Wrong.

Don't jump on me all at once. I know it's not OK to say it, but anyone in the service industry will quietly roll their eyes and agree with this statement.

Let's break it down.

The hospitality business is all about providing excellent customer service and unwavering quality service to our clients. It doesn't matter if you offer a $50 service or a $500 service. Your job is to cater to the client, make them a repeat client, and hopefully make enough of an impact that they will share their experience with their friends. Word of mouth is still, in my opinion, the best marketing plan.

In any business, there are difficult clients. The ones who want something extra. It could be an upgraded room, a better table at a restaurant, an item delivered to them quicker, or, in my world, an appointment time that doesn't exist.

A client might call and DEMAND a time that is simply not available, and usually combine it with another stylist who is also not available. First, we will absolutely try to evaluate the situation. We see if things can be shifted around, stretch the time to make them happy with some extra support, or offer something close enough in proximity to make it work.

However, sometimes, no matter what you do or offer, it's not good enough. The client decides to show up and have a showdown.

Now, in the luxury business, you want to say yes, but you also don't want to take away from another guest's time and experience. If we can fit it in seamlessly, great. But if we can't, and it's going to affect another client, it's my rule for a no-go.

Surprisingly enough, the clients who come every three or four months can sometimes be the ones with the more demanding schedules, while many of our regular clients who come as walk-ins are happy to wait, see anyone, and just be accommodated.

I have this one client who appears out of thin air every two or three days asking for a blow-dry, usually on the busiest of days. She literally says, "Anyone. Even you." (Nobody wants me to do their hair, trust me!) She's happy to wait and eventually gets her service done.

On the other side, there are regular clients who are late 100% of the time. You can't not take care of them, and again, it's not necessarily in their control. It's a personality thing. She comes, she waits, and she gets accommodated.

When the two sides work together, a solution will happen!

So what must one do to deal with those who are more challenging? After all, they are clients too, and they are not bad people. They are just used to different things and a different type of service. They are used to always hearing "yes" when they make a request, and anything else confuses them. Our job is not to judge. It is to help.

A manager should always explain to clients why pre-booking is important when the time and date are essential to them, and explain that the appointment can always be canceled within the appropriate cancellation window. Reason with them about how a last-minute add-on can sometimes affect another client's experience, and even turn the table: ask them how they would feel if they were the client who pre-booked three or four weeks in advance to secure their preferred time, only to get bumped for someone who just decided they need it now!

And also explain how it affects the stylist and the quality of their work when they suddenly have to rush.

Personally, I also direct clients to our 24/7 online booking service and our direct text line, which is also available 24/7 in most cases. Recently, I added automatic reminders for services like color and cuts every X number of weeks to remind clients that they need to book. Additionally, our stylists are trained to encourage clients to book in advance.

If all of these fail and a client continues to stress the schedule and the stylist, it's time for a heart-to-heart conversation. Sometimes it's an unpleasant one. It can be uncomfortable for a manager to be firm with a client, but it's in the best interest of the business, its employees, and its clients to do so.

Ultimately, all clients want to be serviced and leave happy, and every business wants to accommodate.

So, to answer the question in the title: no, the client is not always right, but that doesn't mean the client is wrong. It means both sides, the client and the business, have to be flexible. The business should make every effort to accommodate, and the client needs to show some flexibility too.

When both sides do that, there is almost always a solution.

How do you handle a tough client in your business?