2023 SALON TODAY 200: Customer Service

A warm welcome, a refreshing beverage and a close personal connection with a client can be as important in retaining her business as the precision of the cut or the dimension of the color. Customer service impacts the overall experience, and salons and spa that deliver it with each and every visit boost their overall sales as well as client loyalty.

BRIO SALONSPA INC 
Lethbridge, AB
briosalon.com
Heather and Wayne Tytula and April and Rad Takahashi
SQUARE FEET: 3000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 31
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
NAIL CARE: Akentz  
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, GoDaddy 
“We are able to check in on spa services conducted behind closed doors by inviting guest feedback in exit surveys and calls, hiring mystery shoppers to review our service protocols, and conducting education on service delivery procedures.”

DETLEV - LIFESTYLE SALON
Miami, FL
detlev.com
Detlev Gessner
SQUARE FEET: 2000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 13
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest
“The amount of Prosecco we put in each glass should be exact for every guest, so we figured out what that amount is. Details like this come up all the time, and we address them immediately.”

DV8 THE SALON
Grapevine, TX
dv8thesalon.net
Lisa Justiss & Candice Hammit
SQUARE FEET: 4900     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 17
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Kerastase, Shu Uemura 
COLOR: Color Space 
TECH SUPPORT: Aura, Mya 
“We rebranded our front desk team as our “Guest Happiness Team (GHT)” and began to see random acts of happiness from the GHT, such as gratitude notes and words of encouragement to both our team and to our guests.”

ELEMENTS OF STYLE SALON
Eldersburg, MD
elementsofstylesalon.com
Paris Cimino, Kimberly Walker, and Dawn Miller
SQUARE FEET: 3000, 1600 
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 54
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Redken, Pulp Riot, Pureology
COLOR: Redken, Pulp Riot 
SKINCARE: Bioelements, Farmhouse Fresh 
TECH SUPPORT: Envision, Tippy, Vish, Mya
“On the Cost to Create section, our New Guest Intake Form, we provide three price quotes—Essential, Supreme, and Celebrity—to allow guests to choose the price that best fits their beauty budget.”

ESSENSE SALON & SANCTUARY
London, ON
essensesalon.com
Nicole Dietze and Angela Gagie
SQUARE FEET: 2000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 8
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Eufora  
COLOR: Eufora  
SKINCARE: Verso, Footlogix 
NAIL CARE: Ugly Duckling, OPI 
TECH SUPPORT: Insight, Shopify  
“We refitted one of our treatment rooms to be a private room in which we can service Middle Eastern women. Accommodating different cultures and beliefs is important to us, and our guest comfort is our first priority.”

HOLLYWOOD HAIR
Centralia, IL
hollywoodhairsalonandspa.com
Sonya Gettinger, Jessica Freels, Abbey Jones, and Ally Deering
SQUARE FEET: 3000, 2900, 3100 
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 51
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Paul Mitchell  
COLOR: Paul Mitchell, Evo 
SKINCARE: Glo Skin Beauty  
TECH SUPPORT: Meevo, Salon Clouds Plus, SalonScale, Mya 
“We’ve implemented investment quotes, which show the guest’s history of purchases and services, the expectations after the new consultation, and an exact ‘quote’ so the guest can relax and enjoy their visit.”

IMPRESSIONS SALON
Mequon, WI
impressionsmke.com
Sarah Taylor
SQUARE FEET: 5000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 42
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Davines, Pureology, Redken
COLOR: Redken  
SKINCARE: Eminence, Farmhouse Fresh 
NAIL CARE: OPI, Rugged Beauty, CND
TECH SUPPORT: Meevo, Saloninteractive  
“Our front desk has a checklist that includes dusting a different area each day, doing confirmation calls, putting orders away, checking laundry, restocking, and doing walkthroughs to ensure that the stylists are on time and the guests don’t need anything.”

J.NICOLLE SALON & SPA
New Albany, IN
jnicollesalon.com
Jennifer Kennedy
SQUARE FEET: 1400     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 16
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda, Farmhouse Fresh 
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce, Vish 
“Our top VIP guests are brought in to experience our new team members’ rituals and service and give us feedback. These guests feel a connection and pride in the service we offer and let us know if we are hitting the mark.”

MAGGIE THE SALON
Pembroke Pines, FL
maggiesalon.com
Maggie DiFalco
SQUARE FEET: 2350, 2200    
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 26
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
NAIL CARE: CND  
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest, Vish  
“If a guest walks in late to an appointment, we figure out how to make it work—rescheduling the next guest to a later appointment, offering another team member to help with the appointment, or even staying later that evening to accommodate the guest.”

MANE ATTRACTION SALON
Phoenix, AZ
maneattractionsalon.com
Chris and Jenny Knudsen
SQUARE FEET: 2376     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 29
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Wella, Aveda 
SKINCARE: Aveda  
TECH SUPPORT: Zenoti  
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“Our WOW program empowers our team to listen for joyous or unfortunate events in our clients’ lives. Then they make personalized cards, signed by the whole team, and go to the local grocery store with a company credit card to buy flowers and have them ready at checkout.”

PENZONE SALONS + SPAS
Dublin, OH
penzonesalons.com
Charles and Debbie Penzone
SQUARE FEET: 13,000, 8000, 12,000, 1100, 3000, 2500
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 364
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Davines, L'Anza, Amika
COLOR: Schwarzkopf, Davines, Evo
SKINCARE: Eminence, Jan Marini, Skin Research, Dr. Dennis Gross
NAIL CARE: OPI, Mazz Hanna, Footlogix
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Salon Clouds Plus
“Our lather lounge is equipped with lie-down shampoo bowls with neck cushions, aromatherapy hot towels, dimmed lighting, and calm music to help guests totally zen out during their service. Our hair artists have been specially trained by our massage therapists on trigger point massage.”

REDBLOOM SALON
Calgary, AB
redbloom.ca
Troy Winget and Shannon Robinson
SQUARE FEET: 2250, 2350, 1870, 1489  
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 58
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda, Evo, Olaplex
COLOR: Aveda, Staino 
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest, Vish  
“Recently we started serving liquor! We have a full menu of wine, bubbles, craft beer, scotch, and extras like Mimosas and Baileys. We also have snacks like popcorn and chocolate.”

SOLEIL SALON AND SPA LLC
Windham, NH
soleil-salon.com
Luisa G. Garcia
SQUARE FEET: 3400     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 18
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda
SKINCARE: Aveda, PCA, Neocutis
NAIL CARE: Dazzle Dry, OPI 
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest, Tippy, Mya, Vish
“We have launched Soleil Society University, which allows us to train, retrain, and test our team on guest service standards. We give them homework, roleplay with them, and allow the space for feedback.”

SOMETHING YOU SALON & SPA
Champaign, IL
somethingyoubeauty.com
Amanda Baer
SQUARE FEET: 3900     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 16
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Oribe, Kerastase 
COLOR: Colorspace  
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest, Tippy, Vish
“New guests text us a picture of their inspiration along with their current hair. Then our guest services get to work with a mini-consultation to ensure we are reserving the correct time and stylist for that guest. This has eliminated the frustration of the guest not being booked properly for the correct service.”

STUDIO WISH SALON SPA
Twinsburg, OH
studiowish.com
Rowena and Eric Yeager
SQUARE FEET: 3000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 12
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Amika, Davines, Deva
COLOR: Wella
SKINCARE: Jan Marini  
NAIL CARE: OPI  
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest, Vish, Tippy 
“Our new location has a musical stage theme, because the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is only 35 minutes away. Every room has the ability to play different music, so we can play whatever rocks your world.”