Like so many beauty and wellness businesses, Removery felt the sting of the pandemic: a forced shutdown within a year of the tattoo removal company’s launch. During that time, they took the opportunity to reinvent themselves and reopen as a new brand.
Removery uses state-of-the-art lasers to erase tattoos from all skin tones and types. They are the only player in the field with a clinical advisory board whose members hold a combined 100 years of experience in tattoo removal.
COO Jo Kelton says, “As a pure-play tattoo removal provider, we really only sell one thing. We sell it in packages and pay-as-you-go services, built on exactly what customers have told us that they wanted.”
Obsessive client centricity
Removery’s focus on customers started when the four-brand conglomerate launched in 2019. “We did a six-month customer research project,” says Jo Kelton. “We spoke to around 350 customers, team members, tattoo artists, potential referrers.”
The company acted on those insights when rebranding as a single entity in 2020. As an example, Removery created studios that look cozy and inviting, like living rooms, in response to customer feedback that lighting and seating in a dermatologist’s office are unappealing.
The payoff for acting on that research was worthwhile: 22 of 23 mystery shoppers – in as many U.S. markets – chose Removery over other options for tattoo removal (dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and tattoo shops). “The 23rd person didn’t select us because we didn’t provide a Wi-Fi password,” notes Kelton, “and said otherwise, they would have.”
Staff are a top priority
For Removery, a focus on employees is just as strong as their dedication to customers. For starters, no one was terminated during the pandemic, and senior leaders called all team members weekly to make sure they were okay and check if they needed anything.
Jo Kelton credits Removery’s high staff retention rate to their training programs for new hires and leadership, designed to encourage long-term careers.
“All of our new team members go through four weeks of training,” says Kelton. “We bring them all to Austin. We take them through all of our systems and processes. When they graduate, they go out into their own studios for Level 1 through Level 5 training programs in both consulting and laser.”
After that, staff can choose to stay in the same studio to develop in their role or grow into a larger studio. They can also choose a leadership path in their current studio.
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The power of a single database
Removery went from a patchwork of 14 different software platforms to the all-in-one solution Zenoti delivers. In addition to benefiting from more streamlined operations across Removery studios, Kelton got real-time access to the business data she needs to do her job.
“We first moved our original brands away from the software [platforms] that they were using back in 2019 – we were running three different databases,” she says. “Then we merged them all onto the same database in 2020 when we rebranded. And since then, Zenoti has been the engine of the business.”
“The ability for me, even from my phone, to see what’s happening at each studio, being able to get up-to-date revenue reports on a minute-by-minute basis – it’s amazing.”
– Jo Kelton, COO, Removery Laser Tattoo Removal
With 150 locations and counting across Australia, Canada, and the United States, Kelton looks forward to uncapped growth. “What drives all of us at Removery is to be the world's best, to be the world's biggest,” she says, “and to provide that sort of service to people in a really professional, clean, safe environment.”
Explore why beauty and wellness brands across the globe trust Zenoti.
Related: For more insights from Removery COO Jo Kelton, check out Innovative ways to grow your salon and spa business in 2024 – from the experts.
