Cheers

Determined not to let the summer pass without taking any vacation, I made a quick getaway to Bermuda over the Labor Day holiday.  I found a package deal at a well-known resort hotel, and looked forward to relaxing and lounging on the beach for a few days.  However, I was taken aback when I arrived and was greeted with a very icy reception at check-in.  This continued to be my experience over the next few days, staying at a beautiful hotel with beautiful beaches (and expensive meals), but crummy service. I wondered if it was because I was there on a package, but then realized that this shouldn't matter.

As I lay on the beach working on my tan, I had a lot of time to ponder this, and couldn't help but to make connections to my own role as a customer service provider.  Some clients come in and want to get lost in a magazine for two hours, others want to spend the time discussing celebrity gossip or more personal topics with their stylist.  But either way, clients expect to feel welcome and that their business is appreciated.

We recently had a frustrating experience at the salon with online reviews, where many supportive reviews were overshadowed by one bad review, and I was left feeling very jaded by the great and powerful social media.  After my experience in Bermuda, I went to post an online review and saw that the hotel had 700 other reviews. It made me consider what my purpose was in reviewing. Social media has its advantages, but at the end of the day all we really want when we walk into a business is to hear, "Hey! We're happy you're here."  At the end of the day, we all want to be Norm.