Front Desk Training: Incentivizing Your Team & Mastering the Guest Experience

or next Monday's call, just to follow up from whatever comes of this conversation. So last two weeks, or two weeks ago, I guess, two weeks at the huddles or the meetings, you introduced the tickets and the ticket completion rate. Is that right, Marina, everywhere at all three locations, right? All three locations, yes. Yeah, so everybody knows about that. So now we are doing the second part of that. A couple of things. One is that we, in looking at what our typical guest values and what they want, what's important to them, accuracy is one of the things that matters to an affluent woman. The typical client we have is called a joy rejuvenator. And that is the type of client who comes to us who obviously they want great service. But one of the things that they also value is accuracy, and timeliness. Those are two things that I never really thought about before, but in their world, that's really important to them. So let me see here. What is a joy rejuvenator? So that's a weird name, but somehow that's the category that these women go into. 50% of our guests are this type of guest. They purchase luxury as an emotional comfort during challenging times. They are experience driven. So they like an experience over a thing. Important to know. They are self-indulgent. They buy for themselves often, which is good. They will sometimes reward themselves or have a milestone or a professional accomplishment as to why they would come and reward themselves at our salons. That's kind of the psychograph. That's the profile of our guests and what matters to them. I always thought it was just. having being nice and getting a kind warm experience but there's another component to that that they value even more now and that is that there's accuracy and timeliness why i'm bringing this up and why this is important is because this whole ticket thing i'm not trying to give you more work there's a there's a point to all of this this is not about doing more it's not about more paperwork it's it's about increment making sure that the guest has the experience that we promised them So when we talk about having a ticket and the value of the ticket, you know, what you deal with often is not knowing what happened in the back of the house. Well, we have these tickets that were created. We had the software company write a program specifically so that it can give us a ticket so that we can have these tickets for every guest. For some people, it sounds like, oh, we're going backwards. We're in a digital world. And why are we using tickets versus the other? Well, this is the best there is at the moment. And it's old school. But it is the most effective and efficient way we can have a traveler follow that guest around and know exactly what happened to them. From your perspective and why this is valuable to you is there's just it takes away all the guesswork. And we've talked about this a lot. And it ebbs and flows. Sometimes there's periods where it's, you know, it's happening a lot and then there isn't. You know, we talked about having to make sure that all the products were brought to the front. That happened for a little while with certain people and then it kind of fades and goes away. If you look at the last three months, one of the things that's dipped dramatically is our retail sales. And the result, the reason for that is very simple. It is the lack of a recommendation. So our guests, that's all they need. Like 30% of everything they buy is from a professional recommendation, from something that somebody or someone professionally recommended to them. So if the recommendation isn't there, you know, that makes it difficult, especially from your perspective, because you're not getting the professional recommendation from the back of the house. So why are we doing this? What's the point of this? What did you talk about these tickets? Well, one is I want to make sure that you this is part of this is that you earn more money, that you get a raise from this. And there are certain metrics that you can be in control of to determine how much more you earn. So this is not just about that. So if we have a system in place that makes it easier for you to have a conversation with a stylist or associate, it softens the blow. You're not chasing somebody down for five different things because the ticket's got to have those five different things on it. I don't know what your experience has been like since implementing this, but it's going to take some work on everybody's part to have this stick and be a part of it. In order to earn the bonuses, we have to have the tickets because we're measuring the tickets. So before anything goes, before you even see what the bonuses are and how they work, the ticket is a part of that process. So you got to have nine out of 10 of your tickets being completed. So you don't want to bring somebody out without having that ticket completed. And the items on the ticket, as you know, when the next visit is and what the service is. You don't want to be saying, what did you want to come in for on your next visit? That takes away your authority. It takes away our authority. When you're asking them, then we're not the professionals anymore. Well, she recommends you come in for a retouch and a gloss and a blowout on the next visit. Different from that. The other things on the ticket are what Lux services were offered. You know, when we have, last month we had two locations with 15% or less in Lux services. That's just because the offerings aren't happening. That's all it is. It's such a simple thing. It's not even that people are saying no. It's just that the offer's not there. So on the ticket, what were the Luxe services offered? Now, obviously you're hearing right away, oh, the stylists are going to say they don't have enough time. We have associates. And the average associate only does eight shampoos a day. That's one per hour. Eight shampoos a day is the average. That's one per hour. So if they spend 20 minutes on... shampooing, conditioning, combing them out, prepping them for the chair and putting on eye patches. They have 40 minutes remaining on