Customer Success Story
How Willow & Birch Turned Its Salon, Spa, and Boutique Into a Single Automated Revenue Engine with Boulevard
- Location
- Springfield, Illinois
- Boulevard customer
- since 2024
- Industry
- Salon, Spa & Boutique
- Website
- willowandbirchsalon.com
- @willowandbirchsalon
Key Takeaways
- Willow & Birch generated more than $127,000 in sales from automated marketing campaigns in a single year with Boulevard.
- Automated campaigns booked 900 appointments and helped drive a 20% increase in retail sales.
- Boulevard’s self-booking portal quieted the front desk’s phones while keeping the calendar full, freeing staff to focus on the in-person client experience.
- Precision Scheduling™ helps the front desk avoid gaps in the calendar and get more value out of every provider’s time.
Introduction
Jessica Kocurek is the owner of Willow & Birch Salon, Spa, and Boutique, located in downtown Springfield, Illinois. Founded in 2010, the business has grown from a 5-chair salon to a 20,000-square-foot destination featuring 24 styling stations and 8 spa rooms. By keeping her entire operation under one roof, Jessica says she maintains a cohesive, vibrant atmosphere and collaborative team culture — known as the "Willow & Birch vibe" — that sets her business apart and keeps clients returning.
Less talk,
more proof
- 127K
- In sales from automated campaigns in one year
- 900
- Appointments booked through automated campaigns
- 20%
- Increase in retail sales
The Challenge: A Bulky Booking Portal and Marketing Tools the Team Never Used
Jessica dealt with multiple software platforms over the years. Her latest created significant friction for clients with a "bulky" online booking portal, among other issues.
Willow & Birch’s email marketing tools were so difficult to use that the team often skipped them altogether. Managing other services and communications required multiple steps, making daily operations inefficient and time-consuming.
Although Jessica wasn’t actively searching for a replacement, she recognized the client-facing software experience as a critical weakness in her business.
The Solution: Salon Marketing Software That Actually Gets Used
Jessica first encountered Boulevard during a demo. While she wasn’t expecting to switch when she signed up, she was "blown away" by Boulevard’s sleek design and intuitive features that directly improved the client experience.
The platform’s visual appeal and ease of use made an immediate impression. Boulevard’s seamless onboarding experience impressed both Jessica and her front-of-house coordinator, who was convinced within minutes.
Jessica saw value not only in the technology itself, but also in how quickly her team could adapt and benefit from the more streamlined process — including Boulevard’s salon marketing software, which the Willow & Birch team actually uses.
How We Helped
- Game-changing automated marketing
- Automated campaigns generated more than $127,000 in revenue in the first year alone.
- Efficient and intuitive interface
- Cut multi-step processes down to a few clicks, reducing administrative workload for staff and clients alike.
- Seamless self-booking
- A user-friendly client portal took booking off the front desk’s plate and freed staff to focus on the in-person experience.
- AI-powered creative tools
- The Marketing Suite’s AI image generator let Jessica create on-brand campaign visuals in-house.
- Smooth and supportive onboarding
- Boulevard’s dedicated support made the transition feel effortless for the whole team.
- Optimized schedules
- Precision Scheduling™ helps the front desk avoid gaps and get more value from every provider’s time.
Willow & Birch
“In an industry where, ultimately, time is money, every minute you're doing one thing cuts into something else. Boulevard frees up so much time for us to focus on the client experience. It provides that structure for the front end of the business so everything runs seamlessly.”
