Dear Customers,

[Joods]

Retail is transaction based. Simple. Clean. You don't have to care beyond money and goods/services exchanging hands.

Clients? Clients are a relationship. Tricky. Messy. Needy. History and personality plays a big part. Home isn't a refuge because things can break, or they had a great new idea, or a bone to pick.

So much this. Being a hairstylist (even a student on the salon floor), I have regular clients. Clients who come to me and me only. If I'm not there, they reschedule. I have about ten or so like this. My relationship with my clients is very personal. Especially my color clients. They expect the same result each visit. I take notes. I have a client book so that when they come in, I can say, for example " Hi Karen I see the red I put in your hair four weeks ago needs refreshing. Are we sticking to the same formula, or did you want to try something new?" 9 times out of ten, she will stay with the formulation I originally made for her which is a 6RR Max with a shot of Red intensifier using 20 Volume developer.

I do this client every four weeks like clockwork. I know she needs to have her hair presoftened with a 7N and 10 volume developer. I know she sits in my chair for three hours because her hair is thick, long and there's a lot of it on her head, per square inch. I know she can't sit for long periods, so with completion of each step, we go outside so she can stretch. I know she's on a limited income, so I use product sparingly. I also know she tips me well.

And that's just one client. I have several I know rather quite well because they are my dedicated clients. These clients are my bread and butter. The ones that don't return, I find a way to get them back in my chair or to sell them retail products. If not - that's okay. I get referrals from my faithful clients.

For those of us in a line of work where we have clients, it's very different.

And then there's the flip side. There are some clients that I have had who treated me horribly and after they have left, I would sit down with my teacher and request not to work on that client again. I'm a student, there to learn. Every client signs a waiver to that effect prior to getting services. Every time. Clients see the sign at the front that clearly states "All work performed by students and checked by licensed instructors." I will not stand for abusive treatment from any client who thinks they can get free services just because we are a school. We have blacklisted clients before for abusive treatment of the students.