Why Waste Money On Training My Staff?

By Author: Bhavyassh Agarwaal
Total Articles: 6
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Recently my friend asked me to visit her beauty spa that she had started exactly a year ago. She herself is a very skilled makeup artist who’s done many certifications in hair styling and has a long list of clientele who love her work. She worked for a another beauty parlour for 7 years before she started her own, but even having all those skills and that much experience, what I failed to understand is that even though she has all the expertise needed to run a successful spa, it was empty at peak time in peak season!
I asked her if everything was ok and she said “I have no idea why our clients don’t come back. I’m unable to make even half of my expected profits or even maintain a consistent customer base. My staff has stuck around with me for years and they’ve been my stars but now its all going downhill”
I walked around in the spa and tried to listen to a few client interactions, observe a few services and it didn’t take me long to realize that her quality of services was the problem. The staff wasn’t able to service the clientele at the kind of level they were expected to. Why was this though? I ...
... didn’t want to tell her the problem before I had a solution too. So I decided to get a head massage to experience the service and what was wrong exactly. The massage went O.K. but I felt like the pressure wasn’t enough and when I tried to tell the masseuse how I wanted the massage, she wasn’t able to understand or communicate with me. She massaged my head like it was an old style champi that my grandmother used to give me.
Then it hit me. The staff was not trained or updated with her skills. She wasn’t aware of the different pressure points in the head or even the thing she could do as a part of the head massage that my other parlour did.
If you own a salon, clinic or you are on the verge of launching a health spa, one of the most important considerations is how to rightly staff your outlet. Investment in training for salon employees has long been ignored in the beauty and wellness industry. But logically it is better to spend on resources than to lose out on profits! Without doubt, your employees are the backbone of your beauty salon. They are the ones who represent your shop. They are the ones who interact with your clients directly. They will generate sales, advertise services, build a loyal clientele and market your culture. It is thereby unavoidable to give them the tools that will ensure the overall success of your business.
When a customer walks into your clinic or spa or salon, the first impression he or she gets is from your front desk employee seated there, so its very important that you train them on soft skills on how to greet a client, make them comfortable, explain the services in detail and even suggest an upgraded or personalized offerings but not be pushy or irritating at the same time. Stylists and beauticians on the other hand need soft skills (interpersonal skills) as well as technical skill training. They need to know how to converse with their customers, give them customized tips on regular spa treatments or maybe a relaxing facial massage. Your therapists need to learn effective time management techniques, tricks for handling angry customers, properly managing payment or booking softwares on the computer if your outlet uses any.
The staff you have as a part of your team will only help in the execution and mainatainance of your outlet. They will share your work load and make things happen. You will have more time to concentrate on more important things like expansion etc. Thus it is evident that training goes a long way in the all round upliftment of your staff.
Spending money on selecting the ideal staff-training package should be in lieu with your long term goals- maximizing sales, generating clients, promoting your brand or controlling employee attrition. Once that is clear, you should invest your resources not only during the starting and opening days but also when your business gets running. Many of our beauty parlours practice the layman methods of “learn from your mistakes” or “experiment on mannequins”. But a simple error can result in adverse affects of missed sales or retaining a promising client. It is therefore better to invest in in-house training or learning from senior stylists. A newly recruited beautician might be efficient and skilled in her area of expertise, but she will need various mock training sessions to calm her anxieties and understand the daily operational challenges. On the other hand a senior stylist you hire may come with a lot of experience, but he or she will still need to be trained slightly on the way the operations in your outlet work since it’s a completely new setup for that person. Remember, training isn’t only about the skills to do the service but also a lot about how to interact with the other staff and clients.
Salon guidance through scripts and videotaped recordings will also go a great way in offering valuable tips as how to increase productivity and maximize performance. Training should be a continuous process; hold group seminars and individual sessions on a regular basis as per fixed schedules. Only then you will be able to monitor consistency and ensure that your spa experience is reliable and stable. Try training modules that instill the habit of ‘keeping yourself updated’ on your own by reading and researching etc.
In a nutshell, if you are a salon or a spa manager, never underestimate the power of efficiently training your team members. The benefits are uncountable as compared to the investments you make in other things like the décor, products etc. In the end you will have a satisfied and loyal group of returning customers. Investing your resources on salon management instructions will instill your employees with a sense of belonging and they will learn to adhere to the expectations set for them. Not only this, they will gain confidence on seeing the results of their dedication and hard work. And as the proud salon owner, you will be that generator of unending bookings and infinite revenues! Everyone invests in the décor and products and chairs etc, not everyone understands that training their staff is also an “investment”, so you never know, the quality of services and interactions by your staff may become your USP and make you a preferred clinic or spa or salon amongst your clients.