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Can You Embody the Aloha Spirit?

by Holly Schippers | November 3, 2011 | Bookmark +

Hopefully you are not tired of hearing about Hawaii, just in case I will try to make this the last blog about it. LOL.

Customer service in a lot of businesses and even a lot of cities overall has become a lost art. In some cases it almost seems to be a foreign concept. You walk into a store and can’t find what you need due to constant re-arranging. And if you have the nerve to ask for help a heavy sigh and the impression that you are a bother indicates you should have shopped elsewhere as far as that person was concerned.

One of my favorite examples of the change in society is the cell phone. More often than not you go to smaller businesses to find the person working either texting or talking and very inconvenienced that you have the nerve to expect them to do anything much less what they are getting paid to be there for.

If you ever have the chance to visit Hawaii, other than taking in all the beauty, observe the customer service that radiates from the entire society. Everyone seems genuinely interested in where you are from and helping you discover things to do and places to go while you are there. (Editor’s note: It’s called the “aloha spirit”.) You feel welcomed everywhere you go and wait for it — they make you feel appreciated for your business rather than an annoyance. They have customer service down to an art, they rely on tourism. Don’t we rely on customers coming back?

What are you doing in the salon to make your clients feel welcomed as people into your space and not just names on a book to be pushed through that should be “grateful” you allotted them any of your time? Our industry has the power to teach by example. Who knows, maybe if enough people enjoy the value of a great customer service experience they might pay it forward in what they do.

— Holly

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