4. SalonPunk.com
“If you lose control reception in your salon …
you lose control of your salon, your business
… your profits!”
How will that affect you personally?
The fact is … Reception is the life force of your salon, no question. Lose
control of reception and you lose control of your salon.
The facts have proved time and time again a strong receptionist can
double, triple or even quadruple your salon income and profits very, very
quickly. Daily, weekly, monthly, annually.
What do I mean?
Think about it … everyone that comes into your salon
has to and will have contact with your reception!
That means the first impression and last impression
from your salon is at reception.
Also reception is the place where money is made, where cash is created
where business is built.
Get reception wrong and you WON’T build columns or business. YOU
WILL LOSE PROFITS!
IMPORTANT: Now I know you’ll agree on this point. Stylists love to
manipulate your appointment book. You know what I mean?
If they can get away with NO first appointment, no last appointment, NO
middle appointment, NO late appointment they will.
DON’T ever see them as lost appointments, see them as lost money!.
Good receptionist and reception team in your salon will kill that salon
killing problem dead in its tracks.
Before I go any further though let me be clear about this. I personally would
pay a receptionist as much or more than a good stylist. Why?
A good stylist can earn your salon money. That’s profits for you. But they
can do much more than that if they do their job properly.
A good receptionist can and will send profits through the roof. They control
your business building systems and are a crucial part of your salon profit
funnel.
Why is it then most salons DON’T have someone working on reception?
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5. SalonPunk.com
Simple; they haven’t got a clue what to do with the receptionist when they
arrive.
Most salon owners (not all) see a receptionist there to answer the
phone only. That’s MISSING THE POINT massively!
Let me tell you a story in my own salon. Now don’t get me wrong it took me
donkey’s years to work out a receptionist would be worth their money but
here is how it came about in my salons.
For some time I had a problem with my appointment book and blank
spaces or clients not turning in and you’ll know what I am on about.
You know how stylists always try and spread their columns “thin”? When I
say thin, that thing when they try and make their columns look full with say
only five clients.
A bit like this:
Remember I am basing this on the fact you have 45 mins for a ladies cut &
design. 30 minutes for a man’s.
9:00 John
9:15 Haircut and wash
9:30 LOST TIME AND
MONEY
9:45 Karen
10:00 Smith
10:15 Cut
10:30 LOST TIME AND
MONEY
10:45 Janet
11:00 Ann
11:15 Forrest
11:30 LOST TIME AND
MONEY
11:45 Tony
12:00 Brown
12:15 LOST TIME AND
MONEY
12:30 Lunch
Right see the pattern? Are you thinking, yep that’s my salon? See what
your team do and love doing when you have no receptionist? They leave
little pockets in between clients.
Smoking, coffee or gossip time at YOUR expense!
YOU PAY FOR IT WITH LOST PROFITS AND TURNOVER!
Let me say that again …
YOU pay for it!
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6. SalonPunk.com
They love losing you the salon owner time and money! And … they couldn’t
care less. Why? They still get their cash at the end of the week. It’s NUTS.
So let’s get back to receptionist then and ask again … can you afford one?
I would ask you ... can you afford NOT TO have one in your salon?
Go back to the appointment book above. This was my salon every day. I
sat down and worked out how much money I was losing through lost time
being wasted in the appointment book.
Get ready for this and let’s crunch some math.
In my salon the space above is worth around £100. Now we had 8 stylists
at this point. I worked out each stylist was losing £200. plus daily due to
manipulation of the appointment book.
To give them the benefit of the doubt lets say we were losing on average
£1,000 per week in time being lost in the book.
Add that up and times it by at least 5 and that is a monster £5,000. Sound a
lot? It is a lot … it’s a massive amount of lost cash and profits.
Look at the figures again then and let’s say after you check out your
appointment book you personally are losing around £400. a day in lost
time. That is still £2,000 per week.
£2,000 per week! WOW that is some number but hang on lets see how it
looks per year.
YOU COULD BE LOSING £2,000 x 52 =
£104,000 ANNUALLY
Now let me ask you again, is it worth paying a receptionist say £15,000 per
year? Sounds a little pathetic now you have seen the numbers in red and
yellow right?
Bottom line, any good receptionist can play an incredible part in building
your salon or columns AND OF COURSE... increasing your profits hugely!
So …
What can you actually get a receptionist doing for you
apart from answering the phone if you decide to hire
one.
