On a new client's first call, find out four things before you offer a time: what they want, in their own words; what has been done to their hair, skin or nails recently; anything that changes the booking, such as a patch test, a consultation first or access needs; and what they expect it to cost. Then book the right service for the right length, say the price or price range out loud, and tell them what to bring. A first visit booked as "colour" and nothing more is how a salon ends up with a two-hour job in a one-hour slot and a new client who never comes back.
Why the first call matters more than the others
A regular's call is simple: same as last time, same stylist, which day. A new client's call is a small consultation carried out by whoever picked up the phone. Almost everything that goes wrong on a first visit, from the wrong length of appointment to a price shock at the till, traces back to a question nobody asked on that call.
The questions to ask
Keep the list short enough that a junior can get through it in under three minutes, and ask it in this order:
- "What are you hoping to have done?" Let them describe it. Write down their words, not your translation.
- "When did you last have it done, and what was done?" For hair, ask about colour in the last year, box dye included. For lashes and brows, ask about earlier tints, lifts or extensions. For nails, ask what is on them now.
- "Have you had a patch test with us before?" If the service needs one under your rule, book it now. There is more on that in patch tests and what to tell callers.
- "Do you have a photo of what you'd like?" Ask them to text it to the salon. It saves ten minutes in the chair.
- "Is there anything we should know to make the visit easy?" Stairs, a pram, a wheelchair, a time they must leave by.
- The price. Say the price, or the range and when it will be confirmed, before you book: "That's usually $180 to $240 depending on length; the stylist confirms before starting."
If the answers point to a correction, a big change or anything uncertain, book a consultation first rather than the full service. The reasoning for colour is set out in pricing a colour correction.
Book the length the answers point to
Once you know what is wanted and what is already there, the service and its length usually choose themselves. A client who wants to go blonde from box-dyed brown is not a 90-minute full head of foils. If in doubt, book longer. An appointment that finishes early is a gift to the rest of the day; one that runs over is a problem for everyone after it.
Write the answers on the booking so the stylist reads them before the client walks in. A note such as "box dye 6 months ago, photo sent, wants lighter, told $180 to $240" lets the stylist plan the first ten minutes before saying hello.
Send the details by text
After the call, confirm by text with the day, the time and the service, what to bring, how early to arrive and the price you gave. If you asked for a photo, remind them. That message is also your record of what was said if there is any confusion later.
A worked example
Kettle Bay Hair is a four-stylist salon that takes about 30 new clients a month. Until this year, first visits were booked by whoever answered, usually with a name, a mobile and a single word for the service. The owner went back through three months of first visits and found that, on average, 9 a month ran over their booked time by 45 minutes or more, and 4 a month had to be cut short or rebooked because the slot was the wrong kind of appointment.
Nine over-runs of 45 minutes is 405 minutes, almost seven hours a month of stylist time nobody had planned for. At the salon's chair rate of $95 an hour, that is about $640 a month of time pushed into other clients' appointments. And two of each month's four rebooked first visits never came back.
The salon printed the six questions on a card by the phone and made them part of every new booking. In the first month afterwards, 2 first visits ran over and none had to be rebooked. Three callers were booked into a $40 consultation instead of a full service, and all three went on to the full service later at the price they had been given.
Mistakes to avoid
- Booking by service name alone. A single word like colour covers everything from a root touch-up to a correction. Ask what they want and what is already there.
- Leaving the price unsaid. A client who heard no number imagines a lower one.
- Answering health questions. A first-time caller may ask whether a treatment suits a skin condition or a pregnancy. That belongs to the practitioner or the client's doctor. Say so, and pass it on.
- Forgetting to write it down. Questions asked and not recorded are questions the stylist has to ask again.
- Rushing the regular-sounding caller. Someone who sounds confident may still be new. Ask whether they have been in before.
If your missed calls reach an answered line, put first-visit details in its notes, such as how early to arrive and that photos are welcome by text; the assistant gives them whenever a caller asks. See change what the assistant knows.
What to do this week
- Write the six questions on a card and put one by every phone.
- Add a notes line to new-client bookings for the answers.
- Check last month's first visits for over-runs and rebookings.
- Draft a first-visit confirmation text with what to bring and how early to arrive.
- Make sure your service menu shows lengths that match what first visits really take.