Many salon hires happen in a ten-minute conversation built on gut feel: does this person seem friendly, are they available for the shifts you need, do they show up on time for the interview. None of that is wrong, exactly—but none of it predicts whether someone will actually be good at the job three months in. The questions below are built around three things that matter more than likability in a tanning and wellness salon: comfort with selling, instinct for customer service, and signals of reliability. Ask them consistently across every candidate, and hiring stops being a coin flip.

SALES COMFORT

Front-desk and service staff sell constantly—memberships, upgrades, lotion, add-on services—even if it’s presented as customer service. A candidate who’s visibly uncomfortable with that in an interview will be uncomfortable with it on the floor.

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.