Preston Professionals

Preston Inc. and Institut' DERMed Present:
Esthetician's Mastery Course

January 28 - February 1, 2007
Atlanta, Georgia

Estheticians wanting to take their skills and training to a higher level need to check out this offering! 5 days of intense career training by two of the industry's most respected esthetics experts — Douglas Preston, President of Preston Inc., and Lyn Ross, President of the Institut' DERMed Spa Enterprise — teach the finer points of skin care and how to market your services in an ever more competitive market!

For more details, visit:
www.prestoninc.net
www.idermed.com

Or, give them a call at 866.433.7633 Ext. 102.

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Spa packages can be hard enough on your profits; adding a discount makes it worse! How do you escape this? By creating your packages ONLY from specially named versions of your regular services! You’re charging more for them but they can’t be found individually priced on your spa menu. Pay commissions at the standard prices!

It really works and you finally make money on packages!

Posted in Preston Professionals, Spa Business Management • 5 Comments »

Problem: Spa packages don’t produce any retail product sales.

Solution: Guarantee it! Create spa packages designed for gift giving that include some home-use products and price it accordingly. Since most spa packages are sold as gifts, they aren’t as price sensitive as other services.

• Your Stress Relief (example name) package can include a facial, massage, pedicure, plus an aromatherapy candle and scented bath gel (or whatever you want to include) that will continue the recipient's enjoyment long after their appointment.
• Average out the price of the certificate to reflect a revolving retail selection you’ll use in the package.
• This ensures retail sales that aren’t subject to sales commissions, and helps you to clear out some slower-moving inventory. You’re a business genius!

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Problem: You offer too many packages and some that are excessively long.

• Can be costly to track and train employees to perform
• Are often complicated and time-consuming to schedule
• They expose your business to big business losses when cancelled
• They decrease your retail sales

Solution: Reduce your packages to 3 in total and most less than 4 hours in length.

• Always include a strong retail producing service (such as a facial) at the end of the package to increase the chance of purchases.
• This plan opens more of your prime time appointments for established clients — the most loyal, referral active and retail buying clients you already have!

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It’s too easy! A man buying a spa gift certificate for a woman is like a woman buying a gift certificate for a man in an auto parts store; both have one goal in mind: to escape as quickly as possible! Instead of handing him a service menu he may not understand, offer him your suggestion instead. Here’s the plan:

1. Select the spa package you most want to sell (Wait! Don’t suggest the least expensive one like you usually do!)
2. Ask him if he’d like a suggestion for a great gift that all of your clients love! Of course he would…help set him free!!!
3. Tell him about your wonderful package and how much his recipient will appreciate him for his choice. (Can you hear the Love Boat theme yet?)
4. After he buys the package (and, he will!) reinforce what a great choice he made and what a lucky woman he has. Everyone’s happy!
5. Do the same thing online: create packages just for the male buyer with a focus on the experience and how great she will feel, and then promote them on your home page!

Posted in Preston Professionals, Spa Gift Certificates • Comment »

Are you working on your marketing for the upcoming holiday gift certificate boon? Here's a great perspective to keep in mind — that of the typical GC purchaser:

• Many are not familiar with spa services or packages, especially men
• Most are not as price sensitive as you believe they are
• Most would prefer your purchase suggestions than to go it alone
• The purchase pay-off for male buyers is a positive emotional reward from the recipient of the gift — and that’s a HIGH VALUE reward to them
• High value rewards make higher priced sales far more likely



Secret Santa office gift = low price
Gift for wife or romantic interest = higher price!

• Always remember: a gift certificate sale is a gift to both the recipient and the purchaser. Base your sales suggestion on the gift he receives — the gift of love, praise and affection!

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There's one thing every experienced aesthetician knows for sure — new clients don't come quickly or easily enough! What with all of the new day spas opening everywhere and beauty schools minting flocks of trained skin care professionals the wait for a large client following can be long and excruciating. Can't afford an expensive advertising campaign for the latest skin-firming device? Not a problem!

