BLOG spot Who Else is Sick of the C Word? By Lisa Conway, The Zing project
I don’t know about you, but I am so over hearing Covid updates? Sometimes I just want to watch something on the TV that is Covid free. I don’t want to hear the statistics or listen to yet another road map or the rolling out of anything. I have had enough of the virus. Now that might not be very grown up and it might not be what I should be writing about however it is how I feel some days, and maybe you do too. It seems that everybody has an opinion on what we could or shouldn’t be doing in and around the pandemic, everybody is a self-appointed expert and at times I find it exhausting. Not only can the consistent Covid chatter be mentally draining it also makes the day-to-day conversations we have with our salon/clinic guests a bit tricky. It is quite likely that one client’s opinions is very different to the next, and at times you feel like the meat in a client sandwich. This adds an unnecessary stress to the salon’s team, and we really do have enough to juggle. If you are at the local pub having a beer that’s a different story, go your hardest have a strong opinion and voice it if you want. The main difference is the clinic is that the clients are not paying us for our opinion on current affairs. They are paying us for our expert opinion of all thing’s beauty. It’s important that we always keep that front and centre. I want you to consider that perhaps it’s time that we decided to have a covert “conversation free salon”. I want you to imagine what it’s like for the client who has suffered greatly over the last 18 months, maybe financially, maybe emotionally, or maybe both. Clients don’t want or need to hear any more than they already do. May I remind you that many years ago, clients were allowed to smoke in salons and introducing smoke free salons was tough and now it seems ridiculous to think that people ever smoked indoors. Change can be hard to get your head around at first, so I want you to give it some thinking time and perhaps remind you that it’s your salon and you get to make the rules. When your guests or clients are in your company, they are looking for two things. They are looking for an experience and they’re looking for an expert. The experience is how they feel when they are in your salon. They also need an expert; they need someone to say “I think you’d be better off with this product “or “I think that the best thing you can do is come in again in four weeks’ time” In the same way that telephones are a part of our everyday life so is an opinion on the pandemic. There is a time and a place for a telephone
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Beauty Biz Year 14 Issue 6
and there is also a time and a place for a Covid conversation. I am asking you to consider making your salon a Covid free environment. Give thought to how much time and energy you put into mapping out the client experience. Have a discussion with your team as to if you think there is value in eliminating all conversations around the Covid 19 virus. My wish is that your salon and salons everywhere would agree that it’s time to change. Make your salon conversations count. Do they have their next appointment? Do they have the home care they need? I want you all to be smart when it comes to the time you have with your clients, make them on point. Imagine if every client was to return to their next appointment with an improved skin story, because they left with everything they need. That thought needs to be the gold star standard. I don’t want anything to get in your way, especially NOT a done to death conversation about the pandemic. Get a card made up with a note on it that you might place on the treatment beds, or perhaps a sign for your front door. The card might say something like: Dear valued guest, with you in mind we have decided to make (insert salon name) a Covid conversation free zone environment. We decided to never mention the “C” word again. This salon is now a Covid conversation free zone! So please if we slip up and forget we would like you to just smile, make a shhh sign with your hand as a gentle reminder. Thank you in advance. (insert team salon name) I hope your transition back to full trade is better than you had hoped. Just a reminder that many business’ didn’t survive ,so well done from everyone at the ZING project!
