Balancing Technology in a Hands-on Business

November 15, 2016

Don’t fear high-tech ina high-touch industry. Embrace it as a valuable tool to support your core business and company values.

By Rhoda Olsen

Great Clips’ bread-and-butter is in the haircare industry, one of the few industries that’s literally “hands-on.” It would seem logical, then, that for such a high-touch business, the use of high-tech to serve customers would be counter-intuitive.

The company is certainly aware of that apparent conflict, and will never favor technology over the opportunity for human moments in the salon. Technology cannot replace the one-to-one relationship between a stylist and customer.

But Great Clips can — and does — use technology to strengthen and support that personal connection. That’s why, over the past several years, I’ve become a big advocate of introducing and upgrading technology in both our corporate and salon owners’ operations.

Here’s the key a technology approach that will enhance the success of any business: don’t jump on board for the newest technological innovation just because it’s glitzy or glamorous. Focus on technology that enhances the overall brand and is tied to its core values.

We’re developing ways to use technology that improves customer experiences while giving stylists the ability to make more meaningful connections. Technology also gives salon owners more control over their operations and deeper insights into what’s working and what’s not. The same is true at the corporate level.

One of the company’s tech consultants, Scott Klososky of Future Point of View, uses this word: “humanology.” I like it. What he means is that there is a continuum of humanity and technology. The best technology supports people — customers, employees and business owners — and makes their lives easier.

Technology: A facilitator, not a barrier

If you want an example of technology that’s a barrier, just think of the last time you had to navigate a telephone touch-system to get information from a business you called — and never getting to talk to a human being. The chat systems used by some online businesses are somewhat of an improvement; at least they can provide real-time, if impersonal, conversations with an actual person.

Deciding which technology will make someone’s life easier can’t be a decision imposed suddenly from the top of the organization. The people who are going to use it, whose lives are going to be “improved,” must have input. (The example of the telephone touch-systems may prove the point. Did anyone ever ask a customer if the systems make their lives better?)

That’s not to say customers or employees get veto power. But change, as any manager or business owner knows, is usually easier when those being asked to change are consulted ahead of time.

Using technology to improve service

Developing easier and better ways for customers to interact with the brand helps franchisees provide a great salon experience. Here are a couple of ways to use technology to do that:

Online Check-In: The Great Clips app, featuring Online Check-In, puts the front door of every salon right in the hands of customers, wherever they are. They can decide on the spur of the moment to get a haircut, open the app, put their name on the wait list and head to the salon. There have been five million downloads of the app. System-wide, about 30 percent of customers start their haircut with anonline check-in.

Clip Notes: After each customer service, stylists enter information into a secure cloud database to document the service that customer received, including the specifics of the haircut, styling and products used. This allows a customer to go to any Great Clips salon across North America and know that the stylist at that salon will have access to the customer’s previous haircut notes.

Both of these technology-based tools were aimed at customer satisfaction, but they also benefit the salon staff. Customers are more relaxed because they haven’t had to wait long, and can feel confident about any of the stylists giving them the haircut they want because of stored history in Clip Notes. In both cases, technology is actually supporting human relationships, which is critical in the franchising industry.

What the customer doesn’t see

Great Clips also uses technology behind the scenes to help its franchisees run and grow their businesses. President Steve Hockett gets excited when he talks about technology as a tool for supporting business growth. He makes the point that the data gathered throughout the system is used to understand customers and their buying patterns.

“Technology works to our benefit, not to our detriment,” Hockett says, “because we use it connect with the customer, to engage with the customer, to build a relationship with the customer. …That supports a volume business and growing customer counts.”

And, it improves how individual franchisees are able to use technology to streamline scheduling, reduce paperwork, plan and coordinate their own marketing, and take a deep dive into their unique data to see what’s working and what needs more focus.

Dive in, carefully

Great Clips has found ways for technology to enhance success and growth by evaluating business performance and anticipating market trends. As a new service or feature is rolled out — after careful testing — there’s no doubt that the technology will help franchisees increase customer loyalty, enhance stylist engagement, and improve revenue and profits.

The same is true for almost every business. Your tech wizards (or consultants) can slice and dice data to analyze which of your brand measures or customer trends are driving growth and how they can be tweaked to doeven better.

But my advice is to test thoroughly before making a big move. Technology is expensive, and technological change rattles some people. Great Clips’ initiatives are ongoing, and are released slowly and deliberately. That’s intentional, and that’s okay.

You don’t have to fear high-tech in a high-touch industry. Embrace it as we have at our franchise — as a valuable tool to support your core business and company values.

Rhoda Olsen is CEO of Great Clips. She joined the executive team in 1987 when Great Clips was a regional chain of 180 salons owned by three partners. She has prior experience in human resources, business leadership and consulting with various leading companies, including food and agricultural giant Land O’ Lakes.