How to deal with client complaints

Award-winning business owner & deputy chair & director of information at The Federation of Nail Professionals (The FNP), Sue Davies, shares her advice for dealing with client complaints…

As professionals, we have a duty of care to our clients and they deserve the best service we can provide. When we have a service breakdown with a client, it can be challenging to negotiate a pathway that ends with both parties feeling happy, however with good grace and professional management of the situation, you can maintain the client relationship and not lose out.

It’s not purely about that one appointment that led to a client complaint but about how you have worked to that point and how you manage it going forward. With good customer care, you can retain the client and the revenue they bring – or if you feel the relationship is no longer mutually viable be polite and manage their exit from your business.

Client retention stems from good service and when a complaint is made, you need to remain professional and remain business-like. It can be a struggle to remain unemotional when someone questions your business or staff as it feels personal but remember – this is a business relationship.

Professional service starts with good education and training for the services you are providing as well as working within industry standards and health & safety guidelines. If you have your own skills covered and that of your team, you are on the right pathway.

Working to industry standards is likely to be a requirement of your insurance policy and so make sure that you are providing pre-care, consultation and aftercare. These elements should be documented as evidence that you are providing all the information clients require to make a good choice.

“Follow the advice of your product manufacturer and educator. If you are working correctly, then it is less likely that you will come across unhappy clients.”  

Make sure you have documented your consultation and noted the treatment plan, how you are going to proceed, what you did and how client was at the point of aftercare and departure.

As the salon or business owner, the buck stops with you, so you must deal with the situation if it arises. You should ask the client why they are disappointed, what they were expecting and how they felt the appointment could have been improved. These questions show that you are listening to their point of view and are taking them seriously.

If you work on your own it’s hard not to take any form of complaint personally, but the client does not usually want to pick on you to upset you. They feel they have a valid reason for wanting the service redone, removed or refunded.

If it relates to a team member, you will have to go through the appointment with the relevant worker and this is where your professional standards come in. Checks on all consultation points should be made, as well as record card completion and how the tech/therapist felt it went.

“We can usually tell when someone is not completely happy when they are leaving. If you or your team are unsure following an appointment, it’s worth always having a post appointment debrief if you feel there could be an issue and make a note on your records – remembering that they could be viewed by the client if requested.”

If you see that something isn’t right during your service, mention it, improve it and deal with it confidently at the time. It is less likely to have a future impact. If you can see it, I can almost guarantee they’ll see it later and be unhappy.

In my salon if I can put our hands up to a service breakdown being down to us, then I will offer a full or partial refund and even a free redo. If the client has ignored advice and you have evidence of this, you should advise them that you consider the advice not followed. However, if you are building a business, every client is a revenue stream to your bottom line, so choose your words carefully.

On joining this industry, you know you’ll be public facing and that means taking the rough with the smooth and sometimes we must go with it for the sake of the business. Of course, there are exceptions where clients can become manipulative, abusive or even threaten violence and these should not be tolerated. Sometimes, losing these clients can be a blessing and leaves the pathway open for a better type of client to walk through your door.

Remember, clients come to you because you are a professional, so give them a service with the highest professional standards and quality products, and these steps will help to maintain high client satisfaction.