I am here to revisit an old idea. I noticed that I had made a post a few years ago and I wanted to update the sentiment.
I learned that "the customer is always right" is only the beginning of the original sentence. The full quote is "The customer is always right in matters of taste."* This makes so much more sense to me. The customer isn't necessarily right when it comes to store policy or knowledge about the industry, only when it comes to personal taste. This plays out in a myriad of ways in the beauty industry. If you want to wear a mullet, you're right, I am in no position to tell you that it doesn't look good. It's your taste and preference, you are absolutely 100% correct in your assessment, my opinion means nothing in this moment.
I can always offer ideas and thoughts about how it might look for them, but overall it really isn't my place to tell someone how to wear their hair. However, when it comes to unrealistic expectations, that's when I have to step in with my professional voice and offer alternatives to what they have chosen.
This is the point in the service where my adage comes in, "The customer is always right, until they're wrong". And wrong is only in regard to whether they are using the same vocabulary that I would to describe a cut or color, and when the service they are seeking would severely compromise the integrity of the hair. In matters such as these, it is better to under-promise and over-deliver.
Pictures are helpful when a client is describing what it is they are looking for, but it is also important to help them understand when the style they like may not work as well for their hair. Or, it is a fine style and would match their hair texture and density, but they only want "wash and go" hair and the style they are drawn to would require a bit of styling to achieve the look.
My job is to give the client what they want and in as safe and gentle a manner as possible. I can only offer my advice when asked. I am constantly looking to be able to provide the best in service as possible while respecting the integrity of the hair. The style really isn't the issue. I don't have to like what my client likes, I can just help them achieve the look they prefer.
*Harry Gordon Selfridge, founder of Selfridge's Department Store
