Tips to Make Money Even When Selling Through Group Discounters

It seems like everyone is taking advantage of the deep discounts of Groupon, Social Living and other deep discount sellers. Should you get on the bandwagon? It depends on your outlook, a lot of estheticians love it, and others do not. How else can you get a flood of customers to your door without spending a fortune? The downside is you don't make much money if you deeply discount your services, but if you choose to use these discounters to get customers through the door, use the following tips to help increase your revenue and make up for the deep discounts you offered through the group vendor.

My Tips To Increase Revenue When Use Deep Discount Coupons

(1) Decrease the service time by a few minutes--still give them a good service--but honor the time and don't give anyone an extra 5 mins. and do not use extra creams. We all do this with our favorite customers, but when you are discounting your services you need to stick to the plan & budget.

(2) UPSELL--Before the facial or service, depending on the client's skin issues, upsell them anything you can. Collagen boosters, acne scrub, eyebrow wax or tinting--charge them a reduced rate that you normally would if they came in just for these services, and make them think they are yet getting another great deal!

(3) Talk--Talk up your services--this is your chance to let them know you do all types of waxing, makeup, eyelash extensions, Mircorderm, facials, back facials, eyebrow & lash tinting, etc. Whatever service they aren't receiving at the time they are in your treatment room, make sure they know exactly what you offer before the leave. Sound excited about what you do, and they might try another service.

(4) Secure an E-mail Address-Do not let the customers leave without their e-mail addresses. In fact, I would recommend putting the e-mail address on the intake form. Do not let them leave without getting that contact information. This is your window into sending them enticing spa messages that might bring them back to your spa. I can't tell you how many customers have come back to me simply because they got an e-mail special. Sometimes they just get busy or forgot about taking care of themselves, but the e-mail reminds them that they need a brow wax or they need to be pampered.

(5) Retail-Try to sell the clients retail products. For customers in this price bracket who are buying coupon treatments, see if you can sell your retail products. Maybe just for those customers sell the products for less than they could get it online. Make them think they are getting a deal--these people aren't poor, they are cheap--they are all about the thrill of the deal. Make them think you are giving out an exclusive price to them and they will buy the products up. Compare prices of online and other spas before making a decision, and of course make sure you are covering your wholesale costs plus making a little something.

(6) Packages-Again, these are people looking for rock bottom deals. This is a great time to talk to them about your V.I.P. membership where they can guarantee a monthly facial at a reduced rate. Only you can decide the prices, but for this particular customers I would focus on the price point they paid. Yes, you won't make much money off of these cheap packages for them each month, but you will be able to upsell them on a regular basis.

New Trend in Compensation Plans That Use Your Tip Money to Pay You Hourly

 It never ceases to amaze me just how far spa owners will go these days to put more money in their pockets. Employers want their cake and ice cream too--greed is a powerful motivator. Just when I thought I had seen and heard it all, now another unfair employment trend is popping up in our industry.

I will not name names here, but there is an up and coming Massage/Facial franchise that has a unique, and in my opinion, unethical way of treating their employees. The esthetician is hired on as a regular employee and they get paid an hourly--WELL KIND OF--plus they get commission on their services rendered and then they say the esthetician will receive a 100% (don't we always get a 100% of our tips????) of the tips--AGAIN KIND OF---let me explain below. Keeping reading this might be the difference in your income stream!

There is a new thing called "tip minimum" and yes if you here these words TAKE CAUTION and make sure you understand what you are signing up for before you agree to take the job! Basically, the employer tells you that you are making a guaranteed hourly whether or not you have clients or not. Great, right? That sounds outstanding--you can get paid at least something even if there are no clients, but HOLD ON!!  There is a catch. They will certainly pay you an hourly rate, but they only pay you until you hit a set dollar amount. The CATCH HERE IS--they use your tip money to help reach that set amount--so essentially they do pay you some money hourly for the set hours until you reach that dollar amount that they give you, but much of your hourly comes from your tips.

So until you reach that Holy Grail dollar amount your tips aren't actually your tips they go to help pay you your hourly rate so the SPA OWNER IS ACTUALLY MAKING MORE MONEY because they aren't having to pay you hourly 100%. It is a sketchy way of circumventing around actually paying you the full hourly that they promise you. It is more money earned for them, less they have to spend and less money for you and yet you are required to work a certain shift because you are technically an employee who is paid by the hour. They have to by law (in most states) pay you an hourly if they require you to be there for a set number of hours.

Then when you ask for a copy of your compensation plan in writing they will not give it to you. Sure they will give you a commission plan that tells you what you will make per facial or waxing service, but they will not tell you exactly how you are paid in writing. If everything is on the up and up then why do they use fast-talking and confusion tactics to reel in the best estheticians--in my opinion, there is unequivocally a reason for this. To me, it is all about making them rich and making estheticians poorer.

