The road to hell is paved with good intentions

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hey fellow geeks

I have a real dilemma and would appreciate all your advice.

A celebrity make up master class in being held in our city this saturday which i did know about, and discussed with my salon's make up artist about how beneficial it would be for her to attend, but after researching the artist, what was being taught and the set up and discussing the pros and cons, we decided not to enroll as we felt it would not be worth it for us However she came to me yesterday asking for this Saturday off, so I told her that salon policy is no Saturdays off, but she asked again and I said you know its not allowed, then she said but I am going to a make up class.

This really took me by surprise so i asked what she was talking about...
It transpired that one of my salon's clients approached her about it a week ago and told her she should do it as it was a massive oppurtunity she shouldn't miss and would really benefit her, when the staff told her she wouldn't pay that much for it (i suppose she said she didn't thin worth it.

Yesterday the same client came in and told the staff member that she had arranged a discount from the original 250 pounds to 200 pounds, and that if the staff paid half, she would pay the other half from her pocket! and if after the course she felt it wasn't any good, she doesn't have to pay her that half.... and that she was going to go home and book her place... end of.

My staff then told me this women has told her in the past, (during her facials) how she likes to helps others who need it, like a girl who used to work at another salon she used to go to..... SHE HELPED HER SET UP HER OWN PLACE!

Ok, so firstly, my initial reaction was hurt..... lol, i personally really invest alot of my time, effort (and money) in my staff, I am in India now, but am from the UK, where i did NVQ level 3 womens hair, BTEC Beauty therapy & sciences and started my 1st salon, now in India is not even close to our professional standards but in 2 years i have given my all to instilling ALL that i was taught to them, to help everyone progress as much as possible! and give them working conditions that are unheard of here!)

So I explained to my staff that if she really wanted to go, but money was the problem, I expected she felt she could have come to me but once i get past that... this client has really hacked me off for quite a lot of reasons but mainly:

1) from a commercial point of view, this make up artists portfolio did not inspire us

2) As this is our profession, we are aware of what trainings are available, and the things we look at- duration, hands on experience, will this content benefit our clients, cost matter more than just a celebrity's name on the class

3) this woman also has a baking business, so is also a business owner, i would never dream of going into her work place, and undermining her like this.

Fellow geeks, should i directly address the client or let it go? I think she is meaning well for my staff and she is good client of the salon.

All thoughts are greatly welcomed.

 

[Scrubadub]

I didn’t want to read and run! There isn’t too much you can say to the client really as it sounds like she was trying to be helpful.

I think this all falls on your staff member, if she had a different opinion to you about the course then she should have approached you again about this, not just gone ahead and booked it especially when she knows she isn’t allowed leave on Saturdays.

I would sit her down and lay it all out clearly that she has gone behind your back when she could have come back to you and talked about this and it’s up to you whether you let her have it off or not and let her know the consequences if you don’t let her have it off and she doesn’t turn up to work

[edited by a mod to include original post]

 

[AcidPerm]

Do you think the client is planning to open her own salon and is not so subtly trying to poach your staff?

 

[Tinker78]

Okay - don't know either of you, or your working relationship so I'm going in blind here. But I noticed that two times you said "we" decided it wasn't worthwhile, but perhaps your team member felt it actually was worthwhile and didn't want to argue with you, and when the client offered to help out, thought she'd say yes because you'd get mad at the client and not her. (Which seems to have worked!) There's no need to get angry with your client, she'll repeat it to everyone and their dog that she was doing something nice for your team member and that you didn't appreciate it. (No need for a lengthy online bash on your Facebook or Google page) And as for your team member, maybe there needs to be some more open communication between the two of you, but again, I don't think you should get angry. As someone with extensive management experience, (and extensive customer service experience!) I've learned that people often don't know how to use their voice for fear of 'upsetting' the other person but end up doing so by NOT using their voice. I feel she likely really did want to go. Gently investigate what went wrong and be kind and patient while doing so - ie. casual conversation not a big to-do sit down conversation. Good luck!

 

[Freelancetrainer]

Hello.
I definitely wouldn’t address the client. You will risk losing the client and clearly she’s someone who does use her voice and thus could do your business a lot of harm. She’d go elsewhere and talk negatively about you and how threatened you felt by her etc or she’d offer to still go to your staff member ‘out with the salon’. You don’t need to do that as your confident in yourself and your business and do want the best for your staff and salon etc.

