Offering beauty treatments in your salon

Offering beauty alongside hair makes business sense as you already have a captive market. Introducing skincare treatments and products into a hair salon means you maximise the profit on every client who walks through the door, without needing to increase your client base. Meanwhile, time-strapped clients looking for a one-stop shop that offers hair, beauty and nails under one roof will inevitably head for your door. However, before introducing beauty into your salon you need to take a number of factors into account if you want it to be a success. Setting Up | Choosing The Right Brand | Drawing Up Your Treatment Menu | What to Put on the Menu | Marketing and Retail

Setting Up

There are several crucial points to consider:

• Check demand for beauty services with hair in your area by doing informal local market research
• Ask clients which beauty treatments appeal most – and the maximum they are prepared to pay
• Come up with something different to attract beauty clients
• You need a quiet, reasonably-sized room, preferably sound-proofed and at the back of the salon. It must be big enough to house/store furniture, products and equipment, and for the client to change in
• The room needs a basin so the therapist doesn’t need to go out when water is required for treatments
• The minimum amount of equipment needed is a hardwearing, sturdy beauty couch (the wider the better, since more men are booking in for beauty treatments), preferably electricity-driven (easier to raise/lower); a stool/chair for the therapist to sit on while delivering a treatment; and a trolley to hold products.

However, in practical terms, you will need far more if you are serious about offering beauty, so ask suppliers for advice and prices. Suppliers include: REM, Carlton Professional, Aston & Fincher, Ellisons, and Beauty Express.

Selecting the right brand

Even if you are familiar with what is available in the skin and bodycare market, the choice is bewildering.

• Know your brand message and image before you search for a product range – otherwise, it is confusing to both yourself and your clients.
• Research thoroughly. Talk to clients, your team, and other salons to get feedback
• Look at what other salons the skincare company has as stockists nationally – and its standards should fit in with yours. If you go ahead with a particular supplier, find out what local outlets its brand is available in, where it plans to expand to in the future, and if it offers an exclusivity clause so the next-door salon (whether beauty and/or hair) does not offer it
• Check price of minimum opening orders for professional use and retail stock – these can range from £500 to more than £7,000 – as well as guaranteed delivery times, and delivery charges for the initial order. Long delivery times mean you need to keep more in stock and this can soak up space.
• Check support from sales representatives, and how often they will visit your business. Many suppliers help with displays and promotional evenings (important when setting up a beauty department and for ongoing publicity). And ask about the amount of training the company provides; location of training, frequency and cost. Beauty therapists need to be up to speed on the latest products and techniques so as to offer clients the best and, if it’s just one therapist doing treatments, you may have to close the section while she trains.

Drawing Up The Treatment Menu

• Decide on your target market and cater for its needs
• Your salon’s location will play a big part in any decisions. As before, invest in extensive market research (either formally or informally) before deciding on your treatment menu. Some clients may want instant, invisible results; others, pampering, relaxing treatments; many will want both but on different visits
• Don’t make your treatment menu too long and convoluted since this confuses clients, who may then opt for something unsuitable for their skin, and you will lose them. A short but comprehensive therapy line-up is best; a streamlined menu allows staff to work to the same high standard, so the client is offered a great experience, which locks in their loyalty.

What to Put on the Menu

• Massage (in all its different forms), facials, waxing and nail services remain the most in-demand treatments nationwide, while tanning (mainly self-tanning) is also popular
• Electro-therapy treatments – high-tech equipment is used to deliver electrical impulses to help firm and tone face and body, and drive product ingredients into the deeper layers of skin where they work very effectively. These feature strongly on beauty salon treatment menus as they are non-invasive and rejuvenating. The machines – which can be expensive – can never replace a therapist’s touch, but, since we live in a society that demands instant gratification, and these treatments deliver impressive results in a relatively short time, they are gaining ground. Names to check out are CACI, Sorisa, Depilex, HOF, and Crystal Clear
• Paramedical treatments, such as Botox and dermal fillers, are huge. Collagenics, an independent company, offers a deal where it organises a weekly or monthly clinic and provides practitioner, treatments and marketing material, with the salon providing the room/clients receiving a commission. Saks Hair & Beauty is one of its customers
• Services to remove unwanted hair can also be lucrative.
  • Waxing is the most popular and least complicated since it is instant, quick and easy (Ellisons, Aston & Fincher and HOF supply an excellent range of equipment and products) and the therapist needs no special skills or training.
  • Electrolysis is another well-regarded hair-removal technique, but you need a skilled, experienced therapist who, preferably, specialises in it (contact the British Institute and Association of Electrolysis for names of practitioners).
  • Using laser or intense pulsed light (IPL) to remove unwanted hair is much in demand, but it is a specialised paramedical treatment. If you offer laser/IPL you need a dedicated room, a specially-trained therapist and registration with the HealthCare Commission under the Care Standards Act 2000 – otherwise you are breaking the law. Well-established companies supplying equipment and training include Ellipse Pulsed Light, Cyden, and Lumenis.

Marketing and Retailing

Marketing and retailing are the two final steps in setting up a beauty division within your business. On The Shelf Homecare is vital if clients are to enhance and maintain the professional, in-salon results. Enter retailing, which is essential for this; it also helps with salon profits. Great retail merchandising is about a common-sense, disciplined approach and, as a seasoned salon owner, you know the drill:

1. Spotless shelves packed with products
2. Ensuring products are easy to pick up, smell, touch and test
3. Smaller items placed at eye level
4. Merchandising products in the sequence they might be used: cleansers, toners, moisturisers, masks
5. Well-lit area
6. Plenty of point-of-sale material
7. Trained staff who are knowledgeable and talk the talk
8. Easy-to-see pricing.

Marketing Moves Creative marketing and PR initiatives equate with success. So:

1. Ask hairdressing staff to talk about your beauty initiative, and let them try out the treatments for themselves so they can be more knowledgeable
2. Place brochures around the salon
3. Display the therapy menu prominently in as many locations as possible
4. Leaflet drop
5. Put together a direct mail campaign
6. Feature beauty on your website
7. Put together promotional packages and money-off offers (such as bring-a-friend-and-receive-a-free-treatment) for a limited time
8. Have pretty gift vouchers
9. Hold an open evening for loyal (and prospective) clients and the local media (radio, TV, magazines, newspapers), where you serve drinks and canapés, therapists give brief introductory and explanatory talks on the different therapies, and plenty of mini-treatments (hand massage, basic manicure, head and shoulders massage, express facial) are available – as are goody bags
10. Send out regular newsletters highlighting treatments (particularly new ones) and special offers. Beauty complements the services offered by a hairdressing salon since it gives a complete experience under one roof. In keeping with the work/life balance, clients today want to extract the most from the few hours they spend away from work and family. Not offering beauty services leaves your salon open to losing clients to other salons in the area who do offer this service.