Put them in the picture right away at the interview. First thing you should do
with a receptionist is tell them precisely what you want from them.
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7. SalonPunk.com
I would tell them the list below but I would also make this point very, very
clear. Script it a little like this example
“You as a receptionist have a tough job to do. Doing the job right will mean
that you WON’T be part of the staff room gang and they staff at time will
hate your guts!
Can you detach yourself from the staff and do this job? If you can I promise
we will support you and even reward you with bonuses if you get it right…”
Plus we don’t see your job as answering the phone only. We see you as a
crucial part in building our stylists columns and business”
And that means…
Organising promotions, appointment books etc.
Why is it crucial to say something like that? Most receptionists I have
interviewed over the years believe being a receptionist is all about
answering the phone.
I have had receptionists come into my salons and they want to answer the
phone, that’s it. Not that isn’t critical to salon business but there is more to it
than that if you want to explode your columns, your salons and your profits.
If you are not careful … Next thing they are getting too friendly with
staff. Next thing is your staff are saying to receptionist… “ try and
leave my last appointment free so I can get away early will you”
She’s the stylists buddy now. Will she say no to not booking a last
appointment for her new pal?
I doubt it so start as you mean to go on. Don’t see appointments as time.
Time in our business is money. Every slot or appointment lost is … money,
your money vanishes down the pan. Can you afford to let that go for the
sake of being a nice guy?
Do this right now. How much is a haircut in your salon? How many stylists
have columns in your salon? If they all left out their first and last
appointments how much MONEY has your business lost through wasted
time?
If you have six stylists and all six are charging 30.00 each for a haircut and
design and they all DON’T have a last appointment that’s a titanic 180.00
lost!
So what are you going to tell your receptionist at the interview the jobs she
WILL AND MUST do, NO COMPROMISE?
• Open up
• Prepare salon for day
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8. SalonPunk.com
• Direct junior staff and talk to seniors about columns
• Answer phone to make appointments
• Ring clients to confirm appointments
• Check appointment book
• Arrange columns and check for staff sickness
• Take cash at till
• Look after weekly cash
• Bank cash
• Welcome anyone walking in (this is the face of your salon)
• Sit clients down and look after them with drinks etc
• Inform stylists
• Give client what they need to get the comfy
• Hand out referral vouchers
• Hand out salon cards
• Control promotions
• Organise stand-by
• Organise lunches
• Control appointment book and double check all appointments are
filled
• Pre-sell appointments in other words ask outgoing client to book
next appointment for next visit
• Re-sell next appointment say for technical work. She could ask if
stylist has recommended colour etc and if they have receptionist
could ask if they want to book in
• Thank clients for using salon
• Manage staff, sickness unprofessional behaviour etc
• Manage juniors
• Manage laundry
• Get drinks and make sure menu is up to date and all drinks are
available
• Manage waiting area
• Call clients
• Retail management
• Stock control
• Manage computer and records
• Manage salon mail in and out
• Replace flowers
• Take coats
• Bring clients coats
• Organise drinks menu
• Re-order stock
• Smiling face
That list is in no particular order and I am sure you can add to it but its just
to give you an idea of what they can be doing for you.
www.SalonPunk.com
9. SalonPunk.com
How do you get control of reception then and get your
receptionist build your columns?
One of the first things you should do is make sure everything is measured
on a daily basis.
Simply set up all the jobs for the day. How do you know what is priority?
Good question.
I would list as priority any job that either:
• Make money for the salon that day.
• Has an immediate impact on the salon.
You will get some receptionists that would see it a bigger priority buying
flowers for the desk or getting drinks for the drinks menu. That’s nuts but
they do.
We had a receptionist that used to do this. When it was quiet and I mean
deadly I could guarantee she would spend a small fortune from the till.
She would ring me and say… “ I have done all the salon shopping today it
cost £143.00” ..., ha, Not good when the salon has only taken £300.00 for
the day.
I would then ask her if she had done the offers or promotions for the day?
She would answer… “ I will do them when we have got the shopping,
cleaned the window, made a drink around 20 minutes before we leave for
home… Nuts, nuts and double nuts.
You are the boss or your manager is.
You set the rules… NOT YOUR STAFF!
So in other words when you set the order for the day make sure they are
prioritized not made a total joke of by your team.
Good way to do this I find is write a long list down. Then start taking stuff
from the list and put it in order of high, medium and low priority.
There will always be things that are way above high. Make sure they are
done first.
