Latest / Beyond Sovereignty / #035 - Top 10 Must-Ask Interview Questions for Hiring Salon Stars!✂️✨

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#035 - Top 10 Must-Ask Interview Questions for Hiring Salon Stars!✂️✨ · Beyond Sovereignty

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Guys, this is a huge red flag when you are hiring your
0:03
salon staff. Somebody that really doesn't fit
0:07
into exactly what you're after. And so it's up to you in this moment to
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think, can the rest of your team actually cover this
0:13
person? The second red flag to look out for is... Loyalty
0:18
is so crucial for the success of your salon. So why aren't
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we asking our stylists and therapists before they come and
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work with us, how are they going to increase loyalty within
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the salon? Because you want to make sure that every single interviewee
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knows how to create a personalized experience. What techniques do you
0:35
use to upsell services and products to clients? This
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is a great question that you can ask any interviewee because
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it allows your salon's profitability to be at the forefront
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of their mind. Now, I also have a bonus question for you.
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Ask the person, welcome to Salon Temple, the revolution
0:54
in the hair and beauty industry, a space where being banked
0:58
and creating massive global impact is the new standard. I'm Blythe
1:01
Langford, and in this podcast, I'm going to share with you the exact
1:05
strategies and insights that helped me transform my three
1:09
salons into seven-figure businesses. If you're ready to step into
1:13
your power, grow your wealth, and be part of a movement that's changing
1:16
the game globally, then baby, you're in the right place. So let's get
1:19
started. Hey guys, today I am going to share with you
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the top 10 interview questions that you can ask when you
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want to hire your next salon superstar. Now, I
1:29
have got an amazing bonus question for you at the end, so stick around
1:33
for that one because it's literally the best. It's the juiciest. It's the one that's going to get you your superstar.
1:37
The top 10 must-ask interview questions when
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you are hiring new salon team members. So,
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first of all, I'm going to go through a few red flags when
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you are hiring new team members. Then I'm going to go through
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some must-haves in your salon before you
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actually start interviewing people. And then I'm going to
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go through 10 of the must-have interview
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questions when you are hiring a salon star. But
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first of all, I want to ask you, what is
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your salon's mission, its ethos? Who
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is your avatar client? Who is your perfect client.
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What is the experience that you want to give to your clients when
2:21
they come into your salon? These are the three most important
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things that you need to know before you even go into hiring anybody.
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Because if you are just hiring out of scarcity and need
2:32
and lack, you're going to have people that come into
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your salon that ends up being like a cancer to your salon because
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they don't have any direction from you about who they're serving,
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what your mission is and why you're doing everything that you're doing.
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So it is vitally important that you get ultra
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clear on your salon's avatar client, what
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your mission, your ethos, your purpose, your vision is, and
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then also what experience you want to give to
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your clients. And once you have these three things, these are
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the keys, the foundations, the pillars of
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your salon and of your success. Then you
3:12
can go into hiring because it becomes really easy then to know
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who it is that you are hiring because they need to be able to fill the role
3:19
of all of these three things. And also, you need to
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be able to understand how you can enroll them in
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your vision, your ethos, your mission, who you are here to serve,
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and if they're a fit and match to serve the clients that you actually
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want to have in your salon. Because you could be going out and hiring these
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amazing team members that actually don't want
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to serve your avatar client. So if
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you're like, I don't even know who my avatar client
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is. I don't understand what the experience is
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that I want to give my clients. I'm just here to do hair or
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beauty. I don't even know. Then babe, I
3:56
think it's time that you booked a call with me. because I
4:00
want to help you get absolutely ultra clear on
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what your mission is, what your great vision is, who
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you're here to serve, who your avatar client is, and then
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also the beautiful experience that you are here to give your clients.
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Because believe me, it is different in every single salon. Sure,
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you'll have similarities to other salons, but you want
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to be unique, babe. You want to be iconic. And
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I'm here to help you figure out how you can stand out
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from the thousands, hundreds of thousands of millions of
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other hair and beauty and spa and therapists out
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there, so that people only want to come to you
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because you are their medicine. So
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I am inviting you to reach out and book a call with me and
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it's complimentary. It's absolutely free at the moment so
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that we can go through and figure out exactly who you're here to serve so that
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you can hire your absolute superstar salon team.
