Infilling another’s work?

Building a clientele and attracting new clients to your business is never an easy task.

But we need those clients, and we certainly don’t want to discourage anyone from coming through the door. One of the easiest ways to recruit new and ultimately loyal clients is to provide them with both a service and an experience that they have never had before.

When new clients come from another salon and call on us for help it is usually because they are not satisfied with what they have had; maybe they have had problems with lifting, or nails not lasting, or their nails are just not well done, maybe cheap products have been used… No matter the reason, it gives us that golden opportunity to shine and give them exactly what they want and you will have a new client for life.

BUT, you say, “I’ve been told not to work on the nails that someone else has done; it will void my insurance; it will involve a removal and I don’t know what they have had on their nails; I will need to send them back to where they came for removal” etc.  All nonsense … and goodbye client.

There is absolutely no reason why you should not or cannot do an infill or rebalance on a client who has been to another salon as long as, when you do your consultation and preparation, you find the nails in pretty good fettle and no signs of anything going on that shouldn’t be! If they are firmly attached, clean and no more regrowth than is standard for a rebalance, then get on with it and produce a set of nails that are better than you were presented with, and that will last for the client and solve her issues. It may be that you need to change something she has previously had, maybe the nails need to be shorter, slimmer, thinner, structured differently… go to it and do what needs to be done! You should be able to see immediately where the problems lie.  

As the expert it is you who should be listened to and your advice taken, for it is often a bad diagnosis and prescription that has been given beforehand which has led to the problems in the first place.

But, you say, there may be a difference in colour or the products may be incompatible? Well, there might be a colour difference, explain that and give the client the choice of removal if that bothers her (which, you will explain, involves a supplemental cost) or perhaps she doesn’t care because she wants polish anyway which will hide any colour differences. This, in my experience, is the norm.

As far as products being incompatible? I have never come across a product that couldn’t be overlaid successfully with another brand as long as the base-layer is sound, but you need to use your head and make your decisions on what you know and what you can see, and explain to the client what she can expect.

I must emphasise again that making beautiful nails over another technicians work can take longer initially, in order to prepare and correct issues, and initially you will most likely need to charge more for this service. After that, the nails are yours and normal prices will apply; this too needs to be explained to the client. I have never had anyone walk away from that because, they have approached you, because they want you to fix things for them.

Working with new clients from other salons is one of the easiest and one of the best ways to grow your client base, and like a rescued animal, those clients will be loyal to you for life if you hold up your end of the bargain.