What does a salon manager do?
A salon manager is responsible for monitoring the overall operations of a salon, ensuring the highest customer satisfaction, including the area's cleanliness and orderliness, and maintaining the adequacy of salon supplies to meet customers' requests and demands. Salon managers regularly strategize promotional offers and new services to attract customers and increase the business' revenues and profitability. They also provide training for salon staff and enhance their skills to maximize productivity. A salon manager must have excellent leadership, communication, and analytical skills, especially on managing financial reports and responding to customers' inquiries and concerns.
Salon manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real salon manager resumes:
- Manage salon operations including advertising, administration, managing stylists.
- Manage biweekly payroll, and daily tip payouts.
- Create utilities to automate generation of Java code for SNMP data GUI interface from MIBs.
- Maintain a very strong clientele as a hair stylist, makeup artist and esthetician while managing the salon.
- Manage and handle cash on a daily basis, including vault, ATM, and individual cash boxes.
- Manage and lead a team seven associates and leverage responsibilities for team to meet and exceed sales goal.
- Leverage supplier performance management insights and KPI results into contracting strategies.
- Maintain safety standards and cleanliness as required.
- Inventory control, scheduling and payroll responsibilities.
- Cultivate and maintain solid relationship with salon vendors and distributors, facilitate training regarding product knowledge.
- Manage the daily operations of the salon including payroll, inventory control, customer appointments and hair maintenance responsibilities
- flight deck windows, and passenger cabin windows.
- Roll out Microsoft SQL server 6.5 and Teletrend.
- Create all visual displays in store and in windows.
- Create project intranet site using HTML and Java applets.
Salon manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 58% of Salon Managers are proficient in PET, Cosmetology, and Clips. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Leadership skills, and Management skills.
We break down the percentage of Salon Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- PET, 58%
Exceeded expectations when achieving a completed Pet Stylist program with certification.
- Cosmetology, 6%
Assisted in managing financial aspects of the independent cosmetology business including price setting, monthly expense budgeting, and inventory.
- Clips, 6%
Advanced training in LEADS management, Great Clips Academy: cutting system, company policy and procedure, American Crew product knowledge
- GRASS, 4%
Specialized in self-promotion and event planning as well as other grass roots marketing techniques.
- Retail Products, 4%
Implemented marketing designs to efficiently display retail products and promotions Planned budgets and authorized payments and merchandise returns.
- Good Judgment, 3%
Practiced good time management skills, good judgment, and the ability to multi-task.
Common skills that a salon manager uses to do their job include "pet," "cosmetology," and "clips." You can find details on the most important salon manager responsibilities below.
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a salon manager to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "top executives must be able to convey information clearly and persuasively." Salon managers often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "used exceptional communication skills with clients to achieve the look they envisioned for their pet. "
Leadership skills. Many salon manager duties rely on leadership skills. "top executives must be able to shape and direct an organization by coordinating policies, people, and resources.," so a salon manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways salon manager responsibilities rely on leadership skills: "highlighted leadership qualities and the ability to train and manage individuals from varying backgrounds, while promoting team values. "
Problem-solving skills. For certain salon manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a salon manager rely on this skill, as "top executives need to identify and resolve issues within an organization." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what salon managers do: "spearheaded customer relations in providing solutions. "
Time-management skills. Another common skill required for salon manager responsibilities is "time-management skills." This skill comes up in the duties of salon managers all the time, as "top executives do many tasks concurrently to ensure that their work gets done and that the organization meets its goals." An excerpt from a real salon manager resume shows how this skill is central to what a salon manager does: "reported to general manager, prepared financial reports, orientation of new personnel, maintained company deadlines and produced marketing materials. "
The three companies that hire the most salon managers are:
- Great Clips17,327 salon managers jobs
- PetSmart2,129 salon managers jobs
- Hair Cuttery ®420 salon managers jobs
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Compare different salon managers
Salon manager vs. Assistant manager/manager training
An assistant manager/manager of training performs various support tasks to assist with maintaining smooth workflow operations, learning management skills along the way. They participate in setting goals and guidelines, establishing timelines and budgets, liaising with internal and external parties, delegating responsibilities among staff, and monitoring the daily operations, solving issues and concerns should there be any. They also perform clerical tasks such as organizing files, preparing and processing documents, handling calls and correspondence, and running errands as needed.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, salon manager responsibilities require skills like "pet," "cosmetology," "clips," and "grass." Meanwhile a typical assistant manager/manager training has skills in areas such as "food preparation," "basic math," "store sales," and "sales associates." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that assistant manager/managers training earn slightly differ from salon managers. In particular, assistant manager/managers training are 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a salon manager. Additionally, they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Salon manager vs. Manager on duty
A manager on duty's role is to oversee operations in a store or a particular department, ensuring efficient workflow and workforce performance. They mainly evaluate and delegate tasks among employees, arrange schedules, set goals and budget, handle issues and concerns, and impose disciplinary actions. Moreover, a manager on duty may also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports, processing paperwork, maintaining an inventory of supplies, reporting to supervisors, coordinating with other managers, and implementing the company's policies and standards.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that salon manager responsibilities requires skills like "pet," "math," "cosmetology," and "clips." But a manager on duty might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "safety procedures," "payroll," "cpr," and "guest service."
Managers on duty may earn a lower salary than salon managers, but managers on duty earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $36,308. On the other hand, salon managers receive higher pay in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $42,855.managers on duty earn similar levels of education than salon managers in general. They're 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for salon managers in the next 3-5 years?
R. Scott Hengen
Technical Theatre Faculty/Production Coordinator, Montgomery College
Salon manager vs. Assistant general manager
An assistant general manager is responsible for supporting the daily business operations under the general manager's supervision, ensuring that the team delivers the required tasks with the highest quality and standards. Assistant general managers' duties also include managing and delegating individual tasks, addressing concerns from the staff, managing and resolving client's complaints immediately, providing recommendations and business opportunities, sharing best practices to increase revenues and profitability, and submitting reports. An assistant general manager should have excellent leadership and decision-making skills to help in managing the overall operations.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a salon manager is likely to be skilled in "pet," "cosmetology," "clips," and "grass," while a typical assistant general manager is skilled in "cleanliness," "strong analytical," "food safety," and "guest service."
Assistant general managers earn the best pay in the hospitality industry, where they command an average salary of $50,180. Salon managers earn the highest pay from the professional industry, with an average salary of $42,855.Most assistant general managers achieve a similar degree level compared to salon managers. For example, they're 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Salon manager vs. Co-manager/store manager
A co-manager/store manager oversees the daily operations of a store, ensuring smooth workflow and customer satisfaction. They are in charge of setting goals and sales targets, establishing guidelines and timelines, delegating responsibilities among staff, and developing strategies to optimize store operations. They are also responsible for monitoring all store activities, addressing issues and concerns, and resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, as a co-manager/store manager, it is essential to manage and supervise staff, leading them to reach goals while implementing the store's policies and regulations.
Types of salon manager
Updated January 8, 2025
