I've lived here for three months now, I barely go anywhere. Why? Because every place I walk into forgets the one rule that still makes or breaks small businesses:
I walked into a haircut place (Jamestown needs a barbershop!!) this week around 5:30 p.m. Two stylists were cutting hair. Neither of them looked up. No greeting. No eye contact. Not even a nod. Just silence. No biggie. I'm an adult...it's later in the day. "Maybe they didn't even notice me" - don't be upset at what you can't control.
I stood there for 7-10 minutes with another guy waiting. A third guy walked in after me. Still nothing. Finally, one stylist finished up, walked over, glanced at the computer, and said: "Do you have an appointment?"
"No, do I need one?" (online was going to let me book - 3 min in advance)
Her answer: "We have two ahead of you, and time for one more."
That was it, the line "time for one more" holding more weight than 4 words. In my head - "I'M THE FNING ONE MORE". She wasn't rude. But she wasn't inviting, either. No "Have a seat." No "We'll be about 15 minutes." No "We'd love to take you before we close." Just a "I want to go home, sweep and gossip in peace the last hour."
I've been that employee, till I started training them. What I heard was: "We close soon. We don't really want to take you. But technically, we could." She was genuinely surprised I politely said I'd come back tomorrow morning.
Hospitality Isn't Dead.
But Most Places Act Like It's Optional.
This isn't about barbershops. It's about broken front-of-house training in every small business. You don't need a computer to tell customers what time you close. You need people who make customers feel like they showed up at the right time.
When I worked in hospitality, we followed the Cornell School playbook. We called "customers" - guests. We weren't allowed to say "you're welcome." We said:
- "My pleasure."
- "Of course."
- "Absolutely."
Why? Because the guest should always be welcome. Period. I thought this was so dumb when I was in my twenties. Till a woman pulled me aside and told me how special, and resort-like, it made her feel.
If someone walks in at 9:45 and you close at 10, the answer is still: "Of course, we're open." That's it. They don't care when you close. They care about eating.
This isn't fluff. It's conversion science. Human psychology is half the sale. It's brand perception. It's the difference between someone feeling like a customer/guest, and someone feeling like an inconvenience. And it costs nothing.
Is Your Front Door Costing You Money?
Operational bottlenecks and poor front-of-house training kill marketing budgets. If you want a fractional operator who can fix the culture before we run the ads, let's talk.
Work With Me ↗By Rocko Boscia — Founder of We Rock Media. Golf Pro turned Growth Architect. Saratoga · Buffalo.