Salon Receptionist job description
A complete, ready-to-post description for our salon. Add your business name, hours and pay range below, tick the duties that apply, and copy it into Indeed or your careers page.
Your job description
223 wordsSalon Receptionist ABOUT THE ROLE [Company name] is looking for a salon receptionist to run the desk and the diary. You'll book appointments, greet clients and get them settled, take payments, sell retail, and keep the column full when someone cancels. The desk sets the mood of the salon, and the diary decides what the stylists earn — this role owns both. WHAT YOU'LL DO • Answer and route incoming calls • Book, reschedule and confirm appointments • Take accurate messages and pass them on • Take payments and issue receipts • Sell retail products and manage stock levels • Manage the waitlist and fill cancellations • Keep the reception area clean and presentable WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR • Experience on a salon, spa or retail front desk, or strong customer-service experience • Confident on the phone and genuinely warm in person • Comfortable with booking software and taking payments • Happy to recommend retail products without being pushy • Able to keep the diary tight when the salon is busy and loud NICE TO HAVE • Familiarity with salon booking software • Interest in hair, beauty or skincare products DETAILS • Employment type: Full-time TO APPLY Send your résumé and a short note about why this role suits you to [Company name]. We read every application and reply to all of them.
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What the role involves
We're looking for a salon receptionist to run the desk and the diary. You'll book appointments, greet clients and get them settled, take payments, sell retail, and keep the column full when someone cancels. The desk sets the mood of the salon, and the diary decides what the stylists earn — this role owns both.
Core duties
- Answer and route incoming calls
- Book, reschedule and confirm appointments
- Take accurate messages and pass them on
- Take payments and issue receipts
- Sell retail products and manage stock levels
- Manage the waitlist and fill cancellations
- Keep the reception area clean and presentable
Requirements
- Experience on a salon, spa or retail front desk, or strong customer-service experience
- Confident on the phone and genuinely warm in person
- Comfortable with booking software and taking payments
- Happy to recommend retail products without being pushy
- Able to keep the diary tight when the salon is busy and loud
Nice to have
- Familiarity with salon booking software
- Interest in hair, beauty or skincare products
Skills to screen for
Be honest about the phone
Salon calls arrive while the desk is checking someone out, and a missed one is usually a booking that goes to the salon down the road. Evenings and Saturdays are the worst of it, which is exactly when the desk has the least slack.
Worth writing into the description rather than leaving as a surprise. Candidates who are good at it will recognize the description and apply; the ones who would have quit in month two will screen themselves out, which is the cheapest screening you will ever do.
What the hire actually covers
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook puts the median receptionist wage at $38,010 a year ($18.27/hour) as of 2025, before employer payroll taxes, benefits and paid time off. Source.
For that you get 40 of the 168 hours in a week. The remaining 128 — evenings, weekends, lunch cover, sick days, holidays — are hours our salon still takes calls, and nobody is on the desk for them.
Hire the person. Just budget for the gap too, and work out what it's costing with the missed-call cost calculator.
Salon Receptionist FAQ
What does a salon receptionist do?+
Books appointments and manages the diary, greets and settles clients, takes payments, sells retail, and fills cancellations from the waitlist. In most salons they also keep the front of house presentable and manage product stock.
Is salon reception a sales role?+
Partly, and it's better to say so. Retail attachment and rebooking the client before they leave are usually part of the job, and candidates who dislike selling will be unhappy however well they handle the phone.
How do I stop missing calls when the salon is busy?+
Most salons eventually accept that the desk cannot answer every call during a Saturday rush. The practical options are a second person on the desk at peak times, letting calls go to voicemail and calling back in gaps, or something that answers and books while the desk is occupied.
The other 128 hours
Hire the receptionist. Cover the rest of the week.
RingOwl answers the calls your front desk can't — after hours, at lunch, and on the second line when the first one's busy. It books appointments into your calendar, takes messages, and emails you a summary of every call.
7-day trial · 30 minutes included · No credit card.
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