Salon Swagger

Brie (00:01)
Hey there and welcome back to Salon Swagger, the podcast where we dive into the good, the bad, and everything in between when it comes to running a commission salon or spa. I'm Brie, and as always, I'm joined by the amazing Chandra C. How are you?

Chandra (00:13)
Hello, I am doing good today.

Brie (00:16)
Awesome. Well, today's episode is one that I'm kind of excited about because we're going to tackle a hot topic that I've actually been getting asked about constantly, both on social media and really in our coaching program, how to pay your support staff, especially the front desk, the front desk team, right? It's something I feel like a lot of salon and spa owners, they struggle with, especially right now. And for good reason, employee wages, they are

one of the biggest parts of your overhead and with the rising cost of living, finding the balance between paying your team fairly and keeping your studio profitable is really more challenging than it's been in a very, very long time. Now, I know as well as you do, Chandra, that a lot of salons, they have really gone to the deskless front desk, I guess you can say. And we think that's okay. You know what I mean? Whatever works for their studio is great.

I know at the Beauty Biz agency, always coach our members on how to know when it's the right time to bring on support staff, including a front desk team. The decision usually depends on two key factors, how many technicians you have, and then the overall financial health of your business.

Chandra (01:32)
Yeah.

Brie (01:33)
But for those that do have support staff, knowing how to compensate them fairly, it's absolutely crucial to the success of their business. That's all there is to it. And the truth is, you can tell me if I'm wrong, but there is no one size fits all solution.

Chandra (01:49)
No, there isn't.

Brie (01:52)
What works for one salon may not work for another. I feel like it is way deeper than just creating some hourly wage out of thin air and throwing it out there. So let's dive in and discuss some key things that people need to think about when compensating their support staff.

Chandra (02:09)
Yeah.

Brie (02:10)
First things first, we have to talk about the value because the value each team member brings to your business is very, very important when you're thinking about this. Compensating your technicians is kind of easier in my opinion because their work directly brings in revenue to your business. But our support staff, the assistants, apprentices, the front desk, it's a whole different story. Their contributions aren't tied directly to income. Now,

I don't want people to think that that means that they're any less valuable because they're not. It just means that we have to think differently when we're creating their pay scales. So in recent years, many of us across the nation, probably across the world have had to raise our prices just to keep up with increasing costs. Everything from rent to supplies, it has gone up drastically and

If you're compensating your technicians correctly, you've been able to pass some of that onto your service providers through higher wages. That makes sense, right? Because as prices go up, so do their earnings. So essentially your technicians are getting a raise every time you raise your service prices. Here's the problem though. Those wage increases, they often don't trickle down to the rest of your team, meaning your support team. Why is that? Well, because support staff aren't generating direct revenue.

So they're sometimes overlooked when it comes to those raises. Chandra, in your experience, why do you think salon owners often overlook the importance of properly compensating their front desk and support staff, even though they're a vital, vital part of the business?

Chandra (03:53)
Yeah, I honestly think it's kind of a lot of what you said because they're not generating revenue. They do just kind of get forgotten and they think that, you know, it's not as important and it's a lesser role sometimes, even though that role can be one of the big, I mean, it really is in our salon, probably one of the most important roles that we have. And so really trying to find that balance, you know, just cause they're not generating revenue doesn't mean like they're still not.

a part of the team that can still have a career path and can still grow with the company as the company starts growing.

Brie (04:28)
Right. When we are talking to our coaching program members, like I said earlier, it's kind of tied to key things, right? Like how big your team is and things of that nature. For me, I don't have a big enough team right now to really have a front desk staff. It just doesn't make sense with my numbers. I do things very, very specifically in my business, but you're a different story. Your team is bigger.

And so why do you feel it is vital for you to have that support staff in your studio?

Chandra (05:00)
For us, it really makes a difference in how our flow goes. So like if our stylists, they're busy, they're double booking. If they had to deal with the phones or deal with checking people out or deal with all of those other little things that the front desk handles, it would really minimize the flow of their day and the amount of clients that they're able to take and work everything out according to what we want our client journey to be.

And so it kind of takes away from that experience just a little bit when they're running around so much. they weren't, you if we didn't have as big of a team, I would do the same thing as you, because I think you can work things out to be a little bit differently. But if you do have a big team or if your team operates that way, it's really important, I think, to have that for sure.

