Christmas season whinge thread

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I had a lady like that once who told everyone on day 15 that one was coming off and that she stuck it down with sellotape! [emoji23] x
 
Wow..just ...wow!!
I can't believe what I've been reading. All of you are self employed, yes you have your set working hours and you're entitled to do.

Clients also have their set hours too and a busy lifestyle, more so at this time of year, so if in their very limited time off, some only get Xmas day and boxing day off, thy get a 2 minute head space to text you while they remember so be it. Even Xmas day.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, it's not meant to. But if no one had the sense to go go buy a cheap £20 pay as you go phone strictly for their business then it's not the clients fault.

If you decide to have clients on your personal fb account, that's not the clients fault either. They do and will continue to text or message out of hours as you've all allowed them too. A few simple thoughts when setting up your business situations like this need never of happened.

Just remember, without clients you have no business. If you don't want them contacting you out of hours start making provisions to stop them - it's not too late x
 
I've said this many times before @AcidPerm and @KHS. Just turn the phone off and ignore. I actively encourage my clients to text and email 24/7 because if they're contacting me, they're not contacting my competitors. I'm also very mindful of the fact that January can be a tough month for us so encouraging clients to book, whatever time off day or night can only be a good thing - and don't forget not all our clients are Christians celebrating Christmas.

I have online booking and about 5 clients have used their time off on Christmas and boxing day to book appointments - sitting there thinking how much they'd love a massage/facial/manicure etc.

I had one text yesterday to the work phone asking if we were open between Christmas and new year. I gave her the times, suggested she have a look online but do get back to me if you can't book in so I ended up booking her in for a £30 Brazilian on Wednesday night. This is what makes me different to the salon that closes before Christmas and reopens in the new year with no method of communication in the interim.

I don't know about all of you but I want to start January with a full column.

As I've said before, it's when clients stop phoning, emailing, Facebooking and texting that you need to worry.

Good luck to us all in 2016.

Vic x
 
Hey were only human. If things about your job annoy you then so be it. If One of those things is people contacting me in my breaks then that's life. Name a job where the customers/colleagues/boss etc don't annoy you sometimes. I don't see how unless you have a salon in a large town and you never see your customers outside of work how in the age of technology you can stop people contacting you. Nearly All my clients know were i live. It comes under the same category as my Gardner, he is self employed with a little van and goes around our town. To get hold of him i use his personal Facebook. I'm sure if I had messaged him on Christmas Day about my weeds on the path he would of been talking about me the same way us on here are having a little moan and rant about work. But he would of been back smiling in the new year Mabye with a gentle reminder not to contact him outside of work hours over a quick coffee. Ok so I over react to annoyances sometimes but 99.9% of the time I love my job. Hope you guys are enjoying your break! Xx
 
Vic
Where you said you actively encourage clients to text 24/7 is that a work phone or your personal phone?
I keep thinking about getting a separate phone (mobile phone) just for work but then if I leave it at work and people text and don't get a reply I wouldn't want them contacting my competitors if they couldn't get through. Equally if I do take the work phone home I think that's maybe just pointless I might aswell let them text me personally.
Do you think it would just be better to give clients your personal mobile phone number? X
 
I use my personal phone as I like to reply to messages when I can. I'm relatively new to nails so can't afford to turn down or lose business.
I had a few messages on Boxing Day but I'm glad I did as I'm back to work tomorrow and now have 4 appointments booked.
I often get FB messages late in the evening but I just reply the next morning if I think it won't be a quick, straightforward conversation.
 
I have a salon, I encourage people to use my online booking system. Several do.

Or people leave messages on my answer phone.

Sometimes people email, or message my business page on Facebook.

I only have friends or family who usually message me either through personal Facebook or personal phone.

I was irked that I received a message on Christmas Day, but, nowadays I think it's far more acceptable to contact people any hour any day.
 
I only have my personal phone although it may as well be my business phone. I've had the same number for years so when I first started i gave out my personal number. I now have more clients numbers stored in my phone that I do family and friends but I don't mind as the only people that really contact me daily on my phone is my mum, boyfriend and best friend so no point having a separate phone for 3 people to contact me on.

