Take Aways/Take Ones

Take aways, or “take ones” as I call them, are an important piece of printed material that any clients and potential clients can take with them. You can put these in other establishments who agree to help promote your business. And more than a business card, take ones give a lot of information about your services that won’t fit on a small business card.

Front and back of my “take ones”

I used to print the price of the facial on these cards, but now I don’t. Depending on how many cards you have printed, information like pricing can become outdated yet you still have a lot of materials to give out. Save yourself some money and don’t put anything like price of services on your printed materials.

I have a lot of information on the front of these cards:

• My logo and my business name, which is my brand
• Yonka logo, so everyone knows what products I use
• I talk about my philosophy, which gives a stranger a hint as to how I will take care of his or her skin
• The facial described and what you’ll get if you come in
• All salon info (phone & mailing address)
• Mailorder information. Many people may not know I have this service—or a website, which is listed here along with my email address
• Salon hours (by appointment)
• Gift certificates are available (putting an idea in people’s minds)
• Acknowledging I offer a newsletter
• Finally, my signature line: healthy skin...for a lifetime, which is also the subtitle to my first book. Another branding opportunity

As you can see, on the front of this card alone I’ve told a potential client many things that will help them decide if they want to come in to see me. It gives a flavor of who I am as an aesthetician as well as what they can expect from the treatment, plus much more.

The back of this card admittedly not everyone can recreate. I am the only aesthetician that I know of who has published two books on skin care, and I utilize this prestigious fact wherever I can. It’s a calling card that is unmistakeably impressive.

You can get creative on the back of your take one cards, the possibilities are endless. However, do not leave this area blank. As long as someone has this card in their hands, you have a golden opportunity to sell yourself and your services.

Here is the Chicago take one in my original green company color, which doesn’t really show up well here. It’s a softer green.

 

Donation Gift Certificates (GCs)

Donating your services can be an advantage in many areas. You are giving back to the community you live and work in, you are helping the person coming in on the GC, and you are getting your name out—more advertising for you.

Many of my clients have small children, and several of these mothers have asked me to donate to their school’s charity auctions. I have donated certificates to organizations I care about when they are having a silent auction or some other affair where having donations is important for them.

I do put a 3-month expiration on all donation GCs. I didn’t start out this way, but over time I have found many of the donation GCs never get redeemed, and nudging the purchaser to not wait and go ahead and call and come in for their facial seems to work best for my ledgers and also my schedule. I also do not put expiration dates around the holidays. With GCs, for whatever reason, many people wait until the last minute to redeem them, and having donation GC recipients booking appointments during the holidays doesn’t work for my busy holiday schedule.

With all the GCs I have donated over the years, only about 50% of the recipients call in for their gift facial. I assume people did bid and purchase the GCs, but for one reason or another just never took the next step, which was to call and make an appointment.

Like any other gift certificate, I make a notation for my records on the actual certificate and on my GC ledger as well. On the back of the certificate I put the date the GC was picked up or sent to the organization. On the line on the front of the GC where a person’s name would usually go, I write the name of the auction, like Fairfield Elementary School Silent Auction. Then the expiration date—3 months from the date of the actual auction.

Any donation made will come with a form for your CPA (or you , if you do your own taxes) that confirms that you made a donation in the amount of “X”. This is very important for your business, so make sure you get the form filled out by the company you’re donating to.

Donations are always appreciated

Gift Certificates (GCs)

Generic GCs front and inside

When I first moved to Boulder, I had clients calling me before I even had my business cards printed. (Referrals from some Chicago clients.) Since I needed to be prepared when I first opened my salon, I purchased these generic gift certificates (GCs) at an office supply store so I’d have them on hand, just in case. I’m glad I did because I ended up using quite a few before I had my usual GCs printed up. These generics are nothing to write home about, but they were inexpensive—a folded card complete with envelopes. (I think I purchased them at Office Depot.) And if you aren’t planning on having GCs printed, at least have something like this on hand so if a client (or stranger) wants to purchase a gift, they can. You can always personalize the card by including a handwritten note about how you look forward to meeting the recipient when they come in to redeem their GC.

If you haven’t already, be sure to have a stamp made with your business name and address—or have labels made up. If the GC isn’t going to be mailed, put your label or stamp on the inside of the card so your business name—and phone number—is on there for the client.

Here are two different gift certificates I have available. The first one has the GC information printed inside on the notecard. The second one is a separate card that I insert into a (usually) blank notecard so the gift-giver can write a note to their loved one. Then the two pieces go into a notecard envelope.

Front of card & information printed inside the notecard

This is a separate card I put in with a (blank) notecard

If the certificate needs to be mailed, do not charge for this service! Keep stamps in your desk; all it requires is a 1st class stamp to get this mailed to the appropriate person.

Keep a record of the GCs you sell and their expiration date(s). I also put the date I sold the certificate and sometimes a code number somewhere unnoticeable on the GC. Usually, unless you sell a lot of certificates in a given date, the date suffices. Something like “09182015115” as in September 18, 2015 $115 paid or some other code you want to use. Using the date as the code helps you to reference when the GC was purchased.

I like to fill the certificates out myself so everything is legible; you can do it yourself or have the buyer fill it out. Always fill in the expiration date yourself. Depending on my business, I will have an expiration date from 6 months to one year after the date of purchase. I find people either call and come in immediately or wait until a few days before the certificate expires.

You’ll find the policies that work best for you; for me, when it comes to gift certificates, I am very flexible. I don’t believe I should get the money someone spent on this gift and not end up doing the work for it, not allowing the receiver to come in after the certificate has expired. However everything is up for review and if someone calls 6 months late—I’d have to really weigh whether or not to honor the GC.

When the recipient calls to make the appointment, I explain the same cancellation policy I have with regular paying clients: I require 24 hours notice of cancellation. If the GC recipient no-shows her appointment, unfortunately she automatically forfeits the GC; I will not honor it if she calls again. No-shows never, in my experience, ever call to come in after they have missed their appointment. If she does call, she’ll have to pay regular price for the facial, and I will be sure to get a credit card number—just in case.

No-shows (without an amazing reason) get charged in my business. You must, however, inform the client of your policies prior to her coming in. As you will read in Website ideas: My Cancellation Policy I do this live, over the phone, so I know she has heard my policy 100%.

“I want you back!”—discounts and postcards

Going through your client chart files is an important part of keeping up with your business. This is yet another reason it is so crucial to make charts on each and every client. Because I don’t want to clog my files with inactive clients, I will go through the files every 3-6 months. See Client Information Charts—Part I & Part II (links below).

I take out any client who hasn’t been in for 6 months and put their chart in a pile. I will send “I want you back!” discount post cards to each client who hasn’t been in for the last 6 months (or longer). I write down the date I send the PC and put these charts in a separate file. The chart of anyone who comes in from the post card will be put back in the active files once they have come in.

For those who did not respond, I 3-hole punch their charts and put in a notebook labeled “Inactive Clients.” If at some point in the future any of these clients decide to return to my salon, I still have their chart but the chart is not clogging my active files. I actually don’t ever toss a client file once it’s made. Each chart has a lot of information on the client and it may come in handy later down the road. At a future date I may send a long-lost client another discount PC. But if they don’t respond to this 2nd attempt, I won’t contact them again.

I didn’t put a place for an expiration date on the “I want you back!” postcards, but you certainly can. For clients who really aren’t frequenting my salon, I don’t put an expiration on their discounts thinking without pressure, perhaps they will someday return.

Every business has busy times and less busy times. Instead of getting nervous during a slow period, I do things—like going through my files—to stir up the energy and create more business. 

I designed and purchased these postcards at vistaprint.com. 

Also see:

• Client Information Charts—Part I  
• Client Information Charts—Part II
• Slow Days at the Office

“Happy Birthday” discounts

Birthdays are important days. They are individual to each person and a day that I believe ought to be celebrated. I know I love celebrating my birthday, and I suppose this is one of the main reasons why I also like to commemorate my clients’ birthdays. Plus, doing so is good for business.

I like to reward my regular clients with discounts. And who doesn’t like to get a Happy Birthday gift from their aesthetician? The following are several different postcards (PCs) I send to clients to help them celebrate their birthday (month) with me.

You’ll notice on the address side of the postcard it mentions that this gift is good for the month of this client’s birthday only. So you’ll want to send these the week before the month begins or even a few weeks prior to. This way you give a fair amount of time for your client to make plans with you.

If I have a standing client or a client who has already booked an appointment during her birthday month, I may still send the card but sometimes I just present it at the time of her facial. Also, if she has booked an appointment just a little before or after her birthday month, I usually still acknowledge her birthday with the discount. Ten or $15 is not much to spend on relationship building with your clientele.

When I confirm the appointment the day before, I ask (remind) the client to please bring the postcard in with them. Of course I have already written down the day I sent the postcard on this client’s chart, but I also like to staple the PC onto their receipt (the one I keep) so I have it for my records.

