4 Margaret Clement Developing Customer Focus Last Sunday, | went to Trade Secrets at Eglinton Square to have my eyebrows threaded. | stood beside another lady who was standing there. After a little while, | asked her if she was in line. She asked whether it was regarding eyebrows. | said yes. She then replied that she was also in line. Al this time, an employee was standing about four feet from us attending to the cash register. | was eventually taken to the backroom by another employee, who had just finished attending to another customer. She did not introduce herself to me nor asked my name. | was ushered to a salon chair. | was observing whether she would wash her hands before attending to me. She did not. She placed the towel on my chest and was about to commence threading my eyebrows when | asked her to please wash her hands. She did not want to. Instead, she recited a whole story about having washed her hands after the previous lady. She went as far as to placing her hands on mine so that | can feel that her hands are still cold from the washing. | asked her about three times to wash her hhands. | reminded her that she had Just finished handling cash, and that money is dirty. She replied, "That's why?" She reluctantly went to the sink and washed her hands without soaping them. 1 politely asked her to use some soap. At this point, her displeasure was quite evident. | also asked her to please use some rubbing alcohol or something of the sort to clean the utensils. She was also displeased about this request. She mumbled something which | did not hear. She sprayed the utensils but with attitude - she was handling them roughly and sort of slamming them on the counter. | attempted to apprise her of the fact that my daughter had gotten her eyebrows done at her spa the day prior, and that they had done a great job. She was so displeased with having to comply to my polite requests that she did not hear my compliments to her spa. As a matter of fact, she heard the ‘opposite. She thought that | said they had done a bad job. | replied that | would not be there if they had done a bad job. She responded by asking who did my daughter's. | was also attempting to make small talk in order to help her calm down and to realize that ! was not upset with her. ‘When she was done threading my eyebrows, she asked for my input on whether it was to my satisfaction. | pointed out a portion of hairs that needed to be removed in order to make both brows more even, | also told her that she should not have removed the hair on the right side as it needs to grow: allowing that side to catchup to the next. She replied that | can use a pencil to fillitin. As she was fixing the uneven portion, she was rambling on about not wanting to touch another part because it would make the eyebrows too thin, That area was not part of my request at all. Another employee ‘came in while was doing the touchup and asked if she was finished. She abruptly replied no. She was Just so woundup about the whole matter of being asked to be sanitary. | believe that she may have inflicted unnecessary pain on me because the procedure was more painful than it would normally be. It felt like she was grasping much more hair at a time than was ecessary. | was adamant about not giving her the satisfaction of wincing from the pain.In the end, | thanked her, tipped her, and said a prayer of blessing over her. Needless to say, she was surprised. This was @ bad experience for me, and it was a perfect example of a business without customer focus. For the business to be successful and have repeat customers, the employees need to practice customer focus. The employee at the cash register could have taken a second of her time to let us know that someone would be with us shortly. Alternatively, she could have quickly asked the purpose of our visit. She could have nodded as a gesture that she acknowledges our presence, thus making the wait a bit more pleasant. When the employee came from the backroom to get me, she should have greeted me by introducing herself and asking my name. She should have also practiced compliance with the health act by voluntarily washing her hands after handling the cash. When I asked her to wash her hands and the utensils, she should have just apologized and simply comply. When 1 complimented the work done on my daughter's eyebrows, the employee should have acknowledged the compliment by saying thanks. My request to remove additional hairs to even the brows should have been met with a comment such as, | would be happy to. At the occasion where | mentioned that she should not have plucked the side, she simply needed to apologize and maybe ease my concern by reminding me that it would grow back and that, next time she knows to leave it alone. Such words would also serve as an invitation to me for a repeat visit. When the other employee interrupted and inquired whether she was done, she could have answered in a calmer tone and added that she would be finished in a couple of minutes. She also could have asked the reason for the other employee's inquiry. This would have shown that she is interested in what is going on in general. In the end, the ‘employee should have thanked me for coming and made at least a suggestive statement for repeat business such as, see you soon or hope to see you again. Trade Secrets need to maintain a customer focus. | made the aforesaid suggestions because it would have made by experience much more palitable; | would have certainly be a repeat customer; | would have recommended Trade Secrets, Eglinton Square to my friends; | would have felt respected, and as an external customer, | would have felt appreciated, especially if she had used my name in the end to say thank you, Margaret; hope to see you again.