You have a low-cost and time-proven opportunity available to you that can do much to shorten the client building process while increasing your career income in short order: Make-up services and product sales. You don't need to be a highly skilled “artist” to succeed in make-up but you will need a commitment to learn some technique and a strategy for making the most of the potential business you attract.

My own aesthetics practice was preceded by work as a freelance make-up designer — contracting with major color houses for in-store promotions and visiting homes as a self-styled (and male) version of the Avon lady! I met people, pitched my services, handed out business cards, and counted the new customers that eventually found their way to my waiting facial lounge. It built my career. So, for those of you needing more facial clients (or a little variety in your service day) I offer the following recipe for a rapid path to a new level of success!

1. Take a few make-up classes. There's some real stimulating and professional training out there so get involved in them. Don't worry about mastering stage and television techniques—wash and wear daily make-up knowledge will do nicely. One thing I learned brushing faces at the Shiseido counter, well before I had a skin care practice going, was that most women favored a simple look they can do in a hurry. That fact hasn't changed over the years—time is in even shorter supply now than it was then (1 million B.C.,in beauty years.)
2. Go to every department store make-up promotion you can find! Yep, sign right up, sit down and mentally record what the artist/sales representative is saying to you. These people are trained to interest you, the potential customer, in the hottest and latest colors, textures and techniques. Look, listen and learn. Have a good time in this free make-up class. You don't have to buy a thing, but if you do purchase something pay close attention to why you made the buy—you'll need that knowledge later when it's you that's doing the selling.
3. Learn to custom blend liquid foundation. This is a product you'll want to master and sell in the spa. The effect of a properly matched foundation is wonderful, plus, it fascinates clients and creates some savage loyalty. There are a number of private label cosmetic manufacturers that'll be only too happy to teach you how to quickly arrive at a a perfect ounce of high-profit product. I blended a sold a zillion of these over the years—winter and summer formulas for every customer—and had a lot of fun making them, too!
4. Offer every spa client a complimentary make-up consultation. Yes, free! After all, what are you doing with that empty appointment time on your schedule? Almost any female spa customer is an ideal candidate for a make-up consultation, whether you work with them on-the-spot or plan for a later time. The point is to get them introduced to you and your services. Use your website to promote your complimentary consultations, that way when customers arrive they'll be ready to talk make-up with you. Schedule these consultations for 30-minutes, but allow a little more time if you have it available. And if the client isn't already a facial customer you can include a brief skin analysis in the appointment that may very well convince them to become one!
5. Include a make-up analysis for every facial client. It's amazing how many aestheticians among us still ignore the critical effects a client's make-up choices have on her skin. For the second facial I would ask my client to bring in all of the make-up she wears so we could determine the appropriateness of what she owns for her skin type. We then sort the good from the bad and suggest replacement product for contrary items. Works like a charm and clients truly appreciate this additional professional assistance.
6. Schedule seasonal make-up updates. I generally recommend that these happen at the onset of spring and fall—the two most dramatic times for climate and emotion change. Colors need adjustment, foundations will need to be corrected, and fun is anticipated! I ask clients to keep all make-up diagrams I've created for them and bring them in at the next update (to help guide the new style direction and avoid technical duplication.) You'll be very happy with the retail outcome from these visits, particularly since they can serve to prevent clients from straying to someone else's make-up counter!
7. Schedule make-up events at the spa or at a client's home. Small events are best in order to assure that all attendees receive adequate personal( and sales!) attention. My former partner and I built much of our earlier customer base this way. From teen make-up parties to Red hat Club ladies—all are interested in and use make-up. Your event should be fun, engaging, and educational. Themes are good: The Danbury Street Divas was a successful make-up event held by a single block of neighboring friends. Everyone receives your card, your spa menu, and many will buy products on the spot. Nothing wrong with being paid to advertise!
8. Give away make-up lessons! Now here's an excellent way to bring in new customers, fill those lonely make-up stools, and generate some present and future income as well. This is the p-e-r-f-e-c-t way to satisfy those clients that hound you for charity event donation without having to give up the more valuable and potentially in-demand treatment room hours. I gave these away by the basket full and reaped the reward of a slow but steady stream of new potential customers.
9. Be a guest make-up artist at a hair salon in your market area. One of the best things I ever did en-route to building a successful skin care clientele! I discovered that salon owners not offering facial or make-up services were delighted to have me work with their customers once or twice a month. This enhanced the salon's image while earning income and new customers at the same time. Since I brought in my own cosmetics I would pay the salon owner a small percentage of any retail I generated during appointments. I kept the full service fee. The best part was I often sold more cosmetics to the working hairdressers on site than to the clients I saw! This also provides an opportunity to cross-promote using your website. Announce (ideally on your home page where it's easy to see) the days you're 'appearing' at various salons. You'll promote yourself, and you'll benefit the salon as well. Encourage the salon owners to do the same thing-they'll reach a wider audience than purely word-of-mouth or printed announcements in the salon, and also distinguish themselves from other salons not offering the coolness of a real make-up artist! And, you'll get promoted to boot. Not a bad deal!
10. Recruit others to sell make-up for you! Now that you've mastered the art of everyday make-up application and sales why not start your own cosmetics empire? All you need to do is find a private label make-up manufacturer, brand your own line of fabulous products, and then send your sister, best friend, and career-seeking acquaintances out into the field to promote and sell them. You buy at wholesale, mark the products to a new level and then pay commissions on all sales your team generates via the networking and party system. Get your own e-commerce site set up, and rave about your hip, cool line. Anyone with ambition, a few bucks and the will to work can succeed in the ever-growing world of cosmetics sales. There are lots of rags-to-riches stories about little upstart entrepreneurs achieving great things through scrappy beginnings. When will you be on the list?

