As the poet Thomas Tusser observed in 1557, “Sweet April showers do spring May flowers.” As the owner of a medical spa practice, taking the time now to prepare for spring will help you generate spring showers of cash for your bottom line. Here are some ideas on how you can shower your clients and grow your male clients with enticing added value specials, which in turn will create more loyalty and bring golden flowers to your bottom line. Retention and loyalty are the keys to success.
APRIL SHOWERS
Consider building on the April showers theme; carry the theme throughout your various promotional venues – Facebook, blogs, your website, your displays, and so on. For example, offer clients the opportunity to “Save for a Rainy Day” by pre-purchasing a set of injectables and fillers now and “banking” them for use over the next 12 months. You could expand this idea for any other treatment options you offer. This helps stimulate cash flow now. It also results in your-clients visiting your practice more often. Each time a client walks through the door, you have an opportunity to grow your bottom line.
Vary the size and cost of the rainy day packages to appeal to a wide range of clients. Mix up the offerings. Bundle complementary services into packages that can be purchased now and used over the course of the next three, six, nine, or 12 months. Put together packages with products that complement specific services and educate clients on how these products help prolong the benefits of the treatment they just received.
EVENTS
Brainstorm ideas with your staff in a monthly marketing meeting on how to retain current clients and how to increase traffic to your practice. Hold a series of educational “lunch and learn” seminars over the lunch hour that highlight products and services you offer. Make it more appealing by providing a light box lunch to participants with goodie bag gifts. Keep presentations to 15 minutes, then do questions and answers. It’s great if you can show live demonstrations with before and after photos. Make the total event time 50 minutes, so people can attend during their lunch break. Offer “today-only” for attendees call-to-action discounts on featured products and services if they are purchased during the lunch and learn. Consider hosting other events such as “bring a friend” events where attendees receive added value discounts. More proven successful ideas include mother and daughter events, teenage skin care (must bring parent) events, men’s night, and more. Be creative and have fun. This is all about increasing your client base and getting more people through the door. Consider holding a drawing at these events for a free service and creatively packaged gift basket of products that match the event theme. Create high value bundles – for example, a basket and gift card with a $1,000 value.
EASTER
Take advantage of holidays. Easter falls during the spring. Decorate your spa using an Easter theme. Include Easter baskets filled with plastic Easter eggs containing discount coupons and allow each client making a purchase to select an egg.
SPRING FLING
Another theme for this time of year is “Spring Fling.” Rekindle the idea of romance by promoting spring as the time to fall in love. Offer couples massage or facial packages, his and her skin care gift baskets, laser hair removal packages, and more. A natural tangent is antiaging. Ideas include promoting neurotoxins and dermal fillers, makeup lessons, and such. Offer the option for clients to purchase a series of treatments now and bank them for use over the course of the coming months with offers they cannot refuse.
SUMMER PREP
The advent of springtime means that summer isn’t far behind. Run a promotion using the theme “Get a Head Start on Your Beach Body” and feature special discounts on body sculpting and fat reduction services. Partner with a local boutique that sells swim and beachwear and hold a fashion show at your spa. Create invites for local boutiques to e-mail or mail out to help grow your database. Offer tips on preventing sun damage and antiaging remedies. Provide sample bags of sunscreen and other skin care treatments and home maintenance products. Offer discounts on packages of services ranging from sexy bodies to facial procedures. Use your imagination.
MEN
Don’t leave out the men. The male client is actually much more dedicated and doesn’t switch providers as easily as a woman would for a special deal at another spa. Thinning hair – think healthy scalp and hair restoration options. There have been many advances in permanent hair restoration techniques. While hair restoration procedures are primarily performed on men, more and more women are having follicular unit extraction done to address their hair loss. Follicular unit extraction is a method of hair follicle transplantation with natural looking results. Eyebrow restoration is gaining in popularity as a permanent alternative to microblading and the addition of pigments that can fade over time.
Keep your staff engaged and having fun with these promotional events. Customer service is critical to a successful medical spa practice. If your staff isn’t happy and engaged, your clients will know it. Be sure to include staff in event and promotional planning. They have great ideas.
To keep your bottom line growing, try new things, have fun, and be creative. “Spa Season” would love hearing about your successes, as well as answering any questions you might have. Please feel free to contact us.
Next month’s “Spa Season” will talk about marvelous May celebrations and how to turn them into profits.
Internationally recognized aesthetic business development expert Cheryl Whitman is the founder and CEO of Beautiful Forever Consulting. She is a sought-after speaker and industry marketing specialist. With her seasoned team of professionals at Beautiful Forever, Whitman assists physicians and medical spas in creating new profit centers, developing profitable private label product lines, ghost writing articles and eBooks, and identifying and executing new business strategies aimed at improving their bottom line. A celebrated author, Whitman’s “Aesthetic Medical Success System,” a turnkey educational system, has assisted clients in opening or jumpstarting their current businesses. Her second book, “Beautifully Profitable, Forever Profitable,” provides solid, practical information on how to create, launch, and grow successful aesthetic medical practices and related businesses.