They’re at the front lines when it comes to dealing with clients - they serve them coffee, occasional sweets and ask how their day is coming along - they are none other than salon receptionists. Although some of these tasks don’t seem very difficult to accomplish, they’re just a few of the many receptionists are assigned to. So what exactly characterises a perfect hair & beauty salon receptionist?
Imagine being a first-time client at a new beauty business - you’ve booked treatments for a group of guests and you make your way to the location. You enter the building and are greeted by someone from behind the beauty salon reception, who simply looks up from their phone just to say “hi, I’ll let you know when the technician is ready for you”, and goes back to surfing the web. A receptionist in a beauty salon with this kind of approach is going to be a stain on your reputation, especially if your clients have high expectations of your business - therefore, it is impeccable that the receptionist knows how to behave accordingly. A perfect receptionist should focus all of their attention on the clients when they first walk into the salon, especially the new ones, as this is the ideal chance of turning them into regular customers! The reception of a beauty salon is the first thing clients see when they walk into your business - so make sure they’re being greeted with open arms and are being offered a beverage and asked about their day!
Aside from making the reception in the beauty salon perfect, your hardworking employee should also be well-versed in marketing. Since the receptionist in a beauty salon is the first person to come in contact with the client, they’ve got an important role to play. A perfect receptionist should be familiar with the salon’s active promotions, latest treatments and services complementary to those that the clients are getting, all in order to generate the business more profit. Simply serving drinks to clients and asking how their day is going is not enough! While the customer is seated and enjoying a cup of coffee, inform them of your latest offers, but make sure they’re complementary to what they’re currently booked for! Recommending a -20% beard trim to a lady client who’s booked for a dusty pink balayage is more than likely not going to end with a sale - but a bottle of colour conserving shampoo to make sure the balayage doesn’t wash out will more than likely work! It would also be beneficial for the receptionist to be knowledgeable of treatment processes as well as touch-ups. A balayage won’t last forever and regrowth is unavoidable, which is why encouraging customers to book their touch-up session before they leave the salon is another great opportunity to make extra profit and to tie clients to the salon even longer.
No matter whether you’re a stylist, nail artist, salon manager or receptionist - staying organised is a prerequisite for ensuring one fulfils their assigned tasks accordingly. Depending on the salon, a receptionist might be in charge of managing visits, staff availability and client records - all of which are high-priority tasks that should be done with the utmost care. All it takes is double booking two clients for the same date, not sending an appointment reminder or forgetting to mark a client’s bleach allergy in their client record and you’ve got yourself in a heap of trouble. Plus, chances are slim you’ll find a reception office in a beauty parlour to escape to - you’ll have to deal with possibly disgruntled clients on the work floor. To stay organised, hair salon receptionists are usually given access to salon software like Booksy, which helps to keep all of the important parts of your business organised and secured. Now, whether you’re taking single bookings or entire groups at a beauty salon, Booksy will make your receptionist’s work far more easy! Appointments are divided among staff, automatic reminders are sent via text, email or push messages, and any notes can be saved on individual client records, ensuring everything is where it should be.
We are fully aware that not every beauty business can accommodate a receptionist, especially solo practitioners and salons with limited space - and that’s not a problem! No hair or beauty business is too small for a digital employee that will help you to better manage tasks, run your appointment calendar and keep your customer records updated. The reception in a hair salon run by a digital system can work just as well, if not better than with its human counterpart - even before a client’s initial visit, the system sends them an automated appointment reminder and after the customer leaves, they receive a review request. Information on their visit is stored automatically into the client’s individual record - everything from purchased treatments and products, to before and after pictures, intake forms, formulas and allergies. See for yourself how Booksy can empower your beauty salon receptionist, or substitute them entirely! Start your free trial today and run your business with ease!
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