A version of this article originally appeared in DERMASCOPE Magazine.

Douglas Preston is among the spa industry's most influential business leaders. As former multi-award winning day spa operator Preston's management systems serve as the “blueprint” for the US-based Preston Inc. Spa Consultants. Preston Private Label Products is a premium producer of more than 125 professional-quality skin and body care spa items. Preston is a frequent lecturer in the spa industry and a popular motivational speaker who's been featured on CNN and Fine Living channels. Preston is past-president of Aesthetics International Association (AIA).

Posted in Preston Professionals, Spa Marketing • 1 Comment »

Every spa operator knows (and every soon-to-open spa should) that spa gift certificates sales represent a critical source of annual revenue and new customers. Depending on the age and client market of a spa, these important sales can account from anywhere between 10-25% of total sales, a particularly crucial life preserver for new cash-hungry but client-poor businesses. For many spas, just like the holiday rush for retailers, seasonal gift certificate sales (Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Christmas) provide a powerful boost to flagging service appointments and bank reserves. Yet all spas, regardless of their years in business, need this steady flow of ready income and new customer potential to drive the wheels of growth forward. Conversely, it is tempting to take these sales for granted — windfall that they appear to be — instead of planning an optimal strategy for this lush opportunity.

Here’s some advice that you can use in your company right away to make more money while reducing the potential hardships and hazards brisk gift certificate sales can pose:

Individual services and/or specified dollar amounts

• Make gift certificates easier to sell! While we love this upfront cash, the transaction can be time consuming for front desk staff and a chore for the purchaser. You may want to consider adding a sales feature on your company website to handle the job for you. Companies like SpaBoom help you set up your site with the tools needed to make online gift certificate sales simple and fast. They charge a small fee per transaction and relieve employees of having to work every sale — a real blessing during a holiday crunch!
• Selling gift certificates for cash credit is the ideal way to go if you want to avoid the unpleasant task of having to book packages out many weeks in advance. When a customer has a gift certificate for, say, $200, the spa is only obligated to redeem it for its full value, not guarantee the availability of a specific package. Many clients will prefer to use the credit in small increments, and these several visits help establish them with your spa and often lead to retail purchases. In any event it helps eliminate pressure on your schedule and personnel.

