Its who comes along, stupid!
Yesterday was Jaden's first haircut at a neighbourhood salon, which ain't a fancy place, mind you. Jaden's still 5 months away from his second birthday. Until now I have cut his hair myself. You can imagine the mess :)
We had a very interesting experience at the salon. The coiffeur asked me to hold Jaden in my lap after which he started to cut the hair on one side of his head. Jaden remained surprisingly calm through this. But when I switched sides, he was startled and so started on a wailing spree. All throughout we did our best to calm him. What touched me most was the coiffeur's reaction. He was extremely sweet throughout trying to cheer Jaden up and moving around so as to best do his job. He even stopped and waited for some time.
I ended up paying him twice what was normal payment for the haircut. All because of the way he treated us. Walking home I realised something. I have never been concerned about the way I had my hair cut. Seriously I don't care. But when it came to my son, I did care, very much. What's now getting me to have positive memories about my neighbourhood salon, is not the way they cut my hair every time I went there, but the way they treated my little boy. And that's had an effect far greater than the one they would have had in the way they treated me.
Marketers must remember that at times its not about the customer himself. It about who comes along. Maybe its a spouse, a child, a friend, a guest, maybe even the dog. Treat the companion well and you have a loyal customer who may even swear by you!
We had a very interesting experience at the salon. The coiffeur asked me to hold Jaden in my lap after which he started to cut the hair on one side of his head. Jaden remained surprisingly calm through this. But when I switched sides, he was startled and so started on a wailing spree. All throughout we did our best to calm him. What touched me most was the coiffeur's reaction. He was extremely sweet throughout trying to cheer Jaden up and moving around so as to best do his job. He even stopped and waited for some time.
I ended up paying him twice what was normal payment for the haircut. All because of the way he treated us. Walking home I realised something. I have never been concerned about the way I had my hair cut. Seriously I don't care. But when it came to my son, I did care, very much. What's now getting me to have positive memories about my neighbourhood salon, is not the way they cut my hair every time I went there, but the way they treated my little boy. And that's had an effect far greater than the one they would have had in the way they treated me.
Marketers must remember that at times its not about the customer himself. It about who comes along. Maybe its a spouse, a child, a friend, a guest, maybe even the dog. Treat the companion well and you have a loyal customer who may even swear by you!
Comments
Sir you are right. Most of the times you find that the people end up giving too much importance to the person who has the wallet or dresses well. May be that day all others are not digging into their pockets but the attitude decides whther I want to come to your store or not. Yes if treated well I would trace my steps back.
Sure, the attitudes that service providers exhibit go a long way in dictating consumer responses.