the wives of new-money Russian oligarchs, according to London's Daily Mail.

Phillips insisted in the Daily Mail the price was right and fair.

"I am available to them for the whole day and we make sure they have the best of everything.

"I have had to provide everything from security teams and bodyguards, exotic and expensive oils to wash through clients' hair, interpreters, personal chefs, and special scents put through the ventilation system, and even dog walkers to entertain their pets."

Okay, so there's overhead. But Phillips does provide a discount, of sorts. A guest can bring a friend for the cut-rate cost of $13,023.95.

There is a 20-point questionnaire in which clients make clear what kind of treatment they expect. Questions run along the lines of "Would you like your bodyguard to wait behind you or by the front door?" and "Would you like your personal shopper to shop with you or for you?"

Phillips, who won't reveal the names of his clients for security reasons, among others, came to stylistic prominence after the British Academy of Film and Television made him their first official stylist. He was the one who peppered Serena Williams' hair with diamonds worth 163 million for a Wimbledon party last year hosted by business mogul Richard Branson.

"It may seem a lot of money, but I feel that these charges are justified," Phillips insists. "All you need to do is compare other expensive non-essential things. For example, certain hotels in the world can easily cost a few thousands pounds a day.

"If someone has a billion dollars in the bank, to fly their girlfriends or wives over, it is nothing. For them [$32,000] is a drop in the ocean."

For the price, Phillips will close the salon, send a luxury car, deliver an hour-long lifestyle consultation, and usher the client into a relaxation area where they are treated to a shiatsu acupressure head or body massage.

Canapés and cocktails are served throughout, or champagne lunch, or traditional tea and scones. Probably all three are available for that price since a personal chef can also be had as well as an assistant and up to three bodyguards.

Then there's the goody bag composed of luxury hair products that Phillips chooses based on hair type.

"If anything my services have been more in demand," he claims. "I guess in times of uncertainty people like to pamper themselves."

Oh, we do. But the rest of us can't, or at least, not like that.

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