“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” Lou Holtz
The Good: Any answer about helping people, reaching goals, working as team, making people feel better about themselves or a positive experience they had at a salon, etc.
The Bad: “Because I love tanning!” (Well, duh – we all do!) When a candidate says this, I typically cringe. The job you offer does not include putting on lotion and lying down for 12 minutes. It involves cleaning, sales, varied hours, product and equipment knowledge, etc. But, a candidate should definitely not have an aversion to being tan.
The Good: Obviously, we would like them to say, “None of them are an issue!” But in reality, that probably won’t happen. This question bluntly explains the most common complaints about the job. A good answer would involve the varied schedule, ideally followed by a mention of open availability; but in most cases, they need their work and school schedules to fit, and at least know it in advance.
The Bad: “I’m not good at sales,” or “I don’t like to clean.” Both are deal-breakers. The job is to sell, and people who are sacred to talk to customers or too lazy to follow cleaning lists are probably not a good fit for your salon.
The Good: “This lip gloss is amazing! The color is so rich, it lasts all day, and it comes in a convenient tube with a sponge brush for easy application.” If your candidate can list features and benefits of whatever the item is, they’ll be far easier to train on selling products and services than those who don’t understand the basic sales process. This also shows you their confidence level and outgoingness – traits necessary for a salon salesperson.
The Bad: “Umm … I don’t really know what to do,” or “You should buy this lip gloss because it’s nice.” If they are vague, timid or soft spoken, they will most likely approach product and service sales the same way. If you’re in business to make money, you don’t want someone behind your counter who is afraid to talk to customers.
Remember: You can teach facts and product benefits, but you can’t teach attitude and willingness to learn. When hiring, do not just look for a body that can work the shift times you need, but also one who is outgoing, willing to learn and goal oriented. In my experience, these types of people will become your long-term employees.
As Director of Brand Development for Devoted Creations’ family of brands, Lisa brings 17 years of industry experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to all aspects of the business, including social media, product development, training, customer relations, public speaking and marketing strategies. Lisa worked at the salon level managing a large chain of salons, which infuses her sales training and brand concepts with real world experience. Lisa has been chosen IST Magazine’s “Person of the Year” four times.
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