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Now before we get into the top 10 must-have questions
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to ask when you are hiring a team member, I want to
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go through some red flags, so some absolute red
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flags of what to look for when you are hiring
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new team members, because you can get some amazing, amazing
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staff members come through, but it doesn't necessarily
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mean that they're going to be a fit for your salon. and a fit for
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you as a leader. So it's also up to you to
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really tune in with yourself and acknowledge where you're
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at. Because if you've got profound and
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long experience in the industry, then potentially
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your leadership skills are going to be a lot
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stronger than somebody that's new into the industry. And if
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you've got, and that's not necessarily always true, there can be somebody that
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comes straight into the industry or straight into, um,
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or that's really young and becomes a salon owner that has exceptional
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leadership skills. So it depends on your level of leadership. And
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now what I mean by that is when it relates to your red flag. So if
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you have a. A staff member or an interviewee
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that comes in and they are, what I see
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a lot is somebody that has epic. past
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history, they've got really great salons that
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they've worked at, they're a really strong team member, they're coming
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to you with clients, they're great at retail, they're great at
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treatments, they're great at upselling, but they
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have an epic attitude. Because
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when I used to have salons, our educators and
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people in the top of our industry and our coaches would always say,
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you can't retrain somebody with massive attitude. So
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that is an absolute red flag. However, now
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that I've been a business coach for 15, 20 years,
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I realized that if you've got exceptional leadership skills
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and you're trauma informed, that you can
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absolutely take on somebody that has massive attitude because
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that attitude is a sign of trauma from
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the past. So if you've got the skills and abilities and
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desire to actually train somebody through their
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attitude and help them create a bigger vision for themselves and do a lot
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of training to get them enrolled in your team, then they
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can be an absolute epic, probably the
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most epic team member ever. But if you are new to
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the industry and you do not have great leadership skills
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yet, then I would say that somebody that's got
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massive attitude can be a cancer to your business. So
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it's really up to you in this moment to figure out what kind
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of leader you are currently. Sure, you can be
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an epic leader in the future, but babe, you've
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got to show up and be real. Who are you right now? Do
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you have the skills to retrain somebody with
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massive attitude? It's like that saying that your parents always used to
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have, you can't train an old dog new tricks. You
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can't if you've got average leadership skills. But
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if you're an epic leader, then babe, you can do it. So that's red
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flag number one. Red flag number two would
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be somebody that really doesn't fit into
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exactly what you're after. For example, you might want to
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have a really high retail salon, treatment
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salon, upselling salon. And this person has
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got terrible past history with retail and
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treatments and doesn't like upselling and is literally just
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here to serve clients for what
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they want to serve clients with. Now what I mean by that is they
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might be an exceptional hairdresser, an exceptional beauty therapist,
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an exceptional spa therapist that wants to just
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do their service, but they are absolutely not willing
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to upsell in any services, not willing to upsell treatments,
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not willing to upsell retail. And so it's up
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to you in this moment to think. Can the
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rest of your team actually cover this person? Because
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they are never going to have exceptionally high turnover. So
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do you want to cover them? Because
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so many people are like, they're just such a lovely person, they're so nice, they look
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after the client so well. Babe, If
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they're not willing to give the clients everything they need, if
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they're not willing to go beyond their own stories of inadequacy and
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wealth issues to serve your clients at the highest
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capacity. They're not an epic superstar salon
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team member. They're somebody that is going to pull the rest of
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the team down. So that is red flag number two, somebody
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that is not willing to step up and serve the clients beyond
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their own wealth stories, let's say, or their
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own limitations from their past. The third red flag that you
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want to look out for when you're hiring a new team member is
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knowing where you are coming from when you're hiring. What
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the fuck are you talking about, weirdo? I'm talking about are
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you hiring out of need and scarcity and lack and
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you are willing to hire anybody? Are you hiring after
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actually checking out your figures and seeing if you can afford a
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new team member? Are you hiring because your
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leadership is not great and you're not willing to train
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your staff that are existing in your salon to take their
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standards to the next level. So you want to have a superstar salon
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team member come in to cover what your already team
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is not doing. So that would be my third red flag.
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Really, you need to go through and check all of these things. Because
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babe, if you are hiring out of scarcity and
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lack. If you are hiring because you just want somebody to fix the problems in
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your salon, if you are hiring because you're not willing
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to be the leader in your salon and you want this new person to be
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whatever the team that you already have isn't being, you're
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not hiring. you're not hiring correctly.
