Clients coming back 4 weeks plus for gel polish

[Nemo]

Hi, one of my girls in the salon has clients who only want to come once a month for their gel polish. Some come back beautifully intact. Others are a disgrace.

I'm thinking how best to tackle this as her appointments always over run because clients are coming back 4 weeks and over.

I either want to add to the price list a £5 surcharge for all appointments 22 days and over but I don't know any other salons that do this. Or I want to try and explain in plain and simple english why it's not good to leave your gel polish on for that long so they understand.

Some come in so proud that it's been on for 4 weeks! I educated all of mine right from day one that appointments are 2-3 weeks and but as their not my clients she needs to tell them.

Any advice on how to be polite to make them change their ways?

 

[Cindy2021]

If the gel polish is being removed and reapplied why are the appointments running over?
I know this affect infills/rebalances on enhancements but I've not heard of it with gel polish appointments before.

 

[FlawlessBeauty]

I wondered that too.

Does she remove and reapply gel polish? If so, it should usually take the same amount of time x

 

[Nemo]

I suppose because there is more cuticle, longer nails to file etc. What are you thinking that it should take any longer regardless of when they come back?

 

[Nemo]

And yes. Remove and re-apply x

 

[Cindy2021]

I don't find it takes any longer.
Cuticle work takes the same time and another weeks worth of nail growth would only take minutes to remove.
However it is more lucrative if they come every 2/3 weeks but I don't think I'd be adding any extra cost.

 

[blossom]

I do find Shellac takes longer to soak off, when it's been on 4 weeks. And obv more nail to file down, but I still turn them around within the hour so I'm happy.

It does annoy me when they leave it ages if it's chipping and looks rough because they're a lousy advert for me lol

 

[Feline]

Hi, one of my girls in the salon has clients who only want to come once a month for their gel polish. Some come back beautifully intact. Others are a disgrace.

I'm thinking how best to tackle this as her appointments always over run because clients are coming back 4 weeks and over.

I either want to add to the price list a £5 surcharge for all appointments 22 days and over but I don't know any other salons that do this. Or I want to try and explain in plain and simple english why it's not good to leave your gel polish on for that long so they understand.

Some come in so proud that it's been on for 4 weeks! I educated all of mine right from day one that appointments are 2-3 weeks and but as their not my clients she needs to tell them.

Any advice on how to be polite to make them change their ways?

A great way around this issue is to bring in some absolute truth, truth about the risks of nail infection, greenies and other associated nail issues that potentialy come with lifting, chipping, unsealed product on nails.

There are ways of saying stuff, though if the client is that cheesed off that you have a nail boundary then you'd have to ask yourself, is this really the sort of client that I want?

The longer they are left, the more fertile ground for all sorts of issues to arise with the natural nail, with potential damage to the natural nail if further bits of product are flaking off due to age etc.

Some clients can get 3-4 weeks with no chipping, though there are many who just do not get this and its chipping off everywhere on the 2 week mark.

It's probably not the same for everyone, though through observation I've seen that those who tend to get a longer wear out of their gel polish with no chipping, just re growth, naturally have much drier, stronger nail plates than those who do not last the same duration.

Totally relate to Blossoms post, lousy advert x

 

[CFBS]

Hi, one of my girls in the salon has clients who only want to come once a month for their gel polish. Some come back beautifully intact. Others are a disgrace.

I'm thinking how best to tackle this as her appointments always over run because clients are coming back 4 weeks and over.

I either want to add to the price list a £5 surcharge for all appointments 22 days and over but I don't know any other salons that do this. Or I want to try and explain in plain and simple english why it's not good to leave your gel polish on for that long so they understand.

Some come in so proud that it's been on for 4 weeks! I educated all of mine right from day one that appointments are 2-3 weeks and but as their not my clients she needs to tell them.

Any advice on how to be polite to make them change their ways?

I have a couple of clients that go 4 weeks. The thing that adds to the appointment time is the cutting and reshaping of the nails.
So I don't think you can charge extra for this.

Do you charge an extra fee for a soak off?
If so, perhaps this is putting the clients off coming more regularly?

If you do include the soak off in the standard price then I would say your only option is to allow a bit longer when booking these specific clients in. After all, we would normally adjust times for certain clients when they have specific needs but we wouldn't charge them more.

