Hiring front desk person
Ok, I'm driving myself crazy- could use some input! And sorry this is so long... I'm partially venting (about myself!) :)
I have a smallish wellness center/spa. Currently its me and another esty, working opposite days and I've just hired 2 PT Massage Therapists. We have a Dr that 'rents' a room a couple times a month, too.
I haven't hired a front desk person yet. So, basically I'm running the front desk everyday... and I'm exhausted! On Tues/Thurs/and Sat mornings I see clients and run the front for myself. On Wed/Fri and Sat afternoons I don't see clients but I run the front for my other esty and now for the PT massage therapists. We're open 10-7 daily, so I'm there A LOT. (plus I have 3 kids and lots of other things that are being neglected, lol)
Which, I am the owner, I did sign up for this, so, yeah, I know I'm gonna be putting in the hours. :)
BUT, I need a front desk person now. I don't quite feel like I have the money to hire someone, but really, I'm spending all my time at the front desk and not marketing, so maybe freeing up my time would help! (so far, I've run my business completely debt free, no loans and no outstanding debt, so its cash flow only- I may look into getting a small business loan though, shortly, just for security and growth opportunities)
I'm thinking of hiring someone PT for the Wed, Fri and Sat PM shifts to take some of the pressure off me.
When I think about 'letting go' of this and having someone else open, close, greet, do computer work, etc etc ... it freaks me out! Just a few short months ago I was a solo practitioner, doing it all myself, and, yea, I'm kinda a 'control freak' (lol) so the thoughts of turning this over and trusting it to get done (right) is scary!
I know it has to be done... SO, can you all give me some thoughts on the kind of person I need to be looking for?
I've had some thoughts/suggestions:
1) a college-aged person (either in esty/cosmo school or not; we have 2 big colleges in our town)
2) an esty or MT looking to work in a spa setting and eventually jump into esty/MT work with us when we're busy enough to add another
3) One of the current employees. the MT I just hired PT has asked to do the front desk (and is qualified per her old job). She says it would be perfect on the days she's not scheduled for MT work and it would allow her to quit the MT job she's trying to get out of (she wants to transition into working for me and not her old place, but I'm not busy enough in MT to give her all the hours she needs)
4) a qualified receptionist/front desk manager (someone not in the industry, per se)
My thought on options 1-3 is that those all seem like very short term fixes... do I really want to train them to run the front desk just to have to train someone else shortly? BUT, it'd be nice to have someone in the industry up front.
I keep going back and forth on this, really.
HELP??
Views: 636
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Relax & Rejuvenate on
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We have no front desk staff at our spa. All of our technicians are hired for their customer service skills as much as they are hired for their technical skills
They all take turns working the desk, checking clients in and out for each other and themselves. We are rarely so busy that every technician is fully booked at overlapping times, and we schedule accordingly.
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Maybe you could invest in some retail or additional retail to sell. Income from sales could be put toward paying your receptionist.
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Permalink Reply by Natalie Lewis on
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Hire someone part-time and train other employees to help when you or receptionist is not available
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Permalink Reply by Dana White on
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I think this is the best course of action if you don't feel that you could afford a full time receptionist.
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Permalink Reply by Marty Glenn on
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Nicole,
Do not hire.
What your getting into is overhead that you cannot afford right now. Struggle through it and keep your overhead down and run it lean. Just because you hire does not mean this person will relieve you! It could create more work through management and stress and worry.
Right down everything your NOT doing at home and ask your husband or family to help out. You need all available cash and right now your new facility needs you there 60 - 80 hours a week so plan on it for the next 6 - 9 months and let everybody around you know this. Have the family meeting...
Marty
SkinCareScience.com
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If family is available and able to help that is 100% the way to go! If not hire a student and allow them to learn on the job. I had a client that was starting esthetics school and asked if she could help one or two days a week ( just to learn the business) of course I paid her but that can remain between you and who you hire. As long as you can run the business and not be stressed ( we all know you have to spend money to make it) most times! Have them help with marketing as well, give yourself a break and pat on the back!
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Permalink Reply by coldsalineplexus on
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If you like your business, DO NOT hire a licensed (or in school) spa pro as your receptionist. Their focus will NOT be on running your business seamlessly, it will be on wiggling into doing services and possibly copying your good practices for their own future business.
