Whatever you pay commission on is what your staff will push. Choose carefully.
Every salon owner eventually asks the same question: what percentage is right? The answer is that the percentage matters less than what you pay it on.
Flat percentage on every service. Simple, easy to explain, easy to trust. Staff push volume, not value. Slabs — a higher rate above a target. Rewards the strong performers. Needs honest numbers, or it causes fights. Target based — a bonus once a monthly number is hit. Strong pull at the end of the month. Weak pull at the start.
Pay on money collected, not on the bill amount. If the customer has not paid, nobody has earned. Discounts come off before commission. Otherwise a staff member can give away your margin and still get paid on it. Split fairly when two people work on one client. Write the split rule down once, and stick to it. Show the number daily, not monthly. People trust a number they can see growing. A surprise on the 30th feels like a trick.
Whatever you pay commission on is what gets pushed. If you pay more on products, you will sell more products.
Put last month's real numbers into the calculator below and see what you would have paid under each model. Announce nothing until you have done this.
Pay on collection, never on the bill. Discounts off before commission. Show the running number every day.
It varies widely by city, service and whether the staff member brings their own clients. Rather than copying a number, test your own last-month figures in the calculator and see what each model would have cost you.
On collection. Paying on the bill means you pay commission on money you may never receive.