How to Handle a Re-do Client

Hello, my friend. Welcome back to The Modern Hairstylist Podcast. I am excited to talk about our topic today because it's a sticky situation, it's a, it's a murky situation, it's a scary situation, and I love confronting that shit head-on and I love to help you and myself through these conversations, uh, reflect and be prepared for how to handle them. And we're gonna be talking about how to handle a redo client or an upset client when they're upset with their, your work.

And we're gonna be talking about, like, the emotional burdens that come with that, and then also how to actually go ahead and tangibly handle that specific situation and all of those good things. And, you know, I think that it can be really tough to confront these because, you know, this is our, like, passion, like, this is our work. Like, we hold a lot of pride within, like, what we're doing and the work that we do in our chair, and also the relationships that we're, that we're creating and the way that w- we're running our business. And we put a lot of our own emotional worth into our business because it is what we do and it's what brings us fulfillment.

And so, it oftentimes, situations like this oftentime, um, become really heavy for us, and I just want you to know that you're not alone, and I'm here for you, and there's an entire community of hairstylists out there that are just like you who are there for you as well. So, if we're ready to break into it, if we're ready to get down, let's go. Let me guess, you are a hustling, bustling hairstylist behind the chair, working so hard to build a beautiful career for yourself, one that gives you time, freedom, and energy to spend with yourself, your family, and your friends. But you feel like you're always working in your business, even when you're not behind the chair.

My name's Hunter Donia, and I help you automate your systems and implement really beautiful strategies so you can grow your business without the overwhelm. And this is The Modern Hairstylist podcast. Okay, my friend. What's up, Caitlin?

How are you? I'm doing good. How are you? I'm so good.

Who are you? I love that this is- ... our new thing. My name's Caitlin.

I work for Hunter. I'm also a hairstylist. I am solely here to help Hunter stay on track with our little outlines that we have for the episodes, and then I also just pop in my opinion where it's not asked for and sometimes where it is asked for. So, that's me.

We love Caitlin. We love Caitlin. We love your opinion. We love you, uh, contributing to the podcast, and we love you keeping me on track.

We really appreciate it. So, Caitlin, have you ever had to deal with a redo client before? Honestly, more times than I care to admit when I was a, like, a young stylist. I've even had to deal with it, like, literally in the last year, and I've been out of the salon for over six months at this point.

You know what? Let's just, like, let's, let's talk about that first. Like, let's talk about this, like, weird, like, stigma or maybe, like, our own fear because of our egos, like, getting in the way of admitting the fact that, like, this happens to us, no matter what part of your journey you're in. Like, you could be doing h- hair for 20, 30 years and, like, have this happen, period.

Like, it's totally possible. Absolutely. You could be the e- Yeah. You could be the expert in what you do, and you could have that client who, who you just did that thing that you were an expert on, on, and they could hate it and come back to you with, like, negative feedback.

Or, you could have something may have, could have gone wrong. Like, it couldn't have been just, like, the client's emotional reaction to it. It could also be, like, you actually feel like you didn't do a good job on that person. It fucking happens.

You are a human being. We're doing, like... And also, we have to remember, we're like, we're doing a, a job that is, like, it's so easy for things to go wrong. Like, it's just, it's so easy for things to get messed up.

And things change all of the time. Trends change, water changes, chemicals change, environment changes, people, most importantly, people change. So, I feel like, you know, where we need to f- kind of first break this down is i- is, is this, like, a people thing or is this, like, a actual, tangible hair thing, right? Like, when somebody's coming to you with, like, an upset reaction, is this a person who is upset with, like, what j- what is going on on their head, on their body, and their self-image, or is there something that is, like, tangibly actually different than what the expectations were that were set?

Right? Would you agree with me, Caitlin? Like, we have to, like, really differentiate those to make sure that we know how to attack it the right way. Yeah, definitely.

