Lilianne Caron, the owner of Caronlab Australia and her own beauty salon for over 20 years, reveals her Top 10 tips to ensure your salon is also a waxing success.
- Keep in touch
It seems pretty basic but unfortunately many salons do little to no client follow up. Of course there’s a fine line between excellent customer service and harassing but you know your clients best and where that line is for them so tailor your communications to meet their specific needs. Gather a good email database so you can keep in contact with your clients regularly and spend some time building a good social media network.
- Make it memorable
It often amazes me how many therapists perform their waxing services with nothing more than talc and a citrus wax cleaner. Don’t waxing clients deserve to be pampered a little before and after their hairs are ripped from their body? Cleansing an area before waxing can be relaxing and using an after- wax oil or lotion afterwards can be relaxing as well as soothing. I highly recommend that you perform these treatments as it’s often the little things that stick in clients’ minds – they expect you to wax them but they may not expect to leave your salon feeling refreshed wrapped in a hint of mango aroma!
- Waste not
Where waxing is concerned there can be a lot of wastage. Teach your staff how to save money by using correct waxing techniques and reducing their over-use of utensils like strips and hard wax – hard wax applied far too thick and strips used once and thrown away is money in the bin!
- |Express yourself
Express waxing using my ‘buddy system’ means working smarter not harder without sacrificing results as two therapists working together on a client is more time efficient than two therapists working individually on separate clients. In addition, when therapists work together they tend to become more motivated and team focused than when working alone – and clients often feel extra special as they are given the royal treatment for the same price!
- Open your ears
In this industry you have to be a master chameleon, forever changing your colours to suit the client. By doing so, you may hear little nuggets of information about your business and its perception from the outside world, a view you cannot see without our clients’ help. Picking up on these hints (or sometimes delivered more direct), compliments and/or criticisms will help you improve and grow. This also comes into play when in a treatment – never let a client leave unhappy. Actually check with them before your finish, you may not have done something they really wanted!
- Would you like fries with that?
Retail sales can come from waxing services, not just facial or spa treatments. If you’re nervous about retailing just try one product to begin with, this could be an ingrown hair treatment, an exfoliating mitt or even a pair of tweezers – it’s a lot easier to sell a $20 ingrown hair treatment to six clients in a day than a $120 product to one client after a facial!
- Wax with the best
I can’t stress this point enough – If you buy the cheapest wax and then have to use more of it than the expensive alternative, have you really saved anything, especially since staff are more likely to waste it as well as it’s “just the cheap stuff”. Quality products made from quality ingredients will also result in better outcomes for your clients (eg, reduced irritations, redness and ingrown hairs). Your supplies should be the least of your worries. With all the other stresses of a business, you really don’t have time to deal with brittle wax or splitting spatulas.
- Be clean to keep them keen
Beauty therapy is not pretty. The washing of towels, scrubbing of floors and general cleaning is certainly not something they mention enough in beauty school. I’ve always ensured my waxing rooms look magnificent and hygienic. A wax pot should always be shining and clean for each client. Ensure no wax residue remains anywhere but the wax pot, and the bin is out of client sight. I’ve seen salons with strings of strip wax all over pots, trolleys and floors. There’s nothing worse than a client getting home from a treatment with wax stuck to the bottom of their feet or shoes!
- Never stop learning
Never think you or your staff know it all, especially with waxing! There are so many wonderful techniques, hints and tips you can gain from each other in a salon. Something that may seem so simple to one has never occurred to someone else. Spend time once a month with all your staff performing a treatment and see just what you can learn from each other. Look into specialised training in certain techniques such as Brazilian waxing. It can often take more formal classes for therapists to become comfortable in performing treatments like this. Investing in your staff is certainly worth every penny!
- Keep focussed
Never lose your focus and always be shifting your goals. You and your business need to evolve but don’t forget to involve your staff in this process. They need goals too, set them and watch them be achieved. Share the good times and the bad with your staff; this will make them want to work with you, not just for you. All previous points to this one do in fact relate! If cleanliness is something you want to improve, make it so. This is your business so set clear achievable goals and be empowered!
Caronlab Australia has been supplying beauty salons in Australia and around the world with superior salon waxes and accessories since 1979. For more information visit www.caronlab.com.au