Tips for Introducing New Spa Services and Products

Striking out on your own in an esthetics career is about much more than simply learning the technical skills and tools of the trade. Clients in this industry want to look their best while embracing the latest trends, so you must remain knowledgeable about the hottest new styles and products long after you have completed your esthetician classes. By continuing to update your salon’s offerings, you will show you care about your client’s needs, but adding items to your menu requires advance planning and an investment of both time and money. Ask yourself these important questions before adding to your menu:

Who Are Your Clients?

Even the most diverse esthetician cannot please everyone all of the time. In order to succeed in the beauty industry, you must find your niche. Who is it that normally seeks out your services? If you use booking software, this data will be readily available to you, but if not you will need to dig a little deeper to discover the average gender and age of your typical clients as well as your most-sold items. New offerings should ideally supplement and replace existing products and services and should be targeted to your typical client profile. If you do business in a college town, you may want to offer all the latest neon and stencil eyeliners and master the art of rainbow balayage, but those items are not likely to be a hit with an older, professional clientele, one that serves a lot of men, or a service that focuses on bridal hair and makeup.

Who Are You As a Brand?

Another important factor in expanding your offerings is ensuring that they are consistent with who you are as a company. If your esthetics career has been devoted to sustainability, your clients will expect natural products and you will lose business if you offer makeup that is tested on animals or a new manicure approach that is chemical-heavy. Has your salon typically served cash-strapped clients looking for bargain treatments? They may not be ready to invest in a style that has extensive upkeep costs. If you very rarely see men in your line of work, specialty beard oils and sculpting services may not bring in a lot of extra income without a significant amount of marketing work. If you don’t already have set goals and a mission statement, this may be a great time to create them.

How Will Your Salon Prepare?

Consider how your salon is set up and what equipment you already have. If a new service will require the purchase of special machines, hair dryers, or chairs, you will need to ensure that the new business it attracts will pay for those items. If the service will be most interesting to working professionals, you may need to extend your hours or bring in additional staff during peak times in order to meet the demand for these items during lunch hours or after the workday is over. In the case of new services, you will need to decide which staff members will take esthetics classes to master the skills, and that will take time away from their existing clients.

How Will You Get The Word Out?

In the end, it doesn’t matter what your salon has to offer if no one knows about it. Especially if there will be a large upfront investment like additional equipment, you will want to start selling these services as quickly as possible. The approach you take will, again, depend heavily on who your clients are and how they typically find you. If you have social media accounts, post your new offerings to them, with high-quality photos and video whenever possible. If you don’t, create some now. Hire professionals such as marketers, photographers, and videographers to create quality content. The beauty industry is very visual and your clients will want to imagine themselves in these products. If the product is already popular and well-known, it may be enough to advertise, but if not, you may need to offer an additional incentive. You may want to go to some local festivals or street fairs and offer “mini-treatments” for free to get people excited. Debut discounts will encourage clients to hurry in and be among the first to try your new services, and referral programs guarantee they will tell their friends!

Adding new products and services to your salon is always a risk, but a good education can help you make the best business choices. Enroll At State College Of Beauty Culture today to make sure you keep your technical and business skills current.