Pamper Your Clients: Don't Just Slap on a Mask and Leave Them

 I had a customer today tell me that of all the places she has had facials from luxury resorts, cruises to franchise spas that I am the only esthetician who didn't leave her while the mask dried. I was surprised. Her actual words were, "Most estheticians slap on some cream and walk away for 15-20 minutes while the mask dries."

I can't say that I was really surprised, I have heard many estheticians say that they do bookkeeping or inventory control while their client is left alone to relax. In theory it sounds good, the client can sleep while the mask is drying, but in dollars it doesn't make sense to the client.  I should know, I was a client for years before becoming an esthetician. One of my biggest pet peeves was an esthetician who left me for a long period of time; they didn't go the extra mile to make sure I was pampered, and they literally slapped on a mask and left me cook for 15 minutes.

When I became an esthetician, I vowed to give my clients my absolute best! On the rare occasions that I need to step out of the room, I quietly whisper to the client to let them know what I have to do and when I will be back, I am never gone more than 2-3 minutes. I can only think of  handful of times that I have had to leave my clients, situations where I needed an extra towel or I had an eyemask cooling off in the fridge. For my hour long facials, I am in the room for the entire facial, and with exception of those rare occasions I mentioned above, my hands are touching my client the entire hour. I vow to make every movement pampering, make every minute of those 60 minutes feel worthy of the high prices they pay for a facial.

What do I do when the mask is drying?  I do everything from a scalp massage to a decollotee warming massage to anti-aging hand facial ending with warm towels. For some of my favorite clients, I do a warm towel wrapped around their feet with aromatherapy oils. You can get creative as you want, and I change up what I do based on the supplies I have on hand, but I make sure each and every client feels extraordinary when he/she leaves. I want them to feel like the facial was worth every penny.

Think about it for a second, if you paid $75.00 for a facial for roughly 60 minutes that is more than a $1.00 per minute.  No one in their right mind is going to pay that much per minute to have a product slapped on their face, no they want more--they want to be pampered. For as much as they want their skin to improve, many of these clients enjoy being pampered. Most of these clients are financially savvy and they understand what they are getting for the money, and in some cases not getting for the money. If you want to build a clientele the best way is to give each and every client your full attention for that hour, make them feel like what they paid was well worth the money, otherwise they will go somewhere that gives them good bang for their buck! And DO NOT LEAVE THEM FOR VERY LONG--TOUCH THEM FOR THE ENTIRE EXPERIENCE--HUMAN TOUCH IS RELAXING AND CALMING!