yeah.. i suppose it wouldbe nice if we could, and maybe we can sometimes, pick and choose our clients.. if i needed all the clients i could get.. then it becomes soley about the money.. ive had a few awful clients before, and id not sleep dreading their visit..believe it or not i got rid.. wasnt worth the harrassment.. yeah i have to mAKE A LIVING but no point being self employed if i dread going to work ha

We charge £15.00 for a mini manicure.
£40.00 for a full set of pink and white, most clients are more than happy to pay it, some dont and they will go elsewhere, as is their choice.

thats very true Gigi and i do agree entirely with what you are saying about the forthright thing.

But , and i think its my inexperience talking here, I personally dont want clients like that. I actively discourage them from coming in the shop in the first place, i only want nice clients (oh i can hear you laughing now and i am joking) .but seriously , if you had got that call, how would you have handled it?

I dont know what i would have said in truth and it has made me think about the day that woman moves in north wales and calls me................

tigi

I sympathise with you because I remember that feeling of despondancy once you start out. Believe me you will - in time - not be discouraged by this attitude.
It does happen but my attitude to this is - be the best you can be - turn out the best nails you can - subscibe to magazines to keep you up to date with the latest trends - keep on training in new techniques - offer services with a twist which sets you apart from your competition because every set you do is your advertisements (and never ever forget to give each new client 5 business cards). It won't be long until she will want the excellant nails and service that you provide and will want to pay your reasonable prices because she knows she will not get that service anywhere else. Good Luck from me

I agree. The clients who seem difficult at the beginning often turn out to be your most loyal clients, once you have gained their trust, they are fiercely loyal and will sing your praises from the rooftops.

The clients who remain difficult are just that, and if you can deal with them then that will set you apart. I have never "sacked" a client, I just accept that it is their way and if they keep making appointments then I must be doing something right. Then again, I have never been faced with someone who has really made me want to sack them, I just go with the flow and I have had my fair share of lets say unusual clients!

Hear hear Fiona!! Such a smart girl.

It is my experience that 99 % of people reflect back what you face them with yourself.

If they start out being rude, then politeness and friendly-firmness from us is generally what they give you back in the end. Keep your dignity at all times. If aggressive behavior is met with a similar attitude then that is what you will get.

To me it was always a game, a challenge to turn these ones around and I always did.

The only client I ever sacked was a woman who disrespected my time so badly by always being late that I encouraged her to go elsewhere. One year later .. who called me at home and begged me to do her nails again??? You got it, Pamelala, as we used to call her. She still is a client at the salon to this very day and that is 20 years later!! She's also on time.

I would deal with a client on the phone exactly how I described earlier and if she decided not to avail herself of my services, I would have forgotten about her and her call 5 minutes later. I would not have been offended and taken her comments personally for sure. I don't let people I don't know or care about ever 'get to me' me personally. They really do not feature on my radar.

On your last paragraph i totally agree and that is one of the many attributes to succeeding in business,too many nail technicians are soft and need to toughen up....i like tough yet gentle people

I have to say it doesn't matter how well educated, trained, talented, expensive, cheap, knowledgeable etc, etc you are, you will always get some clients in your industry career who will enquire about your services, and then go somewhere else!
I call it life, and never take it personally!
I'll give you an example of a conversation I had a few months ago, with my then, new, garage receptionist. (I also own and run a very busy garage with my boyfriend!)
We were sat in the office and I noticed she was fiddling with her nails, so I engaged her in conversation about them, and told her that I did them as another business.
She seemed quite interested and started to ask me all sorts of questions, and so I asked her where she had them done. She replied, 'That Chinese place over in town'. Her words not mine!
Anyway, I asked her what it was like, and soon came to the conclusion that it was a NSS.
So, I started to tell her the pro's and con's of using these salons, and explained the benefits of coming to someone like me.
I spent a good 20 minutes or so educating her about hygiene, products, tools etc. She oohed and aahed at some of the things I was informing her about, and continued to ask lots of questions, so I offered my services to her, thinking that she had come round to my way of thinking!
She sat there for a few minutes, and then said - which completely gobsmacked me considering the conversation we'd just had - 'No, thanks anyway, but I prefer to go to them cos I like the way they do them and they're cheaper'.
I asked how much they charged and she said £25 for a full set. I charge £30, so was even more amazed that she would risk her health and nails for the sake of a fiver!!!!
Oh well, that's life!! lol..........Oh, and she still goes there to this day!!
You can please some of the people, some of the time, but not all of the people, all of the time!!

