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Get Product DemoSarina Paulson, owner of Willo Salons, wasn't looking for a booking platform – she wanted a partner who could help her close the lead-to-loyal gap. With three Sacramento-area locations and a team dedicated to #TheWilloWay, she shares how Zenoti helped her turn every guest touchpoint into a revenue moment – from the first click to the next rebooking.
Gita Mani
Award-winning and proudly Aveda, Willo Salons has been a staple of the Sacramento beauty scene for nearly two decades. With three locations in Sacramento, Roseville, and Fair Oaks, owner Sarina Paulson and her team have built a reputation around what they call #TheWilloWay – a commitment to making every guest look their best and feel their best, right down to the complimentary hand and scalp massage that comes with every service.
Behind the serene salon atmosphere, Sarina is a sharp operator. Before taking over Willo, she spent years in corporate America working with a retailer that managed nearly 950 salons. She brought that operational lens with her and quickly realized the salon's existing software was a blind spot. It stored appointments but gave her zero visibility into the revenue decisions happening across her business every day.
"We had a booking platform that really stored our appointments but didn't do anything beyond that," Sarina says. "I was looking for a partner that was going to help us drive revenue in all the different ways that technology and guests are demanding of us these days."
That partner turned out to be Zenoti.
When Sarina dug into her numbers, she found revenue hiding in plain sight. Only about 14% of Willo guests were adding a treatment to their service – well below the benchmark she knew was possible. The guests were already in the chair. The treatments were already on the menu. What was missing was a system that consistently put the right offer in front of the right person at the right moment.
Rather than relying on her team to remember every time, Sarina built the recommendation into every touchpoint of the guest journey using Zenoti. Treatment options now appear during online booking. A pop-up reminder prompts guest services at the point of sale. Pre-appointment communications reinforce the message. Providers can adjust the service ticket from their app in real time.
Within a few quarters, treatment attachment rates climbed to 25–30% across all three locations, essentially doubling, and average service tickets rose right along with them.
"The treatments are still the same," Sarina explains. "It's just about the consistency of execution. It's about putting those things in front of the guests and our team to support what we placed a priority on."
Sarina applies that same touchpoint-by-touchpoint thinking to guest acquisition. When Zenoti's referral program became available, Willo saw 172 referrals sent out in the very first month. For Sarina, that number represented something important: a safety net for the moments when a busy stylist forgets to hand out a referral card.
"There are so many things that we ask our team to do," she says. "It's unrealistic to expect a hundred percent execution every time, every guest. I love that we have a partner in Zenoti that helps fill the gaps when we create one."
Between the referral program, automated rebooking reminders, and campaigns that keep Willo top of mind between visits, the results speak for themselves. New guest counts are climbing, and the salon captures demand around the clock – even while the team sleeps.
For Sarina, Zenoti's value goes well beyond any single feature. It's about partnering with a company that's always looking ahead. From Aveda Plus Rewards integration and empowered ordering to AI-driven tools, Google review management, and customized email and text campaigns, Zenoti keeps expanding the ways her salon can connect with guests and streamline operations.
"You want to work with a partner that is seeing 10 steps ahead of what you're seeing," she says. "Knowing that I don't have to worry about what I might be missing as a business owner – I think that's really important."
That forward-thinking approach also shows up in the day-to-day for her team. Providers get real-time notifications when a guest checks in. They can pull up purchase history, birthdays, and personalized notes – even details like how a guest prefers their Aveda comforting tea. With performance goals built right into the app, stylists can track their own progress toward level promotions without waiting for a quarterly review.
Sarina joined fellow Aveda salon owner Mike Nass and Zenoti SVP of Business Development Kristen Hanson on stage at Innergize 2025 to share what's driving growth. Read the full recap: 5 revenue strategies Aveda salons are using right now
Looking ahead, Sarina is doubling down on guest experience. Her team is rolling out a holistic monthly overview for each service provider that pulls together Google reviews, Zenoti feedback, referral activity, retention data, and rebooking metrics – giving stylists a clear, data-driven picture of the experience they're delivering.
"I think that's going to be the single biggest thing that helps us win as a team," she says.
For Aveda salons still weighing a technology change, Sarina's advice is straightforward: "You'd be remiss if you didn't look into it further. This is a platform that's going to provide the support and the technology that drives revenue and fills the gaps where there are some."
Written by
Gita Mani, Senior Content Specialist
