When Clients are Friends......

[Oceana]

Hi All,

Thought I would start this up to see all your views on this potentially touchy subject!

In the past year I have had 2 "clients" at the salon who were/are also good friends of mine, however I have had to "sack" them as clients and pass them over to a colleague as it caused so many problems.
For example, let me share friend/client experience this with you:

Client X was a CHRONIC nail biter and wanted me to extend her nails even more than the length she had already....I refused saying her nail bed was too short and the nail would be unbalanced and would cause problems etc etc, she adamantly refused to listen to me and insisted on me making them longer, so I did and told her that it is HIGHLY likely they will break so please don't moan when they do! "No, no Clare I won't blah blah blah". A week later she was in complaining to my boss that she wasnt happy because all her nails were breaking!!!!!!
Similar things happened with the other Client as well, so now I avoid servicing these clients as it makes my job even harder!

I think as a friend they do not see you in a professional capacity and therefore think they can do/say what they wish .... In my opinion I don't believe close friends make good clients................BUT on the flipside I also have many friends who started off as clients and we have grown closer over the years. I think as the relationship starts off as Tech/Client the "grounding" as it were is there from the outset and it goes without saying for them to respect you as a professional and heed your advice without friendship getting in the way.

I'm interested in what you guys think on the matter............

Clare xx

 

[Bagpuss]

I think your right ...I have done friends nails and they have been a nightmare..and family members...i don't feel they respect my profession, and some even act like they are doing ME a favor. However i have got many clients who i just adore...for months now 2 of my clients have been asking me to go out with them at the weekends...i have always declined..saying i am busy and stuff cos i didn't think it would be a good idea...then last weekend i thought sod it...i like them , we get on really well, so i went and we had a fab time...they knew me first as a nail tech so thats all they have ever known, therefore they treat me the same as they always have done...and so long as i never do any thing on the cheep or for free (which i have NO intensions of doing) i cant see it as being a problem...but time will tell.

Sometimes you just click with people and cant help getting friendly with them...you can never have enough mates in my opinion.

I have some clients who do the whole kisses on cheeks when i arrive and leave and everything, i don't mind at all....i just tend to go with the flow...some are very friendly so i am back and some are more stand off-ish. I learned this whilst working at a call center...no two customers are the same so you cant handle or treat them the same.

I think everyone should be friends...xxxx

 

[Erikabare]

Have you ever had your personal friends/clients ask for a discount for your services? If so how did you handle it?

 

[twinkletoes910]

Have you ever had your personal friends/clients ask for a discount for your services? If so how did you handle it?

I have a "scale" of friendship that I use... you're an eeeh friend.. 5% off, you're my bestest buddy, 50% off... JUST JOKING!!!


for me, it depends on WHERE i'm doing whatever. if it's in the salon, it's full price, maybe a few bucks off. if it's at my house, or theirs, then i give them some $ off. maybe $10-15 off for enhancements (that'd be about 30%off). and I try to explain that salon time is expensive for me, since i have to pay rent.

but sometimes you have to have "off" time at home too. just because i'm giving a bigger discount at home doesn't mean that i'm always going to do their nails at home. so, sometimes i fib and say i dont have my brush.. oops! left it at the salon... my bad:wink2:

getting back on the orig. topic... i have one friend in particular who thinks she gets everything for free. if i'm trying out something new, want to test something that i've read on here.. then yeah, i'll do it for nada, but if she's calling the shots, she's gotta pay. i had to lay down the law. needless to say, she wasn't too happy about it, but she had gotten used to me doing her nails, and she didn't want to go back to the chop shop nss.

but at the same time, i have one friend who comes in for the works every couple of months, and tips HUGE. :biggrin: :biggrin:

 

[bug123]

It seems that the closer the friendship, the harder for them to accept any criticism, advice.
Some people seem to take liberties with the friendship thing because we let them?

A good friend of mine, who I first started doing nails on as a model, even 'snatched' the file out of my hand when she didn't agree with the way the nails were done!

