Recently, I was reading my friend Andrew Finkelstein’s great newsletter he shares worldwide with his target audience as the #1 Salon and Spa Management Guide and fell in love with this personal reflection he shared at the end of a recent newsletter. With his permission I share it with you today, I’m sure it will be “no problem” to see what caught my attention….

Enjoy and share your insights and comments below.
Sharon

p.s. I started counting how many times I say “No Problem…” and stopped counting after awhile… I had no idea, it was one of my favorite phrases.

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Personal Reflection from the desk of Andrew Finkelstein

I’ve logged a lot of miles behind the front desk in salons (my first job in the business was behind the front desk in an enormous full-service salon – where we booked our bazillions of appointments on paper while answering phones that were ringing off the hook)…

And did we ever have problems? – Of course, we did!

But one problem that we never had was the problem of “no problem”  – and today it seems like the “no problem” problem is going viral in salons across the country.

So what’s the “no problem” problem?

It’s when someone responds to a client’s request by saying “no problem” instead of using another response like “my pleasure”, “of course” or even “let me see.”

For example, if a client asks for a glass of water – the answer should be  “Of course we’ll get you one” instead of the “no problem.”

Now some people reading this may be saying to themselves “Hey, is this guy nuts? After all there’s really no difference here – aren’t we just splitting hairs? Because we’ll be giving the client the glass of water – and isn’t that all she wants?”  So what’s all this piddley stuff about?”

And that person is right – at least in thinking the client only wants is a glass of water.

But we’re not splitting hairs here. Why? Because the “no problem” to the glass of water request, creates a question (in the client’s mind) of “So why would getting me a glass of water be a problem?”

Admittedly that’s rarely a conscious thought – but rather a non-conscious one. But never the less if it’s happening in your salon then it’s quietly eroding your reputation for great customer service – and what salon owner in her/his right mind wants that to happen?

So the next time you’re at the front desk – or in your booking room pay attention – [or on the phone, with friends and family, with clients, making a sales call…] listen closely for the “no-problem” problem. And if you have it, be sure to get it [the problem] fixed.

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Finkelstein_andrewAndrew Finkelstein is a salon marketing strategist and digital media coach. He helps enlightened salon owners get and keep more clients so they can build a healthy and prosperous salon business.

His thirty year’ experience in the professional beauty industry include owning and operating salons, holding the position of Senior Vice President of marketing and retail for Glemby International, where amongst his other accomplishments he discovered and launched Frederic Fekkai. In addition he served Vice President of Salons for Cut Co Industries and President of the Jean Louis David Salons, USA. Currently he works directly with the owners of leading salons both in the US and abroad.

Andrew’s guiding philosophy is:

  • Profitability is not optional…
  • Marketing is an essential ingredient to salon success.
  • Salons are great, fun places to work and it all starts with the owner.
  • You don’t need a degree from Harvard to run a successful salon business.

Andrew holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and a PMD from the Harvard Business School.

He runs busysalons.com, and publishes The Finkelstein Report – the industry’s #1 salon marketing. In addition he writes for various industry publications and speaks at industry events.
For more information go to www.busysalons.com or call 212-831-2421

You can subscribe to his newsletter at: http://thebeautyresource.com/1335275037