Whether you’re choosing a breakfast cereal or deciding to get your hair cut at a walk-in hair salon, the actual product or service you’re purchasing isn’t the sole—or even the primary—reason you choose a specific brand. Turns out it’s based on other factors, some of which you’re not even aware of.

When Great Clips customers are asked why they choose Great Clips for their haircuts, most would probably mention the affordable price and quality service. However, according to experts studying consumer behavior, if Great Clips customers are anything like most consumers, the actual product or service they are buying is not the sole—or even the primary—reason they patronize a brand. It turns out customers are driven by subconscious factors, particularly the consistency of their experience with a brand over time.

That’s the point of this article, which says consistency is the foundation of customer trust in a brand. A lot of iconic companies are trusted for the consistently high quality of their product or service. Think Kleenex, Cheerios, or UPS—three of the 10 most trusted brands for 2023. (The No. 1 on that list surprised me—BandAid! Who knew?)

So, yes, Great Clips customers may think they’re coming for the haircut (and they are!), but what keeps them coming back is something more. It’s the trust they have in the consistent service and great salon experience.

Great Clips corporate leaders and franchisees have poured a great deal of effort over the last 40 years to build a brand that stands for that kind of reliability. After 28 years in the operations department, Yvonne Mercer recently became COO of Great Clips, Inc. As a former stylist, she understands the importance of consistency in a hair salon and how it leads to trust.

“The more predictable your brand is, the more your customers know they can count on you to provide the experience they expect,” says Yvonne. “The customer builds a personal relationship not only with the stylists, but with the brand itself.”

In reading around the web, I was struck by how closely many recommendations for increasing brand visibility and customer trust mirror Great Clips guidelines. One observation, in particular, struck me: 73% of people in one survey said they prefer brands that personalize their shopping experience.

Yvonne says the operational tools developed by Great Clips, Inc. for its franchisees to use in their salons delivers the personalization customers want.

“Tools like Online Check-In gives customers more freedom and control of their time. And Clip Notes® takes the concept of personalization even further to let the customer know they’ve going to get a personalized, consistent haircut, even if they visit a Great Clips salon hundreds of miles away from home. This kind of personalization is just one way Great Clips incorporates high-tech without taking away from our high-touch service.”

Thank you, Yvonne, for sharing how Great Clips inspires brand trust by delivering a consistently great customer experience in the salon.

Are you thinking about investing in a trusted franchise brand? Give me a call! I’d love to talk to you. And, check out if Great Clips is right for you by taking this quick quiz.

Beth Nilssen

Director of Franchise Development | Great Clips, Inc.
800-947-1143 | franchise@greatclips.com