08 August 2019

How to fire a bad salon client

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Do you have a client who is always late, repeatedly cancels appointments last minute or is rude to you and your team? Try these tips for ditching a bad salon customer without upsetting them.

As a hair and beauty professional, you work with clients day in, day out. And while most are lovely there are always a few who, well, aren’t. Instead, they’re the chronic complainers or bullies who make your heart sink when you see their name in your appointment book.

And they’re not just bad for your morale: they can also be bad for hair and beauty business, costing you money and even salon staff.

So whether you’re fed up with them being rude about your work or always trying to pay late, try these tactful ways to fire problem salon clients.

Be polite

The last thing you want is confrontation. So no matter how rude the customer, keep your cool and stay professional.

If you have a client who always picks fault with your hair and beauty treatments, you could say you feel you’re not the salon or business for them and you think they’d be better off finding another therapist. No matter how you frame it, be polite but firm.

“Before you ditch a salon client, make sure you’ve explored all other options for dealing with them”

Be discrete

Take your customer into a private room if you have one and explain why you feel they’d be better off getting their salon treatments done elsewhere. And don’t be tempted to talk about the client with anyone else. You don’t want it getting back to them. Instead, say you both agreed you weren’t a good fit and you wish them well.

Say you’re fully booked

If you can’t face having a difficult conversation with a client, the next time (and the time after that!) they call for an appointment, simply say you’re fully booked.

Use an online booking system to block them

Have customers who always cancel last minute? Then use tech to deal with time-wasting clients. Some salon booking systems let you ban specific customers from making appointments online.

Offer them an alternative

You’ve told your client you can’t book them in again, so now keep them as happy as possible by suggesting other hair and beauty salons they could try. You could frame it as you don’t feel you’re a good fit for them but another local salon might make them happier.

Don’t place blame

No matter how awful the client, resist the temptation to place the blame on them. Instead make them feel it’s a mutual decision for them to move on to another salon.

Fire them as a last resort

Before you ditch a salon client, make sure you’ve explored all other options for dealing with them. For example, if they are a late payer always ask them to pay in advance. For serial last-minute cancellers, update your terms and conditions so your cancellation policy is there in black and white.