Was I gobsmacked, I couldn't believe it!

So from my experience as well as others, close friends do not always make the best clients! I still service the nails of my close friend - all it took was a bit of education -

Thankyou Creative!

Maybe a poll is in order?

 

[ValencianNails]

it's always so difficult when dealing with friends... sometimes you feel obliged to give them discount, or they make you feel as if you should be giving them a discount, even if nothing is said between you... you can sense it.
I applied a full set of enhancements for a friend, she didn't pay me until the next day when i asked her for some money!!!! She then went off telling a close friend of mine that she was under the impression that i needed to practise (cheeky mare) so she thought they were going to be free... I've not done her nails since, can't stand to have the 'p' taken.
i charge the same for everyone for all of my treatments, they're getting a bargain as it is cos I should charge more... the only thing i do tend to give away for free to people I know is nail art... i figure it's more of an advert and cheap advertising is good, so i explain to them to please tell people who does their nails in the hope that I get more clients...
has it worked so far?... umm no but there's always hope and I'm only losing a couple of rhinestones and a bit of acrylic paint.
So... to answer you're thread Clare, I would prefer NOT to do friends nails really BUT business is business and money is money so at the moment I don't turn them away.
Great topic
xxx

 

[dee]

i hate doing friends nails , so i try avoid it like the plague :irked: , but then again most of em are fellow tech , or salon owners and i get paranoid they are mentally pulling my nails to pieces ,
(which is what i do anyway ) so therefore dont do it very often ,i think its best to keep work and friends seperate , jmo

 

[River]

I have to say that so far I've been lucky doing treatments on my friends. They never expect to have it done for free or to get a substantial discount for it.

If anything, I'm normally the one that feels uncomfortable taking the money !! On the odd occasion, I will give them discount, but nothing much depending on the treatment.

I also suppose there is a certain element of "I owe you" when it comes to friends. When we needed them to practice on and be models for us, we were more than happy (and grateful) to make use of their hands etc. and use their "valuable" time to sit in college for hours on end to be practiced on by us. So we can't exactly kick them to the curb once we're qualified.

However, I do understand that some people just take the p*ss and expect the services to remain free or very cheap. I also sometimes feel that my friends humour me and as mentioned before, don't see me as a "professional". They all think my services are great, and I have quite a few that would call me for advice, so they don't doubt my skills or my knowledge, they just see me as a PA, as that's what I do, that's my main job, and doing beauty is just a little hobby of mine

 

[Fingertips ND]

My mates take the p*** out of me!

Since I became a tech it's been - 'I just need nails for this' and 'I am just going here and want my nails done'!

My nails aren't fab at all but it's like they are thinking 'well if I can get my nails done for a really cheap price then who cares how good they are or how long they take'!

I had a girl who lived down the road who I practiced on when I was training and she would ring me every other day and say one nail had cracked - I later found out that the cheeky mare was biting them!

I will do my mates now and knock a bit off but that's it!

 

[Tilly Ann]

I charge my mates full price for anything to do with nails or tanning as they take time and I'm proud of my work so why shouldn't I charge them for it?!

The only time I give a discount is if they are having loads done for a holiday or a special occasion! I nearly always do waxing and tinting and simple treatmens on teh cheap for them though!!!

 

[Rose143]

I totally agree with you Clare, I did a friends nails, very close friend of mine and she has never had nails done before. I used her as a model for some photo's because of her lovely hands and asked her told her to look after them. I gave her an Aftercare leaflet, GAVE her a bottle of solar oil as she was doing me a favour being a model for me and she never looked after them once! They broke left right and centre, she kept phoning me to come and fix them and I asked her if she had been using rubber gloves and her solaroil (both very important) she said, no I forgot. I was really upset because I used to work for the company that she now works for and I was trying to prove a point with the beautiful nails I did for her!

