Doing offers

[sophiebeauty]

Hi
I've been open 2 months, I started with no client base. I'm managing to pay the bills/rent, very little money to take home each week though.

I also got work mobile.

The thing is, everytime I chat to a woman who works next door (few days a week she sees me for a chat), she tells me how 'the old therapist used to do offers, 3 things for £30' she encourages me to do this. She says it a few times a week. It's awkward.
I haven't and I just smile and say 'Oh right' or said 'I don't understand how they make profit.'

The list includes Shellac

Eyelash/brow tint
1/2 leg wax
bikini wax
manicure
pedicure
Brow shape

Chose 3 from the list kind of thing.
I can't figure out how doing a treatment for £10 makes any more profit than I'm doing now profit, especially since some treatments take an hour. I see how it brings in more clients though.

Do any of you guys do this? How does it work for you?


I do feel that things might be slow at the moment, but I have loyalty cards, I'm selling products, I'm selling gift vouchers, and most importantly the bills get paid, if only a little to take home.

I have a % off for a limited period also. Once that goes my treatments are the same price as the other salons in the area. Also I provide more treatments than the surrounding salons, so if someone came in for a possible 2 hours of treatments for £30, then whilst treating them, I had a client come in for an hour £40 which I couldn't do due to my offer client, it would bug me.

But panic has set in because this woman mentions it constantly.

Any advice please?

 

[Mobile Manicure]

This woman next door, what does she do? Why don't you pop into her shop/office and start telling her how to do her job? See how she likes it. Or just tell her to mind her own business.

 

[sophiebeauty]

Haha, I would but its a close knit community. She can tar my image as she has been based there 17 years. She would certainly influence local residents if I were straight talking like that so I need to keep it polite.

I tried an offer 5 treatments for £50, all quick ones, but I would not be willing to budge on that right now as I'm getting by, and have money saved to cover costs which I haven't had to dip in to.

I'm just wondering if anyone here has done an offer of 3 for £30, and do you get them as repeats or are they offer clients only. Also do they only rebook if the offer is on, therefore your prices might as well be reduced long term rather than offers on every other week, or offers on constantly.

Then again, supermarkets get their success from offers all the time. People buy because they feel they are getting a bargain. same with salon offers. I'm really confused now.

Also with my offering way more treatments is it worth it. Very confused I've got it wrong.

 

[Sophie_Jane]

Ive seen salons that do pick and mix pampers which from what i understand you pay for say an hours treament and its whatever treatment they want for example, massage facial and naily tidy but you adjust the treatment time to what theyre willing pay for (if that makes sense?

So 20min back massage, 30min facial and scalp and 10min tidy and polish for however much you charge an hour?
Then you can list the treatments your willing include in the deal??

Saw it at another salon when they first opened to attracts business,seemed work okay for them.

Just hope i understood it right!

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[greenreader29]

Is the neighbor just trying to get a cheap price out of you ? Here is what I do, if you get 2 services , haircut, color, or cut and brow wax I give $5 off total service 😏

 

[Aphrodite26]

I've done the three for £30. The treatments I listed could all be done within an hour. It give people the chance to try new things and I have gained a few regulars from it x


Sent from the catphone

 

[jujojones]

I do a pick an mix, just choose your treatments wisely, I offer ones that can be done in an hour, use limited products and may be something that the client wouldn't usually have x

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[Mobile Manicure]

Haha, I would but its a close knit community. She can tar my image as she has been based there 17 years. She would certainly influence local residents if I were straight talking like that so I need to keep it polite.

I tried an offer 5 treatments for £50, all quick ones, but I would not be willing to budge on that right now as I'm getting by, and have money saved to cover costs which I haven't had to dip in to.

I'm just wondering if anyone here has done an offer of 3 for £30, and do you get them as repeats or are they offer clients only. Also do they only rebook if the offer is on, therefore your prices might as well be reduced long term rather than offers on every other week, or offers on constantly.

Then again, supermarkets get their success from offers all the time. People buy because they feel they are getting a bargain. same with salon offers. I'm really confused now.

Also with my offering way more treatments is it worth it. Very confused I've got it wrong.

Regarding the supermarket example. I only buy Persil, Robinsons Orange Barley water and fish fingers when they are on offer. (Amongst other things but these items are regularly half price).

I shop at lots of different supermarkets as it depends on where I am at the time and buy the product from the one who is selling it half price and stock up on it.

People might have the same idea about beauty treatments. If a salon down the road is doing 3 for 3 in June and the one across the road is doing it in July, they may just go with the one with the offer until you've built up a good client/therapist relationship. I would steer clear of offers and do refer a friend incentives instead. They will bring more people through your door.

 

[surf girl]

I would as a customer go for a 3 for £30 offer 5 for £50 sounds expensive and everyone gets drawn in by a bargain, maybe you could do it for 2 weeks and see if you get any interest? I'm sure the "lady next door" means well, maybe she wants 3 for 30 herself lol u could bag yourself a new client there! I would definatley pop in her shop tho n give a few suggestions on her biz see how she likes it lol x

 

[kimi1101]

You could do an offer like if you do a body wrap, whilst the wrap is on do a half price facial? Or if they are getting a lash lift, whilst it's on do a half price brow tint? (Not sure how long last lift is on for)

Offer things like a complimentary hand massage when a back neck and shoulders is booked. People appreciate getting extra for their money.

Or how about for existing clients, give them a £5 off a treatment they haven't had before card.

