TPTW picking and choosing

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mizzy_dizzy

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Joined
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Location
Wichita Kansas !
I seem to be reading more and more over the past few years about sacking clients ,
Or Dropping treatments that we don't enjoy Or get on with
It seems to have become the normal, accepted thing to do lately? ! ?

But is it savvy? Or just silly ?

With this economic climate and all It leads me to wonder if it's a matter of self discipline , Have the days of rolling up your sleves , gritting your teeth and getting on with it truly gone?

Or is it that we can afford to be picky as we are trained professionals with skills To offer?
Are we all aware that there will be more clients to fit the slots ?

I mean cleaners have to do the toilets ,
Vets have to go in to there arm pits (maybe so do doctors sometimes !)

Yet we can sack clients because there late a few times ?
Or drop L&P from our price lists cos we couldn't get a mix ratio right.

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to this , and I'm not getting at anyone in particular I would just love to here / read your views on it.
 
good thread .. for a personal point of view i am spoilt and am so used to being my own boss i pretty much do whatever i like .. and have dropped things from my menu because i really hate doing them .. it would be different if i was employed as i would have to do them,
i know i am spoilt but to me its one of the perks of working for yourself also for examples i detest facials .. and i know no matter how well trained i am i havent got it in me to enjoy doing them which no doubt the client will pick up on .. so therefore clients leaves not happy with the service .. and i have an hour of hating every minute , lose lose situation in my book ..
just my personal way of thinking x
 
Good point.

For me I love nails and spraying tanning. The only other thing I have thought about doing is lashes.

I think in our business we should be a master of a few treatments, and not try to be a jack of all trades. It really does show in the quality of our work.

One of my clients had been to someone else for nails a while back. The person doing her nails sat their for the whole appointment saying how much she hated doing nails!

On the up side another therapist loves her skin care, waxing and massage, and she's bloody good at! I refer folk to her for that reason, again she chose to concentrate on that, and it shows! (You know who you are 'MM' ;-)

Lilian

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using SalonGeek
 
Great thread, and I agree, the topic comes round regularly.

Treatments: my thoughts are if you can make a living doing the treatments you are best at then probably everyone's a winner. You, your clients and other therapists will benefit. The thing to watch though is, as the recession gets deeper, clients may migrate to therapists who can provide for all their needs.

Sacking a client: tbh I'm so fortunate in as much as I don't have drunk/drugged/abusive/thieving clients......I think those clients should be literally shown the door. I would find it difficult to sack others , but I would be firm over no-shows etc
 
Interesting - Whilst I'm qualified to massage it's not something I choose to advertise - at least not "openly". Why? Because for the last month or so I've had no end of shoulder problems - not massage related but I need to get it sorted before I can have any hope of returning to massage on a paying client basis...
The tricky thing for me is I've found that what I REALLY enjoy is waxing... Tanning is satisfying too and one day I would love to do nails (not enhancements, but mani/pedi and shellac etc, it's a personal choice and just don't like acrylics so wouldn't feel able to "sell" them) - sadly the coffers are a little empty at the moment so need to get that sorted before I can see the husband being in any way supportive of me trying to train in anything else :)

I guess I'd love to pick and choose what I do - but apart from on a medical reason level I simply can't justify it... if someone else can then I guess good for them... :) I feel it's folly but I can't blame them if they don't enjoy doing something...
 
Again I have the luxury of picking and choosing as I don't have to answer to anyone.

I don't really turn down treatments wise, I choose to put them on the menu after all, although there are things I am not too keen on - body wraps being one but it is Mother's Day here this weekend and we have 2 booked in so we just get on with it. Some of the wetroom treatments take it out of us but again it brings in $$$.

I would '"sack" a client if they were a no show more than once, continually late without letting us know or down right rude and of course threatening in any way to the business or my girls.

I had a walk in enquiry yesterday wanting to know if we did local resident discount and was amazed when she said, quite rudely as we locals expect it.......... I was thinking no honey we don't do discount on demand, try that one in Walmart or at the Gas station and see if it gets you any discount as you have a house up the street.

However, I stayed polite showed her round explained things mainly to let her see we weren't a NSS but a boutique spa where you get what you pay for, but the whole time I am thinking not sure I would want you as a client as I think she was most put out I wouldn't give her a local resident discount.

I actually smiled sweetly and said we do do offers and specials for our regular clients! Then she says what about Couples massage any discount for that..... Smiling sweetly I explained no as we have two therapist to pay, thinking to myself yeah sure tell you what I won't pay one of the therapist and I will pass on that to you as the discount. I don't know why but she got under my skin.

A couple days prior I had some "rednecks" outside discussing some of the treatments we have for mothers day and had a little too much to say, so I opened the door and said what direction would you like me to shove it up your a** as she just shouted about shoving something we were offering up her ass, she all but died of course and then came in about 4 times after that asking about all the treatments and I just though don't want you either!!

Then a whole string of wonderful clients later this week, dropping $$$$$, on Gift certificates and treatments without a thought, comment or snide remark.