And, I mean, I'm probably jumping the gun a little bit here, but, like, I feel like we know before they leave the salon whether they're happy with it, whether you're happy with it. So, like, I won't, I won't dive too far into it, 'cause I do feel like I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself here, but, like, knowing when to address the issue as well and not waiting. So- Ooh. I'll stop with that, and then we'll keep going later.

Yeah, no, I absolutely love that point. Um, we, we can totally start there. So, I feel like I've had... Uh, the thing I will say is I feel like I've had many, many, many, many, many times where I was not completely proud of my work, and they absolutely freaking loved it.

So I feel like that happens more oftentimes than not because we are gonna be our own, like, critics, but there has been times where it just wasn't I was, it, it wasn't just that I wasn't proud of it. It was like, "Oh, n- I can't let somebody walk around like thi-" Like, and I feel like the filter that you n- that we need to be asking ourselves before people, like, leave our door is like, if somebody else was asking that person where they get their hair done, would you want them to tell them it was you? Like, that is the question that maybe you should be asking yourself, and we shouldn't be letting somebody leave our doors if we are not confident that we would want that person to tell other people that it was you who did their hair.So that way, you can just, uh, like you can self-filter, like, "Okay, do I need to confront this and be super honest with my client and let them know, like, 'Hey, Suzie.

Quite honestly, like I know that you like this right now and I'm so glad that you do. Me, personally, I don't know if I'd feel comfortable letting you leave like this because I just feel like I could have done a better job,' right? Maybe because of X, Y, and Z. "And so, I know that, you know, you have to, you have to go out to get your kids today.

Um, I know it'd be inconvenient for you to come back, and totally fine if you just totally don't want to do this at all. But what I would really love to do is just, like, hit you with, like, a quick little toner before you leave, or have you come back at a time that's convenient for you for me to put a toner on this because it just really isn't hitting the mark for me, personally. As long as you would feel comfortable with that, or if you're okay with that happening." I think being completely real and honest gains nothing but respect from that client and will turn that client into a client for life, especially nowadays when people are valuing authenticity so hard.

And I don't know if anybody has gone on TikTok and seen comments on hairdressers' posts, like, all the time. People are starting to, like, create, like, a really negative connotation around hairstylists now, like, like, because we have swung so far the other direction into, like, like, standing up for ourselves and having boundaries and, and charging a shit ton of money, like, which I think is amazing for us. Don't get it twisted. You know, there are a lot of people out there who are getting a little sick of people who are going a little bit over the top with all that stuff.

I'm, I... You know, y'all know me. There's a balance. I teach to a balance of boundaries and professionalism, okay?

You can have the best of both worlds, but you can't be doing it in a way that's turning people off or putting a bad name on the industry, because a lot of the times, that's what's happening. People are getting a little too self-righteous and swinging the, like, too far left into the wrong direction and then making people not trust us anymore and making people think that we're just, like, money hungry, etcetera, etcetera, when in reality, it's, like, we're just trying to make a living for ourselves and we're trying to flip the script of, like, the, of, like, the narrative that we've been living for our entire lives as an industry, right? So, there are people out there who are just becoming much more untrusting of us, um, and who have already had really bad experiences in the salon from their own perspectives, right? And the moment that you can show up authentically and be super honest and own up to yourself and be a human and have that human interaction with somebody is the moment you will gain so much respect in your business and from that client, and you will have that client for life.

And that client will go and tell all of their friends and all of their family and all their other, your target market people that they really trust you, they would not trust anybody else, and the way that you handle every situation is, is something that's super impressive. I don't think that that should go unnoticed, and I think that we should be approaching, uh, those situations very honestly and authentically, because I think it's worth it. What do you think, Caitlin 1000%. That's something that I have really leaned into in the last few years of being a stylist, is like, one, I don't have a good poker face.

