Level of Service = Value, Not the Other Way Around

I learned a lot tonight while getting a haircut, and it goes like this:

I recently moved to Atlanta, Georgia from California and part of the relocation process for me is finding a new person to cut my hair. I’ve moved many times over the years so my process is to seek out affordable salons and get my hair butchered several times until I find one that’s reasonably priced and can cut my hair evenly. This can sometimes be a long and arduous process.

It was getting late on Saturday night and I was in a very unfamiliar area so I did what everybody else does and used Google. I found a barber shop open late so I arrived mentally prepared for a butchering. As soon as I walked in the door I was greeted by a gentleman who promptly had me write down my name then escorted me back to have my hair washed (not what you usually get in a barber shop). I was then greeted with a firm handshake and a big and authentic smile by K’Hari, who escorted me to his chair. K’Hari immediately began asking me questions about my day as he carefully and meticulously began the hair cutting process.

Within less than 10 minutes K’Hari knew half my life story, including challenges and personal matters I have shared with only one close friend to date. K’Hari had an amazing way of drilling deeper into my responses making it clear he was actually paying attention. By the time he finished, he darn near knew my life story. He also had an amazing way of moving, cutting and even using a straight razor which demonstrated he took great pride in his work. He never once tried to impress me with his experience, education or accomplishments; he just worked hard and asked questions.

Another thing he did which impressed me was he asked permission to do little things like; take a little more off the back, shave my neck and ears (the joys of aging), or using a blow dryer. These acts are generally done without asking, but his doing so gave me a sense that this haircut was the way I wanted it and I was the one in charge. He also asked me if I was satisfied and if there was anything else he could do for me. Hmmmm… is this sounding familiar?

By the half-way point in my haircut I already knew K’Hari would be an amazing person to come speak to my coaching staff. It was clear he had mastered the concepts behind the Program Design Questionnaire™ (PDQ™) and Kaizen-6™ tools that we use and developed by PTA Global Co-Founder, Bobby Cappuccio. He asked the right questions and didn’t respond with his own stories. He built an incredible trust and rapport with me without telling me a thing about himself. He asked permission to do the little things and elicited feedback as to the quality of his work. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that K’Hari and I probably have very little in common in terms of childhood, career paths, challenges or hobbies, yet I felt like I had a new friend.

After he walked me to the counter where I pay, I said to him, “I am in the service industry and I have to say I have NEVER experienced what you just did.” When he asked what I meant, I told him that he had asked questions, listened intently, built on my responses and didn’t interject his own ego or experiences. I knew very little about him, but felt very connected to him. I proceeded to tell him about the PTA Global PDQ and how I had learned so much from my mentor, Rodney Corn, but before I could continue elaborating he held up his hand as if to stop me from continuing, and said, “Can you please walk down and share with those guys what you just told me?” He was referring to three other barbers, two of which were hard at work. I said, “Sure!” So here I am, a fitness director, sharing my education and experience with three barbers who are complete strangers to me while their customers were nodding their heads in agreement. K’Hari then explained to me that he’s been trying to get his fellow barbers to understand these concepts for years.

As I opened my wallet to pay, K’Hari once again held up his hand and refused to take any payment. He explained that the experience we just shared was more than enough. As I pulled out of his parking lot three things were crystal clear:

I still knew nothing about K’Hari but I trusted him.
I had no idea how much his haircuts cost and really didn’t care.
K’Hari would be cutting my hair for as long as I live in Atlanta and his doors are open, regardless of the price.

As a side note, I should mention that during our conversation he took some notes and told me that after I left he would be looking up a YouTube video I told him about. Within 20 minutes of my leaving his shop he had e-mailed me with his feedback on the video. I call that “follow-up and follow-through!” And, only after leaving and reading his business card did I see he was the owner of the shop. He didn’t try to impress me with this fact at any time.

In summary, as fitness professionals we often ask the right questions of our prospects and clients but we fail to LISTEN and drill deeper. For some reason we feel it necessary to interject with our own experiences, thinking it will build rapport, or we try to impress them with our accomplishments. The PTA Global PDQ and Kaizen-6 are two of the most powerful tools that can be mastered. The only thing required to master them is to ask the questions and “SHUT UP”, just ask my new friend K’Hari!

If you would like to know more about the PTA Global PDQ and Kaizen-6 that I and my team use to facilitate proper questioning and listening practices, then I strongly recommend you look into one or both of these PTA Global products: