It's Personal

     I had an exchange this week with a company on Facebook that was pretty much textbook brand marketing at it’s finest. I was scrolling through my feed when I saw a photo on their page with a not so neat polish job and cuticles a mess. I thought about it for a minute and asked myself with all the non professional bloggers kicking our behinds with their amazing work why would a manufacturer post a picture like this? So I did what anyone else would do, I called them on it. 

Here is the exchange.

Dear anonymous nail lacquer company. As a professional nail artist, just a piece of unsolicited advice...make sure your nail photos are pristine. Taking the extra time to make sure the cuticles are crisp will increase your brand authority, ending with a smiley face. Which is the equivalent of saying bless her heart but…you can pretty much say anything you want after that, especially if you’re from the south.

I wasn’t expecting a response and didn’t get one for three days when this popped up in my messages.

Hi Millie, we truly appreciate (and agree with) the feedback. Most of our images are actually supplied by the fans and other nail artists; so we don't get to control the nuances as we would if purchasing professional photos/designs. Speaking of that - if you are ever interested in doing some nail art and sharing we would love to send you some polish! Anonymous Nail lacquer company for the win.

I responded.. Oh sorry my bad. I didn't check to see who uploaded the photo. I'd love to play with your polish! You can send it to and I included my address. And thanked them.

I went back to their page and didn’t notice a water mark anywhere on the photo, but have to take their word for it.

      So, how do you respond to a negative review or remark?  Studies show a client that has been converted from unhappy to happy can be your biggest fan. Clients want to know they are not just a number or a time slot, they want to know you care. Have you noticed a few clients gone missing from your schedule?  Have you contacted them? I know sometimes it can be daunting, but wouldn’t you like to know if there is some small thing you can do to win back their business?  It takes way less time and money keeping and gaining back a current client than getting new ones.

Scroll back through your client schedule and take note of those clients that have mysteriously disappeared.  If you’re brave enough, call them.  Something like Hi dear lost client, I haven’t seen you in a while and was just thinking about you. I’m calling to make sure you are alright and there wasn’t something I failed to do for you as your beauty provider, then shut up. Sometimes they will tell you the real story, which hopefully can be rectified with a simple conversation. Sometimes they won’t and that’s ok too. At least you made the effort, took notice they had gone missing and told them you were thinking of them. If you can get them back in your chair, more power to you. If not, thank them for their support of you and your business in the past and let them know if their situation ever changes you would love to welcome them back, that is if you want them, and we all have those few we don’t.

Make sure you are constantly managing your client data base. Try not to send an impersonal we miss you email or text offering a discount to come back. Pick up the phone, make it personal, because that’s smart marketing.