Pedicure season is here! Clients have shed their wool socks and winter boots for strappy summer sandals and pretty painted toes. To help you get your fair share of the market (and then some!), we tapped salon owners around the U.S .to share their most successful strategies for a runaway pedicure season.
1. Partner up with brands you love. Enlist the help of your favorite brands to help sell your pedicure service. A new color collection or service created around a line of products may be just the thing to peak clients’ interest, and tip the scales toward a full book. “We partnered with Floss Gloss to promote their new colors,” says Rita de Alencar Pinto, founder of Vanity Projects in New York and Miami. “We offered a basic mani/pedi at a discounted price, and pushed [the promotion] through social media channels.” Similarly, Carla Hatler owner of Lacquer in Austin, Texas, used pedicure season as an opportunity to introduce clients to Footlogix. “We created a new pedicure on our menu using the full line of Footlogix products and we offered any customer that booked a Deluxe pedicure a complimentary upgrade to a Footlogix pedicure,” says Hatler, who adds that the staff was also trained on the ingredients and benefits of the line. “It was so successful because the team felt like they had something special they could give to their clients and clients were surprised and delighted by a complimentary upgrade. It resulted in rebookings and dramatically increased our home care sales of Footlogix products.”
3. Create a buzz around your pedi bowls. Clients may take for granted that you offer a comfortable chair and a soothing soak with each pedicure service. Remind them just how super your salon is by drawing attention to your upgraded equipment, superior sanitation or eco-friendly services. Traci Dungan, co-owner of the ProFiles franchise in Florida, recently promoted the salons’ revamp of its pedicure areas in local advertising and on social media. “We brought in new portable tubs made especially for pedicures and we’ve incorporated hot stones into the service,” says Dungan. “We also reminded clients that we use a hospital grade cleaner for the tubs and stones that meets state board and OSHA standards.”
5. Call out your pedi credentials. Got special training to perform medical grade pedicures or the skills to work on a specific population? Or, are you a whiz at toenail art? Let your clients know! “My most successful marketing promotion was to set myself apart from the ordinary salon in my community of Key West,” says Karen Hodges, owner of Morning Glory Beauty in Fort Myers, Florida. “I took Janet McCormick’s Advanced Nail Technician training course and applied all the teachings in the course to create a referral relationship with the podiatrist in my community. I made sure my cards were available at both the podiatrist’s office and the dermatologist’s office in my small town. The word got around that I was the person for diabetics or other chronically ill persons to come see.” No matter which promotion you push, it’s imperative that your pedicure section is geared up and ready to go.
Here, the latest and greatest in pedicure chairs, tubs and bowls:
Designed with busy techs in mind, the Lexor Elite features the Auto-Fill System. Switch it on and the basin fills completely. Once the basin is full, the water automatically shuts off and the whirlpool jets start, leaving the tech more time to focus on the client. The chair also includes a Digital Control System that allows techs to easily monitor the temperature, seat position and the LED color-changing bowl display. 888.479.6916, lexor.com
What’s your favorite pedicure promotion in the salon? Tell us in the comments, below.
[IMAGES: (Top) Getty; (Products) Courtesy of Manufacturer]
This article was first published in the May 2017 issue of NAILPRO.