My Salon Desk provides a Remote Call Center + Appointment Scheduling Service
WE SERVE LUXURY SALONS, SPAS & MEDICAL SPAS ACROSS THE US + CANADA.
OUR CLIENTS
A sample of some of our clients utilizing our Voice, SMS, EmailORReceptionist Bot™ services.
Why Salons, Spas + Medspas need a Remote Call Center Service
Can Salons, Spas, and Medspas go front desk-less? Increasingly, some beauty businesses have been exploring the idea of operating their businesses without a front-desk receptionist. Receptionists are traditionally responsible for providing first impression of the business - whether in person or by phone. They also typically bear key-holder and administrative duties, such as opening + closing the business, operating the cash drawers, performing retail transactions + inventory management, and maintaining general orderliness and cleanliness.
However, receptionists can be an expensive and time-consuming investment and the position is plagued with high turnover. It's difficult to find industry-trained talent willing to work for only $12-16 per hour, which seems to be the average rate of pay. You ultimately may have to hire individuals without direct experience or passion who require extensive + costly training (that you may not have the knowledge, temperament or time to provide). Some new hires may pick up your workflow quickly, but unfortunately poor work ethic, frustratingly disjointed systems and inadequate training create a revolving door of front-desk staff.
As a result, many salons are opting to transfer front-desk duties to technological replacements (such as Voicemail or iPad-based self check-in) or requiring salon staff to pitch in to fill in the gaps. In smaller salons and spas this may be a reasonable alternative, but many multi-staff businesses have decided against eliminating the front desk altogether.
A recent survey performed by popular stylist hub Behind the Chair elicited the following responses:
"It’s a huge inconvenience to have to stop in the middle of a service go answer the phone or do any type of desk work."
"Not every stylist in the salon always takes on the responsibility of helping with the phone."
"It’s really annoying not to have a receptionist. There needs to be a barrier."
"Having to answer the phone in the middle of a service with a client is frustrating and makes you look unprofessional."
"Clients pay for our time and care, not for us to have to leave to attend to the front desk."
Here at My Salon Desk, we've heard over the past few years from our salon + spa clients how challenging it can be to operate a business without administrative support. The following are some of the most reported challenges:
- Makes your business seem impersonal - strong personal connections are vital for maximizing customer satisfaction, promoting re-booking, or boosting retail sales.
- Frustrates your clients - online booking is an excellent resource, but older clients or clients on-the-go may prefer to book over the phone or via text. This is particularly an issue with software that require the creation of a login profile.
- Reduces your earnings - Online booking makes it more challenging to up-sale and pre-sale your services and retail because it strips you of a vital client touch-point.
- Causes scheduling errors - clients frequently struggle to comprehend industry concepts; it's not uncommon for a client with box-dyed black hair to book a Blonding appointment with the goal of being platinum within just 1 session.
- Increases stress and impairs work-life balance - many beauty entrepreneurs feel pressured to handle calls 7 days a week to maintain good customer service. This leads to work-related stress and anxiety caused by "fear of missing out" on new clients.
A Live Virtual Receptionist Call Center with Appointment Booking capabilities is an amazing way to support your business with high-quality customer service while still cutting overall expenses. We recognized this pain-point in the salon + spa industries and painstakingly developed a seamless innovation for providing affordable clientele support across the US and Canada.
We support beauty business of all sizes, ranging from Solo Start-Ups to Regional Multi-Location Enterprises. Even if you already have an in-person Receptionist or Guest Coordinator, a remote salon or spa call center can assist with overflow calls during busy periods.
Some of My Salon Desk's Call Center Key Features:
How a Call Center Service Works
Virtual Receptionists in a salon or spa call center work remotely to provide support to your clients. Most service focus primarily on phone-based contact, but what makes My Salon Desk unique is that we are omnichannel. This means that we can support your clients over a variety of contact channels, including text, email + social media. A good Virtual Receptionist becomes a seamless part of your business and maintains brand continuity for your clients. In an ideal world, clients should never realize that the receptionist is not a full-time staffed employee of your business.
How Salon + Spa Call Centers Support Complex Business Workflows
Many beauty professionals are initially skeptical about the ability of a third-party to appropriately handle their calls. Understandably so, as the phone receptionists is often the first point of contact for a new client. My Salon Desk stands alone in that we are the 1st Salon + Spa Specialty Virtual Receptionist / Answering Service. We exclusively handle beauty businesses - our expertise makes us a much better alternative to other Answering Services that make frequent scheduling errors and constantly send you messages requiring follow-up. We actually can handle almost 100% of calls forwarded our way without ever needing to disturb your workflow.
Rest assured that our experienced receptionists will provide white-glove service to your clients without skipping a beat! They know to book color appointments before haircuts, and how many units of Botox® are required to treat Marionette lines. Our Receptionists are required to have:
- At least 2 years of High-End + Luxury Client Service Experience
- Beauty Industry Experience as a Receptionist, Student or Professional
- Technical Skills to Operate Different Scheduling Platforms
- Advanced Communication skills + High Typing Speed
- Completed our Extensive 2-Week Internal On-boarding + Training Program in all common Services + Professional Brands
How Have other Salons, Spas & Medspas Successfully implemented Call Centers?
As quiet as it's kept, many beauty businesses use remote virtual receptionists located in call centers! A good call center is imperceptible to callers, which is why this is one of the industry's best kept secrets. My Salon Desk's services can also be fully customized to your unique business needs. We can support:
- In-Location Business efforts via Up-sales + Pre-sales
- Appointment Confirmation
- Outbound New Lead Marketing
- SMS, Web-Chat + Social Media Contact
- Custom Call Routing
- And more!
Aveda's Business Blog recently featured several partner salons that implemented a front desk-less business model backed by a remote call center, with fabulous outcomes!
The business team at Lavish Salon in Texas was seeking new ways to revitalize the in-salon customer experience.
"We always knew we had to get the staff out from behind the desk, but didn’t know how."
They opted to transform into an experience-based salon by eliminating the front desk and developing an open-layout waiting area. Unencumbered by any physical barriers, guest coordinators felt more comfortable approaching clients to organically build rapport and engage in suggestive selling practices.
“There is so much more interchange that goes on between front desk staff and clients because they are sharing the same space.”
In order to support this major workflow adjustment, Lavish Salon sought out the services of a call center; after years of using a remote call center, the Lavish team is "very happy with the system".
Yet another Aveda partner implemented a Call Center for their salon with great success. John Robert's Spa in Ohio took the plunge and eliminated the front desk in order to provide a white-glove Apple Store-esque retail experience. With guests coordinators away from their phones and computers, the business team added the support of a remote call center to maintain omnichannel service standards.
“The ease of technology frees up time and more relationship building can happen.”
As you can see, a Salon, Spa or Medspa Call Center can be an integral component to a successful business strategy. We at My Salon Desk are excited to join you as a partner on your path towards further growth and expansion - whether you are a Solopreneur start-up or a well-established Multi-Location franchisee.
