Ambitious salons, spas, and clinics across North America are scaling fast: expanding teams, opening new locations, and introducing premium, in-demand services. However, we know this much is true: sustainable growth doesn’t just come from new revenue streams. It comes from the people who power them.
When your team is motivated, supported, and growing alongside the business, success becomes far more than a short-term spike. It becomes the standard.
This blog is part of Phorest’s 2025 August Collection project – a curated series designed to help you build stronger foundations for lasting growth. At Phorest, we know that the best-performing businesses don’t rely on pressure or perks alone. Instead, they empower their people every step of the way.
Tips That Drive More Than Just Income
Tipping is far more than a thank-you; it’s recognition in real-time. When your team can see the direct reward for their work, they’re more likely to stay motivated, focused, and inspired to perform at their best. In fact, salons, spas, and clinics using PhorestTips see 25% more tips on average, giving staff a tangible boost to their savings.
However, tipping can be messy. Whether it’s the awkward card machine shuffle, the blurry “who gets what” at the end of the week, or the admin headache for owners and managers, it’s rarely as simple as it should be.
Enter PhorestTips. Fully integrated into the PhorestPay Card Terminal, it quietly solves all of the above – with no contracts, extra hardware, or costs. Tips are sent directly from the client to the staff member every time, removing admin entirely. Splitting is automatic, exclusions are simple, and adding someone who stepped up big time can be done instantly in PhorestGo.
And now, there’s an extra motivator. We’ve introduced Vaults in staff tipping accounts: separate pockets for separate financial goals, so your team can save, spend, or splurge on that extra income, whichever way they want. Staff gets total transparency, and you get total compliance. Everyone wins.
Team Targets That Inspire
Traditional team targets for salons, spas, and clinics can often feel like a corporate to-do list, dressed up in a beauty industry uniform. In a busy, growing business, performance goals should spark motivation – not micromanagement.
That’s where Staff Goals comes in. It’s a smart, visual way to help each team member track how they’re doing across key metrics like average client spend, rebooking rates, or retail sales. Goals can be set in two ways: either a staff member sets one for themselves, or an owner or manager sets them for individuals (or multiple team members) at once. This flexibility means targets always reflect the right mix of business priorities and personal growth.
With Staff Goals, you shift the focus from pressure to progress. Staff can log in at any time to see where they’re smashing it, and where there’s room to grow, supported by progress bars, push notifications, and even 15 playful performance badges to celebrate milestones. And now, our Forecasting feature takes it one step further by breaking big goals into daily, personalised targets based on rostered hours and real-time sales. As shifts change or sales come in, the targets update live, removing manual calculations for good..
Since launching Staff Goals, businesses have seen a 41% lift in retail sales, a 50% increase in upselling, and an 18% boost in average ticket value. Studies indicate that businesses with aligned teams grow revenue 58% faster. And at Phorest, you’ll have the tools to make that alignment happen every day.
Learning That Fits Between Clients
In an ideal world, every team training session would come with pastries, applause, and a full day off the floor. However, in reality, most salon, spa, and clinic owners are just trying to carve out time between appointments, stock orders, busy periods, and surprise sick days.
That’s why, at Phorest, we believe that education should meet your team where they are, and not the other way around.
With Phorest Academy, your staff can access bite-sized, practical lessons on everything from retail to rebooking, with content built specifically for the salon, clinic, and spa industry. It’s self-paced, available on-demand, and designed to slot seamlessly into the gaps in their day – even if that gap is just five minutes long, over a cup of coffee.
The learning doesn’t stop there. The PhorestFM podcast serves up bite-sized inspiration on the go, while events like the Salon Owners Summit give you the chance to hear from world-class speakers, swap ideas with other owners, and leave buzzing with new energy. Looking for more ideas right now? Explore our other blogs here.
When your team grows, so does your business, even if they’re learning for five minutes at a time.
Small Shifts That Create Big Culture Wins
We’ll be honest – the term “salon culture” can sometimes feel like a buzzword. It’s something that’s either magically present or mysteriously missing. In reality, culture isn’t made in a single team night out, or pep talk on a Monday morning. Instead, it’s built in the small, consistent moments that shape how your team feels at work, day in and day out.
And with Phorest, you don’t have to shoulder all of it on your own.
With tools like PhorestTips, staff feel seen and rewarded. With Staff Goals, your team can track their own progress, while you get insights into what’s working – and who might need extra support. When education is always available, learning becomes a habit, not a hurdle.
Together, these features create a rhythm of recognition, growth, and trust; the real foundations of a strong salon, spa, or clinic culture. We know that when your team feels supported and empowered, they stick around and show up with energy. They lift each other up.
Success doesn’t scale unless your team does, but with the right tools, both can grow beautifully.
Explore the 2025 August Collection for more tools and tips to fuel team success.
