Too often the minor things, the miscellaneous details can mean the big difference in the way your customers view you and your salon.

Because of this very direct, personal service, you should know the importance of interacting with your client, with making her feel well treated, pampered.

But it seems we lose sight of this. We forget or overlook the patron by talking with other technicians, by snacking at the table, or by talking on the telephone. The responses are all too familiar: “She’s a boring client,” or “There were too many distractions.”

But how does that client feel, sitting there, a technician holding her hand but otherwise totally ignoring her ... and then having to pay for it as well? What are the chances of that client returning, or recommending the shop to others?

Paying attention to the client is not such a difficult task. True, the distractions may be many, but not nearly as many as those facing Alexa Williams, manager of the beauty salon aboard the cruise ship Royal Viking Sea ... but she manages to do her job amidst all the distractions of exotic ports.

The lesson here is that technicians and salon owners must realize that increasing competition, and the ability of others to offer a quality nail, means that it is the service that is ultimately important.

The client will go where she feels the most comfortable, where she is going to feel wanted, respected and pampered.

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