I am not saying you should not work for these places, but what I am saying is to be cautious and know the new industry terms for compensation plans for spas. Don't let these people rope you in without you knowing the facts and how it affects your bottom line.

Surviving Your Clinical: The Second Part of the Interview

Most people have anxiety about interviews, but estheticians in particular have an increased dose of stress when it comes to spa interviews. If you are still in esthetics school you might not know what in the world I talking about, but in the esthetics world it is customary for spa owners to receive a facial to make sure you make the grade. Must be awesome being a spa owner!! I would like to conduct some interviews to get some free facials. How do you get through the clinical without stressing?--dropping every loud tool, splashing water in their eyes, masks getting stuck and the list of things that could go wrong when you have high anxiety can make or break your interview.

Remember, you are a professional. You can make a few mistakes and it is likely the owner won't notice if you don't stress. While it can be hard to work in a spa room that you aren't familiar; product line that you might not know; and protocols that might be different than you are used to--but if you stay calm and focused you can make it through the clinical without any major mishaps.

 I had a situation once where I had to use a new product line, and it was going really well--I got the line despite having never used it.  I read the user manual and it was easy and then came the self-drying mask that didn't come off easily. I was mortified and worried that the owner noticed the trouble I was having with this tricky mask. Then I couldn't find a spatula that I needed and then the steamer was way too close to the bed and it felt like it had bumped the treatment bed. Despite the mishaps, the owner loved the facial and offered me the job. I think she offered me the job because I stayed calm, confident and I focused on the entire facial instead of a couple mishaps which could have emotionally caused me to frantic and become anxious thus I would have made bigger, more intrusive mistakes.

While we as estheticians are used to giving facials (either at school or on the job) it never ceases to amaze me how anxious we can become when we know we are being tested and judged. I think it is human nature to be a little worried about how you will perform.

My top tips to a successful clinical interview:
(1) Research the product line--familiarize yourself with the products. If you have the money in your budget buy one or two samples on Ebay.
(2) Learn everything you can about the spa. If it is a chain spa and you have it in your budget, get a facial from that place.
(3) Visit www.glassdoor.com and www.indeed.com to read reviews from former employees (if it is a larger company).
(4) Watch product line videos online from skin care company so you know exactly how to perform their facials.

Many Spas Are Classifying Estheticians As Independent Contractors When They Are Actually Employees

 

It is sad, but in this industry many spas are calling employees independent contractors when they are actually employees. Why would they do this? The better question is why wouldn't they do this if they can get away with it? They can circumvent around employment taxes and they don't have to pay into FICA or follow any employment laws if their staff is classified as an independent contractor.

So how do I know if I am actually an independent contractor or an employee?

An independent contractor usually means someone who is getting paid a commission split on services and or paid by service. This means the contractor is working independently within a business and the owner and independent contractor agree to certain terms. In most cases, this is put in writing to protect both parties. Generally the independent contractor determines their own hours, and they do not report to anyone at the business with the exception of working as a team with the owner for their mutual benefit. The business cannot require or demand that the independent contractor work certain shifts--they can request that they work within certain hours, but this all needs to be agreed upon in writing prior to the start of the business relationship.

What is an employee in a spa?

An employee is required to work certain shifts and days/hours a week...an employee must get all vacations approved. An employee is paid by the hour and works directly under the supervision of a designated manager.

Many spas are illegally classifying employees as independent contractors to keep staff on hand at all times without having to pay hourly rates. They avoid paying FICA and circumvent employment laws. The key difference is when an employer requires an esthetician to work a certain shift ...when you only get paid per service and not hourly you are not required to stay onsite unless you are getting paid per hour.

This seems to be a trend in the beauty industry these days. Why wouldn't these employers try it? If they can get an esthetician to agree to work from 10-7PM without paying them a dime unless there are services rendered then they always have staff on hand for walk in's without having to pay for it. They lose nothing! They have an esthetician on hand who might make good money if there is a ton of business, but on slow days and only one or two clients come in the esthetician might earn only a few dollars per hour or nothing per hour depending on the situation. These spas will tell estheticians how busy they are, but the reality is it isn't their bills that can't be paid with working in such an unpredictable employment situation.

The worse part is that this is illegal and unethical. They can't have it both ways. Either they hire an employee to be on staff at all times and risk losing some money during slow times, or they pay the estheticians an hourly rate which is fair and equitable.

My question to these employers is "Would you work for free?"

We all know the answer of course, they absolutely wouldn't work for free. These greedy spa owners are finding a loop hole in the term "independent contractor" by abusing the system and not paying employees an hourly fee when one is due. If you encounter this during an interview, please let these employers know it is illegal. If you are working in a situation like this turn them in to the Federal Employment Office. No one deserves this kind of treatment, and these greedy spa owners are abusing their power and taking advantage of estheticians who are so desperate for a job.