For the newbies to the industry: Watch out for these early on "red flags" in your clients!

Over the years I have come to understand by experience that your most difficult clients will be giving you red flags at their very first visit. If you can learn to spot these early on, it will save you a whole lot of time, energy, money and effort. It has been my experience in the 34 years now of doing hair that difficult clients all kind of start out the same and they oddly almost display the exact same type of behavior! Here are some red flags to look out for. These clients never get better, their behavior only worsens. Best to nip them in the bud before they get worse! Here are my top examples!

1. They like you "Too Much" and don't hesitate to let you know. Yes it's true. They compliment you non-stop. You're doing a perfect job, you nailed it! You really understand them. Yada, yada yada. What does this really mean? They are holding you to a super high standard that you will be always trying to retain. One slip up and you will now be "THE WORST STYLIST ON THE PLANET!"

2. You hear from them "a lot" in between their appointments. They wanna know what shampoo you last used, they send you funny memes, they need to change their appointment yet again, their neighbor needs coloring advice, and so on. You get it. What does this really mean? They need lots and lots of attention and you are the chosen one. Now you are best friends. They won't except that price increase because you are "close friends" who regularly text. Run while you can!

3. They are 5 min late to their very first appointment with you. No biggie right? Its only 5 minutes right? Nope. If you don't nip this in the bud very first time, they will continue to be late for every visit. Gradually increasing the lateness as they get more comfortable with you! These people will never respect your time. Let them go!

4. The salon hopper. They go from salon to salon and they have a horror story about every stylist who ever did their hair. Soon YOU will be included in their horror stories. If someone sits down in your chair like this and starts bad-mouthing their last hairdresser, be very cautious with them. Book at your own discretion!

5. They want drastic changes constantly. Yes, one of "those people". They come in with black hair and now want it blonde blonde in one visit. They also have no understanding of why this can't happen. So you are gradually changing them within a few visits and they get impatient. They now want to go back dark because so and so on tic-toc has changed hers. They can't stick with any one look long enough for the hair to regain its health. These people I would almost say are the worst. They will NEVER be happy with anything you do. They are really unhappy with themselves and you will never be able to give them the confidence they lack. Run, run run from these types!!

6. They nit pick individual hairs. Yes, they will pick up a strand or two and say...."See this strand??" I want more of this. Or, this side of my bang is the perfect length! I love the highlight color in this strand, why can't this piece have it too? Usually these types will call text or call and want to be "worked back in" to fix a strand of hair or cover a highlight. Now, if it's a brassy piece I can see being a bit picky. Sometimes a little toner can help and I will agree with them. Most of the time though, their requests are pretty silly. Believe me, these types KNOW something is wrong with them. They are just hoping you don't notice that they are OCD. They are just not doing this to you, they are like this in every aspect of their life. You can keep them as a client if you want, but just know before they leave you will always be "fixing" something!

7. Last but not least, I would say run from the ones who CONSTANLY REBOOK! These people have very poor time management and now you are required to set yourself on fire to keep them warm. Most of your great clients will show flexibility and even though a time may not be perfect, they will still show up knowing its going to mess up your schedule if they miss. These re-bookers though, they want you to cater to them. This is not how it works. They need to realize they are not your only client and if they want to remain as your client, they need to keep their appointments. If they display this behavior, stop booking them period.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my list and I hope it helps out some of you new to the industry! If you recognize any of these behaviors in a new client, just know it rarely gets better.