Like, if I mess up, you're gonna know it. So, like- ... I- it was, it got to the point where I'm like, "Why am I even trying to dance around, like, my own fuck-up?" Like- Right.

it's like, "Okay, I need to eat my pride and I just need to be honest with this person. Don't, like, act like I'm, like, freaking the fuck out. Just, like, be like, 'Hey, there's just, like, this, like, one little spot, like, there's a little bleed with one of your foils. I'd love to just, like, touch this up really quick with, like, a, a drop toner or something like that.'

" And when you do have that honesty, it is like, they don't freak out as hard either. It's like, there's just this, like, calm, like, "Oh, yeah. No, that's fine. That's, that'd be great."

Or if they don't have time for it, like, you reschedule it. How liberating is it? Uh, completely. Right?

Completely, and it- It's, it's liberation. Yes. And it, like, it takes away a lot of the fear from us as well, because it's not so much that we're, like, gonna try and hide this bleed mark that we have in the hair. It's like, we're gonna be just honest about it and be like, "Hey, this just happened."

And then you don't have to feel like you're, like, trying to, like, blow dry the hair a certain way to, like, make it not show up as they're getting styled, like... Uh, something about honesty, like, and a clear conscience, is just, it's truly the way to go. Totally. 100%.

It's always the way to go, and although it's uncomfortable, you know, if you're not uncomfortable, you're not growing, and sometimes you have to feel the fear and do it anyway, as I say all the time. And so, I love that you brought that up so much. Thank you so much. And it's so true.

Like, the blow drying in a certain way, curling in a certain way to, like, hide the spot, changing... "I think your part would look, look better a little bit this way." You know? It's so true.

We've all done it. And instead of doing all that shit, just be honest and call it out. And then also, a lot of the times, you'll maybe call it out and be like, "I wanna know exactly how you feel about this part of the hair, um, because I just would- I'd just be curious to hear your thoughts." And some people are gonna be like, "It looks fucking great."

Like, "I don't know what you're talking about, Hunter." And you're like, "Okay, cool. Leave." Like, "Great.

Everything's cool." Just up front and confront it if you feel like i- if you feel uncomfortable about it. If you really want the, if you, if you feel like there is invalidation from yourself and, like, worry and anxi- anxiety from yourself, confront it up front so that way you don't make a mess for yourself later. Because, you know what?

I'd rather you say something and the client come back and have that open dialogue versus you saying nothing, and then the client's not gonna say anything to you either, girl, and then they're just gonna go to the next stylist. Period. That's my tea on how you should approach it if you're feeling uncomfortable. Now, let's talk about my tea about if a client is feeling uncomfortable, okay?

Which is, like, why you're listening to this episode probably. So, the tea is, like I said, it goes back to, is this a human thing? Is this an emotional thing? Is this a hair thing, a tangible thing?

And you wanna know what? At the end of the day, it doesn't fucking matter. Your client's upset. Okay?

Your client's upset. And the way that you approach this situation is always, no matter what, it's always going to be with effective and empathetic...Communication, all right? Any therapist will ever tell you, when they're talking about communication and the way that you talk to other people, they will always tell you, you never want to make somebody feel like attacked or isolated.

You don't necessarily wanna use you statements, right? We always wanna make it seem like we're on the same team, like, we're using we statements. We're like, "What we can do in, in order for us to achieve our goals," right? Make it seem like you really are hearing the person out.

Congratulate the person for having the courage and feeling safe enough to reach out to you and let you know that stuff. I've had, I've had my own clients... Or no, no, my own friends who have gotten their hair done elsewhere, who have talked to me and asked me, like, "Oh, my god. Should I say something?

I feel bad," yada, yada, yada. And we all know how much courage it can take to actually, like, speak up sometimes if you are, like, a normally nice person who respects service providers, right? Then you know it can take a lot of courage to speak up, because you don't wanna hurt anybody's feelings, or you don't wanna cause any issues, whatever it may be. So, that person granted you with the honor of, like...

I'm trying to figure out, like, the, the word. Like... I would say they're giving you an opportunity to make it right, personally- I like that. but I'm not sure if that's what you were going for.

