Hairzoo, with 12 of of its 13 units in New York, recently celebrated the first anniversary of its West Coast flagship salon in Santa Monica, CA. Guests received 20% off services and products purchased that day, and many vendors and neighboring businesses—Wella ($600.00 Apple Gift Card), Whole Foods, Yogaworks, Soul Cycle, Vanilla Bakeshop and Hot 8 Yoga—provided raffle prizes.
While the party provided a special celebration, guests at Hairzoo are used to 5-star treatment, and owner Gary Reed frequently consults with his team to discover what will delight their guests the most, leading to product promotions and services that are spot on.
“Every month, we feature a Stylist Product of the Month and tie it to an event,” explains Gary. “Our stylists suggest products they are loving, then we select one and tie it into a promotion. For example, for Father’s Day, we featured a special Nioxin promotion. For Mother’s Day, we offered specials on Sebastian.”
The Product of the Month is offered to guests at a 20% discount. Stylists’ goal is to sell 15% or more of their service sales in take-home products and tools. They receive 10% commission on the first $50.00 to $99.00 of take-home they sell per week, and 20% on sales of $100.00 and up. Because that includes blow dryers and flat irons, everyone has the opportunity to add significant dollars to their paychecks.
Results are tracked and posted daily, leading to a healthy competition between stylists—and other Hairzoo salons. Gary shares the salon’s P&Ls each week, so stylists understand how their accomplishments contribute to the big picture. In addition, Hairzoo issues “The Safari,” a weekly stylist newsletter, which includes a competitive analysis of each salon. The stylist with the highest service dollars for the week wins the coveted titled of “King/Queen of the jungle.” Stylists have an opportunity to achieve in several other categories that highight their results for the week and ultimate have a Zoo theme. An example would be “Bear Hugs” for top take-home product sales greater than $150.00 for the week. The company’s 13 salons’ financial results are tallied, and the salons are ranked on take-home product from 1st place to 13th place weekly.
“The healthy competition keeps stylists engaged on a daily basis and encourages them to achieve while having fun,” explains Gary. “This give us a chance to celebrate many different stylists’ achievements throughout the week and also keeps a pulse on the progress of all the salons as a whole.
Gary also makes sure that his stylists continuously experience the salon’s offerings. “We recently scheduled some time for the stylists to perform a Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Experience on each other,” he explains. “Then, we all talked about how the service made us feel. That sharing gave stylists a list of descriptive words to share when describing the new service to their guests. We sold five Tea Tree Experiences in the following 2 days as a result.”
Adds Gary, “Because a positive buzz starts at the front lines with our people, it’s important to have stylist buy-in on our take-home promotions and services. When they are part of the process, they love to share their roll with their guests. Everybody wins.”
