The team from JMAC Hair Studio & Medi Spa in Powell, Ohio, in a toast to the 2024 SALON TODAY 200.
Over 10 days we announced the 2024 SALON TODAY 200, revealing different categories every day. Now, that the entire list has been revealed, here’s one place to link to each of those individual stories and see the entire 200!
This year, the 2024 SALON TODAY 200 will be celebrated at an elegant sit-down award dinner on May 5 as part of the Data-Driven Salon Summit in Denver, Colorado.
This year’s SALON TODAY 200 List:
Honorees in Client Retention and Referral
A salon’s ability to attract new guests fuels its growth, and its ability to get those clients to return again and again dictates its overall success.
Honorees in Compensation and Benefits
It’s a service provider’s job to take care of clients, but it’s an owner’s job to take care of the team. Salons and spas that offer rewarding compensation and benefits packages and design transparent career paths retain talent longer, which helps them grow faster.
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 spas that deliever it with each and every visit boost their overall sales as well as client loyalty.
Honorees in Environmental Sustainability and Technology
Green-minded salons and spas make strategic decisions that not only better the world around them, but strengthen and grow their own businesses. They also serve as environmental educators, motivating their team members and clients to do the same. For a busy salon or spa onwer, technology serves as an additional manager; automating systems and processes; communicating to and educating guests; measuring and motivating team members, and marketing to the community for new business.
Honorees in Employee Education
For the most successful service providers, education is a career-long process. The strongest salons and spas develop education systems that enhance the skills and confidence of their newest team members while encouraging and supporting the seasoned staff to continually stretch creatively.
Honorees in Philanthropy and Retail and Merchandising
Some salons lead with their hearts, searching their communitites for causes where their talent, time and money can bring the most positive change. At the same time, they know the goodwill generated and the connections forged help grow their own businesses. Strong retail sales lead to profitability, but it requires the pull of the entire team. Owners and managers creatively plan promotions and design displays, service providers educate clients and personalize recommendations, and the guest services team helps close the sale.
Although invisible, salon culture is that tangible energy that binds and propels a team, attracts clients and forges a brand. A strong culture is hard to define and even more difficult to build, but when a salon or barbershop masters this task, they are unstoppable.
It is the responsibility of leaders to develop a vision for the people they guide, then inspire them to follow that vision. In the salon realm, it’s also important for owners to carve our leadership opportunities for their team members so they may continue to grow. Great leadership requires continual self-education.
For a salon or spa, it requires the mastery of a number of best practices to fuel sales growth, which propels the overall trajectory of the business. The 2024 SALON TODAY 200 grew at a rate of 18.16% in gross sales between 2022 and 2023.
For more information about the SALON TODAY 200 Award Dinner and to purchase tickets, visit Data-Driven Salon Summit.
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Originally posted on Salon Today