Dino Palmieri is a popular chain of trendy salons and spas located in northeastern Ohio. With a full menu of fashionable hairstyles and nail designs, exquisite facials and bridal services—all seven of its locations were brimming with clients ready to delve into new looks or to enjoy relaxing spa time.

To alleviate completely booked appointment schedules and and expanding calendar of events at its current locations, the company planned to open two new salons in Woodmere and Kent, Ohio. However, this meant even more employees and guests to balance.

It was a good problem to have, but Dino Palmieri needed a salon software system that could handle the rapid growth. To ensure its employees kept up with inventory availability and client relations, real-time communication between all the locations was a must. Plus, in the high-paced salon culture, it was vital that the employees spent more time heightening the clients’ experiences rather than stumbling through days of training.

The company desired a solution that was intuitive in order to cut down on training hours for fron desk employees, yet still provided the most up-to-date and optimized tools to enable stylists to track their service and retail goals. Most importantly, the busy locations needed to keep the flow of clients running smoothly, as to not upset customers and potentially lose business.

After considering several options, Dino Palmieri decided Milano Software offered the features they were looking for. In 2011, the company invested $30,000 to build a system that included:

Software: Milano’s Spa Version and Milano Beauty-Salon Edition, including one head office and 19 mulit-user licenses. These easy-to-use programs featured options to integrate and optimize inventory management, staff management, client relations, security and marketing.

Computers: the purchase of 20 new computers, as well as upgrades for existing computers for the salons and an updated server for the corporate office.

Other hardware: smart card readers, receipt printers, cash drawers, and wired and bar code scanners.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to work with Dino Palmieri and his team. They are a progressive and successful salon/spa chain with the opportunity to continually grow their business,” said Paul Pagliaro, CEO of Milano Computer Systems Inc. “It is wonderful that Milano Software has been able to help them with their bottom line by moving from old technology to new technology.”

Prior to the installation, employees participated in a one-week training program at the salon’s corporate office, with each location keying in data for stylist prototypes, customer information, and appointments. It took several weeks to convert inventory product codes,
but each salon was able launch the program within a few hours of the install — which was
staggered over four days.

Since the initial installation, Dino Palmieri continues to improve its inventory accuracy to establish a regular rotation of physical products at each of its locations. The salon also is looking forward to implementing text and email appointment confirmations in the near future.

“On top of the process advancements we’ve already accomplished with the Milano system, we believe the addition of automated appointment reminders will help improve our client relationships,” said Nancy Haimes, of Dino Palmieri. “This convenient service will also free up time for our front desk coordinators, thus providing the best customer service
for our guests.”