Join THE 30-DAY RETAIL REVOLUTION

Your mission should you choose to accept it, is to try to do business with your business. How easy can I find you online? Try finding your business if you don’t know the name of it. There are currently over 1.8 billion websites online today. In the old days, consumers used to let their fingers do the walking. Today, potential clients are surfing the web. Once they find you, are you telling your story succinctly? According to the Nielsen Norman

Group, most users stick around less than 59 seconds once they land on your website. When they finally get to your website, they want to see your phone number and click to dial, your address, your hours, and your specialty. Be clear. Be concise.

4. Establish a brand manager.

Your business brand is a precious asset. Who on your team is the brand ambassador for your beauty business? Recently, I was doing a brand and sales review for a client. Their medspa was “gifted” a marketing company with the purchase of a major piece of medspa equipment, and the contract was coming to an end. I was shocked and appalled when reviewing her business Facebook page when I saw one post all about “cat acne.” There was nothing about this medspa’s amazing corrective skincare or facials. Plus, their inherited marketing company even had a post promoting a laser procedure they did not even offer. The owner/lead esthetician was too busy doing facials every day and not managing her brand.

Another mistake I am seeing is when “non-techy” estheticians hire some 19 year old to handle their social media. Just because this person might be a wiz with their personal Instagram doesn’t mean they will solve all their marketing woes. You or your designed brand manager must be diligent to protect your asset. Your fonts, colors, service, and products all make up the voice of your business to tell the story. While you may have a small company, remember you are still competing against all the big box retailers who have their brand story defined and protected.

5. Make it easy to shop.

Estheticians need to have at least a 30% retail to service ratio to be successful. How easy is it for consumers to shop in your business? Ideally, shoppers should see at least three of every piece to sell on the shelf. My magic number for those beyond private practice is six. One mistake I still see after all these years is that owners need to stock their shelves like professional buyers. Buyers look at merchandise differently than estheticians. They look at trends, price points, press, time-sensitive sales, open-to-buy orders, and more.

How easy is it to physically check out in your store? If you have ever experienced checking out at the Apple Store, you know how painless the checkout process is.

Then. It was easier to be a big fish in a small pond in 1992 since our industry was still in its infancy. You did great work, and customers found you. When you told someone you were an esthetician, they wanted to know if you put people to sleep.

Now. Consumers today are on information overload. You have more tools at your disposal, but you have to learn to use them wisely to cut through the clutter. At least customers know what an esthetician is and what you can do for their skin.