Technology plays an important role in almost every aspect of running a salon—from the software management used internally to keep track of business and coach employees to the sophisticated automated marketing programs that send appointment reminders, follow-up surveys and promotional e-newsletters to guests. To ascertain all the different ways an applicant taps technology, we challenged each one to put together a presentation to their local bank as a supporting document for securing financing. Bonus points were awarded to salons that demonstrated they leverage technology in a variety of ways and could provide data that provide data that proved that technology has made a tangible difference in their business operations.

Karen Allen Salon and Spa
Riverside, CA
karenallensalon.com
Van Khanh Nguyen
SQUARE FEET: 2500, 1900, 2400
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 75
AUTOMATED SINCE: 2001
WEBSITE ESTABLISHED: 2002
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $55
BEST SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR: Aveda
TECH SUPPORT: Millennium, Demandforce
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA, 2 to 10
“We developed our mobile presence by building a mobile website. This allows our guests to get the information they need right on their smartphones without having to navigate the full-sized website on such a small screen.”

Maxime
Hingham, MA
maximesalon.com
Ronit Enos
SQUARE FEET: 1300
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 10
AUTOMATED SINCE: 2001
WEBSITE ESTABLISHED: 2002
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $90
BEST SELLING RETAIL: Oribe, Minardi Luxury Care
COLOR: Joico, Beth Minardi Signature Color
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“SalonBiz cloud allows us to be connected from anywhere to view our numbers and our productivity and make changes and upsell our services. We use iPads and mobile devices to check In on Facebook and fill in data on clients all over the salon, as well as recommend products and prebook their appointments.”

Neroli Salon & Spa
Milwaukee, WI
nerolispa.com
Susan L. Haise
SQUARE FEET: 4800, 7600, 5200, 1300
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 175
AUTOMATED SINCE: 1996
WEBSITE ESTABLISHED: 1999
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $46
BEST SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR:  Aveda
TECH SUPPORT: Millennium, Constant Contact
ASSOCIATIONS: Intercoiffure, ISBN, I/SPA, NCA, PBA
“The incorporation of webinars with new product or service launches for our team allows us to communicate key talking points and encourage consistency as we have multiple locations. Our team loves them because they allow them the flexibility to call in from home or the store and get connected on the focus for the month in addition to ask any questions.”

Sin 7 Salon
White Rock, British Columbia
sin7salon.com
Courtney Clark and Katherine Ross
SQUARE FEET: 565
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 11
AUTOMATED SINCE: 2011
WEBSITE ESTABLISHED: 2010
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $43
BEST SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR: Aveda
TECH SUPPORT: Milano, Demandforce
“The icing on our technology cake is an iPad at each station and free WiFi available for guests’ use. We have found the tablets to be an excellent tool for consultations because we can keep a large cache of images in whatever categories we like, as well as being able to do instant searching for images.”

Solaris
Evansville, IN
solarisaveda.com
Debbie Riegel, Amy Carter
SQUARE FEET: 2400
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 15
AUTOMATED SINCE: 2008
WEBSITE ESTABLISHED: 2008
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $35
BEST SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR: Aveda
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce, Constant Contact
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“We keep our current guests up to date on our promotions, additions to our teams and any other info we wish to communicate with them through Constant Contact, an e-mail-based service. Constant Contact also gives our guests the option to share the e-mails that we send with their friends and on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.”

The Artistic Salon
Auburn, CA
theartistic.com
Stacy Hampshire
SQUARE FEET: 1600
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 16
AUTOMATED SINCE: 1994
WEBSITE ESTABLISHED: 2002
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $45
BEST SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR: Aveda
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce, LoyalBlocks
ASSOCIATIONS: Intercoiffure, NCA, PBA, International Haircolor Exchange
“We recently began working with LoyalBlocks, a digital loyalty marketing company with a free, downloadable app for Androids and iPhones. This app hosts digital punch, lets our guests automatically check-in on Facebook when they walk into our salon, and rewards them for inviting their friends to join us on LoyalBlocks.”

The Hair Company
Leonardtown, MD
thehaircompany.biz
Owners: Jackie Buckler & Debbie Link Stockholders: Jill Murrey, Amber Long, & Heather Gray
SQUARE FEET: 3500
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 42
AUTOMATED SINCE: 1996
WEBSITE ESTABLISHED: 1999
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $49
BEST SELLING RETAIL: Redken, Pureology
COLOR: Redken
TECH SUPPORT: Envision, Constant Contact
ASSOCIATIONS: Summit Salon Group
“Digital Photo Frames are used on occasion at our front desk, or at the color bar to show slide shows of our recent training, photo shoot, or a product line. We also show off our clothing line we designed and have made in Cambodia.”

The Root Salon
Phoenix, AZ
therootsalon.com
Lauren Hart & Samuel Sciotto
SQUARE FEET: 1,200
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 9
AUTOMATED SINCE: 2005
WEBSITE ESTABLISHED: 2007
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $43
BEST SELLING RETAIL: L'Oreal, Alfaparf, Spornette
COLOR: Alfaparf, Wella, Redken
TECH SUPPORT: STX
ASSOCIATIONS: NCA, PBA, Local First AZ
“STX’s mobile app allows us to run the software on all of our mobile devices. From our team’s phones and iPads, we can see the appointment calendar, book future appointments, ring up a retail sale, and access a client’s color profiles from any place in the salon.”

Truu Salon
Hollywood, FL
TruuSalon.com
David Levy
SQUARE FEET: 1265
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 10
AUTOMATED SINCE: 2010
WEBSITE ESTABLISHED: 2010
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $55
BEST SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR: Aveda
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce
“Communication in any company is the key to success. From the very beginning we have used a service called Yammer. It is similar to Facebook, but private. It has an app for every smartphone that allows the team to get information just like text messages.”

Von Anthony Salon
Frisco, TX
VonAnthonySalon.com
Amy and Kerry Hovland
SQUARE FEET: 3400
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 23
AUTOMATED SINCE: 2009
WEBSITE ESTABLISHED: 2009
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $69
BEST SELLING RETAIL: Oribe, Kerastase, Hot Tot
COLOR: Wella, L'Oreal
TECH SUPPORT: Millenium, Demandforce, Webappclouds
“Our Salon Mobile App has all the great features that you might expect:  About US, gallery of pictures, appointment request, contact information and a full menu of services. Clients that have our app also have privileged pricing on spa specials.”

Additional Honorees
Aura Salon & Day Spa, Scottsdale, AZ
Aveda Institute Denver, Denver, CO
Berenices, Denver, CO
Garbo A Salon & Spa, Austin, TX
Gary Manuel Salon, Seattle, WA
Ihloff Salon and Day Spa, Tulsa, OK
Jonathan Kane Salon & Spa, Flossmoor, IL
Jon Alan Salon, Nashville, TN
Josephine’s Day Spa and Salon, Houston, TX
Level Salon and Spa, Tampa, FL
Michael Helene Salon Gallery, Dulles, VA
Nurtur the Salon and Spa, Columbus, OH
Paul Kenneth Salon & Spa, Woburn, MA
Paris Parker Salons and Spas, Hammond, LA
RED 7 SALON, Chicago, IL
Salon Rootz, Medina, OH
Spa Mizan Lafayette, LA