IN PARTNERSHIP hissummer, Zenoti partneredwithSALON TODAY on theInnergizeLeadershipHuddle,aserieson conversations aboutadvances in technology,how salons areembracing AI andwhatattendees could expect at Zenoti’s InnergizeconferenceOctober 14-15in LasVegas. Zenoti CEOSudheer Koneru explains that when it comestoAI, thecompany hasacorephiloso-phytheyencourage theircustomers to em-brace. “WecallitAIFirst—takealookat anymanagement task in thesalon and give AI thefirstcrack at it—ifyou’re nothappy with theresults,thenthe people stillremain in control.” Fo rexample,i fyou’recreating amarketing mailer abou tMoth-er’s Day, tell th eA Itocreatea Mother’s Daycampaign ,and that yo uwan ttod oX ,Yand Z. Or if you’re trying to create an employ-ee schedule fo rthe next twoweeks, give AI th efirs tattempt ,the ntweak it unti lyou arehappy with it. To make it even easier,and more natural, fo rowner stoembrace AI ,Zenot ii sbuildin gi tright into thei rsalon management software.Zenot iusers can talk to Zeenie (a nA Ivirtual assistan to r‘genie’ within the software)askin gi ttohel pwit hspecific tasks. Fo rexample,Koner usay sZeeniecan completely transfor mhow th efront desk operates .Wit ha ninternet phon eintegrate dintoHyperConnect ,when th erecep-T AI First tionis tanswers an incoming call ,the caller’s customer detail sappea rinstantly on th ereceptionist’sscreen, so they ca nmakeevery conversatio ndeepl ypersonalized, whichmakes customer sfee lspecial. Koner uexplain stha tsalon owner sand chieffinancial officers arealway sanalyzing data ,and everybod yhas a different viewpoin to nreports an dhow they want to analzyethem. Now, th euse rcan as kthe AI to show themarepor twit hthe specific insights thyare lookin gfor—n omore asking th esoftware’sanalytics team to designaspecific report. AI also ca nassis ti nthe coaching process. In addition to making sure ever yappointment is booked correctly, AI ca nana-lyze al lincomin gcalls ,and flag problems ,sending th eowner a messag etha tsay s“Here arefour call swethink didn’t go well ,and here’show we thin ktheyfel lshort.” We’veall heardfor years, that most salo nowner suse onlyapercentag eof thei rsoftware’scapability.Brilliantly,any Zenoti user also ca nask Zeenie fo rhel pwit hany software featurethey’ve neve ruse dbefore, helpin gown-er sfully embracethe capabilitie softhe program. “A Ii si n th eearly stage sofenterin gour dail ylives ,butatim ewill come whereyou won’ tb eabl etoimagine life withou tit, likeyou can’ timagine life todaywithou tinterne to ryour mobile phone,”Koner usays. Scan to Watch! InnergizeLeadership Huddle:Listen to all fourepisodes of our AI-focusedinterviews in this series—two with Zenoti CEO Sudheer Koneru, one with MiniLuxe’sTonyTjan and the final one with Skin Laundry’sGreggThrogmartin. AIcan elevatethe client experience,makestaffmem-bers jobs easier andhelpownersbebettercoaches. Photo: MiniLuxe FALL 2024 salontoday.com 43
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