Part 5B: The Holiday Event Road Map to Bring in New Clients Every Year

THE ONE THING THAT WILL ALWAYS SET YOU APART

In an era of online booking apps, virtual consultations, and automated appointment reminders, it is easy to forget what our business is actually built on. Technology is a useful tool — but it is not our product. It never has been.

Our product is the relationship.

Every facial, every home care recommendation, every product suggestion you make is simply the vehicle through which that relationship is expressed. When a client leaves your treatment room with glowing skin, what she or he is really leaving with is the feeling of having been seen, heard, and cared for by someone who genuinely understands. This is what brings a client back. This is what makes the client refer friends to you. And this is something no booking app, no AI tool, and no social media algorithm can replicate or replace.

This is why personalized service is not just a nice idea — it is your single greatest competitive advantage.

When your skincare recommendations are tailored to each client’s specific needs and goals at that specific moment in his or her life, you are not just providing a service. You are building a practice. And a practice built on genuine relationships grows quietly, steadily, and with a loyalty that no amount of marketing budget can manufacture.

This philosophy does not take a holiday. If anything, the holiday season is the moment to lean into it most intentionally.

Bring That Philosophy Into Your Holiday Event

How you apply these ideas to your holiday event will depend entirely on who your clients are and who you want them to become. Your existing clients know you. They trust you. They are your most powerful ambassadors — and your holiday event is the perfect opportunity to let them bring their world into yours.

Consider inviting them to bring a friend who has never had a professional facial. Or a spouse who has never set foot in an esthetics studio but might finally understand what their partner/your client has been raving about. Or a teenager navigating their first serious skin concerns who needs a trusted professional in her or his corner. Each of these guests is a future client — and each of them will arrive already pre-sold on you because someone they trust brought them through your door.

As the years go on and your annual event becomes a tradition your clients look forward to, your attendee list will grow. New faces will become regulars. Regulars will become advocates. And your holiday event will quietly become one of the most effective client acquisition and retention strategies in your entire business year — not because it felt like a marketing campaign, but because it felt like exactly what it was: a gathering of people who trust you, in a space that reflects your care and your craft.

This is the heart of esthetics. And it never goes out of season.

A holiday event done right is not a party. It is a client acquisition strategy, a retention tool, a product promotion opportunity, and it is the moment your clients truly get to know you and your space — all in one evening.

Here is exactly how to do it.

 THE HEART OF ESTHETICS, by Diane Buccola

HOLIDAY PARTIES

Where it all began….

I told you in an earlier chapter about my family’s stores where I worked throughout my teens and early 20s. This is where I first learned about the benefits of holding annual holiday parties which, decades later, I adapted to fit my day spa.

To give you a little background on the origin of this annual event, my family owned women’s clothing stores in 4 cities, and we held an annual Gentlemen’s Christmas Party at the flagship store which was located in an indoor shopping mall. All men who were connected to the female clients from all four of our stores were invited. The party was held in the evening when the shopping mall was closed, which allowed the event to spread out beyond the walls of our store.

At this holiday party, there was food and drinks and lots of men. It was very much like an annual family gathering because we knew our female customers well, and while we did not necessarily know their husbands, children or significant others, we knew the preferences of the women they were shopping for. This made shopping easy for the male shoppers, and easy for us. 

Our entire sales staff was at this annual event, including me. Our job was to assist the gentlemen as they chose Christmas gifts for the women in their life, be it a spouse or other relative, a friend or their female children. The men ate, drank, partied, shopped, and then departed after having chosen and paid for their desired gift(s). The gifts were later wrapped and delivered to the gentleman’s home or place of business.

This event went on successfully for 20 years; and it is that success that prompted me to create the Ladies’ Holiday Party for my day spa, and later the Gentlemen’s Holiday Party. 

Of course, elements from both parties can be combined for a co-ed event, if you wish. And if you own or manage a spa, this event strategy scales beautifully for a larger space and a full team of Estheticians -- and it becomes a powerful annual tradition your clients will look forward to. 