After the 2008 downturn, many people were pulling back from “extra” services such as facial treatments. For some, facials are a necessity; for other—a luxury. I wanted to encourage people to keep coming in for their regular facials, so I adapted my normal facial into a one-hour treatment at a lower cost. Below are the PCs I printed to give the one-hour facial clients a birthday gift.

Also, it’s a good idea to always have your phone number as well as an email address and/or website on your printed materials. Giving your clients several ways to get in touch with you simply makes it easier on your client. It doesn’t cost any more to include all your information. Any postcards I send to clients always has my return address printed on it as well. If you plan on moving or even if you don’t, you can always use a stamp or preprinted return address stickers if you don’t want your address printed on material such as these PCs.

I had all of these PCs printed at vistaprint.com.

For more discount ideas, see:

• Special Promotion Discounts
• Referral Appreciation Discount Takeaway & Postcard
• “I want you back!”—discounts and postcards

A few new aestheticians looking for help

I am a new aesthetician, and I bought a skin care business recently. When I first approached the previous owner over a year  ago, I wanted to find out if there was a way I could work for her—learn the industry a little bit better. Since I’ve used the same product she used for over fifteen years, I thought that was what I wanted to work with. Being the excellent saleswomen she is, I bought the business. Now I am in the process of learning what it means to be successful.

I love your blog and your website. I especially like what you have to say about “anti-aging.” Your approach to healthy skin sounds so similar to what I would like to step into and be able to offer. Kind of intimidating knowing you are out there, with so much experience and knowledge.

I am right now learning everything I can. I give an amazing facial, I was fully trained by the previous owner and by the skin care company, too. I know we are technically competition, but honestly I would like to team up with you somehow and learn from you. I wonder if there is any way this can be mutually beneficial. What do you think?

Wow, well congratulations to you! Starting a new business—and new career—is a lot to bite off. I wish you all the best of success in your new adventure. 

As far as “competition”— there really is no competition. People go to who they like and use the products they prefer. Our businesses are in reality completely different. 

As far as learning from me, yes, I have been an aesthetician for over 30 years and I’ve accumulated a lot of knowledge. But ultimately YOU will be learning from your clients, your business, your self every day from here on out. The first few years after school was where my education really began. I read a lot and studied what interested me as it pertained to skin care. Choosing a path that interests you and trusting that eventually, after a few years under your belt, you will start to emerge as the aesthetician you see yourself being is what I recommend. It’s practical experience (over time) that will make you great.

The two books I wrote have helped a lot of aestheticians, many who have contacted me. Also my blog ageless beauty, timeless skin has a lot of my personal experiences as an aesthetician written just for you guys under the category Aestheticians/Pros. [Although that blog is presented for clients, aestheticians have commented about how much the articles have helped them understand skin.]

Best wishes to you on your journey!

_____________________________________________

Hi Carolyn,

I am a practicing aesthetician and am trying to build a clientele. I am experienced, but I took some time off to have my children and also during this time my husband was deployed. So now I’m back!

I hear people say things like, “Don’t facials hurt?” and “I break out after facials,” or “I have sensitive skin.” I think it’s mostly because they aren’t using the right products. So how do I get these people to make appointments for facials with me? I’m starting to get pretty discouraged because I know my stuff and I feel like I’m good at what I do! Thanks so much for your time.

My business has always been and continues to be built on referrals. Therefore I can’t tell you how to “get these people to make appointments” per se. I would, however, recommend:

• Give your services away to people you think would be good candidates to become clients and who would possibly give your name out to their friends.
• Offer a referral appreciation discount.
• Conduct some free seminars locally, and talk about the answers to all the frustrations you mentioned in your email to me. Address those issues, and hand out a coupon to the seminar attendees for a discount on their first facial with you. (See Throw a party to create interest in your new business.)

If you know your stuff—share it. The rest will follow. 

Special Promotion Discounts

I generally don’t discount my services. There have been two key times in my career when I did a promotional discount. The first discount was when I had moved into my beautiful salon space in Lincoln Park, Chicago. I didn’t have many clients and this space was also a new location for me. The discount I gave was generous and gave me clients who I enjoyed for years until I moved from Chicago. And for every person who remained a client from this discount, they in turn referred many more clients in for treatment. If you are a new salon, I highly recommend thinking about offering a promotional discount.

I’m sure you have all found neighborhood coupon booklets in your mailboxes. This discount was such an item. I consulted with the company and decided what zip codes I would have my coupon distributed in. Along with the discount I was giving, I supplied them with my logo and a photo of my book cover. I think they did a nice job of designing the ad.

