How To Run an Efficient Front Desk in your Salon

Chaos at your hair salon reception desk kills the relaxing, welcoming vibe you want for your salon. Inefficiency can be detrimental to building your client base and cost you money.

The front desk is the crucial first point of contact that sets the tone for your clients. With more than 1 million salon businesses in the U.S., clients have many options for finding their hair services. Giving every client a positive experience is important in keeping business and growing your salon.

Efficient check-ins put clients at ease from the beginning. Positive interactions with your front desk staff throughout the visit may inspire clients to buy more products and book follow-up appointments, which boosts your bottom line.

If your salon front desk needs some help, consider these ways to improve efficiency and enhance the customer experience to keep customers coming back for more services.

Choose the Right Person

Hiring salon staff with strong interpersonal skills and a calm demeanor helps your front desk run smoothly. Since the receptionist is the first person your clients interact with, you want it to be a welcoming experience. Someone who gets frazzled easily when things get busy can make your clients feel rushed.

You also want someone who can juggle multiple tasks at once and prioritize effectively. Your receptionist may have phone calls, client check-ins, clients ready to pay, and stylists with questions all at once. Dealing with those interactions calmly and efficiently improves the customer experience and keeps things moving.

Create Consistent Procedures

Make checklists that spell out the procedures for different interactions and duties for the front desk staff. Consistency gives your clients the same experience each time they arrive, which improves customer service.

Those defined routines also ensure your staff completes tasks fully. Missing steps or ignoring part of the sales or check-in process costs you time later to fix the mistakes. A written checklist provides a reference for staff so they don’t have to stop and ask for help if they get stuck.

Train Your Hair Salon Reception Desk Staff

Instead of throwing your receptionists into the job, develop a thorough training program to ensure they understand their duties. Train them on step-by-step procedures for handling every duty they have.

Training is also a good time to emphasize the importance of positive interactions with customers. Work on promoting add-on services without seeming too pushy. Practice handling difficult situations, such as unhappy customers or a busy front desk environment with multiple situations demanding attention.

Effective training prepares your front desk staff for the job. They’re better able to handle the work efficiently and professionally to encourage clients to come back.

Invest In Software for Your Salon Reception Desk

Effective salon software lets your receptionist easily book appointments, check-in guests, and process payments. The best salon reception software integrates with online booking, automatic reminders, and credit card processing.

Having one system that handles everything and integrates smoothly saves staff time. They don’t have to switch between programs or handle things manually. It also creates a seamless experience for clients and lets your front desk staff provide a positive experience.

Organizing Your Hair Salon Reception Space

Efficient use of space and easy access to tools help your front desk staff work well. Create a clutter-free salon desk to improve efficiency. Keep reference materials and checklists hidden from client sight yet easily visible or accessible to your receptionist.

Keep bags for purchases, office supplies, and other items your receptionist needs within easy reach. Drawers or shelves below the desk work well for easy accessibility with organization.

Give Every Client Attention

Creating a personal connection as soon as a customer walks through the door elevates the salon experience. Clients want to feel welcome and be recognized. Being ignored or watching a frantic receptionist try to balance multiple tasks doesn’t create a welcoming environment.

Train your receptionist to greet each client with a smile, positive attitude, and pleasant tone of voice. It’s tempting to answer phone calls right away but acknowledging clients in the salon first will improve the experience and show your clients they are your priority.

Focusing on the people in front of you also improves efficiency. Stopping mid-check-in to answer a phone call interrupts the flow. It can make the process take longer than necessary. Simply answer the incoming call while acknowledging the customer in front of you with a smile. Politely place the caller on hold and address the customer in front of you.

Set Up a Message Service

An automated message service when people call your salon frees up your receptionist from answering so many calls. Many people call for general information, such as your hours. Providing that information in the automated greeting can limit the number of calls the receptionist takes.

Use Online Booking and Automated Confirmation

Online booking lets your clients claim appointments on their own at their convenience. Many guests appreciate this option. It also saves your front desk staff time because they don’t have to answer as many calls to schedule appointments, which can take them away from clients in your salon.

Move to automated appointment confirmations, either through recorded phone messages or text messages. Your receptionist can focus on in-salon tasks and clients who check-in rather than finding time to manually call and confirm upcoming appointments.

Try Self Check-In

A self-serve kiosk lets clients check themselves in when they arrive. This option takes away some of the personal interaction, but you can still have front desk staff to greet customers and help with any issues. Self-check-in lets your receptionist focus on other duties within the salon.

Move Administrative Tasks to the Back

Answering phones interrupts the personal interactions clients have with your staff. Ignoring the phone calls to interact with clients in the salon can turn away potential appointments.

One solution is to have an administrative assistant in the back to answer phone calls and handle other administrative tasks. This person might also work on bookkeeping and inventory or other tasks.

Your receptionist can focus on having positive, personal interactions with clients. This option also eliminates the frustrating non-stop phone ringing when the receptionist is busy.

Streamline Your Hair Salon Reception Desk

Evaluate your current front desk situation and procedures to see which changes you need to make. Little changes to your training, organization, software, and procedures can improve operating efficiency and create a better client experience.

If you’re in the market for better salon software, check out our software packages.