FACT: Delivering consistently extraordinary customer experiences in a salon/spa is the result of the seamless integration of the “hands that do work” and the “minds that care for guests.”

At first, they were called “receptionists.” They answered the phones, booked appointments, greeted clients and checked them out.

As salons and spas evolved into more sophisticated businesses, they were upgraded to “coordinators” because it became obvious how the right individual(s) at the front desk can influence the overall productivity of the entire team.

Today, “guest care” has become the catch-all term to describe the front-line team of employees that are responsible for executing a multitude of systems that include:

• Mastering the company’s point-of-sale software system


• Supporting company service and retail goals


• Drive productivity and client retention rates


• Manage the appointment book for efficiency


• Effectively, patiently and flawlessly handle the phone


• Sell and close retail sales


• Prebook appointments


• Anticipate and respond to customer needs


• Ensure that everyone is on schedule


• Represent the image and brand of the salon/spa

1. Solution focused over problem obsessing: The one true absolute in salon/spa guest care is that something will go sideways. Mistakes will happen. Clients will come in late and expect to be given their full appointment time. Clients will no-show. Clients will get upset and some will lose their temper. A service provider will call in sick on a jam-packed day. KEY: Don’t bring leadership the problem until first addressing it through system and protocols. For every challenge have three possible solutions.


2. Immediate customer response: In the service business, every client wants to be taken care of NOW. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the phone or on premises, customers demand and expect immediate service and response to their needs. Even the slightest delay can escalate a simple situation into a full-blown meltdown. KEY: Guest care, in person or on the phone, is about “urgency” and getting it done. The closer your guest care team gets to “immediate,” the better the customer service experience.


3. Team members are customers too: As long as there are guest care teams at the front desk and service providers working on clients, there will be tension. Why? Because it’s guest care’s responsibility to control each service providers appointment book time and the service provider’s responsibility to do the work. It seems pretty simple, but it’s not. KEY: Guest care teams must always remember that they serve the needs of all team members — not just paying customers. The more thorough the guest care teams meets the needs of all team members, the lower the tension level — the better the customer experience.


4. Genuine positive attitude: A task-master at the front desk that’s all business may get the job done, but at what cost to teamwork, culture and the customer experience? A funky, phony, indifferent and negative attitude cannot exist in any role associated with guest care. Imagine taking your kids to Disney World and encountering employees and Disney characters with negative attitudes. It cannot happen. It doesn’t happen. KEY: A genuine positive attitude is the equivalent of sunlight and bright blue skies in the customer service world.


5. Positive energy, but not too much energy: Positive energy is about the ability to get things done. It’s about solving problems. It’s about infusing a “we can do this” attitude throughout the company and its culture. In my book, No-Compromise Leadership, I describe the importance of instilling a sense of urgency into your culture. KEY: Positive energy in guest care is the urgency that pushes a positive attitude to engage and accomplish tasks. Positive energy gets things done.


6. Team-based culture catalysts: Service providers work behind the chair, in a treatment room or station. Their undivided attention is to the client that is on the receiving end of their technical and professional expertise. The service provider must trust that everything beyond their focus on that one client is carried out as planned. KEY: A great guest care team utilizes its wide field of view to seamlessly coordinate all activity in the salon/spa. Service providers depend on the guest care team to maintain order, efficiency and calm. Guest care depends on service providers to get the work done within time standards. Guest care is truly the catalyst that brings a team-based culture to life.


7. Ability to stay calm and composed under pressure: As stated earlier, things can and will go sideways in a salon/spa. The last thing a guest care team member can be is that one passenger on full plane, that hit some turbulence, that stands up and screams, “We’re all gonna die.” Solutions are hard to find and see when engulfed in chaos and stress. KEY: Great guest care teams are comprised of individuals that can manage stressful situations by diffusing them or prevent them from becoming stressful at all.


8. Never becoming the whipping post: All team members must respect each other. This includes everyone from service providers to guest care team members. Guest care teams must be focused and support the company’s goals, systems and culture. Examples sound like: “Change my schedule. Never book me so tight. Make sure I get my “Happiness” credit. Why didn’t I get the credit for that retail sale? Why is my client booked in her column? Where’s my tip?” KEY: Great guest care teams do their jobs with focus, dedication, determination and a whole lot of a diplomacy.


9. Support and protect the salon/spa brand: Yes, guest care teams must look the part with respect to hair, make-up and dress. Yes, phone skills should reflect and support the company’s brand. Every face-to-face customer encounter should be personable and congenial with eye contact and a smile. To be genuine, yet task thorough, scripting should be followed yet personalized. Authority should be apparent but never flaunted. KEY: Brand building is the next frontier for employee-based salons and spas. A great guest care team is a non-negotiable.


10. Goals, productivity, client retention: On the business growth side of a salon/spa, great guest care teams are key players in pushing the company to hit monthly service and retail goals, drive overall productivity and increase client retention rates. KEY: Number ten is the business side of a great guest care team. They own, are accountable for and passionate about their contribution to growing the company.