For salon owners · The owner's desk
Plan a new stylist's first week
A day-by-day first week for a new stylist or assistant, built from how your salon really runs, with what they should not do yet spelled out.
The prompt
Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and fill in each part in [BRACKETS]. Salon owners and lead stylists.
I run a salon. A new stylist starts soon, and the way we do things is mostly in my head. I want a first week that gets them comfortable at the chair and at checkout without putting them on a full book. What I have: - Who they are, in a line or two: assistant, newly licensed or experienced, and which services they will do: [ABOUT THEM] - How we do the everyday things, in my words: the consultation, rebooking at checkout, mixing color and writing the formula down, cleaning, retail: [HOW WE DO THINGS] - Their hours this week and who they can shadow: [THEIR WEEK] What I want: 1. Lay out the week day by day: who they shadow, what they practice, and what they can do on their own by the end of each day. 2. Take each routine I gave you and turn it into a few plain steps, in the order they will need them. 3. List what they should not do yet, such as color corrections, based on what I said about them. 4. End with five questions I can ask them on Friday to see how the week went. Rules: - Write a draft for me to read. Do not send anything. - Use only what I gave you. If something is missing, ask me instead of guessing. - Never set pay, commission or prices, and never claim a rule I did not give you. - Do not invent a routine. If one they will need is not in my notes, add it to a list of gaps for me. - Leave out clients' full names, card details and anything about their health. Give me back: - The day-by-day plan - The steps for each routine - The not-yet list and the Friday questions - The gaps in my notes
When to use it
Someone starts next week, a newly licensed stylist, an assistant, or an experienced stylist from another salon, and the plan is mostly in your head.
When not to
Do not use it to set their pay, commission or level. Those are yours, and you settle them with the stylist in person.
What to paste in
- [ABOUT THEM]: Their first name, their experience, and the services they will do at the start.
- [HOW WE DO THINGS]: How you run the everyday routines, in a sentence or two each, the way you would say it out loud.
- [THEIR WEEK]: The days and hours they work this week and which stylists they can shadow.
Never paste
- The new stylist's license number, pay or home address
- Client names or phone numbers
A filled-in example
Sample. Fictional business, fictional client.
ABOUT THEM: Ava, newly licensed, did her school hours mostly on cuts. She starts on cuts, blowouts and single-process color. HOW WE DO THINGS: Every client gets a consultation at the chair before we start. We offer the next appointment at checkout every time. Color is mixed by weight and the formula goes in the client record before the client leaves. Stations are cleaned after every client. We suggest one product that fits, never a pitch. THEIR WEEK: Tue to Sat, 9 to 5. Shadow Jess Tue and Wed, Rae Thu. Model cuts Fri. Front desk with Sam Sat morning.
What you should get back
- A day-by-day plan with who they shadow and what they practice
- Your routines turned into short, plain steps
- A not-yet list based on their experience
- Five questions for Friday and a list of gaps in your notes
What stays with you
The prompt writes a draft. You decide what happens to it, and nothing should reach a client until you have read it. Decisions about money stay with a person every time, and so do health questions and complaints. When KeenHand builds a routine like this, every message carries the same four decisions: Automate, Approve, Revise, Reject.
Related
- Turn scribbled color formulas into clean notes. Your stylists' quick color notes written up in one matching format for the client record, with anything missing marked instead of guessed.
- See your rebook rate and empty chair hours. A short weekly read of how many clients left with their next appointment and which chair hours sat empty, with the math shown.
More: every prompt for salons, the owner's desk, and AI for salons.
Which three fit your salon?
The free quiz scores your salon on sixteen things and picks the three prompts aimed at your three lowest. It takes about three minutes.