I needed a haircut – badly. But I'd been putting it off, not because I couldn't make the time, but for another reason – which I'll get to.
But first, some back story…
I've been going to the same salon for about 5 years. They're in the local shopping centre and the lady who cut my hair always did a good job. It came down to thoroughness and attention to detail.
Yes, they cost twice as much as the local barber, but I was happy to pay.
Then she decided to go travelling and left. Bummer.
So I tried a couple of other stylists in the salon, and found one who did almost as good a job.
However, over time, I noticed small inconsistencies creeping into their delivery.
Ladies (and some of you gentlemen) will know salons always want to wash your hair before doing anything.
Well, sometimes this mob did and sometimes they didn't. Often they'd ask – but more often than not – not. And when they did wash it, each new apprentice lumbered with the job was good, bad or positively indifferent.
But I also noticed they charged the same regardless of whether they washed my hair or not. Maybe I'm a bit simple, but surely if they're not performing a part of the service, they shouldn't be charging?
I really don't like changing hairdressers so didn't say anything, even when I saw the price steadily increasing.
A couple of months ago though, everything changed.
The girl who cut my hair left and I was introduced to a new guy, Mark.
In his 40's Mark seemed like an old pro. Did a pretty good job the first time around – my only "complaint” being he was incredibly prissy with his scissors and took 3 times as long!
I also noticed something else that I really didn't like. It was the way he treated people in the salon "beneath him”. Just came across as very terse and arrogant.
Next haircut time came around and I asked for him again. Remember, I don't like changing hairdressers!
This time he took even longer, cut less hair and charged more!
I got home and looked at the cut. Honestly, I wondered if I'd got value for money with the result.
I thought about going back but didn't want to go through the hassle. And a part of me was feeling embarrassed about not saying anything at the time.
So I swallowed the feelings and lived with it… but every morning when I brushed my hair – I was reminded of it. Emotions are powerful things – especially negative ones!
So back to why I was putting off booking in for a new haircut.
I wasn't happy with the salon. I didn't want to go back to Mark, but there really weren't any others there either. Also I was unhappy with the price creep.
I checked out a couple of other local places, but none particularly invited me in.
So I thought – what the hell, let me try the local barber.
Now I should point out there are 2 local barbers in our local high street precinct.
Both charge $18 for a haircut – which was half of the $40 the salon wanted.
I also have it on good authority that one was an old established place which was really fighting competition from a new upstart.
But it was late Saturday afternoon. The older place was closed. The newer one was open 7 days a week!
A sign loudly proclaimed $18 haircuts and $2 wet neck shave!
So I walked in, sat down and within 10 minutes was done and dusted!
And he managed a 10% upsell – by shaving the back of my neck!
I happily paid my $20 and for the first time in years walked out not having to fight with the hairdresser to "get it shorter up the top”!
And the sad thing – for my old salon anyway, is that they'll never know what happened.
As professional marketers, here are some fundamentals we drill into our clients. Activities that could (and do) mean the difference between getting and more importantly, keeping your clients.
- They've never bothered to record my details and give me a call every 4-6 weeks to remind me to come in.
- They never communicated why sometimes they offered a wash and other times didn't, but charged the same amount anyway.
- Never once did I get asked by the owner if I was happy with the service (look out for an article next week on the value of conducting regular customer surveys).
- Not once was any sort of loyalty reward offered.
It took a lot of (in isolation) small incidents – but over time, resentment built up, the scales tipped and I questioned my going back.
Competition is everywhere. It's hard enough to get clients in the first place – so when you do you need to keep on your toes to keep them.
Rashid.
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