Brie (05:46)
Yeah, they are a vital, vital role. As salon or spa owners, it's really on us to make sure that we manage our employee costs in a way that covers all of our overhead while still allowing us to make a profit. I cannot stress this enough. If you are not profitable in your salon or spa, just reach out to us. You cannot continue to run a business that isn't making a profit. Profit is what fuels your growth. So it is absolutely essential.

Finding the balance in how much and how you pay your support staff is always going to be tricky. Like I said earlier, there's no magic formula that is going to guarantee success for every business. But I think there's a key place that you can start and that is the value that each and every role brings to your studio. Now, we know, Chandra and I know there is a minimum wage in your state that you have to comply with. We get it. But you also have to remain competitive

so that you're constantly attracting and keeping top talent. And you know as well as I do, Chandra, not all support roles bring the same kind of value to the table. There are different roles. So managing employee costs while staying profitable, it's tricky. I said it earlier. What strategies have you found that work best when trying to balance paying that support staff fairly, but maintaining those profit margins?

Chandra (07:13)
Yeah, I mean, we do a lot of different things to keep them in a competitive wage as well as being able to, you know, make a profit. But definitely, I think one thing is really watching the way you're doing your scheduling, making sure that they are being scheduled for what is the most important time that you need them to be there for instead of having them work extra hours if they don't need it or having them there too much. And really watching kind of how much they're working is really important.

And then we also, and I'm sure we'll probably be touching on this a little bit, but we also really create revenue generating tasks for that front desk to do because then it allows us opportunities to pay them more without dipping into that profitability and taking away from what we need to be making to keep everything, the doors open and to keep everything going the way it needs to go. definitely.

that's the biggest thing we do to be able to maintain that balance and to be able to create that profitability but still keep people in that role because if you can pay them well then you can have a stellar front desk person who doesn't leave. Otherwise as most salons know it's a revolving door constantly because it's not a job that usually pays well enough to keep someone there for a long time. So I think creating those career paths that's what we really do to to get them to stay and to get them to thrive.

Brie (08:33)
It's so important because in a studio like yours, the front desk is the communication hub of your salon, right? They're often the first and last point of contact for your clients. And depending on people's their responsibilities are going to vary significantly. Maybe you have somebody who's in high school and they're just answering phones, checking people in and out. Or maybe you have someone who is managing a team schedule, overseeing inventory, running social media, keeping everything on track.

Chandra (08:39)
Yeah.

Brie (09:02)
Those are very different levels of responsibility and their pay has to reflect that. So how do you define these clear roles and responsibilities for your support staff to ensure that they know their value and how they contribute to your salon success?

Chandra (09:22)
Yeah, I mean, we create different tasks for them that are a higher level than just answering the phone. And so some of the things that we might be having them do might be really defining their role as they're kind of a client communications concierge. So not only are they the go -to person for all of the clients when they're calling,

Handling all of their stuff. They're also going to be, you know, sending them surveys as soon as they're done with their appointment helping with follow -up calls Ensuring that that guest experience is really a hundred percent stellar And so they can contribute more in these other ways so that it's not just like I have somebody sitting there answering the phone all day long like they actually have to be an integral part of that team and so we do a lot of stuff like that mean we can dive into that more too if you want, but we do tons of

revenue generating activities for them.

Brie (10:12)
Yeah, I think that's great. I think that when we're determining how to pay them, specifically front desk, right? It all starts with clarity. You have to be super clear on the roles, the responsibilities, the expectations, the goals. And once you've been able to do that, you can give them a title that reflects those responsibilities. You said Concier earlier. This may seem really small to a lot of people, but the title does matter.

a receptionist and a guest experience manager, they're not the same thing and neither is their pay. So after people have kind of defined the role and the title, the next step is then determining their salary. So for those of you out there that aren't sure, you have to get those roles in place, the responsibilities, the expectations, the goals, then a title, and then the compensation comes into play. The key point is their pay.

should always align with the value that they bring. And that value has to be measurable because if it isn't, then you're not doing something right. It just, has to be measurable. How do you approach determining pay for different positions? Like maybe a receptionist versus a salon coordinator, aside from obviously generating revenue.

What does it look like if you're just talking about an hourly rate when it comes to those things?

Chandra (11:42)
Yeah, so we base, we do everything off of benchmarks for the business or budget, right? So I do have a specific budget I can allocate towards support staff. And so what I have to determine is, is this person, if they're a higher level, like receptionist, if they're a higher part of your team, then they're definitely going to have a higher wage. So I'll allocate where I can start them. And that's just the starting wage. And then as they grow with the company, they have.

you know, possibility for raises, bonuses, different things like that. But everything has to be based off of my budget and what I can pay. So you do need to look at that and you do need to start there and then determine where you're able to go based on say like revenue increases. Okay. If that happens in this person, we can start creating that for them to grow into this role more and to get a raise, you know, in the future, but definitely basing it off that budget or else you're going to be in a hole.

