Director of Great Clips University and Events Lora Peterson broke down the major takeaways from the leading salon franchise’s September 2018 conference.

After a successful 2018, Great Clips headed into 2019 with strong momentum.

This positive movement was a theme for the leading salon franchise throughout all of 2018, but it was especially evident at the brand’s convention. This past fall, 2,400 Great Clips team members — including corporate staff, general managers, franchisees, salon managers and vendors — all came together and rallied around the brand’s key message for the new year: Every One Counts.

“To me, this message meant that every stylist counts, every customer counts, every floor hour counts and whatever action you take counts toward providing the best customer experience. That’s what allows our brand to grow and expand,” Great Clips University & Events Director Lora Peterson said.

The Great Clips convention — which is held every other year — is seen as a jumping-off point for the 4,000-plus unit brand as it looks to carry the excitement and energy displayed at the event into the first six months of the following year and beyond. Peterson, who oversees the development and training programs for franchisees, their general managers, salon managers, and stylists, is helping to lead the charge with that initiative. She ensures that all of the brand’s standards and requirements are exceeded through both personal training and online courses.

“There are about 400 courses through Great Clips University,” said Peterson. “In 2018, we had 375,000 to 400,000 courses completed, which averages to approximately 1,050 per day. This included technical courses, skill development and improving people skills.”

That strong training course attendance was one of the highlights from the brand’s convention, along with the strong emphasis placed on customer and employee satisfaction and ensuring overall happiness in all facets of the organization. In fact, Great Clips presented over 700 awards at its conference to the team members who went above and beyond to ensure that employee and guest satisfaction were at an all-time high. The awards represented a variety of categories, including customer satisfaction, franchisee of the year and other key performance indicators throughout the Great Clips system in the United States and Canada.

“We had two people inducted into our Hall of Fame at the conference,” said Peterson. “One was Don Elliot, a multi-unit franchisee who owns 40-plus locations in various markets. He also brought his daughter into the Great Clips business, who had been a general manager with the brand for a number of years. The other inductee was Rhoda Olsen, who used to be our CEO and moved on to become Vice Chair of the board in 2017. She was named President of Great Clips in 1998 and then promoted to CEO in 2011. She helped Great Clips grow from 1,000 salons in 1998 to 4,200 salons at the end of 2017.”

Leaders like Elliot and Olsen — along with many others — help make Great Clips the world’s largest salon brand. Great Clips is also unique in this segment because 100 percent of its locations are franchised, with salons being locally-owned by more than 1,200 franchisees across North America. As a walk-in salon, Great Clips provides value-priced, high-quality haircare for men, women and children.

“We are looking forward to success in 2019 and continuing the environment where ‘Every One Counts,’” said Peterson. “This is something we are very proud of at  Great Clips and will remain focused on this year.”