When you spot that elderly couple in the park with their adorable toy poodle who used to visit your establishment every six weeks, you just want to run up to them and say “Where are you getting Suzy done? Her legs looked like they were trimmed by a weed wacker!” What about that well-heeled matron who used to bring in her Airedale? When you run into her in the supermarket, she ducks behind the canned goods. “I hope you’re happy wherever you’re going,” you’d like to tell her. “You were so picky and demanding, I never made a penny on your dog anyway.” You would never be that petty or childish, of course. You have a wonderful clientele and besides, you know you can’t please everyone. You also have your pride. But in the back of your mind, there’s always that nagging question - why?
You’ve also been on the other side of this equation, when you stopped going to Cookie’s Coiffures and switched to Stefan’s Swanky Spa. You loved Cookie. She knew more about your personal life than your therapist did. But for twenty years, she gave you the same haircut, no matter how many times you asked for a variation. She knew how you felt about exposing your forehead, yet she always cut the bangs too short. You never really intended to break up with her permanently, just to see other people for a while, but as Bill Clinton found out, that can spell trouble. Now you run the other way when you see Cookie coming towards you in the mall.
Sometimes former customers give us lame stories like “Howard gave me a pet clipping kit for my birthday,” or “I’m taking a grooming course at the agricultural school. They’ve also taught me how to shear a sheep!” One senior citizen told me, “I don’t drive anymore. I’ve got that nice young girl with the pierced eyebrows who comes to the house now.”
We all know we should welcome friendly competition and treasure our groomer camaraderie but have you ever visited your friend’s shop and seen a former canine customer on her table? You feel more mixed emotions than a parent whose teenager got the highest mark in the class in sex education. You grin and bear it, but inside, you’re quaking. Some people are just groomer-hoppers. They feel the need to try every salon within driving distance. They come to your shop, bad-mouthing your fellow groomers with statements like “That other groomer stripped my Butchie NAKED the last time! The poor little thing looked SKINNED!” Of course, they neglect to tell you that the bouffant Butchie had not been groomed - or brushed - in ten months. “That groomer down the street had a bad attitude.” Could that be because you brought the dog in at 10:30 AM and demanded to have it back by noon? There is really no acceptable response when a client starts crucifying your competition. As we all know, there are two sides to every story.
There are a few clients we would all be better off without, such as.
All we can do is the best we can do. We need to accept the fact that people can be fickle and learn to take it with a grain of salt. If breaking up is hard to do, growing up is no day at the beach either, but life is too short to collect grudges and grievances. We should concentrate on doing the job we love well and appreciating our good customers. We should let go of those relationships that were never meant to be.
Maybe we should all take a clue from my old Aunt Lulu, a colorful octogenarian who was married three times and is now the belle of the bingo parlor. It was Lulu who told me “Men are like buses, dear. If you miss one, there will be another along in a few minutes.”