06 Jul Customer care, nailed?

Needing a spot of pampering, we recently booked in to a salon we hadn’t used before to have a manicure and some gel nails applied. Gentlemen readers may be unaware of the many benefits of gel nails, so you may care to re-imagine this cautionary tale by substituting a monthly procedure from your own personal grooming routine, like…. erm….

Anyway, we turned up at the salon at the pre-appointed time, for the pre-booked procedure. A procedure that requires a certain amount of alchemy beforehand to collect and prepare the requisite potions and equipment. Except none of this had been done, so what should have been a relaxing hour out of a manic day began with a lot of noisy bustling around. The technician banged a few cupboard doors, knocked something over and dropped bits on the floor.

All of which left us with the distinct impression that we were perhaps in the wrong hands. And that maybe our hands were about to be wrong also.

Regular readers and friends of Onswitch will be very familiar with the ‘7 steps’ that frame a customer-centred consultation. We couldn’t help comparing our manicure:

1. Prepare yourself. Clearly overlooked. Gaps between appointments or lunch breaks can be used to collect together items for appointments later in the day, in case time runs away with you later. Or ask a junior or an assistant to help. Of course delays do happen, but it’s so important to have a process for managing the inevitable hiccup.
2. Create a rapport. Another missed opportunity – having never been to the salon before, there was no eye contact (the technician was too busy moving around collecting things) or attempts at conversation.
3. Ask open questions. At no point did anyone ask about preferences – nail shape, likely exposure to wear and tear and so on.
4. Carry out an obvious examination. The basics of the procedure were carried out in a very rudimentary fashion – the filing was rough and ready and the whole thing felt like going through the motions, rather than a pampering experience.
5. Make recommendations. Once again, no comments were made about nail condition, nor was advice was given about after-care
6. Check understanding and signpost next steps. No suggestions were made about when further maintenance would be required
7. Au revoir, not goodbye! And not surprisingly, there was no offer to book the required re-application in five weeks’ time. Not that we’re expecting the nails to still be in place in five weeks.

It could have been so different. In fact it is normally very different, at every other salon we’ve been to. The lack of preparation, involvement and interest not only made us doubt the quality of the service and the expected life of the product, but it removed any chance of us ever returning to said salon. And we’re telling you about it, just like unhappy clients tell their friends when their veterinary practice fails to deliver the high standards of care that they expect.

But we need to stop typing now, the nails might not take much more!