We’ve grown up hearing over and over again how the customer is always right; but, is that always the case? In the Hair Restoration Industry we have skilled individuals who are trained to provide various treatments to people with various types of hair loss. The reasons for hair loss are varied and many and the treatments can be simple or complicated. Different degrees of training are necessary and many of you spend years perfecting your skills.
Some study Tricology or Laser Treatments. Some are Cosmetologists who go to school to learn the fundamentals of hair care. Some are medical professionals with years of training who perform surgery or simply treat hair loss via medications and other forms of medically required treatment. The list of necessary qualifications is long and important to serving your clientele to the best of your ability.
So, when a customer comes into a Salon and wants to stop their hair from thinning should they tell you how to accomplish this? If a client walks in the office of a Transplant Surgeon should that client tell the surgeon how to perform the delicate surgery required? Can a client know what a Dermatologist knows about the conditions that cause hair loss?
No matter how well read a client may be they are usually not trained to know how to fix their problem. They are usually at a cross roads where they feel desperate and are low on self-esteem and want someone to fix them ASAP. There will always be the clients who think that they know what is best for them…..what should be done whether it’s feasible or whether it works or not…they know the answers because they looked it up on the Internet or heard a story from someone else. “My brother’s cousin’s friend took XYZ Supplement and re-grew all of his hair”. You, the professional know that this isn’t possible or truthful but you must listen before you speak the real truth.
Sure a client can walk into a Salon and request a certain style or color or hair system. They may be right about what looks good on them and they have a point that should be respected and honored. But when it comes to the serious issues of hair loss or preservation or treatment of a healthy scalp they probably know absolutely nothing about how that is achieved.
So, what do you do? How do you explain to someone who knows all the answers that they are wrong or uninformed and that they will be wasting their time and money and yours by going through a process that won’t ever work.
You follow these simple steps.
- You listen
- You examine
- You make suggestions
- You give hope
- You use your professionalism and knowledge to choose the right treatments
Then you wait to see what kind of response you get before proceeding. I would never recommend working on a client who was not convinced that you know what you are doing because that lingering doubt could cost you. It could cost you in future business or it could cost you in terms of lawsuits if the customer feels duped through no fault of your own but based on a previous impossible dream.
The customer is SOMETIMES right but not ALWAYS right.
Be sure that you know the difference and act accordingly.