average to do towels, to fill the ticket out, to prep the shampoo, to prep the hair color, to clean up in the back, to eat all the rest. So that's an average of 40 minutes per hour they have for other things. So that's who you're going to rely on the most are the associates for this. Obviously it's a partnership, but the associates use the shampoo and conditioner. which should be written on there. And what that does is when that shampoo and conditioner is written on the ticket, it reduces the friction at the front. So if they decided they want it and you don't know what it is, you got to stop and go back and figure it out. Or they call Mickey later and say they want it. And then it's a real mess because we got to figure out who worked with them that day, what shampoo they use. Nobody knows. So it's one more friction point to inhibit them from even wanting to bother with it. Same way with pre-booking. If we don't know what services they want the next time, and we don't know the interval or the cycle, or that's not on the ticket, then you've got to stop and go back. And that's a time waster for them. So all of these things enhance the guest experience. It's not about being a pain in the ass for everybody and one more annoying thing to do, but it's to help the guest experience consistently across the board. Okay, any questions about the process of the tickets? Rob, I have a question. Yes, sir. So when we print the tickets in the morning, are we the way I've been doing is I've been just putting in the stylist stations. Should I should we be giving them to the associates since they're going to more than likely be the ones shampooing and doing that recommendation? And if after that, who should be bringing this sheet back to us? because i feel that sometimes if the stylist finishes the client and brings the sheet up to us or brings it up later we wouldn't be doing what that she was intended to do which was have those answers in front of us right and and some sometimes i think that it happens and you know it gets forgotten and got brought in a few minutes later or you know 30 minutes later but either way if we don't have it when the client is in there it could be difficult to to use that information. Yeah, it's pretty much useless. I mean, there's no point in doing it. If the guest is already gone, like, why bother? Like, what did you do? So I don't know the answer to that because I'm going to kind of leave that up to you guys to figure out with the team. But I do know this, that if you shouldn't, the game is don't ring them out without it. So I know that's going to be a hassle. And I know it already is because you have some people who do and some people who don't. And it gets busy, but it shouldn't be just at the end. So in the middle of the service with the associates, getting the associates on your team to be like, they can be responsible for bringing that up three quarters of the way through. And some stylists may do it. Some stylists may be diligent about it. I know there's some that are. Some that don't care, don't want to be bothered with it. And then likewise with the associates. But everyone has an associate except for one or two stylists. You know, there's a couple that... Sorry for interrupting. Sorry, I wasn't on mute. Rob, would it be up to us? Would you want us to go in there and get those sheets? Not about the sheet, but just to have those metrics? Because personally, I feel that sometimes I do ask them, or quite often, if it's the same thing that they did today for their next services, or if we're looking to get something different. Well, I think... Yeah, I think you can go and ask them while the client is processing, you know, and if we have time at the front, we can certainly go over those tickets with them just to make sure that everything is correct. But it is their responsibility to be bringing those things up and, you know, giving us the information. We just have to make sure that we ask them before we bring the client out and before the client's standing in front of us because then we look stupid. you know asking the whole idea of having that ticket is for us to already have all that information be fully informed so that we are giving the suggestions to the stylist not asking them so did you have color and a haircut today like we should never be asking them what they had done that's something that we should already know most of the time they don't i can't even tell you how many people call and they're like well i didn't get a haircut i wanted refunded and then when we talked to the stylist they're like yes i did i did trim it you know or certain things like that they're like well i don't remember an extra conditioning treatment even though they got it so that's to us for us to know not for them to know they're just you know they just have to pay like i know when i go to places i don't want anybody asking me what i had done i don't want anybody asking me any questions i just want them to already charge me so i can go and that's i completely agree you know what i mean so yeah if we have time we should definitely be going and saying where's your ticket everything on here and if they're very busy you can even stand there and write the information in for them as they give it to you and then you can take the ticket upfront so that you prepared but we also don't want to do this all the time either because they have to get into the habit of you know putting that information onto the ticket and looking at it and the tickets now also show how many weeks it was since the last appointment so that makes it so much easier to see okay well this was nine weeks did that was that right do you want her nine weeks and then get the services that makes it easier yeah yeah it is crazy it is crazy how how many times a day i have to go up to the stylist and i i probably do it for every single client and just check the services and then they'll be like oh yeah i forgot it was just a blow dryer not a haircut but i have to do that in front of the client Like every time right. Yeah, it happens. It happens almost daily. Oh, yeah. No, yeah daily. Yeah, daily That's that's what we're trying to prevent with these tickets, you