Personally I would recommend someone with about 2 years college experience or some medical front desk experience. Someone who does not want full-time work for some particular reason at this juncture (kids, family, etc.) Offer at least 20 hours. Repeat: offer at least 20 hours. Less than that and their brain won't be exposed frequently enough to your protocols, and there will be more mistakes than benefit. Offer the benefit of spa services. I do this by adding an additional $0.65 per hour in spa credit to their compensation package.
Finally, the MOST important thing you can do is spend the next 2 weeks writing down EVERYTHING you do as front desk person, from how dim you like the dimmer on the lights to how to work the stereo to the exact wording you want used when they answer the phone to the exact wording you want used when they bring their client up to the front desk. Don't forget, you already have a system and it works! Requiring them to duplicate your system is not micromanaging, it's ensuring your business success.
When you interview, be picky about things like grammar, presentation, etc. What you see is what you get in an interview - if someone pulls out some less-than-appropriate behavior, even if they have other redeeming traits, they've gotta go. Especially for this position, because they are literally the representation of you in your absence from your business. Imagine you were auditioning someone to stand-in as you as a mother when you're not able to be with your kids... they would need to make sure your kids stay safe and healthy, and make decisions that directly impact their daily and future wellbeing. That's how picky you need to be. It's so important at this juncture to really connect with your gut and your good instincts and not second-guess any reservations you have about an applicant.
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If you like your business, DO NOT hire a licensed (or in school) spa pro as your receptionist. Their focus will NOT be on running your business seamlessly, it will be on wiggling into doing services and possibly copying your good practices for their own future business.
I think this is a little overly paranoid and does not give credit to service providers to learn to be good at other skills.
You do need a Front Desk manual -- script for taking reservations, priority/guidelines for booking, payment processing, returns, etc.
But you first need to figure out whether or not you can afford this person or not.
With ANY task you do is the cost worth the benefit? Maybe you should be on the desk less but do more services as a way to pay for the desk help
We all think our marketing efforts will pay off, but it is rarely immediate and often hard to quantify even in a 6 month term.
Figure out your break even on a front desk person (who MUST be an employee, by law, so if your technicians aren't employees, then you have opened a whole 'nother can of worms and expense)
How much business will you have to bring in with all your marketing efforts just to pay for this employee (profit vs cost, not revenue vs. cost)? Is that a reasonable number under the most conservative estimates? Then double that!
I still think you should train your existing team (if they are in fact employees, you can't make contractors do this) to work the desk between appointments and schedule appointments accordingly. Much more productive that way.
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Permalink Reply by NBSkinCare on
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R&R, thanks for your thoughts.
My current staff are employees, but they are commissioned employees, so I don't feel quite right having them do ANYTHING in between appointments. They are also not required to sit around if they don't have anything booked.
Short term, I don't think they'd mind helping out. But, its a lot of effort to teach and train them for phones and our booking system... maybe not worth the effort for how little they'd be available to help.
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don't feel bad. Your are in CA where employees are treated like kings at the expense of the employers. Dollar short or a day late with pay checks? You are fined $300 per day up to $3,000, even for a $10 tip being left off the check. No one is ever denied unemployment -- they can rape, pillage and maim, so long as they don't do the same thing twice L&I will give them unemployment. They are not financially responsible for errors -- you have to pay them even if the client is unhappy (and you have to give them their tip, clients who complain almost always tip because "they did not want the person to feel bad", they let them walk out without paying or charge etc.
Employees are employees, regardless if they are commissioned, hourly, fee per service.
If you are not making them stick around, that is your loss. One of the few benefits of the cost and hassle of employees is they can be required to be on site, which helps with walk ins which helps drive revenue.
If they are available precious little to work the desk, then you should DEFINITELY hire a person for the desk and do the services yourself!!!!
Figure our your margin on all of your activities and prioritize accordingly.
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Permalink Reply by Cindy Greenwood on
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There is no reason that the sevice providers can't do intake and check out for now is there?
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Hi Cindy,
My current staff are commissioned employees, so I don't feel quite right having them do ANYTHING in between appointments. They are paid % on each service and on retail sales.
They are also not required to sit around if they don't have anything booked (which is rare, we've been steady)
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