Managing your salon reception in busy periods!

We’ve said it before and we stick by our word, a salons reception area is the most important part of “closing a sale”. Everything from the cleanliness, the attitude, communication and information the client is given at this point. With the run up to Christmas fast approaching, we thought it the perfect time to highlight the importance of your salon receptionist’s role/s and how you can ensure they manage your salon reception rather than the reception managing them.

The salon receptionist holds key responsibilities within your business, firstly being their appearance and professional manner. For your salon to be taken seriously by people of all walks of life, your reception staff must have a professional and positive aura. Now obviously you cannot foresee complaints, delays or other similar issues but you can train your staff to react to these occasions.

Staff should be approachable, knowledgeable and efficient, especially in busy periods. This holds high importance in your salon and the above three pointers are linked. To be efficient, your staff should be trained to know all treatments, timings and staff like the back of their hand. This allows them to act with authority, even in your absence. 

Your reception should feel comfortable.  What we mean by comfortable is, at home. Your client should have plenty to do in the occasion of you running behind which is why most salons are stocked up with magazines and newspapers. Can you ensure that your reception staff stay on the ball with complimentary tea, coffee and juice? Phone chargers are another little addition that you could invite into the salon for clients to feel at home. Most importantly is there somewhere for them to sit and hang their coat or put their umbrella if it rains? 

Your client’s safety is another thing in the hands of te receptionist. Have they had the required skin test? Do your hairdressers and beauty therapists know everything they should about this particular client? The receptionists should include all the relevant information needed to ensure the sales process is a strong and safe one. 

A clean and tidy reception and display area are so important. Are your staff on top of cleaning up after every client and on an evening? It’s absolutely imperative to stay on top of this since it could be a make or break for people when they decide if they want to continue with your services.

Meeting and greeting clients is one thing, but are staff tailoring every meet and greet appropriately? How you speak to a 9 year old little girl differs completely to how you would speak to a 90 year old woman. You may need to speak a little slower and explain things more which is where excellent customer service comes in.

Underrated things that hold huge importance in the salon are things such as checking and making appointments. So many errors occur when things haven’t been double checked, which is where you should ensure staff are relaying information back to the client for client, receptionist and therapist benefit. Information might include the cost of their treatment and the date and time of when they have booked. Also what is the typical duration time of the treatment so your client knows for parking etc. Give as much information as you can to help out more so. 

Even if your staff are not specialist therapists or hairdressers, the reception is key to product upselling so they should use the correct terminology and offer all the benefits.  Salon products do tend to cost more money because of the ingredients so the potential outcome of using the product does need to be explained. The reception area is a great time to do this!