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You're hiring out of a place that is going to literally destroy
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your salon even further. Your salon's already
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dug itself a hole that you aren't willing to help
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your salon grow out of, and you're looking for somebody to fix the problems that
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you aren't willing to face. So, in that instance, I
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would say, babe, before you hire that next person,
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it's really up to you to take your leadership to the next level and educate
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your staff, create, you know, go back in and look at your mission,
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your ethos, your vision for the salon and re-incentivize your
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staff, reinvigorate your staff, reinvigorate your salon and your clients
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before you hire that next staff member because your salon
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is on a trajectory of going down and you need to pull it up before
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you hire that next salon staff member. And if you don't know
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what the fuck you're doing and you're struggling with that, this is another invitation
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to book a call with me. Whether we work together or not, we can have
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a 15-minute call and I can literally in that minute pull you out
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of the crap that you're in within your head and help you create a vision for
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your team and for your salon and for your self-love so
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that you're not constantly in this state of pressure and overwhelm
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and waking up in the morning thinking, should
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I just sell? Should I just walk away? It's
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actually too hard to be here. I've
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been there, done that, got the t-shirt, so let me help
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you figure out what it is that you actually want and figure out your
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plan to get there. Okay, so that's it, red flags, complete.
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So let's get into the 10 top interview
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questions for hiring salon staff. Now,
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interview question number one, when you are hiring the perfect team
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members is, walk me through your experience in
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the industry. This question
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is epic because it allows you to see how
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this new staff member, potential new staff member, is
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actually going to engage with their clients. How do
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they answer tricky questions? And you can be like, oh
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my gosh, I can't ask these kind of questions. These are full on. I
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am here to hold your hand and walk you through
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how to increase and expand your leadership skills.
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Because these 10 interview questions are going to expand you
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as well as your future team members. So babe, let's
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go. Step up, step in and ask the
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question. And this is an open-ended question, so it
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really allows the interviewee to go through
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and showcase their skills, their experience. And
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then also, it allows you to see their different roles
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and responsibilities they've had, their achievements that
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they're proud of. and then also see if it fits in with your
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salon's needs and if it really aligns with
14:00
you and your team and your clients. The second interview
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question that you can ask is, how do you stay up to
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date with latest trends in the hair and beauty industry, depending on what your salon
14:10
is? This is an epic question because
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it means that it actually takes pressure away from
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you and allows this person to show you how they
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stay educated so that you don't have to constantly provide them
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training. Because don't you
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just get over sometimes how much education you
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offer your team, how much education you actually pay for,
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and your team just take it for fucking granted. They're like, I don't even want
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to go. And you're like, Holy moly, you have no idea
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how much time and money I have invested into your
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education. So take the pressure off yourself, babe, and
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ask them how they educate themselves, because there is so many workshops
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out there that they can literally pay for. And then
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it also can reinvigorate your inspiration for the industry
15:00
as well, because then you've got new ways of channeling
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what your team members or what other people are looking at
15:08
out there. And also it can provide you with new ambassadors
15:12
and influencers that you can bring into your salon that will then
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help you with marketing in the future as well. So it's a great, great
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question to have in your tool belt. So make sure you write that one down.
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Now, question number three to ask
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future interviewees is, How
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do you handle difficult or unhappy clients?
