Best stylist leaving

[bexster]

Well my best stylist is leaving to rent a chair down the road from my salon.

I need help as to what to say to her clients when they ring up to re book.
Obviously I want them to stay with me but I know their gonna ask me where she's gone.
Do I say I don't know or tell them where she is or say I won't tell them??

We have been a close team and I know these people well so I don't really want to lie to them.

I'm really stuck on this and I don't want what I say to come across wrong on the phone.

Do I just tell them and hope they don't like where she's gone. They might just come back to me if I'm nice about it?

What do you guys think?

 

[BannerPenguin]

Was she self employed/renting a chair from you?

 

[AcidPerm]

Do you have a new stylist joining you?

I think you need to tell your clients she's moved on and then perhaps offer them an incentive to stay?

Clients like to stick with what they know but can end up feeling a bit taken for granted. Use this as an opportunity to make them feel special and start with a great consultation and really focus on their needs.

I've moved house so I'm having to try out new salons to get my hair cut and at a recent appointment I was saddened to note how little the (award winning) stylist next to me was engaging with his clients. He was obviously pre-occupied a lot of the time (answering his phone mid-appointment!) and I would have hated to be one of his clients. It also made me think how easy it would be to persuade them to try someone new!

 

[bexster]

I employed her but she is leaving to rent a chair.
I offered her to rent a chair from me but she said she fancy's a change and there's not much I can do about that.

I will be offering discounts to try my other girl.

Thx for your advice x

 

[Spa Therapist]

You could just tell them you don't know where she's gone?

 

[La_belle_vie]

If you employed her then they are the salons clients, if she rented a chair from you they would be her clients.
So really in that respect they are your clients and you don't really need to tell them where she has gone as chances are they will leave your salon to follow the stylist. They may find out elsewhere which salon she has gone to and choose to follow there's no law dictating where they can and can not go but at least give them the opportunity to try another of your stylists and protect your business doing so.
It's not common practise in other salons when a stylist has left to inform clients of there whereabouts.

 

[bexster]

Thx guys for all your advice
I'm absolutely heartbroken I can't stop crying which is not like me at all.
I was going to try for a baby as I'm 36 now and my clocks ticking away.
But I can't rely on my other girl as she rang in sick today so I was left to do all the clients or rearrange the ones I couldn't.
I've put an add online on indeed .com but no one has applied yet. I'm praying someone good comes my way soon.

 

[beautygeek_11]

I had a similar situation recently. It's horrible and im afraid to say my"loyal" clients left with her. You wont stop them going if they here where she has moved to. After years in business clients really shocked me.my advice is at 36 put your family life first.x

 

[vividamnesia]

I always give my staff a printout of their clients contact info & always tell those looking for the stylist where they have moved. I hated working in salons past where someone would leave & there was un-needed drama & BS over client info or lying & would not work in a salon so petty & showing poor business conduct of such a low level.

Some clients come for the shops environment some for the particular stylist. No body "owns" clients & believe me, lying to clients gets back around to other clients & the stylist that you mentioned was part of a tight group. If this group be tight/friends then you would support her bettering her income potential!
Did you offer her any deal to show she is valued by your group? If she is your top gal, she works the most so why not offer her a higher % or wage? My staff ranged from 50%+chem cost-60%+chem cost. Obviously she is leaving to make more income by renting, offer her a rental match to the new place maybe. Please be fair & make her an offer or be professional towards her decision.Good Luck....Hope this helps you guys.

 

[bexster]

I always give my staff a printout of their clients contact info & always tell those looking for the stylist where they have moved. I hated working in salons past where someone would leave & there was un-needed drama & BS over client info or lying & would not work in a salon so petty & showing poor business conduct of such a low level.

Some clients come for the shops environment some for the particular stylist. No body "owns" clients & believe me, lying to clients gets back around to other clients & the stylist that you mentioned was part of a tight group. If this group be tight/friends then you would support her bettering her income potential!
Did you offer her any deal to show she is valued by your group? If she is your top gal, she works the most so why not offer her a higher % or wage? My staff ranged from 50%+chem cost-60%+chem cost. Obviously she is leaving to make more income by renting, offer her a rental match to the new place maybe. Please be fair & make her an offer or be professional towards her decision.Good Luck....Hope this helps you guys.

I did offer her to rent a chair off me for the same price as she was going to pay if she left, I was already getting the plans in motion when she told me she was leaving. She knows she is valued I tell her all the time. It all boils down to her having worked for me for 4 yrs and she just wants a change of scenery.
I have worked out she got paid 40% of her yearly takings anyway including commission with me supplying everything and I paid her tax and ni. From what I have read in her that's basically self employed anyway.

I have spoke to her and told her to contact her clients in anyway she can but not to tell anyone till before she leaves. (Which btw she already has I front of me! Which I found very disrespectful)

Lying to the clients was the last thing I wanted to do because I feel they would find her anyway and I was only asking for advice from others as to what they would do. As I do feel I am too soft as a boss and very fair in how I conduct my business by always putting my staff first to the point of asking them if my plans suit them to like opening extra days at xmas is optional etc.

But thx for your advice x

 

[libbylou]

I have a very different view. I have worked long and hard to build my business, and there is no way in this world i would just tell any client where a member of staff had gone. If they wont to find out then that is up to them, but no business owner in their right mind would be willing tell clients this information. I would finish your stylist and put her on gardening leave before she can do any further damage to you.

 

[kimi1101]

It's actually not legal to give clients personal information to someone outwith your company.

 

[libbylou]

well printing off clients details and handing them out to all and sundrie , is against the law. Good point Kim x

 

[MrsHBeauty]

I let a member of staff staff and "my tell anyone she was leaving" biggest mistake it took 12 months and me almost giving up to get almost back here we were. I am now expecting a baby in 5 weeks and had a member of staff leave. I asked her to leave immediately, I haven't said anything about her, nobody asked. When the clients turned up I said "oh, blah blah will be doing your treatment today, I hope that's ok?" And everyone has been absolutely fine and loves the new therapist.


Good luck but id advise immediate gardening leave and certainly don't give her any of your clients details data protection would have a few things to say about that!!

 

[Sequins4]

We had a staff member leave about 1 year ago who had been with us 10 years, she told us she was leaving to try and start a family but she wasn't going to another salon...... The worst thing we did was keeping her on a month after giving her notice as it gave her time to tell clients she was going mobile (which she profusely denied to us!) and she also helped herself to our database...although we think she stole contact details before handing in her notice.

When she left to be truthful it was devastating and felt like the end of the world as my mum was looking to cut her hours and we felt like we had gone back to square one, however after about 6 months we saw we managed to keep the majority of clients and gained back old ones.... Just shows no one is indispensable!

Im sure things will work out xx

 

[allazwills]

Personally I would put her on gardening leave so she had no more contact with her clients so no opportunity to try to take their contact details (illegal but I know loads of staff that have done this) and if clients call I would say she has left the salon but we are unaware of where she has gone. If the client pushes you just say we don't know but as you will now be having a change of stylist we will offer you X% off your first appointment with whoever as an incentive to get them to book in. Usually if they have gone to someone else in the salon once they will come back - also her clients must have used your other stylists when she has had holidays etc so try to get them to book in with those stylists. Good Luck!