Guess this reads a little snooty but hey it is my business, I pay the bills and I will choose who comes though my doors to a certain extent as I am not going to compromise my business or therapists.

I thought this was good timing for this TPTW.
 
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Although this is some what off topic. I have to say I've been quite shocked at how some people talk about clients on here. I'm more use to a B2B environment and I guess we do have a moan but to stop working with a client because they were annoying or odd (without being dangerous/threatening) is something I really can't get my head around. I guess that is the joy of being in a sector experiencing growth. I can't help but wonder if it will turn around and bite us on the bum.
 
I have my own small business and the only thing I would be very unhappy about is the new client who has booked in for a two hour appointment on a saturday, with what turns out to be a bogus number, and doesn't turn up.

This does not happen to me often thank goodness but I do not tolerate this and would not book them in for a second time.

The kind of people who don't bother to call, either on the day to say they can't make it (which is fine so long as it's not a regular occurrence), or on a later day to re-book and say they were in hospital/in a car accident/ house flooded, are unthinking and selfish and rude and I do not want them to have to deal with them.

It will happen again. And probably again. Let them be someone else's stress.

Apart from that I can deal with anyone and any problem.
 
I don't think it is wrong to choose what treatments to perform or what clients to treat.I think if there is a certain treatment that therapist does not like, it is better to drop it as it will definately reflect on the quality of service, no matter how hard one will try to hide it. It is far better to pick one thing and become expert at it. Then there always will be the client, no matter economy (i was lucky enough not feel it and only know about it from the news).
We only live once and I don't think we should put up with weird behaviour of our clients for the sake of money. I'd rather have two nice clients for smaller ticket treatments than someone who'd made me feel bad, but paid a lot. For me it is crucial to enjoy what I do and this is a major factor affecting quality of my work.
 
i think if you are really confident and like doing a certain treatment you will excel at it and happy clients praise you and are your best form of free advertising.

i too am self employed so i call the shots....i love it ... but as far as sacking clients? i don't take any c**p from anyone but to actually bar them it would have to be something really bad..

at the end of the day it is a business and you are providing a service, i live in a small area so cannot pick and choose who i will or will not treat. it's not an option. they might not like me or me them but hey ...............

i'm not proud i'll take money off anyone.:lick:
 
Great topic.

Having spent 10 years in very serious jobs that I hated, I set out a year ago with the plan to do a job that I love and make it fit around my family. I love nails and it doesn't feel like work to me but I'm also qualified to offer semi permanent eyelash extensions which I don't offer because I just find it so incredibly tedious. I salute anyone who can do them daily but it's not for me so in that sense I do pick and choose what I offer. The only thing I don't enjoy is sculpting tips but I do it when requested and charge accordingly.

My time is limited and precious and so I'm very careful when I take bookings, I take them all via either facebook or phone and will always call the day before/on the day of the appointment allowing plenty of time to check that the client is ok for their appointment to go ahead. I also run a strictly ladies only service as this makes me feel more comfortable and there are no doubts as to a clients intentions or any strange requests although I make an exception for some rather fabulous drag queens every now and then lol

So far I haven't been in a position where I've needed to sack a client. It's something I would be very reluctant to do, for me, if a client was a no show it would mean taking a payment before confirming another appointment rather than refusing to see them. Some clients are 'difficult' or 'fussy' but that's what keeps the job interesting and unless they outright insulted me or refused to pay or stole from me I see no reason not to treat them.
 
Actually the refusal of men in some salons baffles me... or by mobile therapists too. Sure - follow your gut! Absolutely. But to refuse to treat ANY men? I have no compunction with massaging men, spray tanning them or waxing them - I do my checks before heading off and make sure people know where I am, when I get there and when I expect to be leaving. I'm not foolish and I know my husband can track me if needed (iPhones have a tracking facility if you have several of them :) he can track me on the ipad lol) - I wouldn't treat someone if I felt there was something "off" about them, or I would have extra safety measures in place depending on how "off" I felt about it. Not happened yet :)

I just don't get the blanket ban on men... it baffles me. Not complaining mind... more customers for me!!! :D
 
I think if a client gets abusive, and treating them is no longer worth the hassle, I think it's OK to sack them. I've done it once, hopefully will never have to again! I think it should only take a serious incident to sack them though.

As for picking and choosing what treatments to offer, I think that if you're self employed it's definitely your choice (and a perk), but I don't see the point in training in something to then remove it, time and money wasted in my opinion. It's a bit of a catch 22 though I suppose - if you don't enjoy performing certain treatments, you won't do the best and most thorough job possible, and it'll show.

But on the other hand, I don't think it's good to be a jack of all trades either, I think it's good to specialise (I 'specialise' in nails, but throw in a bit of beauty when required!) I feel as though skills may be 'watered down' a bit if a therapist tries to cover too much, not enough time to dedicate to their craft I suppose.

If you're employed though, I think you gotta learn to love all the treatments, as you probably won't get a choice in a salon about what treatments you're going to offer.

Waffle over :D
 
I don't like to turn away money !
But I am a professional and like to keep my salon the same !
There are lines you just don't cross :)
 

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