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Permalink Reply by Beth on October 22, 2011 at 11:42am

Yes, I offer one. I have a calendar on the back of a postcards with each month and treatment listed. They don't have to enroll or prepay for mine however. It is working as I got 4 new clients last week and 2 on the books next week. I did a 45 minute treatment for the service. I am doing micros, light peels, signature facelift, o2 treatments, pumpkin exfoliation, etc. Everything is appropriate for the month like a pumpkin this month and plumping ultrasound treatment in December. I did one flat rate price across the board.

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Permalink Reply by Theresa on October 22, 2011 at 5:01pm

I am doing the same similar thing as Beth. I offer a monthly flat rate membership to clients who book every 4 weeks. No sign up fee, no auto deductions. However, if a client misses their appointment one month then the next month the treatment is regular price. I inform them of this when signing up for the membership. It works out well for me and my clients.

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Permalink Reply by Shannon Meagher on October 23, 2011 at 3:25pm

Hi Gina,

I offer 10% off on all pre-books and I have a rewards program-for any 5 new clients someone sends me they get a free service, unlimited times- 20 people = 4 services. I have made a rewards sheet that I give at the checkout time, they then can give them out to their friends and family and only have to fill out the contact info so I know who sent them. They love this! I have not paid for advertising in over 7 years, never found it paid off, really in that amount time only got less than a handful of people. I use social media and my website, but mainly let my clients be the so called 'billboard' of my work and it pays off! and, of course word of mouth. I also don't discount or have many specials, the 10% pre-book, package specials 4 times a year (with the seasons) and twice a year 'customer appreciation' day with 20% all bookings and that is it.
Hope it helps or sparks some new ideas for you.
Shannon

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Permalink Reply by Gina Williamson on October 23, 2011 at 4:39pm

This sounds great, Shannon! I may be overdoing the discounting..... :-/ I guess in this world of groupon coupons you almost feel like you have no choice in order to compete!! Even the high-end spas are throwing out coupons right and left.....
I have some postcards being printed up with half-price facials for clients to give to their friends (a"refer a friend" promo)....and I was planning to reward the referring client with a half-price service of their choice after their friend's service is complete. Is this a horrible idea??

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Permalink Reply by Shannon Meagher on October 28, 2011 at 9:59pm

I don't know if it is a horrible idea, you can use them as you plan to or maybe mark them somehow and put them different places for people to pick up and when they come back (post cards), you would then know the areas that that support what you do and the ones that don't, you then know that area doesn't work out to your advantage. Then you could go and move those to another place. Just a suggestion.

I really never got caught up in the groupons/coupons, as a lot or most all the people I hear talk about them, always say they would only go back when they got the next coupon ... that is not the clientele I am looking for.

I also look at other professions that have people that would want my services. I gave a personal trainer a facial and then she in turn told all of her clients, she also had my rewards slips and gave them out and then as in my last post, when the 5 come in she gets a free service. I also work with yoga studios the same way.

Always value what you do, you don't need to sell your self short;)
Shannon

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Permalink Reply by Lizabeth Kristiansen on October 29, 2011 at 10:08am

I have tried and done numerous things through out the years. 

No fee monthly membership program: clients who would miss a month would become upset that they couldn't use discount at their next visit, even though they knew policy

5 referrals = free service: never really got referrals because it wasn't enticing enough

 

What has been successful for me:

Refer a friend, they receive 20% off their service (which is also my 1st time client discount), and you receive their balance in Spa Cash. So the friend has a $60 facial -20%= $48 they pay. My client gets $48 dollars in Spa Cash to use on services and its only good for 3 months. I have had great success with this. Some people think wow $48 is a lot for a referral but when I did the math of what it costs to run an advertisement with no new client guarantee, the cost is worth it. My referrals have almost doubled since this program.

 

Prepaid packages is also a huge hit, Buy 4 get 1 Free, comes out to 20% savings per service

 

For clients who can't afford prepay, I started a punch card of 8 services and the 9th is free. I still haven't had a client fill one up yet but those who choose this card seem to love it. This gives a 10% discount per service.

My advice is stick with one marketing idea/program for 6 months and track results, that way you will know if it is working for you and your clients. Be upfront that its a trial program so if you decide to change after 6 months they won't be mad. I think my biggest mistake in running a business was not tracking results, I wasted a lot of money over the years because I thought something was a good idea but when it came to results it wasn't.

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