When I was younger I was...
well let's say.....
a smidgen VAIN.
BUT in a down-to-earth, sometimes tom boy way! All right, if I'm going to be completely honest, I was quite vain. I loved wearing cool trendy clothes, funky not entirely practical shoes, I hated my ugly orange car so I made everyone else drive and I had awesome hair.
Long, luxurious dark blonde locks with just the perfect amount of sun kissed highlights. Highlights, I (or paid professionals) slaved over.... lemon juice, highlighting sprays, foiled and even hand painted to catch the light just so. A crowing glory!
But then, Lil Red happened and life got REAL, really fast, if you know what I'm sayin'! Single mom, working full time in media sales with a baby.... needless to say, my vanity left the building... at light speed!
Don't misunderstand, I still WANT to dress cool, I still WANT to run with the cool kids but lifestyle changes over the past umpteen years have resulted in a rather boring and mostly black wardrobe, comfortable shoes and a really effin' awesome luxury car! Yup, at least I have a nice car now. And my hair! I've always had good hair. That is, until last Tuesday when this happened.
I call these "racing stripes" and they were definitely NOT what I ordered!
I had won a cut and color from one of the many networking events I attend and saved it for the New Year. I have a usual gal, but I haven't been able to afford to go to her since losing my job and starting this venture, so this was a HUGE treat and I was super excited! I asked for subtle, fine highlights and face framing layers. She quickly lopped off several inches of hair and foiled me up. It was right after she rinsed the color off my hair while I was still dripping wet in the chair, when she cut a deep gash into her finger. So deep, it wouldn't stop bleeding.
She couldn't continue.
She handed me a comb, a hair dryer and told me she'd call me as she fled the salon with her hand wrapped in paper towels.
At first I thought someone else in the salon would come help. Nope.
Then I thought the owner of the salon would step in. Nope.
So, I left.
I went home, dried my hair, took the above photo, panicked a lot and called my friends for moral support. I had half a haircut and weird splotchy colors all over my head.
And a job interview in TWO DAYS!! WHAT WAS I GOING TO DO?!?
(deep calming breath)
Day 1, no phone call.
Day 2, no phone call. I'll remind you that TODAY is the interview! Thankfully, the folks at the interview were all rather short! Being tall (ish) and wearing high heels meant they couldn't see the top of my head. We won't discuss the hat I wore to a board meeting that morning!
Day 3, I text her. "How's the finger?" She texts back, "Healing! When can you come back?
Day 4, more texting and more texting and VOILA! By mid afternoon, I'm back in the salon.
Salon selfie! Can you tell I was VERY WORRIED?
Why did I go back?
I thought about NOT going back.
I debated and debated.
I even took a poll on Facebook which was evenly split.
But the more I thought about it the more I realized that sometimes shit happens. Sometimes, vendors disappoint. Sometimes, in spite of our best efforts and intentions, things go horribly wrong.
PLUS- I've been there! I've given bad news to customers. I've made errors. I've disappointed people. It sucks when that happens but what you do in that situation will result in one of two things.
- chase away your customer forever
OR
- be an opportunity to create a customer for life
What SHOULD you do when everything goes horribly wrong?
- Confess! AS EARLY as possible and hopefully before the customer figures out something is wrong. Fall on your sword and never try to shift blame to others.
- Apologize! Do it immediately, do it frequently and do it sincerely!
- Reassure! Bad news always comes as a shock so be ready to reassure the customer that you have several potential solutions already in mind.
- Empower! Give the customer the power to choose their preferred method of resolution. i.e. Refund, alternative product, make good, discount, etc.
- More apologies! Be sincere!
- More reassurance! They need to know that you are actively working on fixing their problem.
- Commitment to improve! Problems often happen because of a flaw in our systems. These can and should be learning experiences and you should commit to your negatively impacted customer that your company will fix this!
- Gratitude! Giving thanks to the customer for their patience, their understanding and for allowing you the opportunity to fix the problem.
Now, back to the saga of my hair. I gave her the opportunity to fix it. She apologized profusely and she vowed to improve her system so accidents like that won't happen again.
To be honest, I don't know that I'll ever go back to her salon. Hidden under my sensible clothes and Dansko clogs is a wrinkly, middle aged, hair goddess who needs perfectly foiled and coiffed strands. BUT I do appreciate her efforts to right the wrong! Plus, she inspired a blog!
Have you ever been disappointed by a vendor? What happened next?
Have you ever been the disappointing vendor? What did you do?
BUT, before you go! Let's stay in touch!