Do 'bad' techs give us all a bad reputation?

[deanosnana]

In answer to the original question: Do 'bad' techs give us all a bad reputation? I think it can be answered simply by asking...do all good techs give us all a good reputation? The answer is no.

Like most everything, there is good and bad. The key (IMHO, anyway) is to just be the best you can be and let the chips fall where they may. Word of mouth is the best (and least expensive) advertising there is! :hug:

 

[tonitigercharli]

In answer to the original question: Do 'bad' techs give us all a bad reputation? I think it can be answered simply by asking...do all good techs give us all a good reputation? The answer is no.

Like most everything, there is good and bad. The key (IMHO, anyway) is to just be the best you can be and let the chips fall where they may. Word of mouth is the best (and least expensive) advertising there is! :hug:

I couldnt agree more!!!!! x

 

[VHunter]

In answer to the question in the title of the thread... yes and no.

As said, there are bad apples in every barrel of every industry and in some ways, it doesn't affect the industry a great deal.

However, it's been said to me MANY times "oh, I'm glad you do gel, I'll never get 'acrylic' ever again" (whereupon, I go into my educational spiel about acrylic and L&P & gel...). OR a client will try to refer a friend and that person says "I'll never get fake nails again, they damage your nails"
I have personally SEEN nails so damaged I cringed and felt nauseaous (e-file punctures THROUGH the nail plate into the nail bed and some very horrendous infections hidden by coloured L&P)

There ARE people out there that do believe that Acrylic nails/enhancements are 'bad' for your nails due to a bad experience and they will tell everyone they know that they are bad. Many times over, I have explained differences and about good techs and bad techs etc..
Heck, there are even doctors out there that believe that 'fake nails' or 'acrylics' are bad.
Soo... to some degree our industry is affected a bit by the errors of other techs. If these people hadn't suffered negative experiences, they'd likely still be wearing their enhancements...

So, we can't say that they haven't negatively impacted us either. Look at all the news, woman burned by acetone, skin infections from foot spas.. etc... A LOT of bad press negatively reflecting upon us and SOME consumers WILL lump us all in the same lot and not seek out services. It's human nature to generalize and we can't deny that.

So I guess I'm leaning more towards 'yes, they do"

 

[Perfected]

I recently started working in a salon located in a small town. Most people drive to other nearby towns to have their nails done, if they get them done at all. I've had so many clients tell me before, "Oh, it's so nice to see someone who cleans/cares about sanitation/speaks English".

I think bad techs do give a bad reputation. I only offer gels since they are odorless (which is required by the salon), and a lot of clients who know nothing about gels ask me if they damage the nails like acrylics. I let them know that acrylics aren't the culprit to nail damage at all, but rather the tech who uses a drill, often times with too coarse a grit, on their natural nails. I think it a disservice to good techs to badmouth a service just because I don't offer it. It's not the service, it's the tech.

Because of bad techs, there are more people with pedicure phobias due to the news media doing stories on NSS and their bacteria-laden pedi chairs. Educating the client is one of the biggest things we can do for them so they know what to look for and know there are good techs they can trust. In all my advertisements and on my business cards I always put, "Disinfection TOP priority."

 

[Violet Star]

Ive never heard of Uv gel nail technicians complaining about Acrylic so im not sure if they do this or not i assume it has been said before! I do think clients tend to think Acrylics are bad for your nails when infact as you all know they are not! Any nail extension can be bad for your nails IF the person whos applying these nails are not qualified, not trained properly and using poor prep.

I myself only use UV gel at the moment but will also be taking a course in Acrylic so I have a wider range to work with.And I would never myself say acrylics are bad for nails as its an untrue comment.

xx

 

[fifitrix]

Ok not to sound pedantic here , but I am thinking from this thread that some people are getting confused with the acrylic family, so I am going to quote the wonderful Mr Schoon;

" Nail technicians use many types of products to create aritificial nail enhancements. Light-cure gels, liquid and powder systems, wraps and no-light gels all seem totally different and unrelated. Nothing could be further from the truth. The monomers used to make each are very closely related. In fact, they all come from the same chemical family, the acrylics."

This whole chapter is very interesting and can be found on page 67 of Doug's book, hope that helps a bit to some who may not be clear about the acrylic family.

 

[Clarissa]

1 - Thou shalt post constructively.

Make your posts have a positive point. Posting just to complain without an effort to turn something positive or posting just to say 'is that so?' is a waste of reading space.
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2 - Thou shalt not use thy forum to troll.

This is not the place to bitch and moan about proper nouns (i.e. People or companies). That doesn't mean that you can't debate, question or raise a valid point. It means that I don't want to see threads about how x sucks. See this article on constructively trolling to complain in a constructive way.


5 - Reply to others how you would like them to reply to you.

This is possibly THE most important of all commandments here. I have a low tolerance for members who show disrespect to others (even if the disrespect is somehow warranted). Rude and thoughtless posts are the fastest way to make you look like a right ass in front of the world. Its also a quick way to find yourself on the wrong side of a ban with a shed load of negative reputation points. If you can't say it nicely, don't say it at all.
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[bellabeautie]

In answer to the original question: Do 'bad' techs give us all a bad reputation? I think it can be answered simply by asking...do all good techs give us all a good reputation? The answer is no.

Like most everything, there is good and bad. The key (IMHO, anyway) is to just be the best you can be and let the chips fall where they may. Word of mouth is the best (and least expensive) advertising there is! :hug:

Good answer!!

