Awkward Client

[zcook]

I have one client who flatly refuses to come for a re balance/infills other than every 3 - 4 weeks, instead of the 2 - 3 weeks that I advise, I know its not that she has no money its more her reluctance to spend it.

I know my clients can easily go 3 weeks with damage occuring so it takes more time to prep when going 3 - 4 weeks so adds up to half an hour on to her infill time.

Any help with how to deal with this professionally as I dont want to lose the business.

Thanks x

 

[Bagpuss]

what are her nail like after 3-4 weeks....?? to be honest all my clients come every 3-4 weeks, mostly every 4 weeks.

if her nails are not good after 3-4 weeks then coming sooner is the answer...some clients are harder on their nails than others but what are the main problems with her nails ?

 

[An*Gel]

Easy!!.. Charge her MORE!!

Well you will have more work to do so just charge one price for the clients that return within the 2 to 3 weeks and any longer than that I would charge more... if it gets past 5 weeks it's a new set, so charge accordingly

 

[zcook]

I always advise clients to have their infills after 2 weeks, I thought that was the norm although I do find that some clients are excellent with their nail, at 2 weeks there is no lifting and just the regrowth area is apparent, at 3 weeks there may be 0 - 1mm of lifting around none, 1 or 2 nails, after 3 weeks there could be 2 or 3 with more sever lifting and of course more work to do!!

I just find that it is in the best interests of the client and the nail technician to advice correctly, I dont thinks its in the interest of the client to leave the nails 4 weeks between infills due to the area of natural nail being exposed and therefore unbalancing the nail, thats my opinion, I have seen many nails get ripped off in this area as this would then become the weakest point.

You are right, I should charge extra to sort out a battered set of nails because they cant be bothered to come.

I think I will address this with new clients and refuse to let anyone go beyond 3 weeks and at 4 weeks say that i would have to charge them to remove them?

 

[An*Gel]

I always advise clients to have their infills after 2 weeks, I thought that was the norm although I do find that some clients are excellent with their nail, at 2 weeks there is no lifting and just the regrowth area is apparent, at 3 weeks there may be 0 - 1mm of lifting around none, 1 or 2 nails, after 3 weeks there could be 2 or 3 with more sever lifting and of course more work to do!!

I just find that it is in the best interests of the client and the nail technician to advice correctly, I dont thinks its in the interest of the client to leave the nails 4 weeks between infills due to the area of natural nail being exposed and therefore unbalancing the nail, thats my opinion, I have seen many nails get ripped off in this area as this would then become the weakest point.

You are right, I should charge extra to sort out a battered set of nails because they cant be bothered to come.

I think I will address this with new clients and refuse to let anyone go beyond 3 weeks and at 4 weeks say that i would have to charge them to remove them?

Good idea. It's only fair and I'm sure as you say, most of your clients listen to your good advise and to the ones that don't, well I'm sure they'll learn (the hard way)

 

[Bagpuss]

I always advise clients to have their infills after 2 weeks, I thought that was the norm although I do find that some clients are excellent with their nail, at 2 weeks there is no lifting and just the regrowth area is apparent, at 3 weeks there may be 0 - 1mm of lifting around none, 1 or 2 nails, after 3 weeks there could be 2 or 3 with more sever lifting and of course more work to do!!

I just find that it is in the best interests of the client and the nail technician to advice correctly, I dont thinks its in the interest of the client to leave the nails 4 weeks between infills due to the area of natural nail being exposed and therefore unbalancing the nail, thats my opinion, I have seen many nails get ripped off in this area as this would then become the weakest point.

You are right, I should charge extra to sort out a battered set of nails because they cant be bothered to come.

I think I will address this with new clients and refuse to let anyone go beyond 3 weeks and at 4 weeks say that i would have to charge them to remove them?

Its entirely your choice on what you advise your clients but I have had clients come back at 2 weeks and i have sent them away....told them to come back in another week. (ok so i will never be rich..:lol but if i thought i could make those nails look any better than they already did i would have done them...but they didn't need doing yet.

Even after 3-4 weeks lifting isn't an issue with my clients....neither is heavily unbalanced nails.

I don't see why its not in the clients interest to advise they go 3-4 weeks when they clearly can.....might not be in the interest of me and how much money i can make but my advise to my clients is most certainly in their interest.

 

[An*Gel]

Fair point Angie.

I sound like a right old meanie now don't I?

I know it totally depends on your work and how the nails look etc. but if you advise your client to return sooner and she doesn't and her nails need more work than usual, I do think it's only fair to charge that bit more.

 

[Bagpuss]

I agree karen...we charge for our time...and if someone came to me after the recommended time and their nails where trashed and needed more work then naturally i would charge more.

 

[loubylou]

I have different prices in my treatment menu for the amount of time passed between appointments,

rebalance at 2 weeks £xxxx
rebalance at 3 weeks £xxxx
rebalance at 4 weeks £xxxx
rebalance at 5 weeks or more charged as a full set,

you don't sound like a meanie at all, you will find a lot of techs have a staggered price list for this, hth

 

[Bagpuss]

I don't have any issues with anyone having a staggered price list....mine is staggered...

2-3 weeks £**
3-4 weeks £**

but i don't agree that telling clients they could go longer if they clearly can is not putting the clients interest first....i personally wouldn't tell my clients that can easily go 3-4 weeks that they should be coming every 2 weeks.

 

[katiebbaby]

Most of my clients every 3-4 weeks, very rare there is lifting. I find that majority of my clients after 2 weeks do not need a rebalance (I dont do infills) If I have a new client I like to get her to come back in 2 weeks so I can see her nails and how they have adapted to enhancments, and also if I have nail biter I will advise 2 week rebalance.

