Do you call ahead and make an appointment? Or do you roll the dice and walk-in? Have you ever wondered about the process of how they select who will perform your service?  

As the owner of a nail salon and many years in the business I’m asked these questions often. This blog is intended to give you some insight on what happens behind-the-scenes at your favorite nail salon.

Walk-In. Let’s start with walk-ins. You are running late and stop by the nail salon on your way home for a quick pedicure……Can they take you? How long do you have to wait? Who will perform your service?

When you arrive as a walk-in the manager is weighing several variables. First, does the salon have enough technicians available to take you as a walk-in and also fulfill all of the scheduled appointments? Typically, a salon will give priority to scheduled appointments over walk-ins.

Next, what type of service are you requesting? A standard manicure/pedicure is a basic service and usually any technician is capable of performing these services so you have a better chance for a walk-in. But, if you are looking for acrylics or something more specialized an appointment is highly recommended. Depending on the salon only certain technicians are trained or allowed to perform services such as gel manicures or acrylics.

Another consideration for the manager is which technician is next in the rotation? Most nail salons implement some form of a daily “rotation”. The salon will create a sequential order for the technicians based upon variables such as arrival time, seniority, etc. So, as walk-in customers come into the salon a manager will go through the list one-by-one and allocate each technician using the daily rotation. This is how they fairly distribute walk-in customers amongst the technicians.

Appointment. As mentioned earlier, in most salons appointments will typically receive priority over walk-ins. So, if they sit someone before you don’t take it as a personal insult (Trust me - I’ve seen people flip out over this!).

Another advantage with an appointment is that you can select the technician that you would like to perform your service. I always recommend to do a little research before calling for an appointment. If you are new to the area or don’t have a favorite technician yet talk to friends and family to see who they use or go online and search through the various review sites such as Yelp.

Lastly, if possible, try to arrive early for your appointment. If you arrive early for your appointment this gives the salon and technician more flexibility to handle your appointment.

This also gives you time to make the most important decision of all …….“WHAT COLOR?”

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