For example I have one shellac regular client who has Parkinson's so it takes much longer to service her nails due to the shaking and limited movement in her hands and feet.
I wouldn't charge her extra. They really appreciate their treatments.

For clients who can't come very often you can sell them a home removal kit?

 

[blossom]

What's taking the time Nemo? if it's soaking off you could try adding a heated wheat bag on top of your client's hands to increase warmth thus speeding removal and also keeping foils in place.

 

[laurakate]

From the clients perspective the product lasted well and they feel it is value for money to leave longer between appointments.

I would be careful about the risk of alienating clients in terms of what might make them feel a bit punished for doing what works for them.

 

[Nemo]

Thanks for your responses guys. I have never actually watched so I will make sure I sit next to her in future so I can see what takes the time. I do a full set on and off in 40 minutes so it frustrates the hell out of me when she over runs as I can't understand why!! Whilst I don't want to alienate these clients, I'm not making any money from them if they're coming once a month, sometimes 5 weeks!!!! I bet they'll all want their christmas appointment on Christmas Eve though!!!

 

[Cindy2021]

You should still be making money on that particular appointment.
I've a couple of clients that go
6 weeks with their acrylic enhancements. I've stressed that they shouldn't leave it so long but I suspect they can't afford infills every 3 weeks. I'm still happy to have their business and as the appointment takes longer I charge accordingly. They're still loyal and wouldn't dream of going elsewhere

 

[FlawlessBeauty]

I know what you mean about the overgrown cuticles and nails that need more attention, but you can get this with new clients too.

I book an hour for a removal and redo. If it takes me less time, great. I charge £5 for the removal x

 

[Emily S]

Some clients have a lot of cuticle to remove, others don't.. some have long nails, some short..

To penalise people for going longer with a gel polish is unfair as they don't ALL have over grown cuticles & nails.. especially not anymore than a new client.

I would keep set prices for everyone

 

[Feline]

If clients nails are lasting all in one for this long then surely this is a good thing for your salon?

If this is actually about earning more per client it's not really ethical to charge any more for removals, or create unnecessary fear about potential nail issues.

If clients are arriving 4 weeks later with nails hanging off, lifting etc, then I'd throw in the advice mentioned in previous post, but just to earn more per person not so sure on that.

If the nails are sealed with no chipping and lifting then there's no issue - it's just a regrowth thing that's down to the clients wishes.

If you're looking for more revenue, maybe you can continue to build more client base - bound to happen if people are loving a four week wear and telling their friends.

If you feel people are trying to save, putting extra prices on won't be attractive.

Some clients may not be able to return frequently anyway if busy with lifestyle, the mobile tech in your area gains a client, and you lose one [emoji33][emoji4]

 

[Nemo]

It's just one of my girls that has pretty much all her clients come back every 4 weeks. I have no problem with the ones that look after their nails and a 4 week appointment is appropriate for their lifestyle and nail condition.

My problem is, the ones that trash their nails or drag out their appointments when their cuticles are overgrown and nails have grown to talons.

My point is, if someone grows like a weed then the filing will be far more than if they came back at 2-3 weeks. They'll be more breakages and then we have to repair splits because their nails got too long. Our tools blunt, we use more cuticle remover, everything just takes longer! And I'm only charging for one appointment rather than the normal 2-3 weeks.

I get what you're all saying but commercially it makes more sense for us to have a higher return rate. Those clients that come once a month take a slot for someone that could come every two weeks.

I'm not trying to exploit those that genuinely can go four weeks between appointments but why should we have more work to do and then over run due to repair, extra filing and more cuticle work? These clients I have no problem losing to someone else.

 

[PicklePie]

There's nothing worse than seeing grotty, chipped nails with four weeks regrowth.

Research has shown that even in an economic downturn, women will continue to have their nails serviced. Educating clients to come back every two to three weeks is the way forward rather than trying to charge extra at the four week mark and have them walking around with nails that are in desperate need. Yes the extensions may not be so obvious on some clients but gel polish is a service sold to last up to two weeks!

Whilst there are those that do take care during that time and come back with regrowth only, there are the masses that don't and let's be honest here, it's not a good look. Promoting a groomed and polished image is better for them and for your business.

 

[CFBS]

One idea that could be tried is to sell a block of gel polish manicures with £x discount with the rule that they have to be used within a certain number of weeks.

The discounts might encourage the four weekers to become three weekers?