Body Beautiful

Aesthetic consultant Katie Hughes Dawkins considers why you should be promoting body treatment bookings in Autumn and Winter

KATIE HUGHES-DAWKINS

Katie Hughes-Dawkins has become a prominent and trusted figure in the aesthetics industry with over 23 years of experience; Her journey is authenticated by her expertise in managing thriving clinic chains and leading high-performing teams to success. With an impressive background working with renowned aesthetics brands and helping clinic owners achieve their goals, Katie brings a wealth of knowledge encompassing sales, growth strategies, marketing, and social media expertise.

We have all heard the saying ‘summer bodies are built in winter’, but how do we convey this to our clients so that we avoid the mad panic bookings in spring, that needed, in all honesty, to have been scheduled months prior?

As the seasons change, aesthetic professionals have the perfect opportunity to embrace the need for body treatments and skincare by staying up to date with the latest body-care trends, offering outstanding and easy-to-follow home care advice and utilising marketing techniques to promote them to your following.

When I was running aesthetic clinics, I would always plan for what trend was about to hit next (after a few years of getting it wrong and firefighting, of course).

My main goal was always to deliver an outstanding client experience at every touch point, leaving the client feeling confident in our services and cared for.

COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATIONS

My best plan of attack for getting body treatment bookings to increase during the Autumn and Winter period was inviting my top 50 clients in for complimentary body consultations. Not only would I invite them, but I would offer them a ‘plus one’, so they could bring someone along who hadn’t experienced our clinic before.

This consultation comprised of in-depth questioning, addressing the skin and body composition goals of the client and discussing what solutions we could offer in-clinic to resolve them; and most importantly, the time frame! We would discuss the journey, the process and the desired compared to the likely outcomes, along with what the client needed to do at home to get as close to the end goal as possible. We also discussed how they feel at present and how they might feel once we achieve their body goals together.

From this, 50 clients quickly turned into 100 body consultations, all from picking up the phone and personally inviting our existing clients to a complimentary consultation.

TARGETED EVENT

Another incentive that saw body treatments skyrocket in my practice was a specific and targeted event.

We had a fat freezing machine, radio frequency for skin tightening and we would offer all the facial treatments for the body too. Whether it was ‘bacne’ someone had concerns with prior to a photo shoot or holiday, or someone wanting to reduce a specific area with fat freezing, we had a variety of solutions.

The event would focus solely on our body treatment offerings. In each treatment room, I would have a brand representative or one of our therapists performing demos and giving a talk on the treatment at hand. We would design a variety of package options and offer a specific discount for booking on the event date, with the choice of paying a 50% deposit and then paying as you go for the remaining balance. This meant that as a business we saw a cash injection on the event, but also had a steady stream of income each time the client came in for treatment.

The limited-time offers created a sense of urgency which encouraged the clients to secure their booking and savings. The event atmosphere also helped, as when clients would see others booking these incredible treatments at such great prices, it created a little FOMO in the air! 

HOMECARE KITS

There were retail homecare kits that we designed for each treatment too, which rather than sell separately to the course of body treatments, we bundled in with the treatment cost, so it was non-negotiable. This enabled us to get the best results for our clients and held them accountable to be compliant with their homecare routine too. Win-win!

EARLY BIRD SPECIALS

Early bird specials were another way of encouraging our clients to start their body treatments in Autumn. The preferential pricing would end in the spring, making it more cost-effective and getting them better, longer-lasting results by starting sooner.

E-NEWSLETTER

All these offers were relayed in our e-newsletter, which went out monthly to our clients and network. Within this newsletter, we would offer tips and ideas for the clients to do at home, that weren’t specific to our treatments or products; dry body brushing for effective lymphatic drainage and why it is so good for us, drinking adequate amounts of water and brisk walks in the outdoors would be amongst the suggestions. Making the newsletter educational in addition to promoting our offers made it a great success.

I would always utilise my network of contacts to promote any of our offers or initiatives; for example, I would call on personal trainers, nutritionists and other relatable businesses near our clinics and incentivise them to promote our event, offer or treatments. This made them feel like they received a free treatment (or course), depending on how many referrals they sent our way! New business can be difficult and expensive to attract. Through referrals and recommendations, we were able to keep costs down and increase our client base.

Finally, the simplest and sometimes overlooked way is to have a conversation with your clients in the treatment room. If they have trusted you with their face, chances are they will now be comfortable enough to let you treat their bodies too. Ask the client whether they have ever thought about having the same treatment on their bodies, do they have any body concerns or, easier still, ‘Did you know we offer X, Y and Z body treatments?’ Opening that conversation might just be the opportunity they needed to speak to you about their concerns.

As professionals, we know the best time to begin a body treatment journey is during Autumn and Winter. This is second nature to us, but to our clients, they may need a little guidance towards what is best for them and when.

We are so blessed to be in this fabulous industry and no matter how many times we get a huge smile and thank you after a client is thrilled with their end results, it never gets old. In the high-pressured, doughnut-glazed world we live in today, where body insecurities live larger than ever, what a gift we get to help in an authentic and caring way.