Like, like, they gave you, like, the privilege. Like, it's like you have the privilege of, you have the privilege of somebody feeling safe enough and stepping into their courage to reach out to you and let you know their honest feelings, where they could have not told you shit and shit on your name to other people and never came to see you again. Like, you had, you ha- you, th- those are the two things that might happen, right? And you had the better option happen, so let's be grateful for somebody reaching out to us and letting them know that they're not completely satisfied with what's going on here, okay?

Let's be grateful for it, and let's approach our verbiage and communication in that way. Now, I get it. You told the person in the consultation everything that they need to, needed to know. You talked about this with them.

You spent 30 minutes with them talking about this. You, you... Everything was cool. They said that they loved it at the end of the appointment.

It does not matter. Your client's perception right now is what it is, and that's reality. Perception is reality. So, this is what your client is seeing.

This is what they're thinking. So, we need to approach this communication in a way where you're gonna be meeting your client where they're at. You will have so much more positive success meeting your client where they're at versus trying to fight them and argue with them and negate their feelings and their reality, okay? So, what we do is we thank them, we appreciate them for being honest with us, and we try and work towards a mutual, uh, agreement.

Now, this is where we talk about your policies, right? So, you know, as far as communication goes, you just wanna be super em- empathetic, like I said, all the things that I just ranted about. But how do we actually handle the situation? This is where your policies come in, because if you have a really nice, granular redo policy, and you leave everything up to your discretion, and your client is signing and agreeing to your policies every single visit, then you have a standard operating procedure that you can fall back on and that supports you and has your back in this situation so we're not making any emotional decisions, okay?

So, because it, it just hurts your pride. It's tough to be in this situation. It can really put you down, and I don't want you to be reacting emotionally. I want you to be reacting logically and with a system that has your back.

So, we need to make sure we have granular policies in place. Now, here's my thing. The cli-... This is my policy.

If the client is reaching out to you about something that was not spoken about in the consultation, or the expectation was not set properly and they got a result, or they're feeling like they are, are upset about something that you did not address, then that is important to take in consideration. That is when that's on us, okay? I will tell you 99% of the things that make our clients upset, it's on us, all right? At the end of the day, because we didn't set down the expectation, all right?

And if somebody says, like... If somebody's reaching out to you and you're like, "I did talk to them about that in the consultation," did you get their verbal agreement? Did you have them repeat things back to you? Did you repeat things back to them from what they were telling you, right?

Like, did you have, like, a very, very, very clear confirmation that this person knew exactly what you were talking about, and you knew what you were doing moving forward? Sometimes maybe you need to write it out for some people. I know some people are a little, a little crazier than others. Do you need to write it down and make sure that you both are agreeing on things?

Are we using visual tools in our consultation? 99% of the time, it comes back to the consultation versus the actual work that you're doing, right? But if there's a result that happens that is in opposition or contrary to the expectations that you set for the client, that's on you. But if you did set those expectations, if you did have a very clear agreement and understanding that you both were on the same page, right?

And your client is reaching out to you and they're telling you that you're ups- that they're upset, that's on them, and they will be paying for the redo. If not, then you're gonna be doing that redo for free, or you're gonna be referring them to somebody else. Or vice versa, you could refer them to somebody else in either situation if you want to. It's completely up to you.

For me, I've had multiple moments where I was like, "I do not fucking feel like dealing with this anymore. This is going to s- this person is going to somebody else." Like, this isn't, this isn't an ideal person that I really want in my chair anyway. I really don't care.

Like, I will let you go onto somebody else. I will refund your money, like period. Like, I love, love refunding. I'm obsessed with refunding.

Uh, uh, refunding that coin?... and giving up and sacrificing the time that I just spent is so worth it for me to not deal with the headache of that shit anymore. Like, that's my tea. I have no shame in refunding some coins, okay?