I do however have the app Auto SMS which works with android not sure about iPhone but I write a message and click ON..... as simple as that. I turn it on during holiday periods so Christmas or if I go abroad and it automatically sends a text when I receive a text message or missed call. Atm it just says merry Christmas and Happy new year and that I'm off until 4th Jan, please send a message with your query and I will get back to you when I can.

It's a little more formal than that but you get the gist :)

Apart from a couple of clients that have sent a few messages most my clients wait to get a response from me after receiving the automated text!

I also have a friend that uses it and has her auto sms turned on 24/7 that just explains her business hours and she will get back to people when she has a chance

There will always be a few clients that message at silly times but I don't think they realise. So I give a little chuckle and reply when I can

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!
 
Hi @rippersroo. I had my personal mobile and when I started out I used that. Then when I started employing there's this great opportunity to leave the phone with someone else that's not me!

I went out and got myself a contract just for me. I actually found it surprisingly liberating. I now may have 2 phones on me but one is with me and on all the time - and that's my personal one - and the work one is often in my bag and gets checked often.

My personal phone I have used on very rare occasions to contact clients and actually get very offended if they try and use it for appointments. I ask them to contact the work number as the person with the work phone has the up to date info.

Vic x
 
After looking at this thread I'm so glad I left the industry.
 
After looking at this thread I'm so glad I left the industry.
You never fully got in to the industry let alone had to deal with stuff like this...
 
I think it is essential to have a seperate work and personal phone so you can choose when to deal with work & when you don't want to then you don't look at the phone (or emails).
The client is not the one in the wrong for contacting you, you are in the wrong for allowing yourself to deal with work in your personal time.
I have a seperate work number and I forward the calls to my personal phone when I don't want to carry the 2 phones BUT I turn that call forwarding OFF & leave the phone in a drawer when I want personal time without work interuptions.
 
I can happily ignore phone calls & texts, but I do object strongly to being tagged by my personal name (not my Facebook business page) on Facebook in my clients status on Boxing Day because I haven't responded to her repair request of Christmas Eve 8.30pm! I still ignored it but was enraged!

Although as a few people have said to me, it makes her look bad not me but I'm annoyed she chose to do that because it was then visible to all her Facebook friends and of course all mine, potentially over 400 people in all! And whether I had 1 phone or 2 it wouldn't change it.
 
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I have personal and work mobile and a virtual land line diverted to work mobile. I text, business FB and personal FB my clients 24/7 and they do the same to me. I'll respond when I can and they do the same. Depends what the message is of course. I've trained all my regulars not to call. I'm much better with messages whether it be text, FB or emails. I set up a personal FB account for all my clients. They love it. Keeps them involved and it feels a lot easier when they do need repairs it's not a drama. New clients get used to me! We have 200 clients (100 regularly active) so we're still small enough to switch off if we have to. I choose when I reply so do my clients. I love my job and would be nothing without my regulars. I keep reminding myself of that when a very small minority drive me mad. Christmas was an amazing success. Planning and training. Works for me!
 
I can happily ignore phone calls & texts, but I do object strongly to being tagged by my personal name (not my Facebook business page) on Facebook in my clients status on Boxing Day because I haven't responded to her repair request of Christmas Eve 8.30pm! I still ignored it but was enraged!

Although as a few people have said to me, it makes her look bad not me but I'm annoyed she chose to do that because it was then visible to all her Facebook friends and of course all mine, potentially over 400 people in all! And whether I had 1 phone or 2 it wouldn't change it.

I would not have been impressed with this! You did well to ignore x
 
I would've firstly got annoyed, then written something like, 'I'm off for Christmas at the mo, I'll get back to you on xx when I'm back at work. Hope you have a lovely Christmas', and left it at that.
Better to write a holding message saying you'll get back to them rather than stewing and getting angry :)
 
Christmas feels so long ago now!
 
Ignore me....
 

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