Some beauty and wellness leaders may be tempted to coast on the strength of their brand’s stellar reputation and loyal clientele. Others, like Carly Gordineer, Executive Director of Salon Operations for Van Michael Salon, aren’t satisfied and recognize the potential perils of staying with outdated software to manage their business.
“I ended our relationship with our last software company and started our relationship with Zenoti,” said Gordineer, “because if we continued missing out on what technology could do for us, then our business wasn’t going to grow.”
A pillar of the Atlanta beauty scene for over three decades, Van Michael Salon was founded by brothers Van and Michael Council. The brand has since expanded to seven full-service hair salons that also offer waxing, bridal, and makeup services, and Van Michael Men, a barbershop concept.
“We have grown in the Atlanta market to be the go-to for amazing customer service,” said Gordineer. “Van has built a niche in the market to help other salons learn how to really build their brand off the customer experience as well as taking care of your employees.”
As an Aveda salon, Van Michael also cares for the environment. They have raised more than $450,000 to support the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper program, with Van Council receiving the River Guardian award in 2018.
Helping new and experienced staff thrive
Van Michael staff get just as much love as their natural surroundings. Newly hired service providers join as interns and are assigned to senior cutters or colorists who serve as mentors.
“Service providers work with their mentor to learn their soft skills,” said Gordineer. “They go to classes on Mondays. We have a whole education team that teaches interns, from blow drying to their cut-and-color-specific track.”
After service providers finish classes, they start Van Michael’s New Talents program, at the brand’s training salon where they build clientele. The program takes 12-18 months to complete, with graduates ready for the Van Michael floor.
Both mentors and interns are incentivized to embrace the New Talents program: Mentors receive financial rewards for moving interns through the program, and interns who complete the program achieve full Van Michael benefits, which include getting to pick their schedule and pricing.
New software, full makeover
After taking the time to acclimate to the Zenoti platform, the Van Michael team is now reaping the rewards – managers and service providers included. “Every touchpoint in the business is telling me they’re so happy and that they love it,” said Gordineer, “and they’re so excited about the change.”
Switching to Zenoti also meant Van Michael could add online gift cards to boost revenue, and merge databases for eight stores to manage guest records better.
“Our payroll is easier [with Zenoti]. Our inventory management has become clearer and easier. All the cool communication with clients – like texting, WhatsApp, and the chatbot – were things we were never able to do in the past.”
– Carly Gordineer, Executive Director of Salon Operations, Van Michael Salon
With Zenoti sharing best practices and ideas, Gordineer feels ready to help the brand flourish. “For a lot of years, growth looked like more locations, more providers,” she said. “But now growth looks like really focusing on our processes and our business and what Zenoti and Van Michael can partner together to accomplish with all of the goals that we’ve talked about for so many years.”
Explore why Zenoti is the most complete software platform for growing beauty and wellness businesses.
Related:
Van Council and Lucas Council, Van Michael’s Executive Director of Talent Acquisition, discuss how to recruit top beauty and wellness talent and foster career growth.
Read The ABCs of Gen Z: How to satisfy the Gen Z staff at your salon or spa for more insights from Van Council on retaining talent.