Brie (12:39)
Everything's the budget everything for your support roles like apprentices obviously they will eventually be generating revenue and their pay is going to be tied to you know their numbers right it just it is what it is but in those leadership positions like a salon coordinator guest experience manager you have to focus on something different we've been saying this all day and that something is one word it is results results is everything.

Chandra (12:41)
Thank

Mm

Brie (13:07)
You're not paying them more simply because they've been around a long time. We run into this with our BBA members all the time. Well, our receptionist has been with us for eight years, so we're just going to give her an hourly increase every single year. Don't do it that way. Don't do it that way. Raises and bonuses should be tied to the results that they help your business achieve. Results, results.

Let's give you an example really quick. Chandra kind of said it, but this might break it down just a little bit better. Let's say your salon coordinator launches a new guest service training or they want to launch a referral program, right in your salon. And because of that, your monthly guest count goes from 500 to a thousand. That is a direct result of their work and it is measurable. You as the owner can see that you're seeing something that has changed.

That's exactly how you want to tie compensation to outcomes by tracking the real impact they are making on your business. What metrics or results have you found most effective, Chandra, when you are measuring the success of a front desk or support staff member?

Chandra (14:20)
Yeah, we'll set specific benchmarks for them. So for instance, it might be add -on service sales. They might have a certain amount of add -on services they have to sell each month and that's them talking about it upon booking. So it might be, know, somebody's just calling to book a hair color service.

they're telling them we have a monthly promotion for this treatment, know, whatever do you want to add it on, then we count that for them sort of making that sale in a way. And so that's how we track add on services. There's a really good one. Another one that we do a lot of tracking for is getting Google reviews. And so when they reach out and do follow -up calls, we'll have them send Google links whenever people are really happy with their service. And that

That may not be a monetary necessarily thing that you see directly, but it does impact your revenue overall because when people see that you're gonna get more clients. So we set a lot of different benchmarks like that. We also do retail sales benchmarks. We don't necessarily tie those specifically to the front desk person, but as a whole. So if the business hits our retail goal as a whole each month, then they do get a bonus or it goes towards something for them to end up with a raise when we...

Every 90 days we assess their metrics. so if they're hitting whatever those benchmarks are and they're meeting those expectations, then there's an option for them to have a raise based on, you know, whatever our revenue is increasing to or what we're seeing directly that the impact that they're having is where we'll kind of base what those bonuses or raises look like. But definitely setting those very specific metrics for them so they can keep track and they can have something to work towards too. I, you know, I think that's really important.

Brie (16:01)
Do you feel like tying pay to measurable results has transformed how the front desk team operates in your studio?

Chandra (16:10)
yeah, it's a huge difference. mean, they get to be, once they feel like they are contributing in a different way, they show up in a different way. It's more important to them. They care more about making sure that that guest journey is happening. They care more about, you know, doing things the way that you want it to be done. And they show up in a different way where it's not just like, I just answer the phone here. They'll go above and beyond. I feel like when they have that sort of stuff for them in place instead of just.

sort of floundering around and not having any sort of plan. They don't tie, they don't connect to the business in the same way. They don't carry the culture in the same way. So I noticed a huge difference when we started doing that.

Brie (16:50)
I think that's really important for people to hear because so many people are like, I'm just going to pay hourly. This is what it's going to look like. You know what I mean? And culture is everything. So you seeing that difference in your studio is a testament to this type of compensation method works. Bonuses or commissions are a great way to incentivize your front desk or support staff, whatever you want to call them based on overall salon performance. Let's say your salon averages $3 ,000 a week in retail sales.

You could offer your coordinator a 5 % bonus on anything over that amount. You can set bonuses on a weekly basis, monthly, bi -weekly, yearly, whatever works for your business. It doesn't really matter. The goal is to make compensation fair and measurable always. Whether it's a bonus, whether it's their salary, whatever it is, it has to be fair and measurable. It shouldn't be based, and I hear this all the time, on people saying, I just worked hard.

I've just worked hard. Like I do all of this stuff. It should never be based on that. It has to reflect the numbers, the actual growth that the business has seen thanks to their efforts, their efforts specifically. In saying this, there is one final thing I want to stress and I feel like we stress it all the time on this podcast, but I think it's important. You have to know your numbers and you have to know your profit margins. You said your budget earlier. Great point.

