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Get Product DemoAt Innergize 2025, Willo Salons owner Sarina Paulson, Zenoti's Mike Nass (who also owns a chain of Aveda salons), and Zenoti VP of Business Development Kristen Hanson shared five strategies driving real results for Aveda salons – from booking links that generate revenue at 1:00 a.m. to AI tools that never forget to upsell.
Gita Mani
A customer walked into Van Michael, one of the most established Aveda salons in Atlanta, stepped up to the check-in kiosk, and, without any prompting from staff, added an upgrade to her appointment. Mike Nass, who works for Zenoti and also owns a chain of Aveda salons, watched it happen in real time. "We gave ourselves a little bit of a round of applause," he said.
That moment captures the core idea behind the session, hosted by Kristen Hanson, Zenoti's VP of Business Development. She, Mike, and Sarina Paulson, owner of three Willo Salon locations in Sacramento, California, walked Innergize attendees through five strategies they're using to drive revenue – not by working harder, but by leaning on technology to do more of the work.
Sarina's rule is simple: If a guest interacts with your brand, there should be a way to book. Her team places booking links on their custom app, Google Business profiles, website, menus, text messages, emails, and even individual QR codes on each stylist's business card.
The payoff? New guest counts are up double digits. Transaction counts went up 21% in a single month. Her average guest, she noted, tends to book between midnight and 2:00 a.m., when no one's answering the phone.
"If we don't do that, another salon in the area is going to," Sarina said.
Sarina shared that her salons were running at a 14% treatment attachment rate a year ago. Rather than ask her stylists to push harder, she built add-on prompts into every step of the guest journey: online booking, front desk pop-ups, pre-appointment emails, and the provider's own app.
Within a few quarters, that number climbed to 25–30% across all three locations, essentially doubling, and average service tickets rose right along with them.
Mike added another layer. At Van Michael, the self-check-in kiosk surfaces those same add-on options at arrival. For salons using Zenoti's AI Receptionist, the upsell happens on the phone too – automatically, every time, without anyone forgetting.
Willo Salons sends targeted texts to guests overdue for a visit. Each message includes a booking link and sometimes an offer. The result: Roughly 300 additional appointments per month.
"That text message is one of the most powerful generators of appointments that we have," Sarina said.
Her team also sends post-visit emails that ask for Google reviews and link to styling tutorials – keeping the salon present in a guest's life between visits without any manual follow-up from the front desk.
The session also touched on operational tools that quietly recover revenue in the background. Zenoti's automated waitlist, for example, monitors cancellations and immediately texts the next guest in line with a booking link, plugging a revenue leak before anyone at the front desk even notices.
"The software is going to do it for you, taking some of that off the plate of the receptionist at the desk," Mike said.
Both Mike and Sarina emphasized making performance data visible to stylists in real time. Willo programs individual goals into Zenoti so each provider can track their own retention, rebooking, product sales, and service ticket against benchmarks for their level.
"When they come sit down for their review, they already know what I'm going to say," Sarina shared.
Mike highlighted Zenoti's AI Concierge (HyperConnect) voice analytics as a coaching tool for guest services teams. AI Concierge listens to front desk calls and flags missed opportunities, giving owners visibility into revenue conversations they'd otherwise never hear.
The session also spotlighted three Zenoti integrations built for the Aveda ecosystem: Aveda Plus Rewards fully integrated at checkout, streamlined procurement through the Aveda Empowered Ordering system, and Aveda benchmark reporting at both the center and employee level.
For salon owners tracking performance against Aveda's standards of excellence, that last one means real-time visibility into how each stylist measures up – no spreadsheets or manual calculations.
Kristen noted that since Innergize, the team has also rolled out a product catalog integration with Aveda that pushes monthly price updates, new products, and discontinuations – so retail listings and pricing stay current without manual updates.
Better guest experiences. Fuller books. Stronger revenue. That was the framework Mike returned to throughout the session. The technology isn't doing the work instead of salon teams – it's making sure the right offer, the right reminder, and the right insight show up exactly when they’re needed, even at 1:00 a.m.
See what Zenoti can do for your Aveda salon.
Featured photo: Sarina Paulson and Mike Nass share the floor at Innergize 2025.
Written by
Gita Mani, Senior Content Specialist
