Crazy busy and other stuff...

We've been absolutely crazy busy lately!  And, what's funny, is that home office doesn't necessarily want that...let me explain:

Home office likes the numbers we're pulling.  What they don't like (much like other large employers) is to have to pay a few people large paychecks.  What they want to do is pay many people small paychecks.  I get where they're going:  They don't have to pay benefits because they're paying someone for so few hours.  And with those few hours, as long as it's busy, you, the hairdresser in question, are guaranteed to make commission.  But, they don't want anybody other than the salon managers working full time.  And I've got problems with that.

We truly do need another hairdresser.  This person needs to be part time and FLEXIBLE.  What does this "flexible" mean??  It means you go where I'm told to put you and you work the hours I'm given to give you to work.  It does NOT mean I'm going to bend & flex for you.

So, that's part of what's on my plate, for now.  Some other fun things:  Tina has been misinformed as to how to prepare hair for perms.  I've only just caught onto this.  When you are preparing someone's hair for a perm, it is important that the hair be clean and conditioner free.  Why??  So the chemical can get into the hair shaft (this is highly over simplified) to do it's job.  Conditioner's job is to coat the hair shaft to make it smoother and more manageable.  Period.  This magical coating impedes the success of a perm.  Tina did not know this.  When I stopped her from applying the conditioner her response was "I always do it this way"  and it was really hard not to say "and that's why your perms come back to get fixed."  Instead, I replied "Use this product instead."  (a spray in reconstructor meant to even out the porosity of the hair to ensure the chemical can do it's job)  To which she started to apply this (by spraying) while the client's head was in the sink.  "uh, Tina, you'll have an easier time using that when she's sitting up"  REALLY!?!?

Tiffany is still under the impression that appointments come first.  This causes major problems.  She's also under the impression that if someone signs up for a haircut that you have to wait forever for them to come back.  Both of these are not true in our world.  In hair world in general, yes.  In a walk-in based salon, not so much.  And it's why she struggles with commission.  "Oh, I'm sorry.  I can't take you.  So & so is coming back".  And that person walks away, unhappy that they couldn't get in.  I catch her, all the time, telling people this.  And I'm quick to step in and correct the situation.  If the person who signs up gets told what time to come back, and they aren't back, TAKE THE DAMN HAIRCUT THAT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.  Why is this so stinking difficult to understand??

Joan does the same thing.  Which is something I need to talk to them about, AGAIN.  We are a walk-in salon.  PERIOD.  We take appointments as a courtesy.  All the appointment guarantees is that you get the person you're requesting, if you're requesting a certain stylist.  Otherwise, first come, first serve.  If someone signs up and walks away after given a time they can be taken, AND they don't come back at the appointed time, it's onto the next person.  Do we piss people off with this??  Sure we do.  However, it's the business model we have to work by.   If you don't want to miss your time with the person you want, show up EARLY for you allotted time, or, better yet, if you're a walk-in, don't walk away. 

We also have an appointment book on site.  Do we book appointments??  You betcha.  It also serves as a great tool to see when and where we can fit people into, as long as everyone keeps both the sign in sheet and the book up to date.  It makes everything flow much more smoothly, for everyone.

What I'm currently not agreeing with:  We have these sheets of critiquing that I'm supposed to fill out.  I don't happen to agree with them.  At all.  They have to do with the customer experience, but I don't feel they focus on what's important.  I could be wrong.  It could be just me and the way I'm looking at it.  I feel it doesn't cover enough.  It asks for you to call the customer by name, repeatedly (which I'm fine with), to recommend products for the guest (again, okay with), goes through the entire "thing" you're supposed to be doing with your guest.  What I don't like about this whole thing is it's a "score card".  When I'm watching you doing these things, I get to grade you.  (as if I have time to do these stupid things in the first place, company program or not)  Oh, and they want what we say to people to be ridiculously scripted.  Which doesn't sound genuine to me.  It sounds fake, phony, whatever adjective you want to put on it.  And I hate that.

We've also got an ongoing contest.  Stylist of the Month.  The criteria is "simple" :  Highest service dollars per hour for the month, Highest combo tickets per month, most requested clients per month.  The requested clients per month I added in at the beginning of the year.  Otherwise, Tina would win it every month.  What's the prize??  Your portion of my bonus check.  Which can get up to $100 extra in your hot little hand.  I'm not supposed to do this.  I'm doing it anyway.  The two "youngest" stylists, Tiffany & Joan, don't like the "most requested clients" part.  And the reason why is ME.  I have the most consistent client base of anyone in the salon.  And that makes it hard for them to beat me.  Tiffany whines about it in general, but in a different way than Joan does.  Joan feels it will take her YEARS to catch up to me (I have about 85 regular clients a month), which it will not, unless you always have that negative Nelly attitude.   Tiffany (and Joan, to a lesser degree) wants everything handed to her on a silver platter.  The clients I have are because I work HARD to get them and HARD to keep them.  I work to be consistent, to listen to what they want and figure out what they can have within the limits of what their hair will do.

Something else Tiffany complains about (and thinks I don't know what she's doing) is that I'm "stealing" her clients.  I'm not.  A lot of them came to me before she started working there.  They've gone to her, and they've come back to me.  One of them was in yesterday.  Jeramie has been my client for almost 2 years now.  He will see any of the girls in the salon to get his "high & tight", but he prefers me to cut his hair, when I'm available.  Tiffany was under the impression that he was "her" client, and she gets "snippy" about him sitting in my chair.  Again, let's examine why:  I'm consistent.  Do I goof up??  Sure.  I'm not perfect.  But I try hard to remember people and what they're asking for.  Especially if I see them on a fairly regular basis.  Pretty simple.

HAPPY SPRING!!