Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Shake up Your Menu to Stir up Interest


So spring and summer season  are upon us, what have you chosen to bring in new and exciting to your business? I know we talk at length about brand and niche marketing but today I want to get specific. When I owned my salon we introduced new seasonal treatments every other month. After all,  we get bored, staff gets bored and the clients certainly get bored with the same old same old. I fashioned this after local restaurants that have the nightly specials. Why can't I offer something like this in my salon? Combine fresh new treatments and ingredients for the best in seasonal services?  Sometimes it was a new company or line I saw at a show or read about online or in the trades. What better way to test out the products without committing to the entire line?  Other times I resorted to my natural hand and foot care books to get inspired to create a new service with local ingredients. My salon focused on natural treatments so naturally, I designed my treatments accordingly. So here is the process of designing and developing your own treatments. A really simple one that I created was a Tea Tree mani/pedi. We carried Paul Mitchell products at the time and one of their educators shared the idea with me.  We developed the Lemon Drop Pedicure, manicure with products we already had in the salon. It was actually featured in Nails magazine, the link will be included online. We used Paul Mitchell Lemon Sage Energizing Body Wash with 3-4 drops of Tea Tree oil, lemon slices and sage leaves for the soak. Performed nail, cuticle and callous work. For the exfoliant  add a tablespoon of sugar to Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Hair and Scalp Treatment.  Finish cuticle and callous work. Massage with Paul Mitchell Lemon Sage Energizing Body Lotion. Wrap hands or feet in warm towels. Complete the service. You can serve a lemon beverage, lemon muffins, lemon drop candies, anything else that will add to the service experience.  The great thing about these seasonal treatments was that there were for a limited time only. My clients knew if they did not get them, they might not be offered again any time soon.  So that one was easy, using products you may already have. Something a bit more challenging would be, for example, before there were Margarita pedicure products we developed our own by adding essential oil of lime, actual margarita mix and lemon foot soak. We dipped two lemon halves in dead sea salts to exfoliate dry skin and rough heels. The massage portion we used a lemon lime massage cream followed my steamed towels for a steam treatment. Again, you can serve margarita's if you choose, or limeade, Sprite, you get the picture.  So whether you create your own or purchase a new line, clients are always on the lookout for what's new at your salon.  I scoured my natural and holistic books, researched online websites and spa magazines to keep current with the trends. When I got inspired by something it was easy enough to pattern into a treatment.  My new Facebook friend Danielle Quintanar has a business helping other nail techs learn about holistic treatments and products. Danielle found my beauty school visit video and messaged me on Facebook. When I went to her site I knew we would be networking soul sisters. She is the epitome of niche marketing, sharing her passion for her modality and helping other nail techs. Checking out her site there was no doubt she had a corner on her market for these types of services in her area.  So start researching and let your creativity flow. Bringing in new, trendy treatments is a good way to create interest from the press as well. They are always looking for what's new and by creating new services you really do have something newsworthy to share. Write a press release and include an invitation for the press to come into your salon and experience the treatment first hand, or foot. It will definitely make you the go to beauty pro.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for introducing me Millie and yes, Networking Sole Sisters we are!

    I love this post, you share some great advice on how to come up with new services! It is great to use what you have on hand and not have to be married to or invest in, a complete line. Creativity in the back bar = Abundance in the cash drawer!

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