Advise on pricing ,dont want to get into a price war!

[glitz and glam]

Hi,

any advise would be great..

where i live nail techs seem to be popping up everywhere. This doesnt bother me as much as the fact that they are cheap as chip techs. One is doing it at £15 a set another has reduced her prices to £20 a set for a christmas promotion. Another has just left a salon where they charged £40 + a set yet shes doing them for £20 mobile. when she advertised in the local paper i lost two new clients.
Alot of the techs just stick on white tips, badly at that, cause thats all they've trained to do whilst i invested into thorough training including sculpting on a form and on tips.
Im so fed up, the phones hardly rung and my diary last year was chokker!!!

I refuse point blank to reduce my prices ive worked hard to get where i am and deserve every penny i charge... but i cant bear to see these other girls take all the clients because there sooo cheap!

Any advise welcomed, has this happened to you and what did you do?

c x

 

[Holistic Beauty]

I had one of my therapists open a salon on the same road as me providing the same treatments as me, under cutting all our prices.

I agree with you do not lower your prices as that just starts a price war and you will all loss out. What I did was add value to our service which does not cost us much but the clients see they will get more with you, so for example our spray tans we give 3 free sachets, add a massage to a service that might not normally have one and also make sure clients know you use quality products and all the experience you have.

We also do a loyalty scheme, ours is for every £1 they spend they get 1 point and then they can cash the points in we do this at 5% and they can spend this on treatments or products. We do a welcome pack for new clients with a money off voucher for their next treatment and recommended a friend cards where their friend gets £5.00 off their 1st treatment and then when they bring the card in the client who recommended us we send them a £10 voucher. We just try to make ourselves different so clients even if there is a cheaper salon down the road see us as worth spending that bit extra.

I also found (which is hard) you need to wait, we lost some clients and then most came back, as they realised we provide a better service.

Hope that helps. x

 

[elliebee]

I don't do nails but thought this might help.

There are loads of nail salons in my area doing full sets for £20 (or even lower). Although they seem to be busy, I have never heard anyone who has been to them say they would go back.

However, there is another girl in our town who takes £45 and she is always busy.

The cheap salons attract the cheap clients who just want cheap nails. Once they've been and see the mess they make of their nails they don't go back.

The more expensive girl obviously has loyal regulars who are prepared to pay for her experience and superior service. I know she does a little massage which just makes clients feel a bit more Pampered.

I guess what I'm saying is hang in there. You may feel down just now but if your service is worth the extra, people will come back. You want to attract the best customers who will stay with you because you are the best and they won't be tempted by cheap as chips nail techs.