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With Strong Brand Presence, This Company Makes Its 40th Consecutive Appearance on the Franchise 500 It is Great Clips' eighth year straight as #1 in hair care, too.
For some brands, having the word "great" in their name can prove to be too high a bar for performance expectations and customer perception. The exception to this surely is Great Clips. This year marks the brand's 40th consecutive year appearing on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500. It also marks its 32nd consecutive year among the top 100 companies.
Great Clips' overall rank this year is #33, up two spots from last year. It's a great accomplishment.
"We're proud that our brand resonates with customers and franchisees alike," says Steve Hockett, Great Clips CEO. "Our model of affordable no-appointment haircuts, limited services, and convenient hours and locations was our future in 1982 with our first salon and it's still our future today," Hockett says. Great Clips boasts 4,443 franchise locations across the U.S. and Canada and is the biggest franchise in the haircare category by far.
This is why Great Clips scores within the top 5% among all franchises for brand strength. And with strong financials, this hero in hair care is on an undeniably positive track.
All in on tech
The Great Clips team has adopted numerous technological advancements to enhance the customer experience and further its convenient services. Here's a look at just a few highlights:
Clip Notes: This is a cloud-based database that allows stylists to enter a customer's profile, providing information on that customer's haircut—such as style, shape, or type of haircut, clipper guards, amount taken off, desired length of hair or sideburns, texturizing and more. Clip Notes means that the details of a customer's last cut are available for every professional, licensed Great Clips stylist to provide them with the quality haircut they want, no matter which salon they visit.
Online Check-In: This allows customers to get estimated wait times for their local Great Clips salon and put their name on the list before they even arrive to the salon. With Online Check-In, the time that customers might have spent in the lobby can be spent at home or running errands. "Typically, by the time they walk into the salon, their name is at or near the top of the list," Hockett shares.
ReadyNext: As with any industry, the estimated time before being next in line to receive a service can vary. Great Clips' ReadyNext is a text alert system that helps customers reduce their time in the salon. Rather than wait in the lobby, customers have the option to receive a text message when their estimated wait time reaches 15 minutes, so they know to head to the salon.
A cut above the rest
Great Clips has also been busy making big moves by continuing to partner with major sports properties such as the NCAA and NHL, as well as a new partnership with College Football Playoff to connect with avid and casual sports fans across the U.S. and Canada.
With a blend of growth, branding, ongoing stylist training, and technology-driven initiatives, Great Clips is leading the way in the haircare industry. "We want our franchisees to operate in the communities where they live, know the business and be engaged," Hockett says. "By working together with our franchisees, the Great Clips strategic plan and franchise model continues to pay dividends."
Click here to learn more about Great Clips and their exciting franchise opportunities.