Ok not to sound pedantic here , but I am thinking from this thread that some people are getting confused with the acrylic family, so I am going to quote the wonderful Mr Schoon;

" Nail technicians use many types of products to create aritificial nail enhancements. Light-cure gels, liquid and powder systems, wraps and no-light gels all seem totally different and unrelated. Nothing could be further from the truth. The monomers used to make each are very closely related. In fact, they all come from the same chemical family, the acrylics."

This whole chapter is very interesting and can be found on page 67 of Doug's book, hope that helps a bit to some who may not be clear about the acrylic family.

Great answer too, I think you have cleared that up for everybody!! :lol:

 

[sarahpoppy24]

Hiya for a quick thaught yeh there is bad stuff going on buuuuttt, I think that some CLIENTS give nail techs a bad name. When we enhance a nail we give after care to oil daily and not to pick. I have seen people who have bitten off, pulled off there nails and not oiled and there nails are horrible. They could have gone up to x number of people and said "look at my nails i had my nails done look what they did". With nails I think some people, not all may I add, tend to not see there nice natural nails growing underneath get tired of their extensions and decide to "remove" for want of a better word themselves and then complain event though they just did it and were specificaly told by there technitian not to do this. I am not a well seasoned nail tech by any means as i quite new to all this but I think that this is what happens some of the time. :hug:xxxxx

 

[akaza]

Hi,

Yes, I think to some extent, cheaper nail salons do give us a bad name as they set standards to people who dont know any better. Clients may think that every nail tech out there does the same kind of job or get put off by the kind of nails they had put on, and may never try other salons...there are so many cheaper salons out there that it is sometimes very hard to find good nail techs with proper professional skills and knowledge.
I've come across so many people who have had their nails done at cheap salons, and have had terrible experiences, and no matter what I've said, they would not give enhancements another go, and would rather stick to manicures, due to the damage caused to their nails.

Anne

x x

 

[BobSweden]

Could I ask a question?

How many of you have a page on your website that gives potential clients advice on what to look for in a reputable salon?

We all know the main reason many customers go to NSS is because of price, but to a large extent that's also because no-one is educating the market! If they see one salon makes nails for £30 and another £50 - how should they choose? If it's important to you, then you do need to play your part in educating potential clients.

Another reason people go to NSS is speed of service. Have you worked on your speed so that you can make a good first set in 1.5 hours and an infill/balancing in 1 hour? Or perhaps using something like Poppits (Dual Forms) may be a way to attract a different market segment - if that's what you want to do? If you can't make these times, perhaps you should consider coming to one of Vicki Peters NAIL KAMP workshops - she will be holding these in Europe during the next year.

Another way to combat NSS is for you to clearly differentiate your service or your education. Keep going on workshops and developing your skills - scan the diploma's and put these on your website. If you can, hang these in your salon where they can be seen by a potential client who drops in for a price list.

Enter competitions! It will not only improve your skills and service times, but when you win you can make an announcement on your website and also place the trophy near those diploma's. What do you think the reaction of a potential client will be when they see trophies in your salon?

NSS won't go away. Already in the US they represent more than 50% of all nail salons! If anything you can expect them to get better and much closer to your service, and still be cheap.

All business has competition (and cheap competition) - but it's up to you as a business owner to create a strategy to position your business so that it is not affected. Complaining about NSS - as is so often the case on this and other forums won't make them go away.

There's a sea-change going on in the industry and you have two choices, compete effectively and invest in your skills and business, or close sooner or later.

I am continually amazed at how few nail techs actually attend workshops. Imagine for a second that you apply for a job and learn during the interview that they will never send you on a training course or give you the chance for promotion? Don't you understand this is what you are doing to yourselves! Every business has to invest and stay ahead of the competition or die. That's the harsh reality of life.

When you look for education, look for the most talented educators you can find. Cheap education gives cheap results. In fact there are very few really talented educators in the industry - so look around carefully and ask colleagues for recommendations.

Please start thinking about this now. You are all passionate about your businesses and love this industry, so it would be a real shame if many of you had to close your salons because you didn't respond to the threat in time. Closing a business is like losing a loved one or divorce - it's very painful and can take years to recover emotionally and financially. Just close your eyes now and think of your salon stripped clean of furniture and equipment, and you having to close the front door for the last time. Is this what you want?

I'm sorry of this is too direct - but this is something that Iryna and I are passionate about.

Why do we make workshops or go to the effort to produce a magazine? I have my own small company - I definitely don't need the extra work and I am never motivated to make money for money's sake. I'd rather have family time, go away for weekends, snowboard or ride my MC! It's because we love the people in the industry and want to help you develop your skills so that you can stay in business and earn more money.

Life would really be so much simpler if we didn't care.

Bob

 

[Orincesse]

it's not just nss salons that give 'us' a bad name, it's techs in the industry saying l&p isn't as good as such and such, or 'acrylic' ruined my nails before I was trained.

I think we had similar threads on this topic before.

We need to educate our clients, I always talk to mine about what I'm doing and encourage them to enquire about the system and technique. I've never hidden that I'm a bigger fan of silk and fibreglass than l&p or gel, and you wouldn't believe the amount of tears I had over l&p because I couldn't do it for years, then one day it just clicked (after I'd read geeg's book and tried those techniques). Once I could do l&p it completely changed my attitude to it.

So i think we need to look to ourselves and our own attitudes first.