We know this, but a lot of people don't. You have to understand what your business can afford before making any pay decisions. Whether it is a percentage bonus or a set salary, it has to be sustainable. If you're going to increase pay, it should always be tied to an increase in productivity or profitability. So how do you structure bonuses for your front desk and what

What KPIs do you focus on specifically when looking at bonuses only?

Chandra (18:54)
So we really focus on, for bonuses, it's really add -on services and pre -booking numbers, and then overall revenue of the business. in...

The reason, one of the reasons we started doing that for them that way is because you guys, everybody knows like sometimes it's hard in a salon when you're trying to have the front desk cell retail and have the stylist cell retail and you always get sort of like that little kind of combativeness sometimes. So what we did is instead we want them to help the stylist cell retail.

And if the retail goes up as a whole by a certain number that we have set, they do get a bonus. And so when we base that bonus structure, we started small. And that's the thing, you guys don't get afraid of this because if you're like, I don't have a lot of revenue coming in and you're afraid to do it, you could start small. Maybe they just get a $10 bonus, you know, or $20 bonus. Like however that looks for your business based on your budget, anything is better than not doing it and not tying something to their position.

position to help them be contributing to the overall goal. And so it doesn't have to be a huge thing, but we do base it on our budget again. I'll go back and look at how much do I have to spend on retail commission or retail bonuses and things like that. So depending, I will structure whatever percentage that I have to play with for allocating it to the front desk. And so that's one way that I do it. But definitely,

anything like I said is better than nothing. And so when we first started, that's what I started doing because I was a little bit afraid of this. We didn't have as much revenue and I was like, okay, if we hit these goals, if you hit this pre -booking goal and you're doing this every month, then you'll get a $10 bonus each month based on this goal. And so they were happy with that even, you know, and that wasn't necessarily a percentage of anything. It was just like, here's a little bump because you did really good for X.

And so I think starting out, you know, however you feel like you can do it would be the best way to measure that. And then putting those in place for them so they can see, like it needs to be very clear and the training around that needs to be very clear. Like you need to train them how to do add -on sales. can't just tell them here, do 20 extra add -on sales a month. Like that needs to be very clear for them to understand you're giving them the tools to actually hit those numbers.

Brie (21:14)
Yeah, training is so, important. And I feel like a lot of times our front desk, they just slip through the cracks in every way, right? We just expect them to show up, do their job, go home. And a lot of times we don't even integrate them into part of the team, part of the family, part of the culture, because everything is so divided in so many ways. But when you start compensating in this way to where everything ties back,

Chandra (21:23)
Mm

Brie (21:43)
to the overall success of the studio, everybody becomes a team. And so everybody chips in and helps each other. Is there one specific structure, bonus wise, that you've seen work really well to motivate your front desk staff to perform at a higher level? I know you said start small, but is there something maybe that you've noticed for those who have something set up and they're trying to figure out something new that has worked phenomenally for you?

Chandra (22:03)
Mm

I think the most one that they hit and they try to hit and they get excited to hit is definitely that retail metric. And I think it's because it's tied to the whole. So we sort of have it set up where they have to help close the sale. And so that takes some pressure off the stylist and it takes some pressure off the front desk because they're working together. And I feel like that one has the most impact on the business overall's revenue. And that has the most impact. It's like the easiest one I feel like for them to do.

they really try hard to hit that one. And I think if you're trying to figure out what to put in place, like starting with something there or that's what we've noticed has the biggest impact out of all of their benchmarks that they have to hit or out of all of their goals.

Brie (22:56)
Yeah, think that's a really good one because like you said, it does kind of bring everyone together. It's a team effort at that point for those owners out there that are struggling because they don't know how to train their team members when it comes to selling. We say this, right? You are a sales person. You're selling yourself, your business, your services every single day. What is a good way to train them on selling specifically in a salon or spa?

Chandra (23:25)
We do a lot of stuff, but I would say the biggest thing is just giving them scripts, giving them tools, giving them the understanding of how to present it to the client, how to say it to the client, how to troubleshoot and then role playing like crazy. say like role playing all the time, but for us training them, I think that's the biggest thing. have the stylist role play with them so that they can understand how to work with each other. We role play with them if they're afraid to be a salesperson and do it in a way where it's, it's not really like salesy.