She didn't understand the importance of my work, the seriousness of looking after her beautiful nails and she didn't take my aftercare advice seriously enough. She made another appointment and she asked if I could repair the four nails and do the infills. I refused and said I'd soak them off instead. She was shocked and asked why and I told her that I have bent over backwards for her and if she wants her nails done she can have them done elsewhere because she is an advert for my company and not one of my clients have ever had problem nails like she has.

I apologised to her and told her that I take my work seriously and if she doesn't well then I won't be her nail technician. She still laughed at me while I was explaining this to her but stopped laughing when the nails came off. Nothings changed, I still see her and we visit each other alot and she still feels bad.

I do agree with you Clare, close friends do not equal good clients!!!

 

[inspirations]

I don't have any friends, so I don't have this problem...lol

Seriously, I charge everyone the same amount...I could fit another full paying client in their place if they don't like it! I am a bit tough on this one....I may not be assertive in other areas but I will not be taken advantage of!!!

Once they sit on the other side of your nail station, that relationship changes. She proved to you that she wasn't a true friend, by doing what she did Clare...anyone can stab you in the back, especially where money and business is involved!!

 

[Jennykins]

i've always had problems with my friends....they all want their nails done as and when it suits them and they never offer any money.

i made an arrangement with one friend that she didn't have to pay anything in return for carrying around a bunch of business cards for me and referring new people to me, she came over every tuesday....infills/rebalances were done every other week and the weeks in between she would just have them re-painted or another coat of perma gloss on them to keep them looking like she had literally just had them done....the idea was that they would always look absolutely perfect and that people would see the lovely work and want me to do them.

Needless to say this went on for months and she did not send one person my way!! The final straw came when she decided that she wanted Permanent Cosmetics done in the form of eyeliner and eyebrows....i have been specialising in this field for nearly 6 years and don't really need help advertising my work so i decided to decline her offer of me doing the procedures for free and her sending clients my way in return!!

so now i stick to having lovely nails myself and carrying around a bunch of cards in my bag for when i'm chatting to people! i also rely on my website, word of mouth and leaflet drops to draw in clients!!

 

[Bagpuss]

Can you imagine asking a friend to go to work for a few hours...take and use all her own equipment and do it for free or for next to nothing....? when i worked at Next i had similar problems...employees have access to the staff shop...and there close relatives...not friends, unless it was a family and friends weekend (usually about once every 3 months) if you where ever caught taking friends in the staff shop when it wasn't friends ans family weekend you would get the sack. My friends knew this and still would ask me to take them in....i would never ask them to risk losing their job for me so why they expected me to do it for them i don't know !!!!

nothing querier than folk eh !!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[fiona wallace]

You know guys I'm just thinking and playing Devil's Advocate.... pretend you know nothing about the nail undustry, you've never had your nails done (presumably because it's not a choice you would make - to spend money on your nails), your pal asks you to model for her (even though it's going to take HOURS out of YOUR day) and you do it out of friendship...you get your nails done and WOW you actuallly like them and ask to get them done again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok this friend has no idea of the importance of your career...why on earth should she...she places no VALUE on the nails because she has NEVER paid anything for her nails before in her life...she isn't even thinking anywhere near your thoughts of time, product cost, etc.

Rose, you say your friend still feels bad - I think that's sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

I havn't digested all the posts but this is a tricky one. I have two clients who are friends.... one who started with pretty good nails but after having a baby, they are weak and breaking. She told me it was because she is post natal and also losing her hair but has had gel overlay removed. Why do I still feel partially responsible? Then I have another friend who came with short bitten stubs and now has gel over natural nails which are looking strong and healthy and she is happy as pie. I do free nail art on her 'cos she advertises for me and lets me experiment on her. Then I have about four other clients (all different) but we chat and laugh whilst doing nails and I feel very comfortable with them. I have already asked one for her professional advice on something which she happily gave and I think I will definitely always have my favorites. But, HOW FAR DO YOU GO? This is a good thred and I look forward to other comments.