Last Saturday's scheduled Ümlarifically Sweet Halloween ended up being postponed by one week (November 3rd), due to the non-stop rain that we got over the weekend. With the unexpected break in my schedule, I decided to get out and get a much-needed haircut, which is where my story begins.

I don't have a regular hair stylist, but I do have a regular salon. I never make an appointment, because I just never know when I'm going to be free on a weekend to get a haircut. This past weekend was no different. I knew the exact style and length that I wanted when I walked in, and I told the stylist up front. By telling her what I wanted, I was managing expectations. Much the same way manner that I advertise services such as An Ümlarifically Sweet Halloween. Clients know that for that photoshoot, they are getting 5 photos and that their session will last 20 minutes. Simple enough, right?

The haircut seemed to be going okay, when, suddenly, the stylist started going off on a rant about how I should wait longer in between haircuts, so that I can donate my hair to charity. Not doing so, according to the stylist, was selfish on my part (she didn't say that in so many words, but it was implied). Unsolicited advice, especially forceful unsolicited advice is NOT good for one's customer experience. I doubt that my clients would appreciate me lecturing them about donating their money to charity while in the middle of a photoshoot.

More time passed. I noticed that the length that she'd cut my hair wasn't quite what I had asked for, so I corrected her. She assured me that she would trim it more once she straightened it with a flat iron. And she did. But it wasn't quite the length that I wanted, so I told her so. As she proceeded to fix my hair length, I could tell that she was annoyed, though she said nothing. Even though she didn't say that she was annoyed, her body language told me otherwise. Bad body language is the kiss of death for my line of work (you can probably say that for any other customer-facing job). Can you imagine how awkward it would be for clients to have a fun, natural, and casual photoshoot if I spent the whole time looking annoyed? Even if I didn't say anything that would indicate that I was annoyed, you'd probably be able to tell very easily. And you probably wouldn't call on me again.

And finally, the straw that broke the camel's back. Once she was done with the length (which wasn't even quite what I wanted), she moved on to the layers. Again, recall that I told her the exact length and style up front. And again, she did not listen to me. I must have corrected her 5 times or so. And each time she had to re-do part of the cut (for the male readers out there, it's the nature of layered hair). Finally, she got fed up and told me that she was tired of having to re-do my hair so many times, especially since it was Saturday and she was very busy. If I had been a cartoon, I probably would've blown steam out of my ears at that point.

I was blown away by the awful customer service. First, she ignored what I was telling her on the length and style, and then she complained that I kept correcting her crappy job! I quickly pointed out to her that I was very up front with her about the length and style. When I am being polite and up front about my expectations for a certain service, that service provider has two choices. She can either agree to those expectations and go about her job, doing the best that she can to meet those expectations. Or she can politely decline the service. Either way, there would be no hard feelings because there was a polite understanding between both parties.

Now, what if I started to pay lip service to clients a photoshoot? They'd probably walk away. And want their money back. And rightfully so. Because no client in their right mind would want to deal with a photographer who complains during a shoot. ESPECIALLY if the working parameters of the photoshoot were agreed upon in advance.

In the end, I more or less got the haircut that I wanted. I have to admit that I was so turned off by her rudeness that I just wanted to get as far away from her as possible. But before I did that, I refused to tip her, and gave her a piece of my mind about why I wasn't tipping her. With such a bad client experience, there is no way that I can ever return to that salon. Even though I usually get a different stylist each time, she represented that salon, and her representation was lacking.

But as frustrating as this haircut tale may be, there's one important takeaway from it all: there is nothing quite like a good customer experience. My clients are important to me, and making them happy makes me happy.