Cell Phones (NV)

Before you get bent out of shape and jump all over me, I understand some of you, as I was, are the sole owner/operator or booth renter in a salon with no front desk receptionist. For the record, we must use our cell phones or shared landline to accept appointment calls during a client service. You must use polite skill to take the call, book the appointment, and get off call. This takes practice. Being polite sometimes comes off as curt, so always apologize and state you are with client. They’ll appreciate your behavior when they are sitting at your station and your phone rings. As time goes by your repeat clients will get used to this ‘procedure’ or practice. Note: always remember a good outgoing message for your voice mail is your friend and can be very helpful when you cannot stop a service to answer your phone. Bluetooth technology can also make this necessary task less disruptive to the current client. At times you may have to wait for a good break in the service to check messages and return business-only calls.

Sidebar: If you can afford a virtual answering service with an appointment setting feature, do it.

Now for everyone else, do not have personal conversations over your clients while you are servicing them. Unless the client is your personal friend, they do not need to hear about ‘what happened last night’. And at that moment, your client friend may want to share about their life while you are performing their service. And be ever mindful of your conversation when they are waiting to be serviced. You must exhibit professionalism at all times. No one wants to hear about your love life or how your kids are getting on your nerves. And please do not scream at your children in front of clients whether on the phone or in person. And be realistic, can you perform a quality service and give attention to the special needs of a client when part of your energy is going into holding a phone between your ear and shoulder with a tilted head? Probably not. As an artist, your perception is skewed. Using a Blue Tooth or other head set technology is not a license to hold a conversation while servicing a client. Please use discretion when using any phone in the salon. If possible, have someone available to answer your phone and make appointments. It makes for an easier day and smoother operation all around. Remember time is money.