Last week, a regular customer with an adorable Pomeranian arrived for her appointment. "Let me tell you what has been going on with my dog," she said. "She was limping, and it turned out she had Lyme disease. She's been treated and is better now, but I want to be able to find ticks on her. I want her to have a nice short haircut. I don't want her shaved, but much shorter all over."
This dog is well-bred, with lovely conformation and a thick, correct coat. In the past, her grooming with us consisted of what I call a "tidy-up." After a bath, fluff dry, and good brushing out, we trimmed her paw pads and sanitary area, rounded her feet, and shaped up her pantaloons and a bit around her ears if she had long, straggly hairs growing. Listening to what her owner asked, I could see that she might mean anything from a #4 blade all-over body clip to somethingless drastic, like a C comb trim. The way she phrased her request left a lot up to interpretation.So, instead of guessing or going with what my personal choice would have been, I asked more questions.
"I'm a very visual person," I told her. Please hold up your fingers and show me how long you would like her hair to be after I have trimmed it. She thought about it and asked me, "How long is her fur now?" I slid my fingers into the dog's ruff, and with my fingertips touching her neck, I estimated the fur, which extended to my palm, to be a little more than four inches from root to tip. "Do you want me to trim length off her entire body, including her back?" I asked. The customer replied, "I just want the fur on her legs, chest, and stomach to be shorter so it doesn't drag through the grass so much." Now we were on to something! "So, you want me to leave her body coat the way it is and shorten the edges?" Yes. That was precisely what she wanted. I was happy I had asked specific questions because my initial understanding of her request was a much more drastic haircut than she desired.
After receiving a tight outline trim and acquiring a pink bow on her head, the little dog trotted sassily out the door. "This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for!" her owner said. "Oh, good!" I replied, thinking, "It is totally not what you asked for."
Learning to ask questions will help you master the skill of understanding customer requests more clearly.