LADIES’ HOLIDAY PARTY

Decades later, I adapted the "men’s night" idea to fit my day spa and my primary clientele, and the result became “Ladies Night.” This annual event turned out to be very successful for me. If you'd like to give some of these ideas a try, here is a checklist; and I have also created a downloadable PDF with everything you'll need to know. (Link is below)

1. Size does not matter. If your location is small, make it an Open House so your guests’ arrival times will vary which will give you more time to mingle with your clients and anyone the brought with them. 
2. Timing. With my female clients, I planned a little further ahead than I might for men. 30 days ahead is not too far in advance to throw a ladies’ holiday shindig. Just be sure you have thought this through well in advance and have ordered your Christmas and holiday retail in plenty of time.
3. Food & Bev. In my experience, women do not usually eat much at these events, so there is no need to go overboard. Provide some easy appetizers. Serve coffee, hot chocolate, hot tea, or wine if that is legal in your area. However, do keep in mind that serving alcohol will increase your expenses quite a bit. On the one hand, those partaking of alcoholic beverages will likely stay longer; however, that does not necessarily translate to those guests purchasing anything. In fact, the opposite could be true. They may just stick around and enjoy the free beverages. (If you do serve alcohol, be sure you are following the laws and rules in your area.)
4. Mini Services. Offer whatever easy services you can such as chair massage, hand massage, heated hand mitt treatments, and eye mask treatments. Do it within the view of your other guests, rather than disappearing from your own party.
5. Program. Create on your computer a printed program setting out the events and opportunities of the evening (sale items, mini services, to-go gifts, gift wrapped items, gift certificates, etc., and of course your contact information. Providing a program is a great way to get your name and service menu into the hands of your guests.
6. Sale Table. This is a great time to have a “sale” table with discounted products that you’d like to get rid of, provided they still have a suitable shelf life remaining. If you don't have room inside your spa or studio, place the table immediately outside your front door (if that is a secure area) so guests can't miss it.
7. Pre-wrapped gift items. Have your holiday gift items wrapped and displayed very prominently so your clients can follow their "impulse shopping" instincts. (We all have 'em!)
8. Stocking Stuffers. Always keep stocking stuffers in mind such as little things that clients will buy as hostess gifts for holiday parties, or to serve as gifts to teachers, holiday gift exchanges, and other holiday events.
9. Help! This is super important (I learned this the hard way!). Be certain to bring in someone you trust to help you with this event. You will be wearing many hats: Salesperson, cashier, marketing executive, concierge, Esthetician and janitor. So it’s crucial to have somebody there to assist you, or by the end of the event you will feel that you did not pay enough attention to many of your guests. Remember, your guests will not necessarily know each other because usually they come in at separate times for their appointments. So it’s best for you to be the hostess while somebody else helps out with tasks such as processing payments, wrapping gifts, replenishing food and pouring beverages, etc. Even if you must pay somebody a couple of hours wages to help, I promise it will be worth it.
10. Music. Do not rely on the same old common Christmas music because by the time your event rolls around, people have probably been hearing it since before Halloween. Instead choose upbeat music, something a little different, because studies show overly-familiar/repetitive music tires people out, whereas lively and fresh music will energize people and typically will result in more items purchased and accomplished more quickly. 
11. Sample Bar. If you are able to provide a hands-on sample bar so party guests can touch, smell, and bond with the products, that is a wonderful idea. Keep in mind, this event is not only about buying products for Christmas. It is about getting people into your spa or esthetics studio, introducing them to your business, your menu and products, showing off your treatment room, and most importantly, presenting yourself in a positive light.

GENTLEMEN’S HOLIDAY EVENT

This event applies specifically to my historical experience so it's possible that you may not have the type of clientele -- or it's not your desired demographic -- with which to support a Gentleman’s party such as this. However, I will give you those details anyway just in case there is something here you can use.

My experience at the time was that men – compared to women -- tend to be last-minute holiday shoppers. While they probably know that the women in their lives love facials and massage and other spa services, they do not necessarily completely understand the ritual and/or the purpose enough to purchase gifts on their own. So we make it easy for them, in the hopes that they will continue to rely on us for their gift-buying. To do that, we want them to feel comfortable walking into our spa or esthetics business and spending their money with us.