Now, if you feel like, and you truly, truly, truly, truly feel like you set the expectations, you did everything you possibly could, you feel like you want to make this person happy, you wanna see them again, you wanna have a good reputation for yourself, et cetera, et cetera, I'd recommend biting the bullet and having them come back in, however, explaining, "In my policies, this is how I handle these situations, because this is gonna take me more time and product to get to where we need to go, and the cha- and with the changes you wanna make, right? Then, then this is gonna cost you X amount of money." So, like, if you, if you have it granularly in your policies set out to where it's like, if you feel like there was an ex- if we set the expectation and the expectation that I, that we set was not clear, or was not met, was not met, then that is when we can, we can see if that is the truth, and, and I'll do it for free. We can do, like, one redo for free, right?

You can have, like, a situation even in your policies where it's like, okay, after one free redo, you're getting fucking referred out. Like, it's like, we, I will not be doing this again and, and will be recommending you to another stylist. Like, that could be your standard operating procedure, but wha- whatever you decide it for it to be, right, I want you to write it down. I want you to have it in place.

I want you to have it signed. I want you to have it read. I want you to have it agreed upon for yourself and your client. Your policies are not just for your clients, they're for yourselves and vice versa.

So that way, like I said, you don't have to make these, these emotional decisions. So that's my tea. That's my tea. What I would do is, is I would assess how clear you were and what expectations you took it within the consultation, right?

Did you meet those expectations or did you not meet those expectations very clearly? And also, how long is it since you did their hair and when are they complaining to you? And that should also being your policies. Is it a seven-day window?

Is it a 14-day window? Did you tell your client before they left, like, "Hey, just reach out to me and, like, if there's anything that's funky or just, like, let me know. If you have any questions, let me know." Right?

Like, what is the window? Because if you have a set window in your policies, then you can just lean back on that and you can say, "Because this is with8- this is not within my seven-day window, unfortunately I can't offer a free redo appointment situation, um, as it states in my policies that were read and agreed to. However, I would be happy to have you come back in and, uh, do this at X price." Also, sometimes it's like, sometimes it's like, "I totally understand how you're feeling, Caitlin.

Um, I know that the, the blonde is not where you want it to be. That's why in the consultation we spoke about the fact that this might take a couple sessions. And on, and I, and as much as I would love to wave a magic wand and get you your goal immediately, I feel as if we should just stay on track, and that's gonna be the best way and the only way that I feel comfortable moving forward. So, if you are open to, willi- if you're open to and willing to go on this journey with me and wait until next session to see how much further we get and stay patient, then, um, then I'd be happy to continue working with you.

If you feel like you would like to try other stylists out there maybe who could possibly get you closer to your goal, but maybe not in the most, uh, integral way, then I'd be happy to refer you out to somebody else." Like, you can have that conversation. I've had that conversation. Uh, Lisa, fucking Lisa, her hair was brittle, busted, disgusting, and she came to me asking me to make magic, and she wanted her hair white, and it was, like, fragile and awful.

And I was like, "Girl, this is not gonna happen today. This is not gonna happen next time. This is not gonna happen next time. This is gonna take a long time, and we can get you there maybe one day."

I don't even go as far as saying, "We can get there one day." I say, "Maybe we can get you there one day." And I educate the client, and I almost try and speak to them and sell them into something else that will make more sense to them and s- show them all the pros and cons, so that way we're not getting into a situation where you're setting any sort of expectation where you screw yourself over at, at the end of the day. Caitlin, what are your thoughts?

So, I have a few. I think, at the end of the day, there's a couple things that you just need to remember. With redos, most of the time it's gonna be a tone issue, something that you can fix with a level darker toner or a different shade of toner. Um, it, maybe it's a gray coverage issue, whatever.

It's usually not something that's gonna be super labor-intensive, and if it is something that's gonna be super labor-intensive, you knew it was gonna be that before they left your chair. So, I'm just, I'm just being, like, totally honest here. So- No, that is the tea, bitch. No, that is totally the tea.

