I was just on Facebook, reading "memes", and one of them said something about remembering the last haircut you did on the person in your chair. Which, unless they come to you REGULARLY, it's difficult to remember what you did. My memory is pretty good---I can pull up all kinds of weird stuff from my memory banks. Except people's names when they're new and particularly when I don't see them very often. If something memorable happens during the appointment (say, a hilarious or serious conversation, head lice, a bump on their head, unusual hair line) I don't always remember people. It gets me into trouble sometimes because I'm honest enough to say that I don't remember and it hurts people's feelings. I see probably 200 people a month, between clients sitting in my chair, customers purchasing product or asking questions, not to mention when I spend time with my friends! So, it's hard to remember people, but I try.
Something that happened the other day also popped into my head. Pauline & Warren are a cute little retired couple. (Pauline actually trained me for my very first job, a million years ago, when I was in high school) To save money, Pauline & Warren cut each other's hair. Which makes it hard to cut Warren's hair, because he's used to how Pauline does it, and expects the trained professional to cut like the untrained housewife.
Pauline was in the other day to get a perm. On the surface, her hair looked fine. I could see where there was some "creativity" on the top, near her bangs, but otherwise looked okay. Until I washed her hair and started sectioning it for her perm. Which required me to do some seriously creative wrapping of her hair to get all the hair in the rods. While it's tempting to make a note to cut her hair first next time, I don't believe I will....I'll wind up cutting too much hair off and won't be able to give her the soft perm she's looking for. Pauline's comment to me regarding cutting her hair : "I almost don't want you to cut my hair...It's just starting to turn under nicely" (this was before I started wrapping her hair). "Well, I'll take a look at it as I'm wrapping and see what needs to be done" OH BOY.
So, when I got done with the perm part, I started sectioning her hair. Once the hair was curled, you could definitely see where the bulk was in the hair cut. YIKES. She commented again about not losing any length, and my reply was "Well, I see a lot of uneven sections in your hair, so I'm just going to even everything up". Thankfully, I haven't run into a home haircut yet that I can't fix, but, DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN! STOP CUTTING EACH OTHER'S HAIR!
She did comment on the fact that her arthritis has gotten bad enough that she can't hang onto the hair any longer and would be coming in to see me more regularly for her hair cuts, Warren, too. We'll see if she shows up in 6 weeks to get it trimmed. Stay tuned!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
What my days are like...
I was just on a professional site on Facebook, where they asked the stylist if they were to write a letter to their client, what would it say. All were quite funny, yet sadly true at the same time. And it got me to thinking: What would I say to my clients?? Not so much my regular clients, who are fabulous people, but to the ones that hop from salon to salon, for what ever reason. So, here we go:
Dear client:
1) When I ask you to hold/manipulate your child's head, please do exactly that. Hold their head FIRMLY and move it/hold it where I need it to be so I can cut their hair quickly & efficiently.
2) If your child is crying and pitching a fit, this is NOT a good time to cut their hair.
3) When you tell me you're not fussy about your haircut, don't be.
4) Please don't ask me to recommend shampoo, conditioner, styling products or hair color from the drugstore or department store. I do not use those products myself and have no idea what any of them are.
5) Whether you book an appointment or sign up when you walk in the door: when we give you a time, please be on time. If you walk away after we tell you "5-10 minutes" it's going to suck to be you if you don't come right back.
6) When you ask how much for a corrective color, don't be all shocked when we tell you the price. it's a CORRECTIVE COLOR. These things take time and patience.
7) When we quote you a price, that's the price. It's not negotiable. Do you haggle with your dentist, doctor, mechanic?? Didn't think so. Keep haggling and the price goes UP.
8) Please don't ask me what a good tip is or if you tipped enough. If you ask me these questions, I will tell you a good tip is $50, and, no, you didn't tip enough. Google it if you want to know what a good tip is.
9) When you color your hair at home, and have severly damaged hair because you followed the directions on the box, please don't expect miracles when you sit in my chair. The easiet, least expensive way to fix all that damage is to CUT IT OFF. If you would just sit in my chair for your haircolor in the first place, we wouldn't have this problem.
I know this sounds like I'm an ungrateful twit. I'm really not. I enjoy each and every one of my clients. Without them, I wouldn't have a paycheck! These are just the things I (and other hair care professionals) hear ALL THE TIME. I hope you see the humor as well as the lesson in these.
Dear client:
1) When I ask you to hold/manipulate your child's head, please do exactly that. Hold their head FIRMLY and move it/hold it where I need it to be so I can cut their hair quickly & efficiently.
2) If your child is crying and pitching a fit, this is NOT a good time to cut their hair.
3) When you tell me you're not fussy about your haircut, don't be.
4) Please don't ask me to recommend shampoo, conditioner, styling products or hair color from the drugstore or department store. I do not use those products myself and have no idea what any of them are.
5) Whether you book an appointment or sign up when you walk in the door: when we give you a time, please be on time. If you walk away after we tell you "5-10 minutes" it's going to suck to be you if you don't come right back.
6) When you ask how much for a corrective color, don't be all shocked when we tell you the price. it's a CORRECTIVE COLOR. These things take time and patience.
7) When we quote you a price, that's the price. It's not negotiable. Do you haggle with your dentist, doctor, mechanic?? Didn't think so. Keep haggling and the price goes UP.
8) Please don't ask me what a good tip is or if you tipped enough. If you ask me these questions, I will tell you a good tip is $50, and, no, you didn't tip enough. Google it if you want to know what a good tip is.
9) When you color your hair at home, and have severly damaged hair because you followed the directions on the box, please don't expect miracles when you sit in my chair. The easiet, least expensive way to fix all that damage is to CUT IT OFF. If you would just sit in my chair for your haircolor in the first place, we wouldn't have this problem.
I know this sounds like I'm an ungrateful twit. I'm really not. I enjoy each and every one of my clients. Without them, I wouldn't have a paycheck! These are just the things I (and other hair care professionals) hear ALL THE TIME. I hope you see the humor as well as the lesson in these.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
