Karen Houshultz has grown her business over the past 17 years, starting as a behind-the-chair cosmetologist with a three-operator salon to now running the 8,000-square-foot Apple Day Spa & Salon Inc., in Honesdale, PA, that has more than 26 employees. Karen also mentors other business owners with innovative marketing strategies and has spoken to numerous business groups about her aggressive approach on business growth and marketing. She can be reached at karen@appledayspa.com.

You need to start out with the basics in any spa setting. However, you, your staff and your clients will quickly get bored with the same old treatments. The spa enthusiast is savvier today and is seeking more out of their treatments. So, let’s give it to them. Choose wisely, and do your research.

1. Choose the best treatments for you. If you like a certain treatment, chances are your clientele will, too. What I have done in the past and have suggested to my staff is to go to other spas outside your area and sample some of the treatments you don’t currently do. I find this to be the best way to choose new and different services before investing.

2. You (or your staff member) liked the service. Now what? The first thing you need to do is to evaluate the cost of doing the service. Many spa services require a wet treatment room, and if you’re not set up for this, it could be costly. Your best bet is to make sure your treatment rooms are multi-service, meaning you can do both wet and dry treatments. If you already have the room, then you only need to figure the cost of product per treatment. Research the best products; your clients (like you) deserve the best (and don’t mind paying for the best).

3. Now that you’ve tried the service and gotten all the right products and space, you need to try the service on other employees. If they like it, then they’ll want to perform the service. There’s nothing worse than putting your time, effort and money into a new service that no one will promote. Make sure you educate your staff (including your front desk) on what the treatment does and how it will benefit the client. Make sure you even try the treatment on your front desk staff—they’re the ones doing all the talking.

4. Run a special. Make sure you introduce your new treatment with flair. Make a big show out of it, and get your staff and clients excited about it. Run a special pricing for this treatment alone, and get feedback from you staff and clients. They’ll be sure to let you know if they like it or not. Run the special for a month, and see how many clients re-book the same treatment again. If they do, you have a successful new treatment to add to your brochure.

If you would like a copy of our brochure, which has many exciting and different spa treatments, email me at karen@AppleDaySpa.com.

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