Spa packages

By now you know that most spa service packages are sold as gift certificates and redeemed by persons for whom the spa is a rare experience. And while the welcome of this gift by the recipient can range from ecstatic to dread, even the most enthusiastic individual may require weeks, if not years, to get the thing scheduled. Now, that’s fine for them but if it’s your too-busy spa that’s causing the scheduling delay then you’ve got a real problem on your hands, namely, a miffed buyer and user. And since most package customers prefer prime time appointments (those precious evening and weekend hours) you may suddenly be forced to schedule these folks out many weeks into the future. This may inspire some to believe that they’re a low-priority to you, and that you’re making it deliberately difficult for them to use their gift. Worse, high concentrations of gift certificate appointments during peak hours can make it challenging for your loyal regular clients to schedule, leaving you with the terrible trade-off of top-value customers for the infrequent visitor. This isn’t a good deal for spas that depend on local trade for survival.

Solutions:

• Offer a maximum of 3 or 4 spa packages, all under 4 hours in length. Reduced-length packages are easier to schedule, are less damaging when cancelled late, consume less schedule time, and minimize the chances for something to go wrong over long hours of service that could cause you to redo or comp. the services… Ouch! Shorter packages are also easier to train employees on, and are more flexible when clients want to rearrange its order or substitute services.
• When customers call to schedule a gift certificate service be sure to offer your lowest demand appointment hours first! Never permit your concierge to voluntarily utter the deadly words, “When did you want to come in?” You’ll be amazed how positively people will respond to your time suggestions so don’t paint yourself into a scheduling corner needlessly!
• Never discount your spa packages!!! Considering the cost of scheduling them, then rescheduling them, poor retail sales after them, and the potential displacement of regular customers because of them you can scarcely afford to shave the price. Here’s how to sell your spa service packages above the combined services value:
1. Create a package that contains specially named and designed face and body services that are available only in the package: meaning, they are not sold or seen a la carte on the service menu. These “special” facials, massages, etc. should take no longer to perform, nor cost any more than a regular service would. There’s no need to lengthen or to make any significant changes in them they’ll be largely unfamiliar to both purchaser and recipient.
2. Charge roughly 20% more for this package than you would if those services were sold individually. This is a gift, and gifts aren’t as price sensitive as practical purchases.
3. Always schedule a package with the facial as the last service, if possible. This is the service that’s most likely to generate a retail purchase with this customer.
4. If you have some difficult-to-sell services at the spa then stuff them into your packages! After all, you have plenty of openings for those…
• Always direct gift certificate purchasers to the packages that you most want to sell! Instead of the passive and incorrect “Did you have something in mind?” ask the purchaser who the gift is for and then offer a suggestion: “That’s great! Would you like to know what everyone loves as a gift from our spa?” Then, describe the package that you’d like to sell, and do it in feeling terms, not technical. “It’s the most incredible and relaxing thing she’ll probably ever experience! She’ll love it — I would!” That’s about all it takes to get the card swiped and the envelope sealed.
• While the retail sales that follow spa package appointments are often dismal, and those gift baskets haven’t flown off the shelves, you can build products into the packages by designing it thus:



South Pacific Holiday

Our most popular package gives busy, working moms some needed time-out and a personal experience she won’t forget! She begins her visit with a wonderful tropical hand and foot exfoliation and massage using real papaya and natural loofah. Next, her tense muscles are soothed away by the hands of a specially trained therapist using the ancient Hawaiian Lomi Lomi technique, finally mom is carried away to the soft breezes of the islands with during our unique Tradewinds Aromatherapy facial.

As a special treat the package comes complete with an enchanting scented candle and skin smoothing body lotion for her enjoyment before we greet her here at Spa Leilani. Aloha!

• The package is only sold inclusive of the retail products that you place into a gift bag with the gift certificate. This is an excellent way to move slower selling stock while guaranteeing some commission-free retail sales!

Some final advice: do everything in your power to convert your gift certificate customer into a loyal, long-term client! With all the emerging competition in the spa market you cannot count forever on this fat flow of nearly passive income. It’s the clients you keep that ultimately represent your spa’s foundational business. If that gift river should run dry you’ll be glad you have a well of reliable supporters beneath you!

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