Creating a Signature Service (Part 1)

How do you keep things interesting for your regulars? Do you offer a signature service that they can’t get anywhere else? Maybe you have seasonal services to mix things up? Perhaps you don’t know how to create one of those options and could use a bit of an idea on how to get started creating them?

A warm thanks to Beauty Reflectionz in Ottumwa, IA for letting me invade their salon to do a photo shoot and design this service!  They let me use their pedicure area and were even kind enough to provide a model.

To begin creating this service I took a look at the pedicure area to see what inspiration I could draw from it.  Maybe have a friend look at your area and tell you what comes to mind, or maybe you could just look at and see it with your “nail eyes” instead of your everyday eyes.  Let’s try it out together to help you get the idea.

Looking at this what do you see? If all you see is a couch, open up your nail eyes and see beyond the couch. Think in ingredients or think about your spa products. Think food or flavors. If I influence your mind can you see milk chocolate and dark chocolate? See how that works?! You want to influence how your client sees the area. When I walked past this room, the first thing that came to mind was cinnamon. Once the cinnamon was swirling about in my thoughts I wondered about things that paired with it easily.

Now there is a pillow added. This pillow is only added for this service so that it changes things up a bit even for the regulars — simple but effective! Can you guess where this is going? What if I tell you apple and cinnamon, can you see it now?

The next step is ingredients. Think about the entire stock of salon manicure and pedicure products you have on your back bar.  Are any of them able to be mixed and matched? Is there one thing that you could purchase and add to what you already have that would change the service completely? I tend to think instantly of CND products, but the process can be used with whatever line you use! In this case, I know that CND offers an apple cinnamon body wash and lotion. This will be fine for a pedicure soak and a massage, but I need something to take it to the next level so that it truly is a custom service. In the Raw Earth line there is a scrub that does not have an overpowering scent of its own and warms on contact with water. Since this will be either a signature or seasonal service, that is just the extra touch needed.

Have you thought of the “ingredients” to the service you would like to build? Now let’s decide what price range we would like to put it in so we know what can be a part of the service. A seasonal or custom service is always more expensive than the average everyday services on the menu. It is special, something to mix things up from the everyday. The owner of Beauty Reflectionz is Sonja; so what came to mind for me on this service was Sonja’s Spiced Apple Splurge as a signature salon service. What does splurge mean to you? Using a descriptive word in your service name can give the person considering the service some idea of what to expect. Reading Sonja’s Spiced Apple Splurge hopefully brought to mind thoughts of indulgence — and while it might be pricey, it will be worth every penny. The plan is to incorporate Shellac (or another brand of gel polish if you use something else) on the nails, a pedicure, Rockstar Toes, and a snack and beverage. Maybe you already have a full menu of very decadent services and you would like to introduce something fun but economical seasonally. We could go the other route and run with a Warm Cinnamon Apple Pedicure. The thinking here is that it is an inexpensive seasonal service that you must get while it is available because it is only available for a limited time. This gives new people incentive to come in and regular clients something fun and new to look forward to seasonally. Let’s offer a quick pedicure with a take home gift.

I would like to give you some homework before we continue with this so you have a chance to take stock of the products you have in the salon or maybe even research what you have and what is compatible with it. Maybe even start playing around with combinations of products, service pricing, and service names. Are you in need of a signature service or leaning more toward something seasonal? Put some thought into it, round up some ideas, and I will be back in a few days with part two!

— Holly