Salon Services Pro (SSP) is a beauty distributor with more than 100 employees and a field team of over 40 district sales consultants. Each DSC carries 400 customers, which made spotting a buying trend — let alone acting on one — an uphill battle.
At a glance
- Industry
- Beauty
- Employees
- 100+
- Proton products
- CRM
In 2021, the system meant to hold all of that together was an in-house CRM that had stopped earning its keep. “Our CRM was stuck in the past,” said Guy Lacey, SSP's Vice President. “It offered basic information, but it was generic and not tailored to our industry's needs.”
The challenge: 400 customers a rep, and notes that traveled by spreadsheet
Guy set out to fix three things at once.
Customer relationships nobody could see. SSP wanted its consultants actively promoting new products, but the process for tracking what they promoted was slow, prone to errors, and nearly impossible to measure.
“Before Proton, sales reps would meet customers, discuss products, and take notes on paper. Mondays were admin tasks. They'd translate their notes into an Excel sheet, which was sent to a regional manager. That manager would enter the info into another Excel sheet, which then got posted to an internal communications board. To check if a customer had made a purchase based on a sales rep's recommendation, we had to consult the board, hoping the details were both present and correct. Then, we'd double-check it in our ERP system.”
Guy Lacey · Vice President, Salon Services ProThe whole loop, Guy said, “created a giant disconnect between our activities and realizing our full sales potential.”
Turnover that took the account with it. “Turnover is a killer in our industry,” Guy said. “When someone with 400 customers leaves, it's crucial we have a CRM so the new person isn't starting from scratch. We don't want our customers to feel like they have to reintroduce themselves every time.”
A 12-year history new hires were expected to know. Training a new DSC meant teaching the company's systems, culture, and way of operating. “That's already a lot,” Guy said.
“But they're also expected to know the history of a customer's past 12 years with us, any issues, and their preferences. This information needs to be easily accessible to help them get started faster.”
Why Proton: turning data into something people can act on
Finding Proton was the turning point, and not because SSP wanted another place to store records. Guy was after the layer above the data.
“People confuse data with information, thinking reports and spreadsheets are enough. But it's just data — it doesn't tell you anything without comparisons or actionable insights. What drew us to Proton was its ability to turn data into useful information.”
Guy Lacey · Vice President, Salon Services ProThe rollout: the opposite of an ERP implementation
Guy had three ERP implementations behind him. “I often joke that I lost my full head of hair on the last one and dread the thought of another,” he said. “Implementing Proton was the exact opposite.” The API was well documented, and connecting to it was simple.
SSP's odder requirements didn't get waved off either. “Even when faced with our unique needs, like integrating our AirMiles process into Proton, the Proton team never turned us down,” Guy said. “They embraced our requirements and offered tailored solutions.”
Adoption was the harder part, and the tenured reps were the holdouts — the consultants who knew their customers best were the slowest to trust a recommendation. “Salespeople believe they know their customers so well,” Guy said. “They're not thinking about sharing everything we sell with them and allowing the customers the opportunity to make the decision.”
So SSP ran an experiment.
“One time, we said, ‘For one week, trust every recommendation that Proton gives you and talk with your customer about it.' They had a 40% close rate on brands that they never would have talked about before.”
Guy Lacey · Vice President, Salon Services Pro“And you might think 40% is not a lot,” Guy added. “But 40% of business that I wasn't getting any of before? I'll take that all day long.”
Before
With Proton
Rep notes
BeforeWritten on paper in the field, retyped into Excel on Monday, retyped again by a regional manager, then posted to an internal board.
With ProtonLogged in Proton, where the team can see the conversation, the pipeline, and which customers received samples.
New-hire ramp
BeforeNew consultants learned the systems, the culture, and 12 years of a customer's history from scratch.
With Proton60 to 90 days, with every account's metrics and open threads on screen from the first day.
Turnover
BeforeWhen a consultant with 400 customers left, customers had to reintroduce themselves.
With ProtonThe next rep picks up where the last one left off — what the account bought, what it didn't, what was in flight.
The results: a third of the ramp, and reps who compete with themselves
Proton CRM landed quickly. SSP counts more than $1M in incremental revenue, and an 11% conversion rate on the products its consultants pitch.
“Proton gave us an opportunity to take our data and transform it into something that people can act on,” Guy said. “We use Proton to keep track of our pipeline and monitor the conversations sales reps have with customers, including which customers receive product samples.”
Ramp time down to a third
“Proton has helped us to greatly reduce ramp-up time for our new sales staff,” Guy said. “Today, it's around 60 to 90 days — just a third of what it used to be.” A new consultant inherits a territory with its history intact instead of starting from scratch on 400 accounts.
A first day that didn’t start from zero
Chelsea Reddell inherited 417 customers on day one. “I was overwhelmed,” she said.
“Then we opened Proton and the anxiety disappeared. I had every client's metrics in front of me. I could see exactly what they were purchasing, what they weren't purchasing, and what the last person working the territory was working on. I could just pick right back up where they left off.”
Reps who compete with themselves
“Before using Proton, I compared my sales performance with my coworkers,” Chelsea said. “Now, I compete with myself because Proton lets me see my activities every day. When I started at SSP, my sales were okay. But after I really got into Proton, my sales skyrocketed.”
A salon nobody had visited in years
One drive-by turned into Chelsea's biggest win to date. “I noticed through Proton a salon we hadn't visited in ages,” she said.
“Driving by one day, I decided to drop in. Proton had clued me in on what one of the stylists was buying, so I brought it up. Her colleagues became intrigued by the level of support I was providing. Before I knew it, the entire salon switched to our line. Without Proton, I wouldn't have known to go into that account; they weren't on my radar.”
The bottom line: it only works if it’s in every conversation
SSP's results didn't come from buying software. They came from Guy making Proton the reference point for how the company runs, from planning meetings to everyday customer interactions.
“It has to be something that's referred to in every conversation,” Guy said. “If it's not, you'll get a short-term bump but you won't get the sustained and scalable growth that we've experienced with the platform.”
The rest comes down to the people using it every day — and what it does for them.