You say your staff isn’t allowed Saturday’s off but you say the pair of you did consider going to the course. That would have meant either one or both of you taking the Saturday off had you decided it was worthwhile. I guess the fact that you were giving it consideration gave the staff member the impression that you knew it would be a Saturday and were ok with that. (Unless neither of you knew at the time that it was a Saturday?). If it’s at all possible for your staff to have the day off and you feel her attending the course is of any benefit at all to your business then I’d let her go. If you feel it would benefit the salon then I’d offer to pay a bit towards the cost. But if you still believe it would not benefit the salon then I think you need to remind the member of staff that you still believe that but if it’s important to her and she feels it would benefit herself personally then I’d offer to allow her to go but gently tell her that because you don’t feel it would benefit the salon that you wouldn’t be able to pay anything towards it. If your salon is busy on Saturday and it means cancelling all your bookings then you’d need to point that out alongside salon policy and the fact that you did already discuss it with her and tell her you wish she had come to you at the time as you may have had time to avoid booking in clients with her that Saturday. Good luck!

 

[redlottie13]

Do you think the client is planning to open her own salon and is not so subtly trying to poach your staff?

Ok I know I'm synical but I thought the same.

The saying "if it's too good to be true it probably is " springs to mind!
You don't just set someone up in business then walk away!

I would tell the staff member no. She has disregarded the salon rules (simple) xx

 

[Taraki]

I’m sorry, you don’t own the staff, and if she thinks a course is beneficial to her and she is passionate about her work and new skills, what if she does want to leave one day? She is building “her” life and skills, and you can’t refuse one Saturday in a blue moon if she has holidays owed to her

 

[Tinker78]

I’m sorry, you don’t own the staff, and if she thinks a course is beneficial to her and she is passionate about her work and new skills, what if she does want to leave one day? She is building “her” life and skills, and you can’t refuse one Saturday in a blue moon if she has holidays owed to her

I have a Saturday off this month and one next month to take personal interest workshops, and have offered to work the Monday each time in lieu of and the spa's owner is happy with that - and I don't lose out on any pay!

 

[redlottie13]

I’m sorry, you don’t own the staff, and if she thinks a course is beneficial to her and she is passionate about her work and new skills, what if she does want to leave one day? She is building “her” life and skills, and you can’t refuse one Saturday in a blue moon if she has holidays owed to her

If there's a salon rule that they only get 4 Saturdays off per year for example then yeah she can say no. Unless she's self employed which I don't think she is.

 

[Taraki]

If there's a salon rule that they only get 4 Saturdays off per year for example then yeah she can say no. Unless she's self employed which I don't think she is.

But if she’s owed holidays, just seemed like it’s an ownership thing anyway

 

[TheDuchess]

Give her the day off. It's one thing to decide that losing bookings for a day and paying for a course isn't worth it. Losing a day's holiday and only paying for half of a course cost is a much better deal. It's not worth it for you but it is for her.

Book the client in with you for treatments in future so that she can give you the benefit of her advice and support. You could ring the client up and thank her for her kindness to your staff member but gently explain that the course isn't really intended for professionals, only the fan base of the celebrity and enthusiastic amateurs - that's why it is running on the busiest day of the beauty working week and why you didn't feel it was worth attending from a commercial view. Explain how much commission and tips your staff member will lose by attending the course and how the staff member has found herself in a very difficult position trying to please her boss and her client.

Explain to the client that your staff member has left it to the last minute to ask for the day off and you are now going to have to cancel bookings and lose income and client goodwill. Ask how the client would feel if she was unable to deliver booked celebration cakes because of a last minute request from a staff member to attend a celebrity baker demonstration.

Thank the client again and say how super excited the staff member is to have this opportunity. Tell her that the staff member knows that it's just a fun thing and not as valuable as all the training and support that you give her but will still enjoy herself going. Tell her you're sure you can placate all the bookings that will be disrupted and make this opportunity work for the business - laugh and say all your clients will be really impressed and will love hearing the celebrity tips even if they are just the normal make up artist know how.

Reassure the staff member that she only needs to repay the client for the course cost once she makes more tips and commission after attending. But if her bookings go up - repay the client yourself.