It's just more they're excited about the product. And so they help to close that sale. so I think role playing is huge and just making sure you think about every single thing that they need to know. Because that's when things start to fall through the cracks and go awry is if they run into a roadblock and they don't know how to fix that or how to recover from that. And then they just give up and they stop doing what you want them to do. And so making sure that you have that very, very spelled out and detailed for them as to exactly.

this is how you handle all these things, this is how we want you to say it, this is how we want you to present it. And then it's so much easier, they just follow your plan.

Brie (24:34)
Definitely, if you're out there and you're struggling on having your team actually understand why sales is so important, how they need to do it and how to make it integrate into the client journey. One of our past episodes is exactly over that. So make sure you go back and watch that because we kind of walk you through step by step. We also have a class that will walk you as the owner and your team through exactly

how to shift their mindset into understanding that it is seamless, right? It is all one part of the journey from start to finish with their clients. How can salon owners set up their financial tracking so that they can regularly review profit margins and ensure that they are making the best pay decisions for their team and for their business?

Chandra (25:26)
Well, we have some really great tools for that that make it really easy for you. But if you don't have that, think just really making sure that you're putting every single expense down, knowing exactly where you're at and having to review that. If you're not doing it now, you need to start doing it at least weekly because you need to know where you're at.

and just putting all of the stuff that you're spending money on so you can start seeing exactly where your profitability is if you're even profitable and if you are what you're doing with it and where you could be allocating it better. I I know we really preach to a very specific set of benchmarks that we know will help you reach that profitability and stay in line with that, but.

I think the biggest issue that I see salon and spa owners do is they don't look at their numbers at all and they don't financially pay attention or track anything. just order, spend, buy, pay, order, and they don't know what's going on. So you have to know where your finances are in order to start setting those salaries and those bonuses and doing all that stuff. So put it together, put it on paper, see what you're spending your money on and start paying attention.

Brie (26:36)
Create a budget and stick to it, right? Create a budget and stick to it. Very, very important. All right, guys, so now you know you've got to create those roles, those expectations, the responsibilities, the goals, all of those things. Then you want to create a title. You've got to decide what you're going to call it. Are they just going to be a receptionist? If they are, those roles are going to be a lot smaller. The responsibility is a lot smaller, right? If they're a guest experience manager or a salon coordinator,

their roles, their responsibilities, their goals are going to be a lot different. And then you can decide what type of salary, how to pay them, how to give them bonuses, how to give them all of the things that they need. If you need more help with this, please don't hesitate to reach out because we can definitely, definitely help you. Chandra, if somebody is ready to get started on this today, what is the first step that they should take to start creating this systemized

organized way of paying their support staff.

Chandra (27:36)
Yeah, I do think the first thing is just to define those roles, decide exactly what you need and what you want them to do, and then go through your finances and figure out exactly where you can start the pay. Because it just has to be a starting pay. You know if they're going to follow through with those roles that you're setting, then they will increase the revenue and then you can kind of go from there.

So really just knowing exactly what you're wanting them to do, laying that out very clearly, and then start figuring out exactly where you're gonna start their pay. And those titles, I think, is also gonna be really important.

Brie (28:11)
Yeah, I think that's really good. The main thing that you want to remember is that your front desk staff has to have a plan, a game plan, the same way that your technicians do. You spend so much time onboarding and training your technicians, or you should be, you have to do the same with your front desk staff. So I think my key advice would be exactly what Chandra said. However, I would make sure that you have a solid game plan in place before you ever make the hire.

or you talk to your current team about making and implementing the changes. So make sure you've got a game plan on exactly how you're going to train them, how you're going to onboard them for this new role, for this new title, for these new expectations and goals and all of those things. And eventually it will just all come together. Awesome. Well, that's a wrap. I hope this episode helped give you just a little bit of clarity on how to pay your support staff in a way that is fair, sustainable and growth focused.

Chandra (28:59)
Yeah.

Brie (29:10)
All of you guys need to be growth focused 24 seven. If you found this episode helpful, share it with other salon owner friends, leave us a review and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss out on future episodes. Make sure that you're following us on all social media platforms. Chandra, how do they do that?

Chandra (29:27)
Yeah, reach out to us on Instagram, Facebook, it's @thebeautybizagency, and you can also find us on TikTok, really everywhere. And you can also reach out to us by email at admin@thebeautybizagency .com.

Brie (29:39)
Awesome. Also check out our website, www.thebeautybizagency.com. We have some amazing free resources to help you level up your salon right this very second. Until next time, keep hustling, stay focused and keep slaying those business goals with a whole lot of swagger.