5 Tips for Hiring and Training a Salon Receptionist

As a hair salon owner, hiring a receptionist will be one of the most important tasks that you do as you launch your beauty business. The salon receptionist is the face of your hair salon. It will be the first person your clients see coming in and out of your business. 

Follow these tips to hire and train a salon receptionist for your beauty salon. 

1. Use a reputable online hiring board. 
2. Interview qualified candidates with verifiable experience.
3. Once you have hired the candidate, have a shadow day on their first day of work.
4. Give your salon receptionist pointers for improvement. 
5. Have regular training sessions to improve their work ethic and morale. 

General Job Description of a Salon Receptionist

To be an effective salon receptionist, the candidate must be:

• Able to multitask
  • Answer incoming calls.
  • Operate multi-line phone for when more than one client phones the salon. 
  • Handle clients coming in for services. 
  • Stock salon store supplies.
  • Help hair stylists tidy around the salon chairs as needed. 
• Thorough with an attention to detail
  • When scheduling clients for specialized salon services.
  • When taking payments and giving change.
• Sociable and able to talk to clients that call or visit the salon about
  • Basic salon services. 
  • How to set up an appointment.
  • Projected wait time upon arrival to the salon. 
  • Refreshments and amenities available to clients in the waiting area (not all of this may apply to your salon)
    • Drink vending machine (choose Coke or Pepsi products; usually cannot have both inside one establishment).
    • Snack vending machine (great additional stream of income like the drink vending machine)
    • Kids play area
      • Toys for toddlers such as baby electronics, educational activity cubes (like a doctor’s office), etc. 
      • Toys for older children like cars, dolls, etc. 
    • Television viewing.
    • Magazines to read.
• They are organized in their work area.
  • Appointment schedule on a planner and/or Google Calendar.
  • Desk free of clutter. 
  • Work files accounted for in proper place (receipts, copies of daily schedules, copies of supplier invoices, and etcetera)
• Polite and kind to clients during conversation.
  • General phone greeting: “Thank you for calling (salon name) where (insert slogan if desired). This is (receptionist name) speaking. How may I help you?”
  • Conclude phone conversation with: “Thank you for calling (salon name) and have a good day!”
  • When clients come in, ask how they are doing today right as you make eye contact.
  • Then, inquire if they have an appointment or if they are doing a walk-in service.

Ultimately, you will be the one to write a job description for your the perfect candidate to fill the role of salon receptionist at your beauty business. These are just general skills, attributes, and duties that a salon receptionist should be able to pursue and excel. Think more about what you are looking for in your perfect salon receptionist as you read the five tips below. 

Tip #1: Use a reputable online hiring board.

Using a reputable hiring board to post your salon receptionist job is the first step to hiring and training a salon receptionist. You can post your job on:

• Indeed
• LinkedIn
• Career Builder
• Glassdoor
• Monster
• Snag a Job

Follow these tips for posting your job and getting qualified candidates to apply to your job.

• Specify desired qualifications for your salon receptionist job. 
  • Type of degree required. Usually, a receptionist job only needs a high school diploma. You may want your candidate to be more educationally qualified by having an Associates in Business or a related field.
  • Receptionist experience required or not required depending on your perfect candidate vision. 
  • State years of experience, if applicable. 
• Post your job to multiple job boards rather than just one to gain access to as many qualified candidates as possible. 
• Ask applicants to include a resume and cover letter. 
• For the cover letter, ask candidates to answer a specific question of your choice so that you know which candidates read the full job posting and those who did not. 

Tip #2: Interview qualified candidates with verifiable experience.

Interviewing qualified candidates with verifiable experience starts with selecting a pool of people that meet the qualifications of the job. It’ll be challenging to select the specific pool of pool because you may want to give everyone a chance, but there is only one position and a process involved for narrowing down your choice to one candidate. 

Follow these tips for interviewing qualified candidates.

• Total up the number of candidates that applied to your salon receptionist job across all the job boards.
• Select as many qualified candidates as that fit your qualifications list.
• Have your leadership team assist you in narrowing down candidates, so it is a less laborious task for you. 
• Once you have selected the pool of qualified candidates, evaluate the 10-15 people who fit the qualifications more than the other people in the group.
• Take a few days or a week to interview the 10-15 finalists.
• Take notes as you interview each candidate.
• Have a conference with your leadership team to choose the final candidate.

Tip #3: Once you have hired a qualified candidate, have a shadow day for their first day of work.

Now that the final candidate has been selected, it is time to have a shadow day for their first day of work. The nature of a salon receptionist job is usually easy, but the challenging part will be showing your new salon receptionist how to balance all their duties by effectively multitasking. 

Follow these tips to have a memorable shadow day for your salon receptionist. 

• Have the salon receptionist finish any hiring paperwork that may not have been done after their interview.
• Take him or her around to meet the rest of the team. Get to know each salon stylist’s specialties so the salon receptionist can pair every stylist with a new client. 
• Sit at the receptionist’s desk and lead the calls. Have the client on speaker so the salon receptionist can hear the interactions as examples of a proper phone call with a client. 
• Let the salon receptionist lead the calls after you have demonstrated a few examples. Monitor the salon receptionist as their first few calls come in to give pointers for improvement. 
• Show him or her your filing system for invoice copies, receipts, etc.
• Have the salon receptionist file some paperwork away and check their progress. 
• Watch how the salon receptionist interacts with clients in the waiting area. Remind him or her to check on the clients as they are waiting on a manageable regular basis to be sure they are comfortable during their wait. 
• Teach the salon receptionist the basic types of salon services you offer at your business, so he or she knows what’s being talked about when a client requests a specific service. 

Tip #4: Give your salon receptionist pointers for improvement. 

Giving your salon receptionist pointers for improvement should happen on a continual basis. It does not have to be every day or every week or every month that you give him or her pointers. As you see, something regularly happen that may decrease their productivity, give a recommendation for improvement in a professional manner. 

Here are some examples of situations where you may need to provide pointers to your salon receptionist for improvement.

• Maybe the salon receptionist is not portraying good phone manners. Demonstrate the greeting and farewell you want him or her to give clients. 
• Perhaps the salon receptionist does not check on clients in the waiting area at all. Recommend to check on them every 15-20 minutes by setting a quiet timer to remind them to check on them. 
• Is the salon receptionist having trouble remembering the basic salon services? Give your receptionist the salon brochure of services for him or her to study the services to learn them all. 

Tip #5: Have regular training sessions to improve their work ethic and morale. 

Hosting regular training sessions for your salon receptionist will improve their work ethic and morale so he or she can effectively represent themselves as the face of your salon. 

• Have a network of other small business salons in your area and have a day to train all salon receptionists. 
• Find free or for fee receptionist courses for your salon receptionist to do every six months. 
• Sign up your salon receptionists for networking events related to receptionists so he or she can learn new skills and best practices for the field. 

Conclusion 

There is no one correct way to train your salon receptionist. Follow these tips and tricks, and you will be well on your way to hiring and training the perfect salon receptionist for your hair salon. 

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Related Questions

What is the salary of a salon receptionist?

According to Indeed, the average salary of a salon receptionist is $11.66 per hour.

What do receptionists do in a salon?

Receptionists do the following for a salon:

• Take client calls.
• Schedule appointments for salon services.
• Clean up around the salon as needed during downtime from calls.
• Filing paperwork such as invoices and receipts. 

Looking to start your own Salon? Get the documents you need to get organized and funded here.

Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.