When someone comes into the salon and has issues with their nails not wearing as they should, is your first instinct to look for blame or access the damages and hunt for solutions? So often I see it turn into a blame game with the professional instead of trying to figure out what they did wrong. There are times when clients sabotage their own nails (shocker right) and there are times when something just went wrong. I posed the question to my Facebook crowd wondering why a tech’s first instinct might be to assume blame and got some great responses that definitely lead to further thought on the subject. I would love to share what some of them said as well as ask what you think and do?
Robin Horiski: lack of confidence in their work?
Jade Yallop: Lack of education
Loraine Clark: fear of upsetting the client. we put too much pressure on ourselves to provide the 'perfect' service to everyone regardless of the condition of their nails or their lifestyle
Cherie Ewert Plank: I can honestly say that the first question out of my mouth to them is what were you doing? I've worked with my product long enough that I know it's strong enough to outlast many things, but when you have clients that continue to use their nails as tools, then it's always going to be their fault. Sure once in a while I know it’s something that didn't work right and I will take the blame, but my regular clients know better. lol
Amy Murphy: I know personally I always want to be everything to everyone. I want everything to be perfect all the time. It's a weakness of mine. I know it's not possible, and I beat myself up over it. But I do also think that clients sometimes expect that of us. They don't realize that we are just human.
Michelle Woodman: I always tell my clients, "Do you drive your car without putting oil in the engine? If you have oil in your engine, you need to oil your nails with Solar Oil; otherwise there will be breakdowns just as with your car’s engine. Twice a day is good, three times a day is better."
Cecilia Bk: Because no body is perfect! I assume responsibility on ALL my services and try to fix the problem even if I didn't cause it. Maybe that's just me... Just saying
Lydian Flash: Whenever a client has any issue with their nails weather lifting or anything else, I try and solve the problem.... It is not about blame or fault...It is what can WE (the client and myself) do to ensure the client has the best nails.
Trish Rock: I don’t believe Nail Professionals are assuming blame at all. It is good business practice to make sure every client is happy. By repairing for no charge that is not assuming blame, it is keeping good relations with your clients. If the issue reoccurs and keeps reoccurring then of course the problem needs to be dealt with by both parties and in some cases perhaps the client has to change some habits, or in extreme cases have the nails off (some people were just never meant to have nails!)
LaShondra W. White: I think that education is one of the best methods to prevent the "blame game." Making sure that a client knows about nail care at home can help to have a good relationship between him/her and the nail tech. Fixing a repair, or two, I think is fine, but I would also go through steps to educate the client so this is not a repeat issue. :-)
— Holly
Print | posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 10:16 AM