The Aspiring Stylist with Tracey Franklin

Welcome to the Aspiring Stylists Podcast with Tracey Franklin. Where to begin, grow and aspire to become the best stylist you can be. Whether you're thinking about becoming a stylist opening a salon, or developing your skills as an experienced stylist the next step of your beauty career starts here. Each week we'll discuss strategic ways to design, plan and execute on becoming a stylist that excels behind the chair and above the bottom line. Here's your host, Tracey Franklin.

So this one's about the time I had to fire a client. So I'm going to set the stage for you. We had a new guest, she was calling to make an appointment. And from the get go, we could tell that this client might be a bit challenging was just the verbiage that she was using with our salon coordinator. The difficulty that we had finding the perfect spot for her red flags were flying up in the air everywhere. So she comes in for her service. And first of all, she wanted an appointment with one of our master stylists. But none of our master stylists had availability. And she had a very specific timeframe in mind. So We accommodated that timeframe.

But we only had a studio stylist, which is an entry level stylist available for this appointment. So she came in. And from the moment she sat down, she was very degrading to my stylist, like are you listening to me? Are you hearing what I'm saying? I want this to go right, there can't be any mistakes. So the conversation continues. And they come to some sort of agreement about what needs to be mixed up and how it needs to be applied. And my stylist steps away to go to the color bar, she motions for me to come over and I can tell that she's like visibly nervous, the client has really set the stage for some uncomfortable time together. I'm keeping my eye on the situation and the stylist comes back and proceeds to start applying the color. The client turns away and looks at her and says Are you stupid. So right then in there, I walk over to the guest, I asked her to follow me to a private area where I can tell her we don't talk to our stylists like that in this salon. And we don't allow anyone else to talk to our stylists like that. And if she's going to stay for the rest of her appointment, she's going to have to learn to treat the stylists with some respect, because we're not going to put up with that.

I'm just here to tell you I take my job as their coach and Salon leader very seriously. And the part where I protect them from this kind of behavior is just as important to me as anything else. So the client gets a little snippy with me and I just put her in her place the best I can respectfully. So she goes and sits back down and it continues. So I pull her away once more, and I tell her one more word, and she's going to have to leave even if she has color on her hair, she's going to have to leave, I say go back to the chair and don't say anything else to your stylist whatsoever. She goes back to the chair, the rest of the appointment is silent. Then I walk her out the door and I uninvite her for any future appointments. Now, I feel like that is a bit of a dramatic scenario, when it doesn't always go that way. There are a lot of reasons while you will no longer be a fit. But some clients are going to let you know from the very beginning and you need to be paying attention to those cues from the go. I've had a few others we'll call them Mr.

Hanzi. And Miss never satisfied the breakdown of the conversations because you're probably wondering, what does that conversation look like? So for Mr. Hands, he was just like, hey, I wanted to thank you for being such a loyal client here at the salon. But unfortunately, you've made more than one of my stylists feel uncomfortable with your touching and some of the things you're saying. So unfortunately, we're no longer going to be able to offer you services here at our salon anymore. And of course he was baffled by it. He swore up and down nothing like that had ever happened in it. If it had been one stylist I might see the potential of maybe reading more into it. But with two stylists that I trust with everything I have, they came to me they said it, I believed him and it just wasn't a fit. I wasn't going to let them be treated like that any longer. And for Miss never satisfied. And I'm sure some of you have some of those types of clients right now that conversation is really easy, and it just sounds like this. Hey, Sally, I've just noticed that for the last couple of appointments you haven't been really satisfied with your services. I'm not sure if we're getting our wires crossed. If there's just some miscommunication. At the end of the day, I want you to be really, really happy with your hair. And I'm just wondering if maybe another stylist would be a better fit for you. Easy peasy.

You've got your point across in a very respectful way and you've let her know that you're picking up on the cues that she's not loving what you're doing lately.

Sometimes it's just time to part ways no harm, no foul, right.

