Groupon, a deal too far
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Having been a beauty therapist for 22 years, owning my own salon for 18 years, I have seen the various advancements and near clinical treatments evolve within the industry. From what was essentially a wage earner, the beauty business has spiralled into a very rewarding profession.
I currently own a large salon in a busy little town centre and have seen both the growth and the demise of trade during the current recession. The tightening of belts in most household budgets is bound to have a knock on effect to businesses that rely on the disposable income of working families. Fortunately there is a strong desire in todays society to look good, but where clients were rebooking at three weeks, they now try to make it back to the salon four weeks later. All in all, we as salon owners have to maintain very high standards to retain clients.
The recent upsurge of online price buster sites such as Groupon, were seen as a welcome lift to falling appointment books, and on the face of it, they do have a place in my view for certain promotions. However, having been approached to utilise their services, I have come to the conclusion that they are becoming increasingly harmful to the beauty business.
Groupon, suggested I should come up with a one-off deal that would draw in the masses, they were quite keen for me to do an offer on keratin hair straightening on the hair side of my business, as it had proved a great success for many other salons, their argument being that once the new clients book in for the offer, they will add on other treatments within the salon when they visit, a reasonable assumption. I arrived at a bargain price of £99.00 for what is a two to three hour treatment using approximately £30.00 of product cost. This to me seemed an opportunity to promote my salon and break even on the deal.
When Groupon, called me back, they suggested I offer this deal at £35.00 as other salons had used this price to great success. At this point, I began to realise the offer would not be self-financing regardless of the numbers of new clients this offer would attract. Furthermore Groupon, were to receive full payment from the client on booking the appointment whilst retaining 50% of the cost for their part in the promotion, the monies due to me would be paid approximately 14 days later. I declined their offer as unacceptable.
Discounting treatments does work, however these sites have created a following that chase the various deals on offer, they will not, in my view breed any loyalty to your salon whatsoever, the suggestion that these appointments will book other treatments when they arrive is flawed, in that, they are at your salon to save money and the real purpose of these clients is to have a cheap day out at a salon they have not previously visited.
My conclusion is age old, to have a busy salon you need to be consistent, welcoming and essentially, be the best at what you do. Anyone can give away their time and service, the real skill is in your ability to make your client feel that for the period of their visit, special.
I have seen little salons set-up and make unbeatable offers, but the truth is, even in these recent roller coaster trading conditions, Client retention is based on these principals and your ability to create a haven for them during their precious time with you. There will always be a need for these new little salons as peoples budgets fluctuate and we all need to cut our cloth accordingly, but the real success stories never gave away the family silver!
Having been a beauty therapist for 22 years, owning my own salon for 18 years, I have seen the various advancements and near clinical treatments evolve within the industry. From what was essentially a wage earner, the beauty business has spiralled into a very rewarding profession.
I currently own a large salon in a busy little town centre and have seen both the growth and the demise of trade during the current recession. The tightening of belts in most household budgets is bound to have a knock on effect to businesses that rely on the disposable income of working families. Fortunately there is a strong desire in todays society to look good, but where clients were rebooking at three weeks, they now try to make it back to the salon four weeks later. All in all, we as salon owners have to maintain very high standards to retain clients.
The recent upsurge of online price buster sites such as Groupon, were seen as a welcome lift to falling appointment books, and on the face of it, they do have a place in my view for certain promotions. However, having been approached to utilise their services, I have come to the conclusion that they are becoming increasingly harmful to the beauty business.
Groupon, suggested I should come up with a one-off deal that would draw in the masses, they were quite keen for me to do an offer on keratin hair straightening on the hair side of my business, as it had proved a great success for many other salons, their argument being that once the new clients book in for the offer, they will add on other treatments within the salon when they visit, a reasonable assumption. I arrived at a bargain price of £99.00 for what is a two to three hour treatment using approximately £30.00 of product cost. This to me seemed an opportunity to promote my salon and break even on the deal.
When Groupon, called me back, they suggested I offer this deal at £35.00 as other salons had used this price to great success. At this point, I began to realise the offer would not be self-financing regardless of the numbers of new clients this offer would attract. Furthermore Groupon, were to receive full payment from the client on booking the appointment whilst retaining 50% of the cost for their part in the promotion, the monies due to me would be paid approximately 14 days later. I declined their offer as unacceptable.
Discounting treatments does work, however these sites have created a following that chase the various deals on offer, they will not, in my view breed any loyalty to your salon whatsoever, the suggestion that these appointments will book other treatments when they arrive is flawed, in that, they are at your salon to save money and the real purpose of these clients is to have a cheap day out at a salon they have not previously visited.
My conclusion is age old, to have a busy salon you need to be consistent, welcoming and essentially, be the best at what you do. Anyone can give away their time and service, the real skill is in your ability to make your client feel that for the period of their visit, special.
I have seen little salons set-up and make unbeatable offers, but the truth is, even in these recent roller coaster trading conditions, Client retention is based on these principals and your ability to create a haven for them during their precious time with you. There will always be a need for these new little salons as peoples budgets fluctuate and we all need to cut our cloth accordingly, but the real success stories never gave away the family silver!
