The cutting edge …

In one of my past blogs, I had recounted my rather miserable hair-cutting experience with the Plaza saloon at Jamshedpur. This time, I am writing about my experiences with my tried-and-tested barber back home in Kolkata.

I had been surprised in my last visit to the saloon I have been going to since childhood and not being greeted by the friendly face of Vinod. Upon questioning, I came to know that he had quit the saloon a month back.

This time round, I was informed by my dad that Vinod has opened his own saloon at a place a bit further away. As I had sustained injuries to my forehead, extra care was required and I had been reluctant to get a hair-cut from the newbies at the original saloon. The knowledge of Vinod’s whereabouts was therefore great news and I set forth to get a hair-cut done.

What was touted as a saloon was nothing more than a crudely manufactured wooden seat set under a polythene cover next to the walls of a football ground, with stone slabs for the waiting customers. However, notwithstanding this plebian setting, I could find a lot of known faces among the people waiting for the hair-cut. These were erstwhile customers at the saloon in which Vinod used to work.

As usual, the man was quick to enquire about my studies and the like as I had always known him to do. Upon interrogation I found that he had left his work due to certain altercations with the management at the earlier saloon.

As I sat there and awaited my turn, I couldn’t help pondering how apt an example this was for the concept of real and pseudo-relationships we had dwelled upon in our Services Marketing sessions – the reason for my incorporating this in the blog. Gone were the plush interiors, the comfortable barber-chairs, the array of expensive colognes and shaving accessories and the like – and yet, strangely the customers were ready to put up with the current hardships and switch to this new setting. Such then was the power of the relationship this man had built with his clients over the years (not much different from an ace consultant or relationship manager leaving the organization discussed).

The hair-cut itself was consistent as ever, and as expected, he was extremely careful to avoid the wounded area of my head. However, in my opinion, in this case the relationship built by this man towers over his skill in his domain in ensuring that he has the final cutting edge …

EXPECTATIONS PRIOR TO SERVICE ENCOUNTER:

While I had not expected the settings to be as abject as they were in reality (quite obviously his earlier employers had over the years fleeced the poor guy), at the end of the day, my requirement was getting a proper hair-cut and without the fear of a steel scissor poking into my wounds. That was my expectation when I visited Vinod in his new setting, and in my book, he lived up to the promise.

SERVICE CLASSIFICATION

1) While the hair-cut in itself was tangible and markedly better than the one I had got in Jamshedpur, I feel that the intangible aspects of the encounter had a much greater bearing and will ensure that I revisit the saloon in future.

2) This again is a case of people processing.

OUTCOME: I got the desired hair-cut done, and my wound was unscathed at the end of it all. The care taken by the barber in the exercise ensured that it didn’t turn out to be a ‘close shave’.

INTERACTION: The interaction with the service provider reminded me of the old times when I used to visit the saloon with my dad. There is something personal in the way this man deals with his customers, and that is what drives them to be loyal to him.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE QUALITY: This is one aspect which he needs to do some serious thinking about soon, else his chances of acquiring new customers is sure to take a beating. Further, it being a one-man show at present, the long waiting times too can cause him to lose key customers, especially on busy days such as Sundays.

SERVICE RATING

a) Reliability: 5

b) Assurance: 4

c) Tangibles: 1

d) Empathy: 5

e) Responsiveness: 4