How To Deal With Difficult Customers

Any service industry worker will tell you that the hardest part of their job is usually their customers. Not all of them, of course, but there can be a select few who seem to love being difficult. Maybe they’re always late or spend the entire appointment criticizing your work. This definitely extends out to the professional beauty industry, unfortunately. 

As a beauty professional, you need to learn how to deal with difficult clients gracefully while still maintaining your boundaries. Keep reading for our tips for this!

Common Client Issues And How To Deal With Them

No two clients are alike. There are all sorts of clients that can be a little hard to work with. So if you’ve ever wondered how to deal with an angry client, keep reading! 

However, it’s important to note that most clients are not trying to ruin your day on purpose.

Don’t worry — it’s normal to get annoyed sometimes

If you’ll allow us to get a bit technical, something to keep in mind is the fundamental attribution error. This is a psychological cognitive bias where you blame the actions of others on who they are as a person, rather than their circumstances or situation. And then you go on to cut yourself some slack because, well, you know your own situation; you would never do anything irritating on purpose.

To put it simply — if you’ve ever gotten annoyed with someone for showing up late to an appointment but then went ahead and arrived 10 minutes late to something as well without a second thought, that’s the fundamental attribution error!

Bringing it back to your clients, it can be very easy to blame a difficult customer’s actions on them personally and ignore any outside issues. However, once you understand that many of your customers might just be having a bad day and are taking it out on you, you will find it simpler to stay calm and actively listen to what they have to say.

How To Deal With Angry Customers

You’ve just finished up your lash appointment. You handmade your fans and spent 3 hours painstakingly creating a beautiful lash set, only to have your client take a look in the mirror and become obviously upset. What do you do?

The main thing is to remember to stay calm. Responding with frustration or anger will only escalate the issue; your job is to remain cool in front of your clients. Of course, don’t feel like you have to put up with someone who is getting extremely mad and making you feel unsafe.

Try to really listen to what the client is saying. Did you make some mistake somewhere? Or misinterpret what they asked for? This is a great reason to have a thorough consultation beforehand and iron out all the details of the appointment. 

Don’t take it personally — maybe your client just isn’t used to seeing themselves with lashes on or the look is slightly more dramatic than they anticipated. Take it in, make small changes where possible, and see if you can do anything differently the next time.

Late Clients

One of the most common issues you might run into with clients is punctuality (or lack thereof). It can be really frustrating when someone keeps arriving late to their appointments, as it leaves you with less time to work. It also tends to show a lack of respect to your craft and to you as an individual.

It’s important to understand that unexpected things do happen. Everyone runs late now and then; kindly remind them to do their best to show up on time and to let you know if they won’t make it.

For those who constantly arrive late, you might need to be a bit firmer. Make sure to go over your policies and set expectations about what they need to do if they are running late. If it happens every time, you may need to let them know that you can no longer keep them as a client. 

Clients Who Keep Talking — Or Don’t Talk At All

While this one isn’t quite as big of a deal as the others, it can still be irritating. Whether you have a client who seems to go on and on or they don’t utter a word, it can be hard figuring out how to have the most comfortable interaction.

Remember that part of your job is to create a pleasant environment for your clients. If they don’t feel like having a full-blown conversation, there’s no reason to push them. Play some relaxing music and let it be more of a spa experience. And if they are talking nonstop, one of our favorite tips is to let them know that all talking needs to stop once you place the eyepads on to keep them from shifting. 

It really boils down to having strict boundaries that you stick to no matter what. For some tips and resources about maintaining boundaries, take a look at one of our other blogs!

Follow Up With Your Clients

You should be following up in some way with your clients after every appointment, no matter if their experience was amazing or not. That way, you can take in some compliments and also receive very valuable constructive criticism. Then it’s up to you to implement that feedback if you feel it’s valid!

And guess what? It’s totally fine if you realize that a client is just not a great fit. Just like you can’t be best friends with everyone, you won’t be able to be the perfect lash artist or nail tech for every single person out there. If there are some big issues that keep coming up with a specific client and you start to dread their appointments, it’s totally within your control to let them go and refer them to someone else! 

Lash Business Tips From PLA

We hope you’ve learned a couple of tricks for how to deal with rude customers! It can be a tricky part of the industry, but with some practice, you’ll see how most people are easier to deal with than you might think.

And luckily, one thing you’ll never have to worry about with your customers is using subpar products! Whether you lash, wax, or create beautiful manicures, PLA has everything you need to offer the best beauty services.