That season is over and it's time for her to find somebody else that can better suit her needs. I feel like we should always try to save the relationship If possible, you know, put them on probation without telling them that that's what you're doing. I had a client one time that for whatever reason, I started calling her the twofer, because it felt like I was always redoing her hair, she was getting two for the price of one. And I just had to have a similar conversation with her and say, Hey, I'm noticing that I'm having to make a lot of adjustments to your service plan. And so I'm just wondering if we need to have a deeper conversation about what the goal is just give them the opportunity to dive a little deeper, maybe there's just some underlying things they're not liking about what you're doing that can be shifted, and that will help save the relationship.

No matter what always take the high road, especially on Messenger. That was a lesson I learned the hard way. I feel like the signs are usually there. Early on, it might sound like well, no one ever gets it right. Or your price is sure are high. And I'm like, Well, honey, I ain't getting any cheaper. You know, long term, it may sound like hey, I need to come in and I need more Blonde on top or, you know, you're resorting back to that twofer situation where you feel like you're always having to redo something and take extra time out of your schedule. You know, I've had to put a client on probation before for not getting what she's booked for. I had her booked for a base color, a Bolyai and a haircut and she came in for her appointment. She said we're gonna skip the color today. And it's like, well, no, ma'am. I have you booked for three and a half hours. And what you've just reduced your appointment down to is a third of the price and a third of the time. And so that happened more than once. So it was just a conversation of okay, we're going to really need to know what we're getting Next time, we're going to have to be certain that what we're booking is what we're actually getting, because time is money. And a client that does that with a service plan on the spot, in my opinion is the same as the last minute cancellation because now you've got two hours on your appointment book with nobody to fill it with because there's just no time, there's no notice.

If you dread coming into work that day, if you see them on your book, and you're absolutely dreading the day, that is a surefire sign that that client is not the right fit for you.

Sometimes they stopped following the cancellation policy and you're noticing that they're calling last minute to reschedule their appointment or cancel altogether, I'm going to tell you right now you better have a fee for those instances, you know, the signs are usually there. And you just have to find the courage to handle it and implement those fees that lets the client know that you take your cancellation policy seriously, and remind them, hey, this is my job. You know, this is what I do for a living, it's how I put food on the table for them, they've just decided to not get color for you. You're wondering if you're going to make the kind of money that week that you need to make to get by, it's really important that you have a very professional and respectful conversation with the client when it's time to fire them. And I really hate to use that word. But that's essentially what we're doing, hey, you're, you're no longer welcome here. Take your money and go. Sometimes that looks like walking them out to their car. You know, having that conversation in the salon anywhere kind of sets you up for someone overhearing it, and the client feeling really uncomfortable about that. So I feel like walking them out kind of reduces any chance of any kind of drama rising or anything like that, you know, so walking them out to the car is how I prefer to do it. Nothing good can come from letting it get out of hand, absolutely nothing. So just make sure that it doesn't.

And if they start to raise their voice, make sure that you keep your voice nice and low and calm. The truth is a happy client will tell to clients that they're happy. But an unhappy client will tell 200 clients that they're unhappy. So you never want to give them a reason to talk. Unless they're willing to embellish the story. It's not like they can go to a friend and say, oh my gosh, my stylist just fired me. She was so rude. She told me to never come back. That would be a complete lie. So you want to make sure that you don't give them anything to talk about. Honestly, I like to practice what I'm going to say a few times it helps me get collected and get it out the right way. I'm not fumbling for my words or wondering what I'm going to say next. I even like to create a few scenarios in my head ahead of time of how things might go and how I might handle them. If it does go that way.

Let them respond let them say whatever it is they have to say but don't lose control of the conversation. It's very important that you always stay in control of the conversation so that you can say what you need to say the way you need to say it. They may ask for examples you know like what what do you mean I've been late four times. All write it down on a post it here you go these are so you know our software documents when clients check in late or cancel less than 24 hours. These are the exact dates and times and what you were booked for.

And I'll even put how much money it costs me. That's a humdinger.