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How good is this question? Seriously, because it allows
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again this pressure to be taken off you and see if
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this person is going to be a leader in your business or
15:47
if they are going to be a dependent on you. And again,
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it allows you the opportunity to decide, do
15:54
I want leaders in my business that can step up so that I
15:57
can have more time freedom? Or do I want dependence so
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that I can stay as the one that solves all
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the problems for everybody? Babe, if
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you don't have kids, can you see that you're being a mother of your business? You
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don't need to do that. You got adults working for you that can step
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up and be adults. And it also allows you
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to have so much
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freedom. more peace when
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you walk out the door at the end of the day and your team is still working,
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knowing that you've got leaders in there that can take over
16:33
where you've left off so that you don't have to do everything. And
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also make sure that they provide examples of
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how they diffuse situations so that they can retain
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clients or how they can deal with complaints. This
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is such a valuable question, so I highly recommend you
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write that one down too. Question number four that you can ask
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any interviewee that you are hiring is, what
17:00
techniques do you use to upsell services and products
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to clients? This is a great question because it
17:07
allows your salon's profitability to be
17:10
at the forefront of their mind. It allows them to
17:14
see and use their past experience and showcase that
17:17
to you. This is what I do for upselling services. This is what I upsell
17:21
products. This is what I love doing. So you'll actually see
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whether they're that superstar salon team member that
17:28
you want, or whether they're somebody that shies away when there is
17:31
challenge in front of them. So again, it's like, okay, I
17:35
can see that this person would take a lot of education and training, and
17:38
I've got the leadership skills and the time or the team
17:42
available to do that. But if you don't, this is a
17:45
huge red flag to see whether this is a suitable fit
17:48
for your salon. It's also an amazing question that helps identify
17:52
candidates with skills in sales without being
17:56
pushy and showing how they're going to increase the revenue for
17:59
your client, but also through experience rather
18:03
than selling. So you want to make sure that they're not salesy
18:07
and selly. You want to know that they've got the experience to sell
18:10
without selling. if you know what I mean. And if you don't know what I mean, book a
18:13
call. Question number five is describe a time when you were
18:16
working as part of a team and how you got to contribute to
18:20
the overall success of that salon. This
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shows how they collaborate with others. And like I said
18:27
in the beginning with the red flags, it's awesome because it allows you to see
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if they've got attitude and they don't want to work in a team or how they
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contribute to the team's success and also to the
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salon's success. Because as I've mentioned in previous episodes, like
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my team used to work together. Like if there was somebody that had
18:45
epic retail and services and everything for the week and one of their like
18:49
other team members were like not quite nailing
18:53
it that week, they would lend them retail and treatment so
18:56
that they could all get across the line and all hit their targets.
19:00
Wouldn't you love teams like that? Where they're actually like, even
19:04
if they're not best friends, like my team members were not best friends, which I think is
19:07
very healthy. They were like, they had good
19:10
relationships. Sometimes they didn't even have good relationships, but they had the relationship where
19:14
they understood how important each other's missions
19:17
and visions were. and what they were working towards. Like some of them wanted
19:20
to buy houses or cars or go on these amazing epic holidays. So
19:24
they would be there to support them. So I think this is
19:28
really vital because it'll allow you to see if they're going to
19:31
work well with your team or if they've got that attitude and they just want to
19:34
be that, you know, like Neo out of the Matrix themselves and
19:37
not step up, you know. And it also allows you to
19:41
see that they've got effective communication skills, because effective
19:44
communication skills are everything in our industry. Without being able to communicate effectively
19:48
with a team, they're going to be cancer. You're
19:52
welcome. Now, question number
19:55
six, six that you can ask any team member
19:58
that you are hiring, is what are your top priorities when
20:02
managing a busy column? Back to back. How
20:07
good is this question? You want to make sure that they're going to be able to
20:11
step up on those busy days. As you
20:14
know, I don't know where your salon is exactly, but you have got peak times
20:18
and you want your key members of staff to be able to show
20:21
up and not only be okay, but
20:25
fucking love when it's busy. Because when
20:28
it's busy is what we want more of. And
20:31
you're like, yeah, Blythe, but every team member wants to be busy. No, they
20:34
don't, babe. If they're getting paid by the hour and you haven't got great incentives in
20:38
place, they're going to take you for a ride, and they actually are
20:41
OK being quiet. And that's why this question is so important,
20:45
because you want to know that they're going to be able to handle what
20:48
other team members would be classing as stress, they actually class as fun.
20:52
oh my gosh I love it when it's busy oh that's the best time so I work with the apprentice like this
20:55
I get other team members involved I make sure that I'm looking at my time I always have a watch I
20:59
have like this on my trolley so that I can see where I'm at
21:02
I can like I prepare this I make sure I do my notes like this you
21:06
want to make sure that they have all of these great ideas
21:10
in their mind that they've already managed high stress and
21:13
they actually find it fun and they don't find it pressure, or
21:17
whether you're dealing with somebody that's like, oh, well, I actually just really like
21:20
to work on a really nice, slow-paced schedule.
21:24
and I don't like dealing with too much stress." Then you know that
21:27
they're never going to grow your business, that they're always going to stretch out their appointments, like
21:31
even if it's a 30-minute appointment, they might stretch it out to 45 minutes or an hour,
21:35
and they'll have it as a minimal spend, so then your salon
21:38
can't grow. So it's really important that this person knows how to
21:42
organise their time, and that they're not willing to sacrifice the
21:45
service and the quality that you want for your salon. Question number
21:49
seven that you can ask any interviewee is, How
21:52
do you build long term relationships with
21:56
your clients? I know, why haven't you thought about asking these questions before? It's
22:00
so important. Loyalty is so crucial for
22:03
the success of your salon. So why aren't we asking our
22:07
stylists and therapists before they come and work with us,
22:10
how are they going to increase loyalty within the salon?
