Professionalism
First and foremost, using proper terminology is professional. Every profession has proper terminology used in their job and we are no different. How would you feel if you went to a doctor who didnt use proper terminology? "Hey there, let's take a look at your boo-boo....yep looks like your bone has an owie." I mean, really? I would find it demeaning and figure I could have just taken care of my "owie" at home.
Now, if the doctor said, "Hello. Let's take a look at what is bothering you. Yes, I can see you have an abrasion on your skin and likely a subperiosteal hematoma - basically a bruise on your bone. I am going to prescribe a painkiller and you will need to take it easy for a few days and ice the area regularly."
Which doctor sounds like a professional? (I hope you said the second one.) Notice that the doctor in the second scenario used correct terms but also explained what they meant so the patient wasn't confused.
Granted my made-up scenario is slightly ridiculous but I hope it opens your eyes to how you might look to clients if you are very informal or use outdated and/or incorrect terminology (like "mold", which does not grow on living humans - I'm not even a fan of calling it a "greenie" personally, as I find it a bit childish [my opinion]. It's a pseudomonas bacterial infection).
Reputation and Client Perception
Inconsistent and varied use of terminology is a risk to industry - and individual - reputations. Already there is much confusion not only in the public but amongst new nail technicians as well. When people in the industry use wrong terminology (knowingly or unknowingly) it perpertuates myths and confuses people. When people are confused they can receive incorrect treatments. now granted, it is unlikely that a wrong treatment is going to hurt someone but it can definitely hurt the technician and the industry as a whole.
I once had a client - a lovely 80+ year old woman - who came to me for a fill. She had gone into a discount salon in the mall to get a manicure and walked out with acrylic nails. She was told that it was a manicure and was very confused about what whe had on her nails. All she knew is he told her to come back in 2 weeks for a "fill", but she didn't like the vibe of the salon and so came ot me instead. I explained she had acrylic nails and we could remove them but I was concerned about the amount of damage she may have on her natural nails (plus I knew this salon to use MMA). Her other choice would be to continue to fill them until we could ge the MMA and damage grown out and remove the nails at that time. She chose the latter, however she should never have had to choose at all. Because the salon she went to called a "full set" of nails a "manicure" she received an incorrect and unwanted treatment. Unfortunately, she did not understand what was happening at the time. To this day - nearly 15 years later - it still upsets me. And this lovely woman now has a negative view of the industry as a whole.
"Gel Powder" is another example of incorrect terminology that confuses clients who do not understand that they are paying for clear acrylic (vs the cloudy natural acrylic usually used). Clients tend to end up with a negative industry view when they find out they have been duped.
Other examples: calling a full set a "manicure", calling gel polish "gel nails", calling onycholysis "fungus", etc.
Consistancy
Terminology is universal and can be used by all professionals within the field who will know what it means (which ever field it may be - medical, beauty, legal, etc). And if you are telling your client to go to a doctor for her paronychia, the doctor will know what you are talking about too.
I know it will take many years to get everyone using proper terminology but I have high hopes that it will happen and our industry will no longer be looked upon as negatively as it has been in the last decade or so.
Politically Correct
In the USA (and many other places I'm sure, but I live in the US so that's what I know :)), there has been a big push over the years to be "politically correct". What this means is we are encouraged to use terms that do not exclude people - for instance, saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" which could exclude non-christians. Now, I personally think the whole "PC" thing is taken too far at times, but it does point to the fact that terminology has become a very big deal in the USA and should be just as much of a "big deal" in the nail industry.
References and Resources:
http://www.hooked-on-nails.com/NailTerms.html
http://www.computing.surrey.ac.uk/ai/pointer/report/section1.html
http://www.hito.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Beauty-Forum-Report-2009.pdf
http://www.beautyinsignia.com/2013/03/beauty-jargon-explained-editorial.html
http://facetofacewithdougschoon.com/member-content/episode-12-member-content
No comments:
Post a Comment