know so that we don't look like idiots at the front Well, and then it's like he's saying with the whole speed thing like they want to get out of there and We look good like and then and then I'm like, oh you got your roots done right and a haircut, right? Give me one second. Let me get a check. You're asking them what services they got. It's so unprofessional. You should be telling them. Right. It's so unprofessional. And it completely devalues everything that they're... If they want accuracy, you're telling them, we need a root retouch, and we did this, and this is the products that you need. There's a command. There's an authority around that versus, did you get a root retouch? And you're asking them, and they got it done, and then they're wondering, does it look good? Because you're asking them if they got it done. Right. It leaves a question in their minds too. So it is going to take a lot of retraining because they've been doing it this way and we've been letting them do this way for years. You know, to just kind of let it go. So it's going to require like being super diligent about it. But use the apprentices too because they're just as much a part of this as the stylist. You know, you're going to hear, oh, I'm too busy. Well, we're not any busier than last year. So, you know, people got better. We have more. staff this year than we had last year so that's not a legitimate argument also the issue is well don't do you want to be booked in the summer because if you're not doing these things you're going to have a problem you know when that rebook's not there or when that service isn't there for that guest the retention isn't there well and something i hear at the village a lot is like oh well that they're spanish or whatever but they can still They still are able to enter in Vish if they did oil reflections. They can still write it on the ticket. It's like the same thing. Like they've been putting it in Vish. They can still write it down. So they're still capable of that as well. Sure. It would probably be easier for them to write and say it. Yeah, they could write it right with the product that was, right with the service was, and right with the Vish offering. That's not an excuse. If Maria does it, and she's 72. Yeah, 74 74 there. Yeah, so it is gonna be a process It is gonna require something but if you don't ring them out without it That will start to step up the game because you can't just if you're compensating for them, which is what we do We've enabled it the behavior and allowed it and it sees no skin off their back if somebody doesn't get charged for something Doesn't doesn't really affect them directly Yeah, there's no skin off their back if we have to chase people down for missed payments or, you know, all that kind of stuff. Or if they want to call out sick because I don't feel like they don't have to call out their whole book. I mean, there's so many things that, you know. Yeah, so this is a big, big deal. And it is going to take something. You've already kind of started to experience what it is and how we work out the intricacies of it. The bottom line is like you can't, you can't, you won't, you cannot bring that guest out without that information. And that's all the information too. Was Vish correct? Are the services correct? What services on the next visit and how many weeks? What products were used? written there on the ticket so it goes into the computer so that we know that it was written in their file. All those things. And those are all the things that this type of guest, the type of guest that we want, really values. They value accuracy. They value you knowing exactly what they had done and how much it cost. It sounds like a simple thing, but it's really important to them that there's no guesswork around that. We're not kind of hoping that that was what they had done. So this eliminates all that. So it, which creates a better experience for them. No different than is the associate offering a luck service? There's no reason to not have time. I patch does not take time. You know, is it being offered? Are you offering it from the front? That can be happened. That can happen right from there. Cause you'll see how that's going to play into the bonus system too. Well, it's just complacency. Like, you know, that's all it is. complacency and then like you said just letting letting everything slide for so long right and when we do that you know that that's what happens so it's just now saying I this is the way it needs to be done this is not an optional thing this is how we're gonna be doing it going forward it also really fits right in with what what a guest needs to so it's not even just to move the numbers it's create a greater, a better guest experience, which is what they want. Okay. So what does complete mean? A completed ticket is a Lux offering products. What products were used? Chemicals, the Vish and the next visit. So those four things. And remember when they say we're too busy, the average associate does eight shampoos a day, one per hour. I hear that a lot. Oh my gosh. They're just so busy. They're so overwhelmed. Does Promenade say they're too busy? I don't know that. No, I feel like they're pretty good about it. Yeah. In the last meeting I was at, I heard that's kind of the number one thing that I hear. No, I'm just curious because Promenade always seems like they have it all right. And I don't know why the other salons don't. Well, because I feel like they start, it starts with their leaders who do it. and then it flows dad ebbs and flows like you got to get your leaders enrolled like if they're the ones caring about it the top then the next one like then the associates are caring about making sure it's done you know so that's the different time it's a different dynamic all right they all bring up they all bring up their clients or they all they train their associates to bring up their client if they're because they really care about their number you know that they're obsessive about that so they do they look at their numbers unlike i think the other salons the promenade they always walk up with their clients jen krista they make sure they're pre-booked um they're