New Blog PoGreat Teams Don’t Happen by Accident — They’re Built with Intentionst
Great Teams Don’t Happen by Accident — They’re Built with Intention
In any service-based business that focuses on beauty, wellness, or relaxation, a reliable and high-performing front desk or sales team is never just a stroke of luck. These roles are too important to leave to chance — they are the first impression of your business and often the deciding factor in whether a new client becomes a long-term customer or member. That’s why the process starts with hiring the right people: individuals who are reliable, friendly, and genuinely pleasant to interact with. It’s not usually about experience — it’s about attitude, energy, and the willingness to do whatever it takes to make potential customers feel valued and ensure returning customers feel just as cared for as they did on their first visit, even if someone new is taking care of them. When that happens, they’ll keep coming back, refer others, and rave about their experience.
Once you've hired the right people, the next step is to train them with intention and consistency. Great front desk and sales teams aren't just made up of “nice” people — they’re strategic, proactive, and aware of their impact on both your customers and your business. But this attitude needs to be molded so they know how to confidently have helpful conversations with potential customers - especially on the phone - and how to make guests feel special from the second they walk in. Without proper training, your team will miss the little moments that turn everyday interactions into meaningful customer connections — which could cost you customer retention and revenue.
Training should include clear communication techniques, active listening, and how to read the tone of a customer’s body language and voice. It should also include role-playing common objections and important things like guiding clients through retail and/or membership options. Whether the issue is scheduling conflicts or service providers who are running late, or worse, calling out sick on a busy day, a properly trained team will know how to address sensitive issues - without having to constantly call you on your day off - before it becomes a crisis. That proactive mindset only happens when leadership takes the time to review common issues before they arise in a busy spa or salon environment. This includes walking through real-life situations — like how to handle unhappy clients, manage no-shows (customers as well as your employees), or explain why certain customers may not qualify for specific services due to safety or policy concerns. Yes, it takes extra time and effort, but the payoff is huge: clearer communication, smoother daily operations, and higher job satisfaction among your team. And the byproduct? Happy employees who attract new customers!
WARNING: This does not mean micro-managing, but requires taking note of any instances where an employee didn’t quite know how to handle a situation and then have a KIND and tactful one-on-one to go over different options for what to do next time OR incorporating it into a team meeting so that everyone knows how to handle the same or similar situation in the future.
If you embarrass or browbeat an employee for not handling a situation properly - whether or not they’ve been trained correctly - you could be forcing good help to quit. As long as an employee is willing to learn from their missteps, give them the opportunity to become better and better at their job. If the mistake comes from inexperience, but they have a good attitude, keep working with them! They have a future in this industry and might end up being your next manager - who does great things for your business! (And yes, I’m speaking from experience!)
If an owner or manager is proactive about training for how to handle various negative scenarios that can occur in the business, employees learn it’s ok to handle difficult situations without panicking, or worse, hoping someone else will take care of it. 😒 Reinforce the concept that “it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one”, by helping them think of ways they can reduce problems to keep your current customers from looking for greener pastures. Let them know which types of circumstances they’re free to handle themselves and which ones you want to be looped in for your suggestions and advice.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I recommend having a daily log they fill out for Issues That Arose: Situation, Resolution, Who Handled It, and the Result - basically the Who? What? When? Why? How? etc. so that if you need to revisit the incident, you have a record of the occurrence. Here’s an example, but you can design it anyway you like! Google Docs is great for this!!
When your team knows that filling this form out is for everyone’s protection and not so you can look for reasons to discipline or, worse fire them, you’ll soon find areas of your business where communication is lacking and then you can work on steadily fixing these in your training - when you hire new employees - and for your training agenda at team meetings for all employees.
Every time you invest in a great hire and take the time to train them well, you’re building a better business from the inside out. Over time, your front desk and service providers will become your strongest marketing tool. Your reputation will compound with every new team member you’ve chosen with care and coached with purpose. And the best part? Your business will start to grow more steadily because clients can feel the difference and will tell others about you. This was the case for the Spas I managed. I spent extra time training them to “surprise and delight” each member and each potential new customer to the point that even though there were similar Spas offering what we offered at similar prices points within 20 minutes of each of our locations, our reputation preceded us and people drove the extra distance to come to us for their services.
Want to learn more? Grab Mind-Blowing Effective First Impressions to learn the First 5 Things I taught all of my new hires to make us Leaders in our Franchise for Membership Conversion when I managed Massage and Facial Spas.