Anyway, getting back to the receptionists. How do you get them to
absolutely maximize your turnover or make sure all salon appointments are
taken up fully.
She …
Opens the appointment book.
Checks what is in it.
Organizes the day.
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10. SalonPunk.com
Reading the appointment book.
John Jane David Zac
9.00 Sally
9.15 Cut/Finish
9.30 Sandra
9.45 Cut/Finish
10.00 Pete
10.15 Cut
10.30 Suzie
10.45 Cut/Finish
11.00
11.15
11.30 Jan
11.45 Color Leena
12.00 Cut/Finish Cut/Finish
12.15
Now look at the above page.
Red is lost or wasted time. We call it “leave me alone I got in late time and I
don’t want to work to hard” time
This is the time that loses money. In my salon those 3 15 minute slots are
worth £45.00. How do we get rid of them?
The stylist will say to you… “ you cant put a client in there its only 15
minutes.
You ignore them if you have a receptionist after all the staff KNOW it’s now
her domain to look after.
So how do you kill those slots and make more money filling columns?
Dead easy. See the slot at 9.45? Stick a client in that one for a cut and
finish. Then move all the other client forward 15 minutes.
Will the client know? No they won’t. Clients are used to waiting 15 minutes
or so. You can either tell them for whatever reason you are 15/20 minutes
late. Offer drink etc.
Ignore the stylist completely and do it. The stylist will be getting paid on
Saturday. If it’s quiet, you won’t. Fill the slots as priority!
So the receptionist first job is to pack out the book and squeeze out every
last penny from the blocks of 15 minutes.
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11. SalonPunk.com
Plan promotions who, when, why.
Have a look at the book again. David has a block that hopefully will fill right
away but zac is going to have a quiet day.
He wants to relax in the back room, read mags and drink coffee. You want
him busy and taking some cash.
Ok reception has to make a plan. Go back to your column builder and see
the real early appointments put them on stand-by. Check out the rules and
make sure reception know them back to front.
Put the board or poster out and get those appointments filled. Crucial
reception plans ahead with promotions. When I say ahead, I mean a few
hours not days.
Your marketing has to be done daily, not when they feel like doing it!
If they look as though they are going to stay quiet well you can now dip into
your arsenal of tools for getting the team busy fast. (see salon column
builder)
Of course you know that but can you see the importance of a receptionist
now? Do you think your staff would do this and manage the book? No
chance!
What about the follow-ups!
Try as hard as you like do you really think your stylists will give out the
follow-up packs designed to encourage and tempt clients back into your
salon.
Remember them from salon punk column builder? These are the
Recommend a friend, salon cards etc.
Your receptionist must also get them ready in the morning for every client
and every member of staff.
Say for example you hand out 10 recommend a friend vouchers. From the
10 you get 3 back. That’s 3 new clients. That’s with your stylist doing it.
Let’s say your receptionist hands out one to EVERY client this week. You
see 140 clients per week in your salon.
Again 3 in every 10 recommend a friend come back. You know how many
new clients weekly that is?
That’s 3 x 14 or 42 new client next week.
Every client is worth say £35.00 so what’s 42 x 35?
Mammoth £1,470.
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12. SalonPunk.com
Now look tell me in the eyes and say a receptionist isn’t worth having when
trained properly!
Apart from all the other stuff like pulling off letters from the computer weekly
and getting them out, sending reminders for clients weekly and general
managing paying a good receptionist is with every penny.
It’s not about a receptionist it’s about getting control of reception and
making it work of you and your business.
You can easily make Salon Column Builder work without a receptionist but
look at the difference when you do have one.
Lets Wrap This Up.
A receptionist alone when trained properly can and will make a
huge difference to your salon.
They will control
• The salon
• The appointment book
• The daily promotions
• The staff.
• The marketing.
• The time bought and sold
• The clients contacting your salon.
• The enquiries
• And much, much more.
You don’t even need to employ one full-time. Employ them at
peak times. Employ more than one. Employ more than two.
Just for the sake of your own profits… EMPLOY ONE!
But for me and you the most important thing to remember here is
that they are the ones that really and truly can …
MAXIMIZE
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13. SalonPunk.com
Salons
Profits with
Minimum
Investment!
I really hope this report has helped you and your business to increase your
salon profits.
Head Punk.
Alan Forrest Smith
www.SalonPunk.com
14. SalonPunk.com
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15. SalonPunk.com
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