I’ve been going to the same place to get my hair cut for the past 10 plus years or so. And yes, Sue, et al., I do have hair (inside joke)! Oddly, the place I go to hasn’t seemed quite as busy the last several months when I have gone there. I no longer have to wait 15 to 30 minutes to get my hair cut. I now just walk right in, no waiting. Kind of like the restaurant with just a few cars in the parking lot… there might be a reason. There were four employees there and I had never seen three of them. Another bad sign… the good employees are no longer there. Now getting to the point, my hair is pretty basic, no perm, no long, flowing locks and such. I told the girl how I wanted it cut and after literally 15 minutes she asked how that was and she had only cut one side of my hair and a little cutting on the back. This is no exaggeration. She also spent more time talking to her coworkers than cutting my hair. I was not very comfortable and I then asked how long she had been cutting hair. She wouldn’t say. I got out of my chair and told her I was going somewhere else. I offered to pay and the manager, who was right next to us, offered to finish my haircut. Only problem was, the manager was cutting someone else’s hair. She was going to leave the other person and let her just sit there waiting while she cut my hair. I’m guessing the other customer couldn’t have been too thrilled about this. To make this long story shorter, I left and got my hair finished at another place just down the street. They cut my hair in about 10 minutes which is normally the case.
Here’s the deal. Hire people who have a talent for the job. Hire people who will focus on the customer instead of having conversations with other employees, unless the customer is included in the conversation. And when your parking lot becomes empty and customer traffic begins to dwindle… take notice, there might be a problem. How do you know if the employee has a talent for the job? First have a core score and set expectations. Next, see if the employee is bringing innovations to the job. Lastly, notice if the employee is following the non-negotiables of having a professional attitude and communicating properly (not gossiping and such). These are just three obvious things to help out. As for me, I won’t go to this place again. Something is broken there and I can easily find another place to do the cutting. Do any of your customers feel the same way about your place of business?