22:14
Because you want to make sure that every single interviewee knows
22:18
how to create a personalized experience. So remember that
22:21
the client has preference in their day and how they're
22:25
going to effectively follow up with every single client so
22:28
that the client can continue to come back. And it's not on you and
22:31
your marketing that helps the client stay. It's
22:35
actually every single team member that knows that it's their responsibility to
22:39
step up with every single client. Question number eight
22:43
that you can ask any interviewees. Can you tell
22:46
me about a time when you went above and
22:50
beyond for your clients? This allows
22:53
you to see how this person is going to dig
22:57
in and go beyond just what everybody else is doing
23:00
and really invigorate passion for the customer service
23:04
experience. So look for responses where they actually
23:08
solve the problems with creativity and offer exceptional services
23:12
that really lead the client to want to come back and experience more.
23:17
and want to be a loyal client to your salon. This shows
23:21
real experience and real care
23:25
factor. Like care factor, you know I've talked about it before, but
23:28
care factor is so important with every single client. So
23:32
this is a really great question to ask. Now question number
23:36
nine that you can ask any candidate that you are wanting to
23:39
hire is how do you manage conflicts with
23:42
clients and colleagues in the salon? Yum,
23:47
right? Our salons can be just a place where
23:50
energy and environments and conflicts can arise, especially
23:54
if you don't have a no-bitching policy like I've explained before. You should definitely
23:58
have that. So this question allows you to see how this person
24:01
is going to resolve conflicts if they have
24:05
got confidence to go and speak to
24:08
another team member and also if they're going to abuse
24:12
a client or if they're going to resolve an issue without
24:16
you needing to be the one that is always going to come and solve
24:19
all of their issues. So it really allows you
24:23
to see their level of professionalism. Now question
24:26
number 10 that you can ask any interviewee is,
24:30
why do you want to work in our salon? So simple and we never
24:34
ask because we are always the ones trying to
24:37
get people in with our needy energy. Hand it
24:41
back to them. Hand it back to them. Why do you want to work at
24:44
your salon and how can you see yourself contributing to our
24:47
brand? This question
24:51
shows how much that candidate
24:54
has actually looked into your business. Have they researched you?
24:58
Do they know what your values are already? Have they looked at
25:01
your Instagram? Do they know what your culture is and your
25:05
vision? Because this really takes so much
25:08
even more pressure off you because they're already enrolled in your business. And
25:12
then you can see if they're actually serious. So the best
25:15
candidates will actually have a thoughtful, specific reason
25:19
for wanting to join your team. And babe, Your
25:22
team is the prize. Your salon is the prize. It's
25:26
not necessarily that next candidate that's going to fix everything in
25:29
your salon. Your salon can literally fix things for them too.
25:33
So make sure that you are confident in
25:37
asking these questions. And
25:40
remember that your salon is the fucking prize in
25:43
everything. Now I also have a bonus question for you. Ask
25:48
the person, How do you handle client expectations while
25:51
maintaining high standards of quality? It's a beautiful question,
25:55
right? Because it allows you to see how candidates perform under pressure and
25:58
whether they consistently deliver top-notch results even
26:02
when there is demanding situations. So, I just
26:06
feel like these questions will just give you such a leg up compared
26:09
to the other salons that these people are going to go and have
26:13
interviews with as well. You really want to set yourself aside from
26:17
other salons and this will give you a beautiful edge. Because
26:21
I know so many salon owners are just like, I'm just going to have a convo with
26:24
them and just like have a chat and see how it goes. When
26:27
you do that, you are literally handing the frame,
26:31
the complete framework of your business over to
26:35
a complete stranger. Whereas these questions allows
26:38
you to take the frame back and be the leader in your business.
26:43
Because whilst you want leaders to come into your business, babe,
26:47
you are the top one. You're the CEO, right? You
26:50
can have leaders in your business, but you need to be the CEO. And it starts when
26:54
you are asking these questions. If this episode spoke
26:58
to your soul, I would love your support with a five-star review on Apple
27:01
Podcasts and Spotify. And don't forget, please subscribe
27:05
on your favorite platform too. Don't let your journey end here. Connect with
27:08
me and my like-minded community of beautiful souls at
27:11
Blyde Blankford on all social platforms. I look