I want to add here that in my previous blog, I explained "The Wish List" which I created to solve this problem. If you haven't read that blog, here is a link: BLOG #5A. 

For purposes of this explanation, I will be using the term “Christmas” because that is the holiday that applied to my business. However, this applies to any holiday that you or your clients will be celebrating.

1. The calendar. I suggest choosing one night, preferably a week or two before Christmas, and hold a Men’s Shopping Night. You should schedule this event before Christmas obviously – before the men have already done their Christmas shopping -- but not so far in advance that men’s brains are not yet in holiday mode.
2.  Invite. Advertise the event by way of newspaper ad or mailers if you want to invite the general public. Alternatively, you can send holiday-themed postcards to clients’ homes if you prefer to keep it exclusive. I highly suggest you avoid the very stale, impersonal, and over-used text or email invite unless you are doing that only as a follow-up to a hard copy invitation you have already mailed. In other words, once a year do something to stand out, something far more classy than text or evite. 
3. Food and drink. You can make this a big event by offering food and drink. Or you can simply offer a hot drink and a shopping bag for the men to fill. Studies show that men typically do not enjoy the shopping experience as much as women do, so think efficiency rather than complicated.
4. Masculine vibe. Always try to make things easy for the men who may have never previously stepped into a spa or esthetics business. If you are hoping to gain male clients who are not familiar with esthetics services, then do what you can to hide any extremely girly decorations for the evening so it feels a bit more gentlemen-friendly, or at least gender-neutral. Put up signs advertising your Gentlemen’s services. If you do not already have men’s services on your menu, create some! If they gain interest, then add them to your service menu permanently. Place your men’s products front and center and have testers available so men can feel and smell the products while they are there.
5. You need a man. If you have a brother, son, boyfriend, husband or male friend, bring him in to assist you that night, even if it is simply as a greeter. Men will feel more comfortable in a spa or esthetics business if they are not the only man in the room. The more comfortable they feel, the more likely they will linger longer which will translate into more purchases and a better rapport.
6. Ready-to-go. Do whatever you can to make the gifts grab-and-go. (This is not just true for men, this is the way to attract all holiday shoppers who tend to buy on impulse.) In my experience, most men who are shopping for women want to come in, make their purchase, and get out. Be sure gifts, gift cards and gift certificates are beautifully packaged because if he must wrap it himself, he may not come back next year. And of course, make a note of what each male shopper bought so that you can put it on your client’s “Wish List” and refer to it next year.
7. Wrap it up. It is essential that your holiday items are gift-wrapped or that you can wrap them quickly. Even if you do not usually offer gift wrapping, ‘tis the season to change the rules. At the very least, buy some bags at your local wholesale florist/gift supply, along with some holiday tissue. You can make gift cards and gift certificates special by purchasing holiday-themed envelopes at your local office supply to package them. Make a visual impact whenever you can because word-of-mouth is your best advertisement. Just for this one event, shake off the urge to save a few cents by doing things on the cheap. Doing something special will be noticed, and you will be judged favorably by that gesture. Men are very loyal customers, and once your Gentlemen’s Holiday Evening becomes well-known, it will grow to be an annual event that everyone looks forward to.

OTHER PARTY THEMES

You can host an event any time of year with varying themes. How about a Summer Tropical party? Play Hawaiian music, serve tropical mocktails, highlight your sunscreen and other summer products and, of course, your Tantalizing Tropical Treatments. This is a great way to showcase your sandal-worthy foot treatments, if you have any. (And if you don’t, create some!) The same thing can be done during winter by highlighting your Warm Winter Treatments utilizing heated blankets, heated hand mitts, and hydrating products.

 THE HEART OF ESTHETICS, by Diane Buccola

 LINK: A gift for you, my Holiday Event Road Map! "Holiday Event Road Map" PDF

Return to Blog #1

Because the holidays are rapidly approaching, I will be taking a break from blogging for a while. I hope this series (and my previous series "The Informed Esthetician") has benefited you in some way. I wish you all a happy and lucrative holiday season, wherever you may be. And now -- as we approach Halloween -- please head over to my Happy Esthetician FB page where I will be posting my favorite funny Halloween memes, as I do every year. See ya there, Pumpkin! xo