What to do when a stylist leaves your salon?

What to do when your stylist / therapist leaves your salon?

We can go through a whole range of emotions when one of your team member leaves. Even more so if they are one of our top stylists/therapists. We’ve all been there it’s knowing the best way to handle the situation and make it a smoother process, instead of a horrible bumpy ride. Sometimes you will be aware of them moving on and have control of the situation, you may ask them to leave straight away to avoid any disruption, whereas other times you may ask them to work their necessary notice.  When it is one of your top stylists there is of course the initial worry of seeing an almost instant dent in your revenue. However all is not lost, you have many opportunities to keep your clients returning to your salon. 

How do you keep your clients returning when a busy stylist leaves? 

1.Contact the stylists clients straight away (all those they’ve looked after in the last 6 months – at least), let them know their stylist is leaving – There are many ways you can do this from making a courtesy call to sending an SMS blast or email campaign.

2.Send a follow up email or SMS – a friendly reminder to book an appointment can be all it takes. You can automate your SMS using your SalonIQ system.

3. Although the rest of your team will more than likely have known before you did…make sure they are aware of what is happening and what to say to clients. There is nothing more frustrating than idle gossip and mixed messages running around the salon. 

4. Ensure you stay in contact with all your clients but particularly new and lost. Set up your “Client Journey” and “Guest Retention” on SalonIQ to make it an easy process without you having to remember every week. 

Once the dust has settled and you can finally see light at the end of the tunnel, one question to ask yourself though is do you know the reasons why they left?

Exit interview for hair and beauty salon It’s always a really good idea to complete an exit interview – unsure of what this is? It basically allows you to find out why that person left, giving you the knowledge to make changes and ensure those reasons do not pop up again in the future.  It can be difficult to hear the answers to the questions in this process but always try to see it as a positive step…you are making sure you do not end up in the same situation again regardless of you agreeing with the answers. 

Example of questions to ask;

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