Have you been looking for the secret to salon or spa success?
Look no further than your own front desk.
It’s true, your own front desk isn’t just the place where your cash register lives, it’s the heart of your salon or spa’s finances.
Well, it is if you’re running it right.
The trick with your front desk is simple. Two words: Customer Service.
Once you’re dishing out five-star customers service all day every day, you’ll see those returns.
- Appointment books with no empty slots
- More cash in the register
- New clients calling (maybe even begging) to get in the chair
- Better retail sales
- A satisfied, friendly, competitive Front Desk Team determined to meet the needs of Every. Single. Client.
How do we know this?
For one, the team at Empowering You has decades of experience behind the chair and as owners of salons, spas and waxing boutiques across the country.
Plus, we look at the numbers, and numbers don’t lie.
A Customer Experience Impact Report showed us that 86% of customers will pay more for a better customer service experience.
How much more are they willing to pay? Up to 25% more.
If that’s not motivation enough to get you to step up your Front Desk game, consider this: that statistic also means that 86% of customers switched to a competitor because of bad customer service.
Now, if earning up to 25% more every week didn’t grab your attention, maybe the thought of losing 86% of your customer base did.
The solution is simple.
Two words: Customer Service.
And Customer Service starts at the Front Desk.
Watch this webinar training for more tips on how to grow your salon or spa’s profits through the front desk.
To start developing your Five-Star Front Desk, you need a clear understanding of the Front Desk’s role in your salon or spa. That starts with communication.
- Have you communicated the importance of the Front Desk to your team?
- Does your Front Desk Team know their roles and responsibilities?
- Are they aware of the powerful impact they have on every aspect of the business?
- Were they properly trained?
If you answered “no” or “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure” to any of those, you have some training to do. Your Front Desk Team must know how critical prebooking, upselling and retail sales are to the whole salon. They need to understand that the way they communicate with customers – their attitude, their tone, what they say and how they say it – can make or break a salon.
Communication with your clients is critical. It builds rapport, develops relationships, lets your Front Desk Team learn the clients and their beauty habits, and all that helps your future all-star Front Deskers serve them better. And that means more frequent appointments, a better upsell and retail sales rate, and, say it with me, higher revenues.
To ensure consistent communication, you’ll want to use a script. For everything.
Scripts give structure, help boost the confidence of your Front Desk Team, and convey professionalism. Scripts can also be a great way to reinforce your salon or spa’s culture to new hires.
So, what areas can you use a script in?
- Greeting clients when they arrive
- Prebooking
- Upselling services or complimentary products
- Checkout
- Follow up
You’ll want to practice your scripts because your team can’t sound like they’re reading a cue card. Another reason to practice your scripts: how you say it is as important as what you say.
So far, everything we’re talking about involves simple changes. We’re communicating clearly with our team and with our clients; we’re building relationships with our guests; we’re using scripts to ensure every guest receives the same outstanding experience; and we’re watching these small, simple changes impact the bottom line.
But there’s more.
You also need to hold your Front Desk Team accountable, and we do that with an easy-to-use tool, the Empowering You Front Desk Weekly Tracker.
This tool helps you set a goal – 20 more retail items sold, 10 additional appointments set, 5 service upsells – and it helps your Front Desk Team Members track their progress. For salon owners and managers, it has the added benefit of giving you an at-a-glance look at how things are going and tells you where to direct your training time and resources.
That tool’s not the only one you’ll want to use. Many Empowering You clients look to something fun like BINGO to incentivize their teams to step up their game.
You can also head over to our private Facebook Group where other beauty professionals like you are sharing their experiences, giving tips and training advice, and are connecting with one another in a beauty industry community like no other.
So in summary:
1.) Dish out five-star customer service.
2.) Communicate with your team and clients.
3.) Use scripts for everything.
4.) Keep your team accountable.
5.) Give your team incentives.
We want to hear from you too. Comment below with your front desk advice, your questions, something that worked well or didn’t work at all; we’re all ears and we’re all here to help.
Keep an eye on your email inbox and the Empowering You Facebook Group for our next webinar and upcoming live and virtual training sessions, we’d love to have you join us.
Join our salon & spa owner Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/61806372788
Download the Front Desk Tracker: https://empoweringyouconsulting.com/fdtracker
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