Where is she? It’s now 10 minutes into her appointment time and she’s still not here. If she’s not here in the next 5 minutes I’m not going to do it. I can’t! She has super thick hair and I have a huge colour correction right after her. 3 more minutes and I’m leaving the salon for lunch.
That’s it, I’m super pissed now. She’s just cost me money. Doesn’t she know how many people I could have put in to her appointment time? Ugh, Some people have nerve.
“Can you call her and leave a message telling her that I can’t do her hair and that if she would like to rebook, there is a $25 no show fee from today? And If she comes in tell her the same. Bye!”
We’ve likely all done it at some point. Especially if the salon environment is one where they stylists are more important than the clients. And there are definitely salons like that out there. But once a hairdressers gets a full book with a waiting list, this reaction eventually comes up.
I’m here to remind you, that what you do is not about you. It is about your client and all the clients of the salon. You are there for one reason, and one reason only; to make people look and feel more beautiful than when they walked in.
You don’t know what they went through that day. You don’t know what they may have gone through to get to you.
The next time this happens, you have an opportunity to be an awesome professional and save the day by taking care of your client. Or you can be the person who upset your client and made their day or week much worse.
Oh, and that message you left? About missing her hair appointment and the late fee she would have to pay? Well, maybe someone close to her was in a terrible car accident. Maybe her father had a heart attack. Maybe something much bigger unexpectedly happened and calling the salon wasn’t her first priority.
So when you do make that call and leave your late client a message, tell her you were worried about her and was checking to see if she was OK.
My Life As A Hairstylist 