The Customer Is [Still] Always Right!

I don't have to emphasize the challenges our ongoing "great recession" continue to place on businesses, and the hard effort it takes to keep generating revenue while everyone's financial belts remain tightened. Unfortunately, some businesses won't survive, especially those that don't understand a basic business principle--one that's vital to adhere to in both good economic times and bad.

That said, I have to share a story from last month. I get my hair cut once a month. Normally, it's a pretty pedestrian, uneventful affair, but this past April, I experienced a vivid, real-life case study in how to NOT treat customers, in this case, my barber, Norm.

Norm's been cutting hair for, oh, the closer side of 50 years. He owns and operates a small, traditional-type men's barber shop--think Floyd the barber from the old Andy Griffith show, and you'll get a good idea of the place, minus Floyd's wacky personality--I wouldn't want to offend Norm with that characterization.

Anyway, so I walk in to Norm's barber shop at my appointed time, we greet one another, and I proceed to the barber's chair for my monthly clipping, per usual. A few minutes into my haircut, one of Norm's vendors, a scissor-sharpener, enters the establishment. He is dropping off a freshly sharpened pair of scissors for Norm. Norm thanks him, and then advises him he's unhappy with the two pairs of scissors that he previously sharpened for him, telling him they 'catch', and concludes, "They just don't feel right."

This is where it gets interesting. The scissor-sharpener reacts in disbelief, and then proceeds to disagree with Norm, the customer! Norm calmly reiterates that the two pairs of scissors kept catching when he tried using them on two of his customers, and again states, "Well, they just don't feel right--they don't work for me."

The scissor-sharpener continues to disagree with Norm. He is so adamant to prove Norm wrong that he asks Norm for his 'hair bucket' (the wastebasket where Norm disposes of the day's various hair clippings). Norm gestures to it, and the scissor-sharpener proceeds to pull it out, grab a handful of hair, and start clipping it with one of the aforementioned scissors! He looks at Norm and says, "These are cutting fine. They don't seem to be catching at all." Norm replies, "Well, sorry, but they just don't feel right, and they don't work for me. I tried 'em a few times on a couple of customers, and I wasn't happy with 'em."

Keep in mind that I'm sitting in the barber's chair the whole time this exchange is going on, hoping the scissor-sharpener will realize my existence and relent so Norm can get back to cutting my hair!

Alas, no chance--the scissor-sharpener retorts, "Well, let me go to my truck and bring my sharpening machine in and see if I can resharpen them."

Does he ask Norm if it's OK to do this in the middle of his business day? No. Is he cognizant that a paying customer (i.e., me!) is in the middle of getting a haircut, and I would like Norm to complete my haircut without the constant interruptions? No. This scissor-sharpener is bound and determined to prove Norm wrong, all other considerations be damned.

As he exits the barber shop to retrieve his portable sharpening machine, I share my observations on the matter with Norm. "Gee, that guy just doesn't get it, does he?" Norm chuckles and responds, "Nope, and he won't be getting my business anymore, either. For one, that guy's the most expensive sharpener in town--he charges me more than all the other sharpeners I've used before. For another, I've been cutting hair for a long, long time, and if I say they ain't feelin' right, they ain't feelin' right." We both start laughing.

The scissor-sharpener then returns with his sharpening machine, and proceeds to set it up in the vacant barber stall next to the one I'm occupying (thankfully!). He continues his back 'n forth with Norm, utterly oblivious to the fact that I'm one of Norm's paying customers, whose hair Norm's still trying to cut. I guess rudeness is also one of this guy's character traits (along with stubbornness and stupidity, that is). No matter. Lucky for me that a.) Norm's a pretty easygoing guy, and b.) Norm's not easily distracted when cutting someone's hair!

Norm finally manages to finish cutting my hair. I pay him, and I'm off and on my way until next month.

The scissor-sharpener? He's off and on his way to almost certainly losing more customers, and eventually, his entire business, I'm sure, because a.) he's not the sharpest scissor-sharpener around, and b.) I don't think his business acumen, or lack thereof, is ever going to cut it.

Never, ever forget, THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!!

That's Mark's Mark for today. Have a great week.