Rules and Regulations for Salon Employees | 2023 edition

5 Rules and Requirements for Salon Employees

1) Cosmetology License (Mandatory)

All salon employees must have attended a state-approved cosmetology training academy, hair design training program, or an apprenticeship program.

Some cosmetology schools allow you to take just courses related to your area of interest while forcing you to take basic courses in all the beauty-related disciplines. Cosmetology courses cost from $7,000 to $30,000 and take 6 months to 2 years.

After finishing cosmetology school, apply for written and practical exams to get a cosmetology license in your state. You require 1,000 to 2,100 hours (National average: 1,500 hours) of training + experience depending upon your state’s requirements.

2) Employee Dress Code

Wear a clean, well-ironed uniform. If your salon doesn’t have a uniform, wear decent professional attire covering it with an apron all the time. Make sure the attire is washed properly every day as this profession is prone to get strains from shaving cream, wax, hair colors, chemicals, nail polishes, or cosmetics.

3) Customer Interaction

• Your Ideas: Greet them with a smiley face and listen to their requirements. Suggest your ideas but don’t enforce them if a customer is not comfortable with them.
• Product Upselling: Suggest a product but don’t be pushy. Don’t put the customer shame to sell the product. For example,
  • Wrong tone: Your hair is too dry and damaged. Its texture is also bad. You have to get this hair serum otherwise they’ll get worse.
  • Right tone: This shampoo is great for dry hair. Hundreds of our customers gave positive reviews. If you ever want to use it, let me know. I’ll give you a 15% discount.
• Gossip Around Customers: Don’t talk badly about your co-workers or the salon owner/management. Even if the customer starts sharing their past bad experience, smartly handle the situation without being critical.

For example: “I hear you. I’m sad you have to go through that. She’s a good person and a talented hairdresser, but it must be a bad day for her due to some personal issues or she was overburdened with work due to non-stop back-to-back appointments.”

4) Use of Technology

Keep your phone away while providing the service. Keep it on silent mode. Don’t even look at the phone if you see an incoming phone call just to check the caller. Because customers feel that you’re trying to hurry up their service just to attend the phone call.

Always use the headphones/earplugs when you’re not with a customer but your co-worker it. Loud noises while watching shows on mobile/tablets or talking on the phone disturb other customers. Don’t do that, ever.

5) Tipping

Never force your customers to leave a tip or tup them to shame for leaving a lesser tip. Don’t use indirect tactics to indulge them to leave tips. For example: “One of my customers, Jane, is an amazing human being. She leaves me a $20 tip every time.” Or, “Some customers are so frugal, they just give a $5 tip. How terrible, isn’t it?”

This is a short-term strategy. They may leave you a good tip this time but they’re going to visit your salon again if they feel they are forced to give you a tip higher than the quality of service they received. Don’t ever do that.

A better way to collect tips: Use an online booking software like Yottled that gives you the option to let customers pay the tip online, at the time of booking only to avoid uncomfortable conversations. Check out the screenshot below on how online tipping works.