Is your wax menu opening or closing your clients’ wallets? Truly, a service menu is a valuable element of the client experience and has the ability, if done well, to build a successful and sustainable business. Wax menus range from non-existent to overly complicated, so here are five tips to create a user-friendly wax menu that boosts your brand and your bottom line. Cha-ching!
First, let’s agree on something important. If you walked into a restaurant and there was no menu, how do you think that would impact your experience as a customer? Have you ever gone to a restaurant hungry for one thing, but after seeing a menu, decided to have more than you originally thought because the offering sounded appetizing? Stop and think of that experience. This is what I often ask of my consulting clients when they say that they do not think they need a wax menu. Your menu is an extension of your marketing, which is the messaging that you communicate in the marketplace to current and future customers. It should not be too complex, but you do need one. You should create a full menu that can then be adapted and modified for different marketing collateral pieces (i.e. cards, brochures, posters) that you can use in different ways throughout your business location and online. Starting with a full menu allows all other marketing pieces to have a cohesive look and feel, which elevates your professional image.
1. What’s Your Signature?
Whether your wax menu is one portion of services you offer, like in a day spa or salon, or are the only services you offer, like at a niche wax studio, think of your signature service offering. There is usually a wax service that most people seek you out for. It’s typically what gets you more new client referrals. Just like a good story, your wax menu should lead with your signature or specialty as a headline. Grab the interest of your potential client and let them know your unique approach to waxing. Sound difficult? It doesn’t have to be. Don’t overthink it. You do not have to invent something to be interesting. For example, think of all the brands of bread in your local grocery baked goods aisle. Yes, it’s bread, but each brand has a message that reaches its customer, some better than others.
Take the same approach by communicating what makes you the brand of choice for your waxing clients and what makes you great at your signature service. What should they expect when getting waxed at your business? This should be a part of your larger brand story, interwoven into the menu. If you are drawing a blank, then you must start there. Once you are clear on your larger brand story, you can easily integrate elements of it throughout your business, including your menus. If still in doubt, survey past and current clients. Listen to what people ask you for most. They are the best to tell you what makes them wax with you again and again. Take their feedback and use it to your advantage.
2. Complement Your Vibe.
What is your brand’s vibe? As an extension of your brand story and what attracts your ideal customer, you should be intentional in creating a culture and vibe that your clients experience at your waxing business. Believe it or not, they are experiencing something, so you want to be proactive in creating it.
If you are not sure of your vibe, then consider these questions.
- If your business was a best friend that you were matching up on a blind date, how would you describe them? Is it youthful, hip and jazzy? Is it zen, relaxing and soothing?
- Will you play pop music, jazz or the pan flute?
- What are your colors? Are they earthy, neutral and calming or bright and vibrant?
- What do the uniforms at your spa look like? Are they clinical, casual or conservative?
Some will think these things have nothing to do with a menu. On the contrary, knowing your vibe will help you when creating a menu. It will help determine your service names, your timing and even the language and fonts used. For example, if bold, youthful and jazzy, you could use humorous service names with short, abbreviated descriptions and focus on a faster-paced, express-style timing of services. Intentionally creating the vibe truly will attract your tribe. This is the key to create customer experiences and building a loyal following.
3. So Predictive That It’s Easy.
When considering what items to include and how much information should be offered in your wax menu, it goes back to knowing your ideal client. When selecting services, include the services that are available so that people are clear in understanding what you offer and what you do not. Be careful to not simply list body parts and prices. That format is generally referred to as a price list or rack card that is a separate marketing tool that serves a slightly different purpose. Service descriptions should be brief and succinct but are not necessary for things that are self-explanatory. However, because you are a wax professional, do not assume that a layperson knows as much as you. For example, they may not know that a lower leg wax includes the tops of feet and toes, or maybe yours does not. You need to use the service description as an opportunity to communicate what is included.
Use your menu to communicate offers in a way that almost feels like you are reading your client’s mind. Just as our phones and email software now can predict our texts and replies based on our behavior, you want your menu to be somewhat predictive. If you are not sure of how to do this, think of and list the common things a client wants to know to book wax with you. Communicate the answers through your menu.
Additionally, if you have services that match best with certain retail products, include the product in a service and make it a special offering on your menu. This creates ease for your guests and helps you influence client behavior for your business.
4. Don’t Set It and Forget It.
While creating your wax menu can be an extensive process, it is not one of those things that you set and forget. As your business changes and grows, so too does your service offerings, pricing and other details on your menu. A common mistake of businesses is not keeping their menu current to the needs of the business in real-time. You should review your menu quarterly, just as you review your financial statements. Ask yourself, “What is working or not working?” Are there new pieces of training or techniques that you now want to incorporate into what you offer? Are there new services that you’d like to add to complement and expand ongoing benefits for your ideal client? Are you clearer on your signature service and need to update your timing and pricing strategies?
Let’s go back to our earlier analogy at the restaurant. Have you ever been to a restaurant, been given a menu, only to be told by your waiter that the items on it are no longer available or somehow different after you had gotten your taste buds ready for what was written there? How did that feel? This applies to your wax menu as well. Though it really should not change drastically, it is something that should be under consistent review and update. This is also something to be mindful of when determining how much you spend on printing menus, as you would not want to order more than you would realistically use before your next revision or update. Similarly, you do not want to be held hostage to a dud menu simply because you don’t want to waste the 5,000 that you printed.
5. Leave Off the Kitchen Sink.
There is such a thing as too much information. We have all seen menus that look like encyclopedias; despite the effort, they lose the client’s attention with information overload. Your menu should not include everything and the kitchen sink. Your menu is your opportunity to create the business you desire. When starting out, wax businesses sometimes will add everything under the sun as an effort to not lose any opportunity with a customer. However, with time and experience, you will come to determine the following of your service offerings.
Popularity. If you see a service that is never getting booked, remove it from your menu and add a notation that some specialty services are available by request.
Match. These are ones that you no longer want to offer because they no longer match the direction of your business. Do not offer a wax service simply because another wax business offers it. This is a way to be true to yourself and your tribe.
Size. For maximum scheduling efficiency, you will want to group service areas together that are most commonly done together (larger areas plus small areas or group of small areas) and remove any that would be booked by themselves and throw off your books.
Check out the original article published at Skin Inc. HERE.