on top of their game at the prom Yeah, well it shows it shows in the results. So I mean that's that's a part of right. Yeah Or you have your outlier like like somebody like Sarah who is just taking on The whole Lux the whole six steps in a new way. She's just broken through new barriers with that She's like the outlier at the village She does that on her own too. Like she you know, so that's the same thing. Yeah She makes it happen. Yeah, so we got to just stay on top of it and just not let it be something that disappears. Because I noticed as soon as we took the sort of emphasis, we weren't doing those weekly conversations about the locks, then immediately that sank, it went down the tubes. We went from an average of 25% to 10 to 15%. And that matters. That's an experiential difference that's not being made with a guest. So how important it is. It's not about the $10. It's about the guest experience. It's about us being different than everybody else in how we do things. And then there's consistency. When somebody, when a guest, we had a guest last week who has been to all three locations. And when they go to all three locations, are they getting the consistent level of service? Or are they getting, you know, oh, these people were on today, but they were off that day. You know, sometimes we're diligent about. knowing everything that they had done and when they need to come in again and what products they were used and we care about them. This is actually genuinely showing that we care. We didn't just let it go. All right, so the goal, the aim is to have 90% of your tickets. So you got to measure that every day. 90%. So if you have 10 guests, you want nine tickets completed. And that's allowing for one, I mean, 100 is the clear. optimal, no questions asked way to do it. But for some reason, we're giving you that margin of error for one out of 10 that you can say, well, something happened. So the way the payouts are going to work, if the salon hits 70% or more in pre-book, can you see that on the screen? Yeah. Okay. 70% or more on the pre-book. On a non-promotion month, it's $8 retail per guest. I was saying, calm down. It's saying $8 retail per guest, Lux 33%. So that's on a per day basis. So it's not the entire week. So each particular day. So how this calculates, you can earn up to a minimum of, so that says $60 there, right? So if you hit that on four days, You work five days a week or you work four days a week. You hit it four days. Well, you work with somebody else, right? So you would split that $60. If you do that four days a week over the course of a year, that's more than $5,000. So it doesn't look like a lot on one day alone like that, but it's more than $100 a week. It's more than $5,000 a year. So be the easiest raise you can get for yourself. So how that works, hit one of those numbers if you just hit pre-book. If you just hit retail per guest, it would be $10. If you hit two, it quadruples that. It's $40. And if you hit all three, it goes to $60. Any questions about that? Nope. It's a minimum of 10 guests. So you got to have at least 10 guests. So a day where you do less than 10 guests, well, that's a little scary. We wouldn't want to have too many days where we're doing less than 10 guests, but it happens sometimes. Does that apply for year round or is that seasonal thing? So it's a good question. So the retail per guest will change on a promotion month. Retail per guest goes to $10 on a promo month, on a non-promo month. So that's the only time it would change. Like April? Yeah, if we're doing one in April, then it would be $10, correct. The other metrics will stay the same throughout the course of the year. But that is the one that will change. Now we'll evaluate this in a month. and in two months and in three months. And we'll have a follow-up call next Monday to see who's being effective, what you're doing that's having you be effective, and where you might need some support. Any questions? That looks great. It's an exciting few weeks ahead of us. So this is all front desk incentives, and it's all split per day. Correct. Right. Yes. Great. So if you have two, it's split two. If you're by yourself, it's all. it goes to one so the amount stays the same just a matter of whether you split it or not and are you going to show how to track this or so right now you're doing what the way you normally put it into your sheets is one way but we'll have an automation for it so each week all you'll have to do is say who worked on what particular day hi melinda look at you walking around i can't hear you i can see you you're on mute i can see your hands talking Yes, it's five five coffees deep So the question was Regarding tracking so there might be at some point where you're putting it in the numbers in but for now now it's just gonna Show up on that little spreadsheet that I've been posting daily and at in symphony Okay Any other you're muted more? Melinda you have to unmute yourself. We can't hear you Rob. Can you I'm you? i got it i got it hi there she is hey so on the left the last one tickets live what was that the yeah bottom tickets confirmed live what's that mean i'll go over that i think that means they brought them up tickets printed tickets distributed associates assigned tickets confirmed live i don't know what that is that doesn't mean anything tickets confirmed did it happen yeah yeah okay that just means like tickets are correct i'll i'll go over direct that with you tomorrow too melinda was on she's been with us i realized that oh good oh good i didn't know that perfect i've been on i've been yeah i don't know it's super techie these days she's got this i'm trying and then add in a broken film that has a mind of its own yeah it's been working knock on wood oh good Yeah, and you're walking around and that's pretty cool So do you want everybody to submit what their bonus is at the end of the week or is that something that Like how are we gonna do this this week? Let's see Probably will post a sheet that has a place to fill out the names of who worked what days and then that will be we'll calculate from that let me work on that but one if we're overlapping what if we have the two people