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SEARCHAS A SALON OWNER, IT’S NATURAL TO SEE YOURSELF AS THE ONE PERSON WHO MUST COME UP WITH NEW BUSINESS-BUILDING STRATEGIES. BUT IT’S IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT INSPIRING IDEAS ALSO CAN COME FROM YOUR STAFF AND YOUR OUTSIDE PARTNERS. THIS MONTH, WE INVITED LEADERS TO SHARE STRATEGIES THAT KICK-START SALES
Where have you found easy and economical ways to increase revenues?
Naomi Prusinski and Shannon Lopez
Co-owners of Roots Salon & Spa in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
“AT A RECENT team meeting, we created a panel of our top five stylists (based on their new client retention for the past year) and asked them to identify an area where we needed to place particular focus. As service providers, they were all of one voice: Treat our clients like family, educate them and use all the tools at our disposal to improve their experience.
“We decided the best way to achieve these goals was to expand our own education initiatives and make this the year of team training. We began with a four-month schedule of education that we are providing in-house at no charge. In addition to technical skills, which we always include, the focus of this new education program is on client retention, consultation, closing a sale and becoming ‘retailing rock stars.’
“An important outgrowth of our expanded training has been to move our entire business toward a culture of immediate feedback. We encourage our staff to identify Training Opportunities that are targeted to specific performance improvement. Many staffers sign on for our First Impressions class which serves as a foundation for the issue that started it all: treating our clients in ways that never let them forget how much they mean to all of us at the Roots salons.”
Sharon Johnston
CosmoProf Marketing
“AT COSMOPROF, we are always looking for ways to help our salon customers grow and add profits to their bottom line, and nothing can replace setting objectives and taking specified steps to reach them. Success is in the details.
“Clients are the focal point of any salon’s business and no one dare lose sight of that Clients are always searching for new brands, businesses with which they like to do business and, in these days, getting more value for their dollar. Even clients m the higher income brackets often feel that they need to pare down to the basics, so salons need to provide incentives and value to each service.
“Any salon growth strategy is driven by only three forces client, client and client. Retain the clients you have, increase service and revenues from your existing client base and add new clients Discipline in the daily salon routine is the only way to make this happen.
“CosmoProf has also created a valuable business-building tool with the introduction of a salon promotion planner filled with marketing ideas, promotional offers and scheduling recommendations (plus a new partnership with salon booking system Schedulicity) to keep the client first.”
Doreen Guarneri
Co-founder of American Culture and co-owner of The Look Spa Salon in Greenlawn, New York
“THERE IS NO better strategy to expand salon business than adding services to existing clients. These are the loyal clients who visit your salon or spa on a regular basis. They already love you and it takes no additional cost or investment to market services or products to them. They are your captive audience.
“A service we offer that adds value to every client’s visit is an upgraded blow dry service. It is simple and requires no additional expenditure for the salon. Adding various blow outs is a natural for marketing right at the chair. New blow outs justify taking the service to a new level of pricing. Services that we offer include a conditioning and strengthening blow out, a volume blow out, a smooth and sleek blow out and a barrel curl blow out.
“At The Look Spa Salon, we promote our American Culture Simply Smooth Potion for an intense and reparative blow out that finishes the service with extra value, a great new look for the client and new revenue for the salon.”
After moving to Colorado and teaching at a cosmetology school, Allison Stock joined Zandi K as a stylist, eventually becoming part of the Leadership Team, Education Team and Master Bridal Team. Today, as Director of Operation, Stock is Owner Nicki Wenz's right hand, managing human resources and operations, education and career development, and coaching and culture.
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Owner Michaella Blissett-Williams credits her General Manager Gloria Hortua with [salon] 718's year-over-year, double-digit growth and says she's been able to scale the company to eight locations because she can rely on Hortua to manage daily operations.
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Despite a slight and predictable decline in client traffic for Q1, resilient pricing power is driving year-over-year revenue growth in salons. The KIM Report's Alain Audet reviews the data and what it's telling us about the state of professional beauty.
Same-store revenue grew just 2% for the second straight year—and new guest visits declined across every segment of the industry. The 2026 Benchmark Report reveals where growth is actually happening, which verticals are pulling ahead, and what the data says about where your business stands right now.
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Hair restoration is entering a new era driven by regenerative science. This paper explores how Exosome technology is transforming treatment outcomes by targeting hair loss at a cellular level. Discover why EXOGROW is leading this shift.
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