Reman U
- Author: Andrew Hicks
- Subject: Mastering your job
I’ll preface this story by explaining a little about myself. I like to look good. Whether that outcome is always achieved is in the eye of the beholder, but I have always believed in these mottos:
- “Look good, feel good.”
- “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.”
That being said, I like getting a good haircut. For a long time, I had a really sweet deal. A coworker of mine was really good at cutting hair and she would come to my house to trim me up. I was spoiled and didn’t realize how good I had it until recently.
After I relocated, it wasn’t feasible for my haircutter to come over. The holiday season was approaching and, like most people, I waited until the last minute to make an appointment at a new place. I’ve never been much for going to a walk-in discount hair salon, but being new to the area and with time not on my side, I gave one a shot.
I didn’t have much expectation walking in the door, but I left very satisfied. The haircutter I had paid attention to how I like my hair, took her time, and sold their product well. She explained that they save the exact details in their system so that any one of their stylists could give the same haircut if I returned. She also mentioned their online check-in service, but I told her I’d rather have her cut my hair again. She explained that she worked at a few of the stores locally and wasn’t always at that location and therefore couldn’t take appointments. I was a little bummed, but still left happy.
A month and a half later, my time was due again. I checked in online before I left the house, showed up, and a chair was ready. My original haircutter wasn’t there this time, but I still felt good about it. The new haircutter asked if I would like the same cut as last time, which I did. She then started chopping away – literally. As she was rushing through my cut, she intently tried to sell me hair product. Her points were solid. It was a reasonable price, would last longer than most, and she even put it in my hair to show how well it held. As a salesman, I respected that she knew her product and how to sell it. I probably would have bought it on the spot had they not been out of stock. But at the end of the day, she was more focused on selling me product than cutting my hair. I didn’t feel the same as I did before about this haircut as I walked out.
After a couple days, my hair grew out a bit and ended up looking OK. But the next time I was in the market for a trim, I was not nearly as confident in the place. Still, I decided to give them one more shot.
The lady I had was wonderfully warm and a great conversationalist. She trimmed me up in all of about 10 minutes. But haircuts shouldn’t hurt, and it did multiple times as she slammed the trimmer into my scalp. This haircut didn’t look good. In fact, it had to be fixed by a different person before I left.
My big takeaway from this experience? Make sure you know your job and master it before moving on to little things. Focus on your main product or service, and make damn sure that you deliver.
It’s great to show your personality, make jokes, and upsell to increase your bottom line. At the end of the day, if your main product sucks, none of the rest matters.
Andrew Hicks, “Transmission Control,” is a customer loyalty specialist at ETE Reman. Reman U is a free e-newsletter that delivers best practices, lessons learned and tricks of the trade to help you build a better transmission business.