 

[RED STAR]

I feel your pain....I've been open nearly 2 years, and people still feel the need to tell me how to run my business, they all become an expert!
The thing is, slow and steady is fine....Don't be tempted to cheapen your brand, there will always be someone cheaper.
Many years ago, a salon I worked in would do a 1/2 price sale twice a year. Yes it bought in new client's, but guess what, we only saw them twice a year!
I am OFTEN reminded, by the previous owners clients, how busy the salon used to be, (before I took it over :lol, however, hairdressing has changed since the seventies and eighties! and the previous owner had not changed with it, including his pricing - so no surprise he was busy, but who wants to work on a production line of heads!
Hang on in there, concerntrate on gaining loyal 'fans', by giving good service and high quality treatments.

 

[Nila]

I opened my salon 2 and a half years ago and I had the same thing with the woman next door! They have a convenient store. She asked me to leave some of my price lists there which I did but then she told me a few times that my prices are high and people can get the same thing cheaper in other salons so I should bring my prices down to get clients. I just politely explained that my work is different and my clients come to me for the quality of the treatments not for the cheap prices. I understand that she was trying to help my new business but I simply ignored it. Funny enough that I was there to buy a lighter and she charged me 80p. I should have said why you are selling things so expensive then, they are £1 for a pack of 6 in the poundshop!

I don't do any offer in the salon. I just give 10% when people book for more than one area of waxing. That's it. If people think they can get it cheaper then they don't want to pay the full price and my work worth more than that. I don't want people to think of my salon as a cheap or a discount place. My prices are reasonable and I attract clients who appreciate what I do and even give tips, not cheap clients. That's what I want. I prefer to sit and do nothing rather that work hard for little money.

Once a few weeks ago I had a Saturday with no clients which was weird as I'm always fully booked on Saturdays. So Friday evening I just texted a few clients and offered them 20% on all the treatments more than £18 and I said that the offer is only for tomorrow. It was funny that I ended up with clients who booked their usual treatment which was less than £18 and paid the full price. They said they wanted to book anyway but thought I would be definitely all booked on a Saturday! So only two people added some new treatments to get the offer. I filled my day but that was the first time I did that after two and a half years of opening and I only texted less than 10 people not all my clients.

 

[TheDuchess]

I have experimented with offers. I did half price treatments on Monday with a starting time between 9-11. Excluding hair removal.

We got one regular client who tried us out, came back on different days and pays full prices without a blink. We also had another who came for massages. We didn't see her for a bit after the offer ended. But she's just started to come back. There have been loads of massage promos on Groupon, so I'm guessing that she tried them all out and then decided we were worth the proper price.

I always swore I'd never discount waxing, but I've just done a half price deal purely to help a newly qualified therapist to get up to speed. We barely broke even on the deal, but it gave us massive exposure. That time chatting to clients on the couch was a great marketing opportunity. We sold a few additional treatments, not many at first, but we got better at upselling as we went on. Everyone left really impressed with our salon and saying they'd never noticed us before. It will interesting to see how many come back for other treatments.

I think deals are how you present them. If I tell my clients that I got a deal on the products and am passing on the discount or that I have a newly qualified therapist that needs to gain confidence or that I am experimenting with extending opening hours or have taken on additional staff and have some spare capacity to fill - everyone feels happy with their bargain and doesn't object to paying full price in the future. It's letting clients assume that your prices were too expensive to sell at full price that puts people off IMHO

 

[Extensionista]

Haven't read all the responses but perhaps that's the reason the previous girl isn't there why more because she was making no profit? Two months isn't long and the fact you are breaking even is great. Keep doing what you are doing for a few more months if you can afford to. Try and get your mobile clients into the shop if you can maybe hold a little pamper evening with taster treatments and see if you can do it in conjunction with other local people like tarot readers or someone who sells juice plus or something? Just a nice fun night to get your self in people's minds.

I think you'd be surprised how many business owners know basic accounting principles and don't realise they are making next to no money after everything is paid for because they are robbing peter to pay Paul (I think that's the expression) you sound like you are doing really well so stick to your gut business instinct xxx


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[Haylez250]

I find 'pamper' offers are good at this time of year as people are spending so much money on toes, lashes, waxing etc for holidays. We do a special offer on Facebook every month and it's usually along the lines of a full body massage for £22 instead of £35, or mini facial plus Indian head something that is strict time limit plus minimal cost. The way I see it is that people add it on and at the moment we're full of 'essential' treatments rather than massages so it's letting people have a bargainpamper plus filling my gaps. I still make a good profit on this.

 

[TheDuchess]

I package up my prices having considered what will upsell nicely and taking advantage of the fact that the client is already on the couch.

Underarm wax with bikini and legs takes less time than 3 clients each having one of those treatments and wax is cheap - so I discount. I tell clients about the package when they book so they often upgrade. I make the same profit per minute and more money overall and client gets value for money - we both win!

If I have a client who goes very red after facial hair removal, I suggest combining with a facial and use a hot compress or steam prior to hair removal followed with a soothing mask. I give them a hand massage whilst the mask is on and discount the hair removal. Client leaves without giveaway red bananas on their face and feeling that the extra time and money was worth it and that they have had a great deal. Meanwhile I'm congratulating myself on converting a cheap treatment and pop in customer into a loyal regular client paying good money.

But you can only upsell a client when you have a booking. Deals help to create footfall and enquiries