Isn't it funny how this lady already knew the prices of the nss salon and she still called you first to make an appointment???

I believe she wanted you to make an exception for her and drop your price.

Sadly there are customers willing to risk their health for the sake of saving a few quid.

I had a customer come in the other week. Her nails were so thick and they were all starting to go stained and green. She also kept flinching and pulling away and giving of a really negative vibe and attitude.
Reason being was because she had them done for £10 in peckham and they had cut up her fingers really bad and plenty of friction burn with e-file.

She was ecstatic with her new nail and vowed, "I'm never going back there again, you've made my nails really nice"


few weeks have moved on and she popped in for a repair on a couple of nails that had broken. What do I see?? a newly filled set of nails done at ...you've guessed it... PECKHAM! and she hasn't been back since.

I also agree with you Tigi. I don't want rude clients either. I have told two of my clients for spray tanning to go somewhere else. I'd rather spend my time and effort on my nice clients. They are all nice now!
I am here providing a service at the end of the day i'm not here to be spoken too like something someone stepped in.
Just my opinion x

If you are nice .. then 99% of people will be nice.

If you show attitude then so will they.

It is no coincidence that many of us have never had to sack a client and some do it on a more regular basis.

I just don't believe that there are so many nasty people in this world, but there are many who believe (because it is what they have experienced,) that to get what you want in this life, you have to be aggressive. Most of these seem to live in the UK .. I have not experienced the same attitude in other countries where I HAVE LIVED. I always smile at people and they smile right back again .. and if by some chance they do not .. I MAKE them. They always do.

Listen to the attitude in the last post!! I'm not here to be spoken top like that.

My attitude is, I am here to turn you around and then take your money with a big fat smile on my face. Guess who is going to have more success in their business??

Hi geeg,

It sounds like you handled it great, dont ever give in to these stupid prices others offer, they are obviously not going to do a 'professional job'.

As a professional web developer I come across this kind of attitude on a weekly basis when a client asks how much for a website. Then to get quoted with regard to the free or cheap ones around.

I like the below quote:

This is so true and you stick to your guns.

Take care

Geoffb

Darlin, if I took offense every time someone was rude to me, I'd never get out of bed.
So she was after a cheep set, so what, she'll ring round and either get them from a tech who at those prices wont be in business for very long or she'll go to the chop shop, get her nails trashed, wear her rings of fire and be envious every time she sees the person who recommended you in the first place.
Its her loss not yours. I say this time and time again, I've had the chavs who wanted cheep nails, the best thing I can say is that it gave me the chance to get my timing down and my confidence up. Do I want them again? NOT BLOOMING LIKELY!!!!! I want the ladies and gents who want to chat, who turn up on time, who book their next appointment before they leave and who tell all their friends what a sweet heart I am.
Otherwise I might as well stay on the buses, pays good, free uniform, holiday pay and regular hours.
Why do we all do this? SATISFACTION, theirs, ours the whole picture.
We rock and the best clients know this.

The way i see it is this....we are here to provide a service to the general public...and everyone knows that working with the public can be difficult, but do you think that a shop assistant would refuse to serve someone cos they where not nice....? of course not.

In an ideal world everyone would be sweet and nice....but it isn't and so i just take the bad with the good....and when the bad have left i pull faces...make hand gestures and imagine them covered in something horrid....untill the next time they come and i am all smiles again...

ha ha .. I actually think one reason people are like they are today is because in general shop assistants (funny name for them really) are so Po faced and unhelpful to people. You can tell they hate their job and are resentful to be working for someone else (even though they are incapable of working for themselves). Maybe it is the climate in the UK who knows. But with your beautiful smile Angie, I bet you don't have many that you have to picture covered in poop!!!