Ask the Experts

Our beauty experts answer your questions about running a salon or spa business.

Service recovery is what we do when things go wrong.

• How can we rescue the situation?

• How do we handle complaints?

• How do we satisfy the dissatisfied client?

Definitions of a complaint:

A client may file a complaint if she feels strongly enough that her expectations have not been satisfied.

“A complaint is when a client brings a problem to the attention of the business and expects some redress, probably over and above simply supplying the original service or product that was the cause of the complaint.”

Things don’t always work out as planned. With the best will in the world and armed with your best ‘quality care’ client skills, mistakes can still happen. Whether it’s a circumstance beyond your control or a mistake from one of your team members, when the client-business relationship deteriorates, it’s crucial to intervene.

The recovery process must start right away after identifying a client’s problem.

1. Empathy: Understand that before you contact the complaining client, you can’t win. Complaints are really just degrees of failure. Put yourself in the client’s shoes so that you can get a better understanding of their perspective. Reassure them that you care, understand, and listen to them.

2. Respect: Staying calm sends a message that you respect them, and it can be difficult to do when an angry client is yelling at you. Remember, their anger is not about you; they are upset about their situation and are taking it out on you.

3. Apologise: Offering an apology, regardless of how you feel or what you can do about the situation, will alleviate some of the stress the client is feeling.

4. Accept responsibility: If a member of your staff made the error, accept full responsibility and help the client resolve their issue.

5. Settlement: The hardest part is the complaint settlement, and you will have to do some work here. Knowing you’ll lose something, you decide how much. Most likely, you will end up giving away products, treatments, full refunds, or whatever it takes. Your client and you have lost, but you owe it to yourself and your salon to salvage a relationship. Try to agree on an equitable solution, where hopefully you will still retain that client for life, thus adding to the bottom line of your business.

6. Appropriate follow-up action, such as a letter of apology or a phone call to make sure that the problem has been rectified. For your own peace of mind, get closure; an unhappy client is a dangerous client.

On a practical note, Time is of the essence if you want a positive outcome from a complaint. 1. Notify your insurance company by phone immediately. 2. Document the incident in writing for your insurance company.

3. The insurance company may then send you a claim form for completion.

After you have dealt with the complaint, next on the agenda is to have a ‘service recovery staff training session’:

• Explain the consequences of a treatment or service going wrong.

• When something goes wrong with a treatment, carry out practical training, ensuring that confidence is not lost. All staff members must know how to handle complaints.

• Conduct staff training on handling complaints, emphasizing the importance of handling them politely, sympathetically, and quickly.

• Introduce a company complaints/ incident report form.

• Role-play your salon’s established procedure for dealing with complaints.

Complaints are to be welcomed! Look at it this way: if they walk away, you may never get the opportunity to make things right; they may take their custom elsewhere and badmouth your business. By choosing to address the issue, you have a valuable chance to rectify any mistakes. When handled correctly, complaints can win a client back, and you can then keep them for life. These clients are to be valued, as they are bringing you a gift—an opportunity to step back and appreciate that something has gone wrong—and they are telling you that there is room for improvement in your salon.

Complaints are golden opportunities to:

• Right the wrong

• Listen and empathise.

• Rescue the situation.

• Win the client back.

• Improve your service.

• Build long-term relationships.

• Say ‘thank you’

The client may not always be right, but they are always the client!

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