Czaro Strategic Communications

I just fired my hair stylist, but she doesn’t know it yet.

I’d only gone to her a few times, so I wasn’t that attached. I’d been with my prior stylist for five years, but the last few times I left with a sub-standard haircut and minor depression. Her personal life invaded her professional life, and I couldn’t roll the dice with another bad-mood haircut. So, I fired her.

This time, it was an inconvenience issue. My stylist took a spur of the moment trip to Hawaii – for 10 days.

I’m shaggy, and this week I’ve got three important meetings, my wife’s birthday and our anniversary. I’m in need of follicular care.

A few weeks ago, I met the owner of a new salon that’s right down the street - Trichology. Greg Welchel has carved out a niche that fits perfectly with my needs, wants and desires. This salon has merged hair cutting with the latest in technology.

It’s a service business and they over-deliver on service. Like most salons they have high-end equipment and highly-skilled stylists, but they really excel in technology including online web booking, email and text confirmation services, a convenient lap top bar for customers – featuring free Wi-Fi service, along with multiple flat screen televisions.

On the off chance that my recently-fired stylist catches this blog (not likely), I have some advice:

• Keep an address book of all your clients with notes that paint a picture of their history (cut, color, frequency, e-mail, phone).
• Be proactive. When you’re going to be out of town for two weeks, call your clients and get them in early or book them for when you return.
• Have someone on-call. Doctors do it. Dentists do it. I might have had a different opinion if, when I called, I was told, “Our relationship is important to me. I’ll be happy to get you in right after I get back or if it’s an emergency, I trust Shelly to take care of you.”
• Yes, you’ll have to put in more hours on the front- and back-end, but you’ll be able to enjoy your vacation more knowing that your most valuable asset – your clients – are taken care of.

These aren’t secrets. They’re basic customer services practices.

Now, where did I put that number? Never mind. I’m making my appointment online.