I have a friend who is not faithful to hairdressers and said to me when she found out I had qualified at extensions....."oh I might be in the market for some, mates rates of course! I am not happy with the ones I have now" I said, "oh thanks for the thought and I will of course tell you if I am doing any special offers but there are no "mates rates" it's my business and I wouldn't expect she would be able to give me anything at mates rates in return haha. I don't need clients like that mates or not!
Next thing she says she picked up a deal on the internet and I wouldn't be able to compete with it, I told her what a fantastic deal and to go for it because I know she won't be faithful to that hairdresser either! Nor would I want to compete with a full head of foils, cut and blow dry for the equivalent of 35 pounds. Next thing she finds I am doing spray tanning now too as part of my mobile service and says she might book me to even her lines up on her neck....?????? How does she expect I would charge for putting my gear in the car, driving the 15k to her house to spray her neck which won't match the rest of her body????
In short, I also drop hints to people using 3rd party stories and would say to any friends or family that this is not a social call but is during my scheduled time for work and that had I known they didn't have the money we could have delayed the appointment til she did so I could fit in another client who does have the money. I am sure if they work themselves they would clearly understand that without getting offended, it is like them not receiving their salary in full at the end of the month, explain it only takes 2 or 3 "friends" like this to ensure you don't get your monthly wage, make the comparison so they agree with you. I would say "ok, no problem, can you get the money to me tomorrow then?" the FIRST time I address it. As it isn't the first time, I would ask on arrival, have you got the money for this today? if the answer is no then say you have to leave as you just had a call for a pending appointment to be brought forward who will be paying and you need the money.