If you are reading this, I hope you are an educated and informed nail professional. Your clients come to you because you are that person. They put their trust in you to provide a safe and efficient service and give them good advice on what is best for them and their nails. They are all individual, and each client needs a carefully thought out treatment plan. And no one has to question: Who is actually in charge?
The ‘thinking therapist’ is a term I like a lot!
No nail service should be done as a typical step by step with no thought to what the client actually needs. Obviously, manufacturers’ instructions must be followed but certain adaptations can be made within a good quality brand with a range of products.
So, this is the ideal nail service situation, right? What can go wrong?
Well, these situations can make it go wrong:
– The client who thinks they know better than you, or “That’s not what my previous nail tech did!”
– The nail pro who is, maybe, a bit lacking in their knowledge, and is unable to adapt and recommend what is right for that client.
– The nail pro who hasn’t quite reached the confidence level needed to explain and convince a difficult client (we all started at the beginning!)
– The nail pro who is easily ‘bullied’ into providing the wrong service
How many times do we read comments from frustrated nail pros whose clients have insisted they use a specific brand; provide a service that is wrong for their nails because the client ‘insists’; are bullied into providing a service on unhealthy nails because the client won’t wait nor agree with a ‘refusal and referral’.
So often the excuse can be that they will go elsewhere, as another salon will provide that wrong service, so potentially losing a client. The ethical answer to that is: let them! You don’t need a client who refuses to listen to your professional advice and, the chances are, it will be a disaster, and they will be back to you!
Back to the original question: who actually is in charge? YOU ARE! You are the professional! Confidence comes with time and education. Be confident in your advice (even if you are crossing your fingers under the table!)
Don’t let clients bully you into doing what they want as opposed to what you know is right. In my very long career, I have often found that ‘blinding them with science’ works very well! Explain, using the correct terminology, why you are advising them on a course of action. Stick to your professional ethics.
You are in charge of your nail services. Do not be persuaded otherwise.
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