I remember the first salon where I worked right out of beauty school. Scissors in hand, I began cutting. McRae’s Department Store in the Hattiesburg Cloverleaf Mall was hidden far behind cosmetics, just past the shoes and tucked into a small corner beside customer service. Perhaps it’s ironic that this column is all about customer service.
Over the past 20 years of chiseling bobs, trimming bangs and coiffing layers, I have passed through, even owned, more than a few salons. Most of the early years were spent in department stores. I even moonlighted (and highlighted) a bit at a few mall chains such as Regis and Mastercuts, if only for a month or two while just passing through.
I spent the first five years of my hairdressing career learning the importance of teamwork and time management, and even earned an honorary degree in psychology, I do believe — all those different personalities on parade. They were all steps on the winding path to my own little beauty shop on Dykes Chapel Road in rural Perry County, a stone’s throw from the home where I grew up. And it was there in that 600-square-foot, one-man-show that I learned a few tricks of the trade.
Listening, really listening, is all it takes to make a woman smile, so I quickly learned to be quiet sometimes, smile back, and truly listen to the chit chat in my styling chair. Come to think of it, being heard makes us all happy, I think. Recipes were swapped at the shampoo bowl while sage advice on most all matters was freely given, from rearing teenagers to keeping a marriage alive. I reckon it was about more than just even ends or a good tease.
Fast forward five or so years, and this country boy had two full-time assistants, an exploding appointment book of blowouts and blonde colors, and I had truly found my niche for making women feel beautiful. It wasn’t a new invention; in fact, it was very old school. It was then and still is today all about one thing — customer service.
It’s the small details that make a big impact, touching a shoulder to calm a nervous new client, making eye contact to remind a client that it’s a stylist’s job to slow the world down and make it revolve around her, if only for that moment. Once a well known photographer remarked at a magazine photo shoot, “David, you are charming. Where did you learn that?” Without taking my eyes off the model I was styling, I replied, “I get it from my daddy. He was a truck driver.”
It rendered him speechless until I explained that, as a little boy riding shotgun with my daddy all over the 50 states during summer breaks, when we both missed my mama, I shadowed a man who had made the waitresses in cafés and truck stops far and wide into his friends. “Ma’am, if that peach pie is as pretty as you are, I best have a slice.” Today that might get him into trouble, but 30 years ago he got away with it.
From there, I grew into someone who simply enjoys treating folks nicely. Oh, I have my flaws, more than a few, but somehow the Golden Rule just seems to come naturally to me. Flattery will get you everywhere, right? Well, in my experience, it will when it is sincere. Most of the comments from new guests these days in the little boutique salon where I have come full circle are all about the experience. Coffee tastes better from a china cup. Walking someone to the car under an umbrella is just good manners, and a makeup touch-up should come standard along with complimentary bang trims.
So, I’m a long way from my first stylist’s station in that department store salon, around the corner from stationary, lingerie and luggage, but good customer service is still foremost in my mind. Basically, it is no more than remembering to do the things that would make your grandmother proud.
Former Columbus resident David Creel has 20 years experience in the beauty industry and owns Beautiful With David salon in Jackson. Contact him at [email protected].
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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