Source: Connie Koecke, executive director of retail business at Aveda Arts and Sciences Institutes

Last year, Connie Koecke, executive director of retail business at Aveda Arts and Sciences Institutes, decided it was time to put the spotlight on Shine services at the 17 Institutes she oversees.

With locations all over the country, Koecke gave every Institute a goal to hit.

“Shine is a great service for students to talk to guests about, because it doesn’t matter if you’re a great stylist or colorist yet—you can talk about Shine and be passionate about it with every guest,” she says.

“We wanted students to really see the value of this service, so we armed them with talking points for their guests.”

The Shine Conversation

The number-one benefit to a Shine service is the results, of course. But beyond shiny, healthy hair, Koecke also highlighted these other benefits for students to share with guests:

• Takes just five minutes at the bowl
• Affordable add-on price
• Lasts up to 20 washes
• Damage-free
• Improves condition of damaged hair
• 93 percent naturally derived
• Instant gratification

The front desk team and call center were also trained on the Shine conversation, and are helping build the service.

“When a guest comes in, the front desk will say, ‘I see you’re coming in for a cut and color, but you’re not marked down for a Shine treatment, have you had one yet?’” Koecke says.

That simple question plants the idea in the guest’s head so when the stylist follows up, they’re already interested.

The Results

The focus on Shine has yielded impressive results. Before she started focusing on Shine, Koecke says the Institutes were collectively hitting about 300 per week. She hoped to up that number to 500.

“The last week of November, we hit 830,” she says. “And every week, as we’ve improved, it has been a celebration.”

In addition to tracking the numbers, Koecke also regularly checks in with each campus to find out what’s working, asking what the students are doing or which contests they enjoy.

“Every Monday morning I send an email to all 17 schools so they can see where they’re at,” she says. “I also rank the schools from 1 to 17 so they can see where they fall in the number of Shine services they’re doing.”

All this friendly competition in salons has paid off. Shine has contributed to 7 percent of the Institutes’ hair color business since October 1, and more than $46,000 in service revenue.    

“We’ve had a positive growth year-to-date of 2 percent in service, and the majority of that is coming from the Shine add-on,” Koecke says.

But there have been other added benefits, too.

Creating Confident Retailers

Koecke says the camaraderie between the front desk and stylists has increased in recent months, and there’s also been a big difference in retailing.

“Shine is something they can grab and feel confident about when they discuss it,” she says. “This carries over into the consultation and into retail.”

To keep that Shine service looking salon-perfect, clients need the right at-home care. Students can talk about home-care retail products while they are having the Shine service discussion and feel good about their recommendation.

“Talking about maintaining the look at home is building secondary behavior,” Koecke says. “They are proud of the results they’ve created with Shine, and the work they’ve done, which makes them more comfortable in making retail suggestions.”