I feel like for them although they may not like it they can see the value and knowing what But it costs a stylist when they have behavior like that over the phone is definitely the most comfortable way to do it. If you can prevent the client from even returning to the salon post appointment, then I feel like that's the most comfortable way to handle it. But sometimes that's not possible, or sometimes it doesn't feel like the right fit. If I've been doing a client for a really long time, like 10 plus years, and for whatever reason, we're just not the right stylist client for each other anymore, I'm gonna want to have that conversation face to face, that clients been loyal, they've been a good client, it's just time to move on. And I don't want to treat that relationship, like none of it ever mattered. So I'll have that conversation in person. And you know, just make sure that they fully understand and make sure that it goes well. And we're able to part ways on a positive note, you're definitely gonna want to do this, at the end of the appointment, I mean, I'm not going to, you know, work on someone for a couple hours with a really, you know, uncomfortable vibe, that's really the whole thing. So it's a conversation that I would definitely have at the end of the appointment. And you know, starting that conversation may just sound like, hey, you know, I need to talk to you about something like, this isn't comfortable. And I hate that it's come to this, but I just really feel like blank, blank, blank. And then you're going to add in those reasons, you know, the reasons of not showing up for their appointments or not getting what they're booked for the things that we talked about, every conversation is going to be unique, but I feel like you can just start it by saying, hey, we need to talk, this isn't easy, I really respect you, but we're no longer a fit. So you're hearing me talk a lot about boundaries. And it's because they're so important. You know, if the client isn't aware of what the boundaries are, then you're almost always setting yourself up for being underpaid.

And what that can look like is, again, doing things for free or being talked down on what you're going to do or what you're going to charge for those services.

setting those expectations ahead of time is the best way to avoid that situation. At the end of the day, maybe it's just better for them to see another stylist you know, for me, the more successful I got, the less available I was and the more my prices were. And no matter how much a client likes you, sometimes it's just not possible for them, maybe they need a little bit more flexibility that you can offer them or maybe your prices have gotten so high that they're just not comfortable paying that anymore, the best thing that you can do is refer them to another stylist in the salon. And that way you still get to see him, you still get to walk up to him and say, Hey, how are things going and keep that relationship going? To some extent, boundaries are one of the most important things that you can have in place. When you create a business relationship with someone, those are really important to understand up front. And a lot of times that can happen when they call, our front desk has a very thorough first time client spiel about our cancellation policy about how we book appointments, how things go, they're really setting those expectations before the client even comes through the door, you know, but sometimes issues arise later, and they forget what those boundaries are. Sometimes firing a client really isn't necessary.

Sometimes it's something as simple as just reminding them of the policy or paying a cancellation fee is all it takes to nip the situation in the bud and get that client back on the right track. And sometimes it's just a youth thing, you know, for whatever reason, they are no longer respecting the boundaries that you put in place all those years ago, maybe it's time for them to see a another stylist in the salon, maybe the chemistry between them and someone new might be a better fit. It's not always about firing the guests, sometimes the relationship can be saved. There's a lot of significance in the self reflection that comes from the learning experience of ending a client relationship. What was your role in the breakdown of the relationship? And what will you do differently next time?

Maybe you realize that the conversations didn't happen as your prices continued to climb, it wasn't a conversation and it should have been, or maybe you know, you're listening to the client complain about how you're never available when they need you. You know, that would be a conversation that you could have with them. You know, like I totally understand. I know, I'm so thankful for all the success I'm experiencing, but it's definitely making it a little bit harder to get into me. self reflection is a really positive thing. Make sure you show gratitude for the clients that you love serving, I mean spoil them and remind them why they continue to choose you. You take care of them and they take care of you.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of The Aspiring Stylist Podcast with Tracey Franklin. If you enjoyed listening and you want to hear more, make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts. The Aspiring Stylist Podcast with Tracey Franklin is a Morgan Franklin Production. Today's episode was written and produced by Morgan Franklin editing and post production by Mike Franklin.

Want to find out more about Tracey and the Aspiring Barber and Beauty Academy go to aspirebarberandbeauty.com