The Professional Beauty Association (PBA) has announced a strategic partnership with Kline & Company, a leading market research and consulting firm. The two organizations will source and provide accurate, detailed, and actionable market intelligence by monitoring transactional sales data from salon chains, independent salons, distributors, and salon/spa software management companies. Dubbed Kline Pro, the collaborative effort has the ultimate goal to provide data to identify trends, benchmark performance, evaluate competitive, beauty-related sectors, and aid in business decision-making across the professional beauty industry. Steve Sleeper, Executive Director of the Professional Beauty Association says, “PBA is continually working to broaden the scope and accuracy of industry research, which benefits our members and the industry as a whole,” while PBA is actively encouraging its members and other parties to participate in the initiative. Kline will be contacting organizations directly in order to provide more details concerning data collection and use. Says Carrie Mellage, Kline’s Director of Consumer Products, "We are thrilled to be in a position to fill the massive data void that has existed in the professional beauty world for years, and that our clients and the industry have confidence in our ability to do so. Teaming with PBA will ensure the success of this program and will help make it a useful resource for the entire industry."