Majority of my clients go 3 an hals-4 weeks. xxx

 

[uniq12u]

My clients come every two weeks and it isn't because I insist they should. It is usually because they can't stand that their nails have grown out so much and they want them filed down.

I agree with Angel that if they want to wait 4 weeks, then they should pay more because it is going to take you longer.

 

[shedunlop]

Simply charge more for the 3 week and 4 week infills. I started doing this last year when I noticed some of my clients starting to save money by dragging out their infill time. I looked closely at the amount of time extra needed and began charging for it. I explained that it took me longer and needed more product along with the fact that they have nails that don't look their best in the last week. I didn't lose anyone and they all reverted to 2 week appointments. Frankly I don't want anyone going around with nails that are 4 weeks old and telling people where they had them done! It is not good advertising for you as they will not explain that they were due an infill 2 weeks ago!

 

[geeg]

Simply charge more for the 3 week and 4 week infills. I started doing this last year when I noticed some of my clients starting to save money by dragging out their infill time. I looked closely at the amount of time extra needed and began charging for it. I explained that it took me longer and needed more product along with the fact that they have nails that don't look their best in the last week. I didn't lose anyone and they all reverted to 2 week appointments. Frankly I don't want anyone going around with nails that are 4 weeks old and telling people where they had them done! It is not good advertising for you as they will not explain that they were due an infill 2 weeks ago!

I agree .. it is about how they look as well as preventing future problems and not about the fact that they have no lifting after 3-4 weeks or maybe they do!!

Majority of my clients come every two weeks and the appointment is quick, easy and not expensive. Clients prefer the appointment to be quick and their nails to look perfect all the time. In fact they prefer the quickness over expense.

If there was nil growth in that 2 week period (which happens in the case of older clients) I would advise them to go longer of course between appointments. However I do not encourage anyone to go longer than 3 weeks to avoid having to do costly repairs.

 

[Urban Geek]

A lot of people can comfortably go 3-4 weeks without any lifting but if the clients are having french and want to look their best or don't want too much of a gap at the cuticles, they do have to come every 2-3 weeks.

Most of my clients come every 3-4 weeks, a few come faithfully every two weeks and then another few at 6-7 weeks. I hate doing french rebalances at 2 weeks.

I stagger my prices too - at least both me and my clients know where we stand then.

 

[NoLimitNails]

Great ideas you all gave me. As I move my salon to another city (remember keep your fingers crossed for me:hug I have the luxury to redo my pricelist only 4 moths after opening.

I have had 3-4 week rebalance then written pr week xx amount on top. I'll change that. And now I think I'll call it maintenance instead of rebalance and infills, as I nearly ever do refills as well, but I can see the point of doing more frequent apps, and that way train faster... Then charge for 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks and 4 weeks + one day NEW SET... Love it.... of do to some calculating now lol...

Gigi if one day you decide to visit Minna here in Denmark, then please squeeze in a one to one for me :hug::hug:

 

[Bagpuss]

Frankly I don't want anyone going around with nails that are 4 weeks old and telling people where they had them done! It is not good advertising for you as they will not explain that they were due an infill 2 weeks ago!

wouldn't that depend on how good the nails looked...i am not in the least bit embarrassed by my clients nails at 4 weeks....they look fab....and it actually works well for advertising because people tend to say "where i go they have to be done every 2 weeks, how come yours still look great at 4 weeks" :green:

In the times we had had recently with the economy i know i would have lost clients had i insisted they all came every 2 weeks....I also would have felt like a rip off merchant knowing they could have easily gone another 1-2 weeks...i would rather my clients afford to come to me and stick with me at 3-4 weeks than to "think" its has to be a 2 weekly thing that they simply cant afford.

I appreciate my clients loyalty to me and so in return I offer them the best value for money....and my clients want nails that last and still look good.

 

[shedunlop]

Unless your clients have slow growth on their nails then they will not look good after 4 weeks. Especially pink and whites which will need a rebalance. Obviously if they have little growth then that is a different matter. I have a lot of clients and they come every 2 week and are happy to. Some, because of holidays etc, will go a little longer but this is the way I work.

A lot of the time we are advising girls who have not been in the business for very long and I feel that it is not good practice to discourage them from booking clients when they should. It is not a competition either that my nails are better than yours, last longer etc. It is a matter of the individual client and how they go along. If 2 week infills are good enough for Gigi then they are certainly good enough for the rest of us!

 

[nailzoo]

All clients are different, advise accordingly (depending on growth rate), charge accordingly (depending on care factor) .... and (oddly enough I even discount accordingly).

I have several clients that come every 10 days, I appreciate their care factor and appreciate their custom.

I despise clients that wait until they break one then think "I must be due for a fill" and punish them accordingly.

Just who is in charge ? YOU or the client?

 

[Bagpuss]

Unless your clients have slow growth on their nails then they will not look good after 4 weeks. Especially pink and whites which will need a rebalance. Obviously if they have little growth then that is a different matter. I have a lot of clients and they come every 2 week and are happy to. Some, because of holidays etc, will go a little longer but this is the way I work.

A lot of the time we are advising girls who have not been in the business for very long and I feel that it is not good practice to discourage them from booking clients when they should. It is not a competition either that my nails are better than yours, last longer etc. It is a matter of the individual client and how they go along. If 2 week infills are good enough for Gigi then they are certainly good enough for the rest of us!

I am not discouraging anyone from doing anything...I am simply as you are explaining how i work...and what works for my clients. If a client of mine came back at 4 weeks with nails trashed or just looking ugly i would advise she come at week 3 instead....but this isn't the case with most of my clients....maybe its because i don't have clients with "long" nails....most have mine have active length nails. I don't build my business on what anyone else is doing...i work with what i know and what works for me.