I love that. So, just, just keep that in mind, and it's usually a quick and easy fix if it is. And it's never gonna be like a one-size-fit-all type situation. Like, redos are always unique in their own way, but nine times out of 10 you're gonna have to eat your pride a little bit, because it's, it's them.

They aren't intentionally necessarily, um, shitting on your work. Like, it is something that we take very personally because we've created this, but they're not trying to, like, attack you personally for what you've done, and you need to be able to separate the two, and it's very difficult to do that, but that's so important because it's you just providing a service for them and they just wanna love their hair as much as you want them to love their hair. So, really having that separation I think is extremely important. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

I love this, and I could do a whole podcast episode about it, and we should do a whole podcast episode about it. So, I was at a business retreat for my own mastermind thing that I'm in couple weeks ago, and we ha- there's a life coach that's a part of our mastermind, and she's fantastic, and she was talking about, she asked us a question. She was like, "What do you want your business to provide for you?" And a lot of us were saying, "Fulfillment, purpose, freedom, time," whatever.

And she was like, "You can't rely on your business to provide you those things, because that is an unhealthy relationship with your business. You should only be relying on yourself and your personal fulfillment for that shit," right? And like I said at the beginning of this episode, this, this career can give you a lot of fulfillment, and passion, and joy, et cetera, et cetera, but we shouldn't be emotionally investing everything on the line of this career and profession to the point where something like this really kills you and hurts you. Because your client isn't looking at it as if they're attacking you personally, like you just said.

I'm so glad that you brought this up. They're looking at this as like, "This is what's on my head. You're the person who can fix it. This is the person who I speak to about it.

I pay money for this, and so there is something on the line for me as a person." This is not a personal attack on you. You have a toolbox. You have a skill.

You have something that you market and advertise, and you're the person who fixes these situations, even if you were the fir- the person who caused the situation in the first place, and whether you perceive that to be good or not, right? So, I love that you said, "We have to just put the pride down. We have to put our emotions aside," because you are not your business. You are not your business.

Period. Period. And it's a really important lesson to learn. And it does not mean that this isn't gonna be hard.

That does not mean... I can say this all I want, right? But it doesn't mean that it's gonna be so easy to put your pride down. But what I am going to encourage you to do is reframe and practice at least trying to in these situations.

And just remember, your worth is not your work. Your worth is you just being a human being, and how you show up in the world, and how you treat others around you, and how you treat yourself, period. So, take care of people. Make an impact in people with your career and with your life, right?

And don't take these situations so personally and so to heart. And if you have to let somebody go, let somebody go. If you have to lay down the law, and you have to let somebody know, like, "Hey, I do feel as if we were really clear in the consultation. I feel like we did both verbally agree that we were on the same page with pictures, and, and, um, multiple descriptive words, and you are speaking to me without my window, so it will have to be charge this."

Or lean into the honesty and call it out straight up before they leave the door. Or put down your pride and say, "You're totally right, Suzie. I completely see what you're saying. I see it too, and I know exactly how to fix it.

Please come in next week sometime at, at which, your convenience, and we'll take care, take good care of you." Like, those are your simple options, okay? Lean into the one that you find to be right in the moment. Have granular policies and systems that have your back, so that way, you can, um, have a little bit of guidance when making these decisions, and so you can show your clients the receipts if they try to Karen you, period.

Hope this was helpful for you, my friend. So much love to you. I'll see you in the next episode of the Modern Hairstyles podcast. If this was helpful for you, we would totally appreciate it if you left a five-star review wherever you're listening to this, because we are trying to help every single effing, effing hairstylist in this world.

And we can't do that without your five-star testimonial. So, wherever you're listening to this, drop that shit. We would really, really, really appreciate it. I love you so much.

See you next time. Peace out, girl scout. Thank you, Caitlin. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2022 Hunter Donia LLC.