Systems In Your Salon

In visiting other salons I tend to enjoy the variety in the sameness. What I mean by this are the systems that are in place and how they are being executed. What exactly is a system: for our purposes here the following definition will be used.

 A system is a group of interacting, interrelated, and interdependent components that form a complex and unified whole. 

Let us break this down one piece at a time. " A group of interactive, interrelated, and interdependent components."  These comprise your front desk, stylist, assistants, and any one in your salon that has client contact. The first group is the front desk.  This is consistently one of the weaker areas of most salons. The reason? Well those stem from lack of training to bad hiring. The front desk is the first and last contact any client has with your salon, they set the tone for the client's experience. Front desk systems vary from just answer the phone, to quasi complex scrips that would make Einstein cringe. The key is not tell them what to say, but lead them into being able to know the goals of the salon and its policies and treat the client accordingly. Training is the most important part of this. The front desk is a powerful position and should be treated with the respect. Why? It is the first part of your system. If that breaks down every other part of the system has to over come their failure.

The Stylist is the next part of the system. Now while their role may seem obvious there are pitfalls that can cause a break down. These range from how they great the client, how their consultation is handled and of course how well client's expectations are met or exceeded. Now how does this relate to the first part of our system, the front desk. If the clients is not booked correctly or was treated curt on the phone, the client now has a "bad taste" and maybe even a prejudicial opinion of the entire salon staff. 

Now imagine the client had a horrible phone/front desk experience, then was completely wowed by their stylist.  They are now happy, excited, wanting to return, until they go to pay and have to encounter......the very same front desk employee that broke down the system in the first place. Clients are more than 40% likely to remember something negative vs. positive, even more so when the negative is the most current memory.  So the stylist who spent time, engergy, and emotion to win back that client, was just negated by a flawed part of the system.  The system is not flawed but the components that make up said system have a weakness.

Viewing your salon as a whole is great, I love big picture thinking.  However, the small components that comprise your system are where the pit falls lie. It is the lack of attention to every facet of the system and ignoring its importance that leads to unhappy clients.

Flow is a common word in systems thinking. Everything about a every client's visit must flow. That means your team members must flow. From the the answering of the phone, to the consultation, to the blow dry and re-book. It should seem effortless and automatic to the client.  But if one part of a system is weak the others pay the price, and more importantly the client pays the price.

So take a day and examine your systems. Ask your team for input. 

Your clients will than you.

The SalonGuy Pittsburgh.