Stylist/front desk communications
The front desk job is the hardest job in the salon. Front desk staff are constantly pulled between the three constituent groups of Stylist, Client and Owner, trying to make everybody happy.
Front desk staff runs interference for stylists on a daily basis. They get the brunt of complaints for many things the stylist controls and they get the wrath of clients that are charged for missed appointments, transferring client anger away from the stylist and onto themselves and the salon in spite of the fact that its usually the stylist that is most demanding that the client be charged. Front desk staff also receive most of the client’s frustration when they are not happy with the hair service. Unhappy clients rarely confront stylists; they confront front desk staff.
So appreciate the front desk staff! They deserve it.
As a stylist interacting with the front desk, observe the following:
Don’t have a conversation with a front desk employee that’s busy with a client or on the phone. Wait until there are no clients up front or write down what you need on a post-it note and place it on the front desk. Alternately, communicate with the front desk via Slack.
Don’t go behind the desk to monitor what the scheduler is doing unless they ask you to. They don’t hang around at your station and double check your work, so give them the same respect you want. When a stylist goes behind the desk to monitor the scheduler’s work or takes over the mouse & keyboard, it makes the client think the scheduler isn’t capable of doing their job alone.
Don’t sit at the front desk when you don’t have anything to do unless you can answer the phone, book appointments and check people out.
Keep client information, formulas/notes and price changes up to date by entering them into Mangomint. Notify the front desk and the client of any price changes to before the client gets to the desk to pay. If you don’t enter a price change or notify the front desk of one before checkout, both you and the salon miss out on the money. We do not call clients to ask for more money when we screwed up.