"Must Have Clientele" for stylists looking for jobs

[purplebubba]

I've been looking through job sites lately and I keep seeing salons of all sorts that have that requirement. It got me thinking about what if other jobs where like that?

"Waitress needed Must Have Clientele"

"Mechanic needed Must Have Clientele"

Nurse, Gas Station Attendant, Cheese store cashier.

There are plenty of jobs that say you have to have experience but they don't ask you to bring your clients. Can anyone think of another job where they would? Maybe a lawyer or accountant.

It bugs me that they think that stylists somehow own these clients and can automatically make them come to the new salon. I know that some clients would follow but eventually there's a limit to how many will.

What about the really good stylists who have to move a long distance or even to another state? Or what if you were working in a place like a nursing home for years?

This is not intended to be a stylist bashing thread. It's more like an industry needs to wake up and stop discriminating thread.

Anyone else ever wonder about this? Or have experience with it?

[wintersun99]

............

[LawyerGirl]

Seems like a really difficult industry for someone just starting out!!!

[Delila]

I should think that if they had a loyal base of clients, they wouldn't be in search of a job, but maybe that's just me.

[Calista]

Don´t the salons have clientele of their own? :confused:

[Magdalene]

DH is running into the same thing as a massage therapist. It's like, how is he supposed to get the clientele unless you hire him?

What really bothers me that I've been seeing lately is must have "satisfactory credit rating." Like that is any of their business!

[Unofficial_Rose]

As others have said, how is anyone supposed to get started in these industries!

Having said that, I've often booked up with my usual stylist after a few months between appointments to find out that they have moved on. It's been SO disappointing if you find someone who cuts/colours perfectly and then they are not there anymore. They didn't used to be allowed to take clients with them, to the point that it was actually a clause in the contract.

[chantiny]

I am a massage therapy student and they mention that many times the contracts will specifically state that you can't bring any clients with you should you decide to leave. Even now, while I'm massaging in the student clinic, it's the clinic's clients and we can't recommend ourselves to them or take them on as clients when we graduate.

Specifically what would worry me is that if you must bring your clients with you, but you can't take clients from place of employment should you decide to leave.

Also it is an independent contractor (usually your own clients) vs. employee (usually business' clients) issue.

[Chromis]

I am a massage therapy student and they mention that many times the contracts will specifically state that you can't bring any clients with you should you decide to leave. Even now, while I'm massaging in the student clinic, it's the clinic's clients and we can't recommend ourselves to them or take them on as clients when we graduate.

Specifically what would worry me is that if you must bring your clients with you, but you can't take clients from place of employment should you decide to leave.

Also it is an independent contractor (usually your own clients) vs. employee (usually business' clients) issue.

What I don't get is how are you supposed to stop them from following you?! Sure the contract demands you not bring your previous clientèle with you, but if you are good at what you do, they often find you anyway. I've had it happen where I switched companies and previous customers came in, saw me, and then went back and told their friends. I had most of my previous customers back within a month without my telling them anything about where I was heading next or that I'd been heading anywhere!

[chantiny]

Technically, if you saw them as a client previously and your contract states you are not allowed, you must turn them away. It stands up in legal court that way, if the previous company chooses to seek you out and see if you took clients from them. Stupid, I know, but most companies wouldn't waste the time and/or money trying to get back a client they lost because it would garner so much bad news about them for doing that.

[minkstole]

If you are independent (leasing a chair, so to speak), can´t you just hand out a businesscard with you websiteadress/email on it to new costumers? They can then track you down if they want your services, but you are not "stealing" clients from anyone.

[beatricedivina]

The relationship between a stylist and a salon is a lot different than most employee/employee relationships - there's very few salons that hire stylists as outright employees. Some stylists even pay the salon a set fee, to "rent" the chair and the amenities of the salon, and then keep what they make on cuts and color. Other stylists are paid a percentage of what they make after a certain level of income is reached. Some stylists get paid a flat fee, but that's pretty rare, from what I understand. So the rules regarding things like bringing a clientele with you when you change locations are different, when it comes to stylists, than it would be in other fields.

Most stylists keep a list of their clients and they'll call loyal clients to tell them if they change salons. I've been with my stylist for...um, seven years? If she left the salon, I'd go with her - I don't go for the salon; though the amenities are nice, I go for the stylist. A friend of mine drives two hours each way every twelve weeks to get her hair cut by the stylist in her old hometown. We all take our hair pretty seriously here, so I can't tease her for it. :D