A consultation is a meeting before the work, in which the stylist, therapist or artist sees what the client has, hears what they want, explains what is possible and sets a price and a plan. It can be five minutes at the start of a first haircut, or a separate 30-minute appointment for a colour correction, a cosmetic tattoo or a course of treatments. For any service that cannot be priced from a description, the consultation is where the quote happens.
Many businesses charge for a standalone consultation and take the fee off the service if the client goes ahead. That pays for the time, discourages people collecting free quotes from five businesses in an afternoon, and tells the client the work will be planned properly.
In practice
A cosmetic tattoo studio offers a consultation at $50 for 30 minutes, taken off the first session if it is booked within a month. In one month it runs 12 consultations, and 9 go ahead with a first session at $650. The consultations bring in 12 times $50, or $600, of which 9 times $50, or $450, is credited back. The studio keeps $150 from the 3 who did not go ahead and has 9 sessions in the book worth $5,850, of which $5,400 is still to be paid.
Write down what was agreed: the plan, the price and anything the client was asked to do beforehand, such as a patch test. That note is what the person doing the work reads on the day.
In Glow Line
List the consultation as its own service with its price and length, and write in notes which services are priced at consultation. Callers can then request one like any other service. See services and hours.