It’s amazing to think that a hair salon could truly benefit from technology. You’re probably thinking – yeah, what does a salon need beyond scissors, a curling iron and a blow dryer?
Well, I think we were all surprised when we hit the drawing boards. Beyond the obvious much needed basic installs, technology afforded us the opportunity to aesthetically take Jazyhair from Super Cuts to Super Chic.
So here’s how it went down – to really understand how Jazy operated, we spent a day watching the staff interact with their clients. I had to hand it to them – they were extremely talented. Their cuts, styles, and even more intense services like weaves and extensions were very well done. How did they showcase them? They didn’t. When you walk into a salon, you’re looking for inspiration and new ideas on the latest styles, and all you had here was a stylist with photos on her digital camera!
The good news was, their steady clients were extremely loyal. After speaking to several of them, however, it became evident that although they liked the service, they would love to see many more upscale amenities. After all, Jazy was in LA – and – any way they could stand apart from the mass of other hair salons would be better for their business.
The customers that came in for the more extensive services – such as extensions and weaves could be sitting through appointments lasting 4-5 hours. For many, that’s a half a day of work. They expressed their boredom and noted that there really wasn’t anything to occupy their time or interest. And, let’s be honest, in this on-the-go world, it’s hard for us to just stop doing anything for that long a period of time. Tell me – how long do you go without checking your email- texts-voicemails?
This was one of our most frustrating makeovers because as you witnessed, Jasmine was extremely bull-headed. We could have told her we wanted to redo her shop with pure gold fixtures and she still wouldn’t have liked the idea. However, in terms of the tech, I was happy the girls in the salon were a little more cutting edge and were on board with the new changes. They knew the salon needed to change and realized that even if Jazy didn’t agree at first, they would get her on board after THEY explained the benefits.
Flash forward—
· We revolutionized each hair station by adding a Vostro 1700 17” laptop on a swivel stand so clients could stay on the go.
· A 27” display that could be updated on the fly was also added to showcase their work, add specials, highlight additional services (like manicures) that clients may not even have known about. This was networked with all the computers in the salon so anyone could access and update it.
We also added another 27” display to the shampoo area so they had something aesthetically pleasing to look at besides the bright bulbs in the ceiling. (Before this change, the only thing you could look at were dead bugs in the lights before Bill made Peter cleaned them up!)
As you saw, we also gave the salon the Dell hook- up in a number of other areas:
· Streamlined technology at the front desk by installing a brand new *** system
· Installed Vostro 410 that synched up with her cash box, scanner and printer.
· Added an RD1000 – for data back up and protection. (The only thing they had backing up their system previously was a thumb drive)
All of these tech additions helped Jazyhair stand out and become more upscale in LA where these amenities are considered a necessity to success. In the end, Jasmine agreed, she didn’t know everything.