New Chicago salon discount from coupon book

Closeup first coupon

Closeup second coupon

As I said, this was a significant discount, but it was worth it. It got people in to my salon and since they went home with my book, it cemented my qualifications in their minds even after they had gone home.

The second discount I gave was after I moved to Boulder and had again moved to a new location. My business was healthy, but I really wanted new clients—more clients. The discount I gave through BOCO (bocodeals.com) was a bit painful for me (I rarely discount and here I really slashed my prices) but the results have given me fabulous, regular clients even years after the promotion was over. I couldn’t find the original ad in the paper, but below is the actual “deal” and the text that was in the ad. At $40, this facial really was a deal!

BOCO facial promotion/discount

By the way, prior to this hour-long $40 facial promotion, I only had one facial offered in my salon(s). It was and is all-inclusive, so there was never a need for a menu in my business. I decided I couldn’t offer this facial at discount so I devised a slightly shorter version that cut out the second exfoliation (peel) and the full facial massage. (Note: I have carpel tunnel issues so cutting out the massage was essential for me due to the volume of facials this promotion brought to my business. I saved myself by cutting this step. However, I don’t use any machines in my facials so the entire time the client is being worked on it is all manual, therefore there really is a lot of secondary massage that occurs with my facials.)

Below is a promotional postcard I had printed at vistaprint.com. I send this to all the 102 participants in the BOCO deal 6 months earlier. In other words, even for those BOCO clients who had become regulars, they too received the discount card.

On the front, there is an expiration area where I gave a three month window for them to come in. I find that people who really are going to come in usually do so immediately. Three months is plenty of time to give a client to call and come in. (This is not how I handle regular Gift Certificates, however.)

Discount postcard for promotion clients

Without sending a followup to these special discount clients, you run the risk of never seeing them again. When you have your own business you want to help your client remember you’re around and give them an incentive (discount) to come back to see you.

New client discount postcard

Here is another small discount I had out for a while. Having recently moved to Boulder and moving into my 2nd office space, I wanted to do a little promotion for my business. Using postcards like this is an easy way to promote your business.

I went to several businesses, related to skin care and not, and asked if I could put these cards in their shops. I wasn’t asking for something for nothing—I had gift certificates with me and offered a facial to the owner or the manager as a thank you for letting me advertise in their shop. Not only is that a goodwill gesture, but it is also strategic. Since the GC recipient works at the business, once she’s had the facial she will will most likely give it high praises to all who ask about the postcards. A win win if there ever was one! If the owner was a man and he didn’t want the facial, I would offer it to his wife or a female co-worker or employee.

Although I usually use vistaprint.com for my postcards, I was having some things printed at my professional printer, and since they had the colors “up,” I had them make these for me as well.

Referral Appreciation Discount Takeaway & Postcard

I have built almost my entire business(es) on referrals. The first 10 or so years after opening my first salon that was definitely the case. After my first book, Timeless Skin, came out, I did get new clients calling who saw me on local Dallas TV when I was promoting the book. And I did one promotional discount in both Chicago and Boulder, but for the most part person to person referrals have built Carolyn Ash Skin Care. 

Having a referral program for your business is just a good idea. It doesn’t cost you very much up front, and the benefits can be long-lasting. Ask any client—they love getting discounts, and a referral discount is simply a nice way to say thank you for those who share the news about your service.

These takeaways are business card-sized

Back of Referral Appreciation takeaway

I offer $20 off my facial to the person who referred someone in for a facial. You can obviously set any price you want to for your discount. Twenty dollars is significant and doable with how I have structured my pricing. I don’t want to give $5 or $10; that just doesn’t seem like enough when a client has just brought me a new client who, granted, may come in once and that’s it. But it also may be a new client who will become a life-long patron.

When a new client calls me, I always (always) ask how they found out about me. If it wasn’t the Internet or from a promotion somewhere, they were usually referred in by an existing client. When I book their appointment, I always remember to note who referred them. When the new client has come in for her facial, I send a referral postcard to the person who gave this new client my name. This not only gives them a discount, but also lets the person know that their friend actually did come in and get a treatment.

FYI: I send the postcard out by at least the day after the referred client has come in. I actually address the postcard, fill it out, and stamp it right after the referred client leaves. I’ll then drop the PC in the mailbox on my way out for the day. I don’t want to forget to send this all-important thank you.

