Practice Now, Shine Later

We’ve talked about how the holidays will be here before we know it. There are many steps that will help us to prepare for the busy holiday season. But we have to practice the skills now, so we have them ready so we can shine by the holidays. This series of posts will be about several things to get you ready for the holidays. It will include some business practices as well as techniques to wow your clients with holiday nails. I guarantee you will have to get your referral cards ready!

Let’s start with holiday pre-booking. Many of us use the same old line to get out clients to book their holiday appointments: “The holidays are coming. You should book your appointment. It’s going to get busy.” Will this work to get some clients? Yes, however it will not help you throughout the year. We need to be smarter about asking our clients to book and give them a reason to pre-book.

Start by telling them the “why” behind pre-booking. Tell them why they need to book their next appointment, explain why they need to come back. Tell them what could possibly go wrong or what will happen if they don’t come back in the recommended time. Give them a date, so they have a mental timeline.

Pedicure examples: “Approximately four weeks from now, your nails will need to be trimmed and the polish will have grown out. The calluses will have returned and your feet will need to be exfoliated. In order to keep your feet looking and feeling great, I need to see again you in four weeks.” Or “To maintain your healthy feet, I need to see you no later than November 1.”     

Acrylic example: “In about two weeks, you will see a line where the acrylic has grown out. Sometimes, around the two- week mark, the acrylic may start to lift. If the acrylic lifts and water gets trapped underneath the acrylic nail, mold can grow and cause a dark discoloration on the natural nail.” Advise clients it is best to come in for a fill/rebalance before problems arise. A good example I always give is: “It’s like paving a road. It’s much easier to put a layer of blacktop on a well maintained road than it is to pave a road that’s full of potholes, cracks, and repairs.” We want to have our client come back before they have problems. I feel this is a good visual and clients get it every time.

Gel-polish example: “In two weeks you will see a line of demarcation where the gel-polish has grown out. Some gel-polishes can over adhere to the natural nail if worn for extended periods of time. This can make the gel-polish more difficult to remove. The gel-polish needs to be removed and a new product needs to be applied.”

These are just a few examples I use to get clients to pre-book. Make sure you use adjectives to express your words. Visual words always help to paint a picture. Talk about the health of their hands and feet in addition to the visual. What do you say? Please post it, we’d love to hear your ideas and what works for you.

Hint: When pre-booking, it really helps to know the date one week, two weeks, and one month from the client’s appointment. Here’s the why. Because, some people aren’t connected to their calendar and if we can give them a date, they can mentally figure it out.

Also, if you look at your schedule before your client comes, you know the date. You can look at that day and give them some options right away. You will be giving your clients an option or choice instead of asking an open-ended question like “Do you want to make your next appointment?”

Check back next week to see what that conversation and offering looks like. You will be able to place yourself in this situation every day and use this helpful information. Practicing now, so you can shine later — one more way to help you stand out above the rest and become the BEST!

— Jill