Leaf Aveda Salon Spa owner Lori Sohu has been a stylist for 25 years. And for the past six years, she has owned her Brooksfield, Florida-based salon.

As an owner, growth in her business is a prime focus. So she tapped into her knowledge of stylists to develop a system of bonus levels for her employees.

“I need to keep everyone motivated, excited and hitting their benchmarks,” Sohu says. “That’s why I created this.”

The system focuses on retail, prebooking and upselling, and because of it, Sohu has seen her numbers grow over the past two years, with an increase of 47 percent in retail last year.

Bonus for All

At Leaf, stylists are all at a 40-percent commission point. Sohu’s system allows them to get 42-percent commission every week if they hit three out of their four benchmarks.

“To get the bonus, they must hit benchmarks for service, retail, prebooking and Pure Privilege membership sales,” she says. “If they get three out of those four, they get 42-percent commission that week,” she explains.

photo courtesy of Leaf Aveda

For tier-one level stylists, benchmarks are $1,250 in services, $360 in retail, 60 percent prebooked and selling five Pure Privilege memberships in one week.

“If they hit those goals, the commission stays at 42 percent for one week,” Sohu says. “It keeps them moving and motivated by not giving them permanent status.”

Sohu posts numbers daily so her stylists can see where they’re at. And if someone had a bad week, they can quickly get a fresh start the next week, rather than waiting a whole month or quarter to try again, which Sohu says can be too long.

The next goal for stylists to achieve is 45 percent commission, which they can receive by hitting all of these goals in one week: $1,550 in service sales, $550 in retail, 80 percent prebooked and selling eight Pure Privilege memberships.

“For now, 45 percent is as high as they can go,” Sohu says. “But we also have our level system. Once they go to the next level in their price point, we’ll increase the bar on their goals, too. They’ll have to hit higher because their price point is higher.”

Keeping her stylists focused on benchmarks is Sohu’s goal, so she also does an additional retail bonus to incentivize them.

“If they sell $350 in retail, they get a $25 gift card, for $500, they get a $50 gift card,” she says. “The system goes up to $1,500, when they receive a $150 gift card.”

The gift cards are from many different retailers and Sohu allows stylists to pick whatever they want when she announces the winners during Saturday morning meetings.

“And once a customer is hooked on a product, they are more likely to stay loyal to the salon.”

An Engaged Staff

Sohu recognizes that many stylists compare their commission to what they could get at another salon or how much they could make as an independent contractor, which is why she put the bonus system in place.

Lori Sohu, owner of Leaf Aveda Salon Spa in Brooksfield, Florida.

“It’s tough to try to explain to them why they are better off here rather than getting 65 percent as an independent contractor or 55 percent at a mom-and-pop shop down the street,” she says. “But now, they are excited to go over and above their regular base.”

The benchmarks Sohu has created also have another benefit—engaging and educating new stylists.

“With something like prebooking, they can see firsthand how they can duplicate a good week the following month if they have the same clients prebooked,” she says. “It gets them into the habit of doing it—some stylists come from other salons where they have never had to prebook before and doing it shows them how to grow their book and not just have clients calling in last-minute.”

As for the Pure Privilege program, Leaf’s memberships are growing and the customers are excited to learn about a program with perks for them from the stylists they trust.

Sohu has also seen the impact upselling has made in her stylists.

“Their peers help, too. They see the big numbers some stylists hit often and it gives them something to aspire to,” she says.

Leaf stylists also use an app to check in on their stats anytime from anywhere, which keeps the competitive juices flowing.

“I still post numbers in the break room, too,” Sohu says. “Nobody wants to be the lowest one, and it stays lively since it changes every week—nobody gets bored.”

Sohu says the fast pace of her system has been the key to her success.

“I would advise anyone else thinking about doing a bonus program to make it fun and exciting,” she says. “Give them something to look forward to every day and every week.”