I love change. Sometimes too much, really. But I just love the excitement of doing something NEW and different. Yet, too much change -- or not fully receiving the benefit of that new and different thing can mean lost efficiency, even lost profits.
The same is true for making changes to your service menu. That fun new treatment you saw at the show, or were introduced to by a skincare sales rep is exciting! Our natural creativity and curiosity blossoms when we learn something new. Our brains are exercised and it is usually just plain fun! But if you make too many menu changes, it is hard for your staff to keep up and hard for your clients to choose. And sometimes we get so busy doing something new, we neglect to full marketing or sell that other service introduced last month.
Here's a list of tasks to do for every new service you add so that you can reap the most rewards (and profits!).
- Decide if it is permanent or limited-time only. This will be key for you to know whether you need to update your brochures and website (which have costs). A good rule to follow is if you add a service to the menu, take another one off. Your clients can easily go into overwhelm mode and be intimidated with too many options. And just because it isn't on your menu, it doesn't mean you can never perform it again -- the one you took off can now be a "secret" or "special" service for VIP clients (assuming the backbar doesn't expire.)
Limited-time only services have special value in that you don't have printed or web editing costs AND it magically increases interest. Anything "limited-time" creates that scarcity alert -- and we all want now what may not be there in the future, right? (I know I horded Disney movies for my unborn children in the 90s because they were "limited time" only.)
- Describe more benefits and less technical terms. Make sure you include the "what's in it for me" in the description. How will your client feel during and after the service? What are the benefits? The results? Avoid using industry-insider descriptions and explanations --- most clients don't understand it.
- Train, train, train. Everyone on staff needs to perform the service very well and confidently. It is almost embarrassing for a client to be excited about a new service, only to realize that they must be a guinea pig for a non-confident spa therapist. If someone isn't ready, they should not be scheduled to do that service.
- Tell the world about it. Use this new service as a reason to talk to everyone. Post fliers in the spa and nearby businesses that will allow it. Highlight in an email, newsletter, direct mail postcard, your website, your answering message and hold music. Write and send out a press release. Invite reporters for a complementary service. Personally call your top 20% clients and invite them to schedule the service.
Sure, this is a big list of things to do. It should make you stop and think...do I REALLY want to do all this work to add this new service? Is it worth it? Will it bring in new and return clients? Because if you add a service willy-nilly and DON'T take advantage of it to it's fullest, you are probably leaving money on the table.
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