Why are Nightmare Clients so Important to our Career Development?

Here's a personal example of a nightmare client I had in the recent past; a fake tan and french manicure client who, after spending half an hour on the phone in the treatment room whilst she was supposed to be getting ready (and making me run late for my treatment), asked me to change her french manicure - twice!

When I had finished, she said "Oh, I don't really want the white tip to go down the edges and just want it straight across", to which I replied, "I must follow the natural shape of your nail". After what seemed hours of consideration, she replied "Ah, OK well I suppose you can do it again how it was before, and if I don't like the finish, you can just do it again".

To top it all off, she then complained about the music and asked us to change it to her particular taste - which was not in keeping with the theme of the spa .

Here was a pivotal moment in my personal and professional development. I was faced with two decisions; should I become angry and point out how ridiculous she was behaving? Or should I keep smiling, satisfy all her requests and pretend that this experience was as much fun for me as it apparently was for her?

My natural patience and good humor prevailed and when I was finally finished, she stood up and with a wry smile, said "My God, no matter how ridiculous I behaved, you managed to keep smiling..." I responded with; "Have a lovely evening", and went off to my next client (who by the way was very angry as I was running a half hour late). After what she considered the 'best massage ever', she complimented me with "You were worth the wait".

I pondered this day many times over and came to the conclusion that I should be thankful for all experiences, both positive and negative. Without them we would never truly develop those fundamental qualities that make us the best beauty therapists - patience and tolerance.

So my message to you my fellow therapists - embrace your 'nightmare' clients and show them that you can rise above anything.