Referral Appreciation postcard front

Referral Appreciation postcard back

I don’t put an expiration date on the appreciation postcard. I don’t want this thank you gift to force a client to come in; it really is a no strings attached thank you. Usually the person who referred you is a regular client anyway, so they’ll be in shortly to redeem the discount soon enough.

Here are a few more PCs I had printed up over the years for referral appreciation.

There’s that darn “Integrative Skincare” again. Read Next appointment cards (see link below) if you don’t know why I’m mentioning that!

This PC was from my Chicago salon. I didn’t take full advantage as far as putting more important business information on the front, such as my phone number and/or website. My phone number is one the back, but I think it belongs on the front (perhaps both sides).

Here are a few more examples of Referral Appreciation takeaways I’ve had printed in the past. All of these are business card size vs. what I sent to the referring client, which are regular postcard-size.

Above, on the back of the discount takeaway I didn’t have the ability on vistaprint (where I make many of my printed take aways) at that time to make the print any bigger than it is, which is unfortunate. However, I did include my phone number and website address. It’s always important to include as much as you can in terms of your business information, making it easy for any client to get in touch with you.

As you can read on my blog post First-Time Client Information Packets, this Referral Appreciation Discount takeaway card is an important part of my first-time client take home package. 

Something to note: If your client misplaces or for some reason can’t find your regular business card, if they have kept this referral takeaway, it too has your phone number (and perhaps your web and/or email address) so they can easily reach you. 

Also see:

• Next appointment cards
• First-Time Client Information Packets 

Next appointment cards

These cards were printed while I was having a few other pieces made at my printer. You can certainly use vistaprint.com or another inexpensive printer, but having my logo, which is my brand, on all printed pieces given to a client is very important to me. Branding is huge when it comes to establishing yourself as a professional.

If you’ve read Business Cards—a must have (see link below), you have seen the back of my card is occupied with my book covers and celebrity quotes. Otherwise I would do what many people do and put a next appointment card as the back of my business card. Because I can’t do that, I had these separate cards made for next appointments.

These particular cards came out at a time when I thought I’d change my brand (a big mistake—but lesson learned) as you can see by the “integrative skincare” vs. my usual, simple and original “skin care.” This may seem minor to you, but for me it was veering from my norm, and very soon after I had some printed material with the “Integrative Skincare” I returned to my original format: “Carolyn Ash Skin Care.” (On a side note, I don’t like skincare spelled as one word. Why I chose to do that for my brand—?) See upcoming post Creating a company logo for more information on the importance of branding.

Having a printed next appointment card insures that your client has the information she needs to remember her next appointment. The card has your phone number on it, like a business card, so if a change needs to be made it is easy to find your office number. And it also displays your brand—again—which is exactly what you want. You want to have the visual of your business name shown over and over in everything you have printed. I had these cards (above) printed in plain black and white. I didn’t want any confusion (for me or my client) between the simple appointment card and my business card, which is in color.

The following card was my first effort when I opened my Chicagoland salon. I had them printed at the same time I had many other materials printed in my brand company color green. Looking back (as you’ll read below) my cancellation policy isn’t as detailed as it could/should be.

As you can read on the black and white card at the beginning of this article, I have my cancellation policy printed as plain as day: Please cancel at least 24 hours before scheduled appointment to avoid cancellation charge. This information is also on my website. And when I book an appointment with a first-time client, I tell them my policy right then over the phone. I ask for at least 24-hours notice of a cancellation or a reschedule. If I don’t receive at least a day’s notice, it makes it difficult to rebook the appointment.

Although I always have a cancellation list, sometimes I can’t get in touch with anyone or no one can come during that cancelled appointment time. I also have, at different times in my career, taken down a credit card number for a first time client.

I think this is the nicest way I have seen to let a client know they are responsible for their time with you. It’s a really great example of what to have printed on the back of your business card or on a separate appointment card. 

Having (and enforcing) a cancellation policy really brings it home how serious I am about people showing up for their appointments. And I have had to charge credit cards—only on rare occasion—due to a first time client not showing up or a regular client who might chronically cancel at the last minute.

I am running a business. This is not a hobby or something I do haphazardly. I want my clients to take the same care and consideration as I do when they book appointments with me. I don’t call them at the last minute to cancel their appointment, and I don’t appreciate it when they do this to me. So if that does happen, I have the verbal announcement made that if they don’t give me notice, I will charge them. As with many things in life, there are always exceptions. I am human, after all!

For more information, see:

• Business Cards—a must have
• The Importance of a Cancellation List
• My Appointment Book
• Website ideas: My Cancellation Policy
• More on My Cancellation Policy