thegarnet.net

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When I trained someone to sharpen beauty shears, he was concerned about him getting some certifications. 

I told him when I had that worry starting out, I went to Vegas, and walked to all the big name casinos one by one, until I found one that let me sharpen, and I collected video testimonials from all the stylists with their shears. I use screenshots and excerpts from those videos to this day in all my marketing materials.

So I can set myself apart from other sharpeners by saying “I am not just a sharpener, I am also a sharpening instructor, and also I sharpen for one of the biggest salons in Vegas, the Christophe, at the MGM Grand casino.”

But none of that counts nearly as much as, “I appreciate you are very hesitant and careful about who sharpens your shear. Give me one of your oldest, least favorite shears, especially one someone else didnt do right, and lets see what I can do with it. If I cant make it right, there is no charge.”   

When I come back in, I use a piece of wet sanek tissue, the same thing the scissor couldn’t touch before I sharpened it, and show how the new shear cuts like butter. I then gain a new stylist, and usually a whole salon, when the other stylists see that failing shear being fixed, and they lust after having a luscious feeling of a freshly sharpened shear in their own hands....

This happens a few times a week.

By comparison, in several years, I have been asked about 4 times, maybe, about having certifications.

BTW, the home office of the company that makes the sharpening machine I use, argued with me about the fact that they have not certified me as an instructor. Easy answers: 
  * 1) did you hear me say I was certified? No, I dont.  
  * 2) Certify me.   
  * 3) You wont certify me, then maybe I need to find another company to work with..... 

When they complained I should be looking for shears to sharpen, not students to teach, easy answer again:  Idiota! I am not spending my time looking for students, too few of them to make a business out of.  This is an honest statement to set me apart from the guys who dont know how to sharpen, or teach, and for me to get the stylists confidence so I can fix their shear.

And, one last run on thought: I have been toying with the idea of creating a certification program, and offering to run it for shear companies. I have a background in quality assurance and could run such a certification program.
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