Would you like a blowdry with that?
I was up particularly early today, so I had time to grab some breakfast before work. I was up so early that I was there before the place where breakfast was to be savored opened, so I drove around the parking lot, listening to NPR, thinking of another way to kill fifteen minutes, when I recalled that an acquaintance of mine shared horror stories with me about being a receptionist at a fancy-pants salon, and the one she had worked at happened to be in the same strip shopping mall.
So I did a little spying, and, to quote one of the older booth-rent ladies, our salon looks like a flea market. Though we do have a far better location.
At work I browsed the other salon's website, which of course was much nicer than ours, and I considered calling them to see how their receptionists handle clients. A few weeks ago I started paying attention to service language, the way you address customers and the like, and instead of saying, "Would you like me to write that down for you?" I've started saying, "I'll write that down for you" because it entails the client not having to think about it, and then perhaps declining because they feel like they are imposing on me, and the encounters where I ask the former and not the latter I kick myself a little bit and realize that I need to start looking for another job because I'm getting way too involved.
So I did a little spying, and, to quote one of the older booth-rent ladies, our salon looks like a flea market. Though we do have a far better location.
At work I browsed the other salon's website, which of course was much nicer than ours, and I considered calling them to see how their receptionists handle clients. A few weeks ago I started paying attention to service language, the way you address customers and the like, and instead of saying, "Would you like me to write that down for you?" I've started saying, "I'll write that down for you" because it entails the client not having to think about it, and then perhaps declining because they feel like they are imposing on me, and the encounters where I ask the former and not the latter I kick myself a little bit and realize that I need to start looking for another job because I'm getting way too involved.