How to create a profitable and exciting rewards program

Natasha Smits has been in the beauty industry for almost 20 years, and the proud owner of her own business for 10 of those; the luxurious Natasha’s Skin Spa in upmarket Southbank, Melbourne. Natasha doesn’t cut corners when it comes to investing in her spa and client experience, and dreams of inspiring other salon and spa owners to elevate their business, and the industry as a whole!

A good rewards formula is the key to success

All salons are different and have different average spends, which means they’ll want to invest different amounts into a rewards program. In the beauty industry, the average business spends around 3%, with a reward of up to 8%!

Happy to share the winning rewards formula she uses in her luxury salon & spa, Natasha’s clients receive $1 for every $30 spent, which works out as a 4% reward. She allows all her services to be bought with rewards points (excluding cosmetic injectables), but there are a few rules;

• Clients need to be able to buy the service outright with their points
• It needs to be a service they haven’t tried before
• Points can only be redeemed in off-peak months

Discounts can be a slippery slope

Natasha believes that when you discount a service with your client’s rewards points, it ‘cheapens’ the service, because the client often believes that the discounted price is what the service is really worth. Similar to when you go shopping and see a 20% sale on an item, you might think that this price is the ‘fairer’ price for the item and the normal price is actually too much.

This is why Natasha’s rewards formula includes whole service rewards. Her clients need to use their points to pay for a whole service, e.g. adding a lip wax to an eyebrow appointment, or even saving their points so that they can receive a complimentary one hour massage!

“Everyone’s a winner when you reward a client with a whole treatment. The client is grateful as it’s made an entire service free for them and you’re content because they had to spend more to receive it.” Natasha Smits

Be clever with what you give back

It’s good to be generous, but you also need to be smart with what you’re giving your clients as rewards.

It might seem simpler to give a client their regular treatment for free, but it’s a great idea to use your rewards program to introduce your clients to new services whenever possible!

If you’re super busy and you can’t afford to reward your clients with services, consider letting your clients spend rewards points on select retail products. If you’re happy for retail to be bought with points, don’t let your clients buy their old and faithful products; use their points to introduce them to a new ‘holy grail’ product’ (ideally a more expensive one) 😉

Don’t keep it a secret

When you’re introducing a rewards program to your clients, it’s important that they’re aware of it at each of your appointments. The good news is that you can do this really easily by turning on a setting in Timely! If you choose to, you can show your clients rewards balance on their receipt with every purchase, which is a great way for them to keep track of their growing points.

When you’ve got the opportunity – such as at the counter, on the phone, or over SMS or email – you should tell them their points balance and give them tips on what they should spend it on to keep them motivated!

Here’s an example of something you can say after you’ve booked them in for their next appointment: “You’re about 15 points away from a complimentary facial! Our brightening spa facial would be amazing for you to experience – you glow for a week afterwards!”