Hey tech friends, I need help with pricing my custom work. I have only one
client who this really applies to but she is becoming increasingly
demanding. This week it took me 3 hours to do her nails and I was really
annoyed by the time we were done (started at 5:30 pm and evenings are not my
most creative or generous time - I am a morning person!!).
She wanted black lace embedded over white tips, or so I thought. I hunted
for black lace and ended up using black lace seam binding. I did up a
sample tip and I didn't really like the look of it so I did up a couple of
other ones with the black lace embedded over a red and a gold gel polish
background and I thought those looked stunning.
She didn't want those, she wanted the white tips because she had it in her
head she wanted them to look like lace stockings. She didn't want the lace
to cover the white tip she wanted the lace to cover the nail bed but keep
the white tip exposed, so that meant cutting parts of the lace off so that
nothing touched the white tip. Then she wanted the same mix I'd used on my
nails that I had on several weeks ago, on the nail bed. It was a custom
coverage blend. I tried to explain that you would never see it under the
lace but she insisted.
The lace didn't go on right, it was too thick, too bulky, and by this time I
was ready to toss her out the door. I did the best I could but I wasn't
happy with them - they were thick and bulky looking and I couldn't even get
a decent picture of them to go in my book. She loved them but I absolutely
hated the end result. And you couldn't notice the custom blend on the nail
bed under the lace at all.
My dilemma is this; I didn't charge her nearly enough for the work
involved. I charged her the cost of a new set and that's it. I am toying
with the idea of starting to charge by the hour for this kind of thing -
that way they will soon realize that the longer it takes me the more it's
going to cost them, and she may have a whole new attitude about it then.
Like I said it is just this one client who is this way. I have let her do
this to me for the past year and now I need to change this because I am
starting to resent her appointments. Yet - I get to do something fun and
different with her, so I need her for that. But I also need her to listen
to me when I tell her something will not work the way she thinks it will. I
think if she knew she was being charged by the minute for these nails she
might think twice about that. I've told her several times 'you need to
make a decision' as she sits there staring at her nails, then looking at
me.then we just sort of play this game where nobody says anything and
eventually I say 'OK, let's try it.' and usually it does not look like the
way she pictured it so we end up taking it off and starting over.
Those of you who do this kind of customized work - when THEY come to you
with an idea that they want to do..how do you end up charging for it?
Laura Merzetti
Scratch My Back Nail Studio
Ajax Ontario Canada
Scratch My Back
Nail Studio
Laura Merzetti
5 Turriff Crescent
Ajax, Ontario L1T 3N4
www.scratchmyback.ca
905-443-6482
Contessa 2010 Finalist
T.E.N. Tuff Enuff Nails Certified Educator
www.tuffenuffnails.com
Minx Manicurist
www.minxnails.com
Minx extends fashion to your fingertips
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