on like what how do you know so you split split between the two people that are working that day got it so you're running the numbers this week is that what you're saying yeah for right now i will have the i'll just Be calculating and posting until there's a simple system so that You one of you can do it and post it I mean right now you'll know where you are based on the sheet that you already fill out that should give you your total for the day Are you talking about the What sheet are you talking about? Well, yeah, cuz we fill out that Yeah, it's filled out by different people because it's filled out the next morning for the day before Well, that's going to give you, let's see. All right. I'll come up with something before the end of today and I'll post it, how we're going to do this. For now, I've got it. And then, but I would like you to know each day. So I want you to know like, you know, where you are each day. So that's going to be important too. So yeah, that is going to be hard to do it every day because the numbers don't reset till the next day. That's been the issue we've had. Yeah, let me look at that Well, you can also post it haven't even posting or I have I do that I do it at night. I get the I get the correct numbers out by eight o'clock at night. So but Yeah, well, I'll figure that out. This is going to cut us off in five minutes Because it only lets us do 40 minute calls on zoom. So next week next Monday Does this time work for most of you to do noon again? Hmm works for me Okay. Yeah, it works for me too. We'll just return messages. Mickey won't be here, but I'll do a quick one and then I'll return messages next Monday. Okay. What else? Marina, was there something else we were going to... No, the only other thing we were going to discuss, but we can do that next week since we're running out of time, was the promotions for Mother's Day that we were thinking, making sure that everything's set ahead of time. but we can discuss that next week okay okay what's your takeaway from the call from everybody one at a time we got enough time for that it was a great call a lot of good communication great thank you for being on it and communicating melinda how about for you can i go last okay you'll go after you can go last we'll move you back of the line i think it was good to hear pointers for people in terms of what works at other salons you know and cut so we can push our stylists to take more ownership you know of the tickets and of the processes that they perform great so is that is that where what we're going to do basically especially here let's you know we have certain ones too like every location yeah that's what i'm gonna that's what we're gonna talk that's what i'm gonna talk to you tomorrow yeah yeah it's exciting that uh front desk can have a new bonus system to be extra motivated to make money yeah i want to build i mean you got to earn more inflation's going up everybody i want to give you that opportunity to do it but this also protects the business because if we're growing you're going to grow too so it helps everybody okay who else how about the sisters takeaways i think it's going to take some effort to get everyone to go along with the tickets but i think it's a good thing too

Are your front desk Concierge constantly asking clients what services they just received? It's time to elevate your salon's checkout experience and stop leaving money on the table!
In this team leadership call, we introduce the concept of the "Joy Rejuvenator"—a key salon client demographic who purchases luxury experiences for emotional comfort and highly values accuracy and timeliness. To cater to this premium guest and ensure a seamless, high-end experience, we are implementing a comprehensive salon ticket system across all locations.
Discover how using a physical traveler ticket eliminates checkout friction, prevents lost revenue from uncharged services, and drastically improves the overall guest experience.
In this video, we cover:
Understanding Your Ideal Guest: Who the "Joy Rejuvenator" is and why accuracy is just as important to them as a warm, friendly environment.
The Ticket System Explained: Why associates and stylists must document the exact services performed, the products used at the bowl, color management (Vish), and the timeline for the next visit before the client reaches the register.
Boosting Retail & Lux Services: How professional recommendations tracked directly on the ticket naturally increase retail sales and add-on "lux" treatments.
Front Desk Bonus Structure: A breakdown of our new daily incentive program designed to reward front desk staff for hitting 90% ticket completion, 70%+ pre-booking rates, and increased retail sales per guest.
Don't let complacency cost your salon money or ruin your client's luxury experience! Watch to learn how to empower your front desk, hold your stylists and associates accountable, and deliver an unmatched, professional checkout for your guests.
Make sure to subscribe to All Things Hair Salons for more weekly salon management and growth strategies!
Today is not about paperwork.
It’s about who we are and who we serve.
Our target guest — our Rejuvenator — is a high-value woman. She values accuracy. She values efficiency. She appreciates kindness, but she values timeliness even more. She does not want confusion. She does not want guesswork. She wants clarity.
Ticket Completion Rate is not a metric for the company.
It is how we serve her properly.
When Lux is at 15%, that tells me we are not consistently offering enhancements that elevate her experience.
When products used aren’t recorded, we’re not protecting her investment.
When we ask ‘What do you want next time?’ instead of recommending the next service, we lower our authority.
Rejuvenators expect professionals to guide them.
This system protects:
• Her time
• Her results
• Our revenue
• Your income
And here’s the important part — this is one of the simplest raises you’ll ever earn.
Four days a week split coverage equals roughly $5,000 a year.
This is not more work.
This is structured professionalism.
Today we’re aligning around that standard.”




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