In The Know

Mentoring Your Front Desk

While having a successful, revenue-generating front desk is extremely important in this industry, one problem that I see in salons that seems to go unnoticed is the value of coaching the front desk support team, individually, on a regular basis.

Salon of Distinction: Van Michael Salon

Salon of Distinction: Silken Tent

Salon of Distinction: Salon Rocks

Salon of Distinction: RuMM Color Studio

Salon of Distinction: Michael Leonard's Salon

Salon of Distinction: Jean Madeline Aveda Institute

Salon of Distinction: Illustrated Salon/Spa

Salon of Distinction: Fusion

Salon of Distinction: Folicle

Salon of Distinction: David Michael Hair Studio

Salon of Distinction: Clique Salon & Spa

What's Your Brown M&M?

In June, I wrote the following column about how Van Halen's David Lee Roth used to hide a clause about brown M&Ms in his contract to make sure that venue's organizers read and digested the contract's details. Since then, a handful of readers contacted me to share their own brown M&M stories, which makes me want to hear more!

Cultivating Team Synergy

This past weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina, I had the opportunity to talk to more than 100 salon owners and distributor sales consultants about common challenges that salons face concerning the front desk. After the presentation, I was approached by a salon owner with this question: "Why won't my front desk staff sell retail?" I thought about it a minute and replied, "Do the service providers tell the front desk which products were recommended during the service?" It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. "Well, not that I know of..."

An Ah-ha Moment at the DMV

I truly loathe those necessary trips to California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). When I moved to this state two years ago, it required three separate trips and a total of six hours of waiting in line to get our family's three cars registered. But, it was the seemingly unfriendly, uncaring attitudes of the DMV staff that sent me over the edge. Realizing that another long wait, a written test and more crankiness was in my future, I've been resisting going in to get my actual driver's license changed.

Will Your Face Grace Our Cover?

Over the past year, the SALON TODAY team has had multiple opportunities to interact face to face with salon owners, including Serious Business, ISSE, America's Beauty Show, the Premiere Orlando Beauty Event, and most recently the Harms Millennium UGC. Each time, we've solicited feedback from owners regarding the big changes we made to the SALON TODAY 200, and we addressed questions from owners about how the can improve their chances. In an effort of fairness, I wanted to share my advice with everyone!

A Front Desk Dream Come True

Have you ever wished your front desk team would try harder to upgrade the client's phone appointment by making additional service offerings? Do you find yourself wondering how they could miss great opportunities to offer gift cards or wishing they were more focused on closing the retail sale?