I have, as of late, been considering things like: What happened to this particular client? Where did so-and-so get off to? Was it me? I hope they think of me well.
As a human being, I sometimes find that I will lose track of someone and maybe as much as years later, I will think of them and wonder how they are doing. I have moved salons so many times, due to life circumstances changing, that I have lost a decent number of clients. The ones that have moved away, the ones that have passed on, the ones that have chosen to not drive an extra 20 minutes to see me. I wish nothing but the best for them, but I also wonder what happened.
I have had some of the best clients a gal could ever ask for and I have always tried my utmost to provide the best service at affordable prices for each and every one of them. So, when I am "ghosted", I wonder what it was I could have done differently? Perhaps, I wasn't as affordable as I thought, perhaps, I wasn't as competent as I thought. I am never sure.
I think it stings the most, to my ego, when a client, with whom I thought I had good rapport and had worked with for years, suddenly goes silent. No calls, no texts, no appointments, simply nothing. It makes me wonder what happened. Is there something in their life that has shifted and they can no longer afford my services? Have they had a turn in their health? Are they no longer living in the area?
When it happens that a new client disappears, I am not as bothered. They haven't developed the relationship and I may not be the stylist for them. I can completely understand and don't really worry about it. It is, generally, only when it is someone I have worked with for years that I am perturbed by their absence.
I am ever hopeful that they will continue to look at our relationship with a positive view. And that they have merely had a change of life circumstances that has led them to no longer wish to be my client. In whatever form that may be. I do my best to not take it personally, but it can be a challenge when I realize I haven't seen someone that I saw very regularly for some time. I wish each one well and will continue to be available should life send them my way again.
