You can significantly boost your revenue and build your business by focusing on creating the ideal spa client – and he is a man! Men are notoriously loyal clients and once they trust your services they will be coming back for years to come. They also regularly buy professional products and you will help grow your retail in a completely new sector. Brothers Angel and David del Solar and partner Aston LaFon founded 18.21 Man Made as a brand dedicated to luxury men’s grooming. This brand offers a unique prohibition-era American theme with retro packaging and masculine images. They offer advice to salons and spas on building their clientele and bringing in new male clients to boost business. LaFon shares, “The salon and spa industry tries to treat men as if we are a trend. Yet men have always been here! Now the industry is recognizing how important men’s grooming and spa services are to them.”
INVITE THE LADIES
LaFon advises salons and spas with mainly female clients to invite the ladies to Spoil Him by offering that special Man in their life the gift of a grooming service at the salon or spa. Plan around your slowest days; typically Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and create happy hour events on those days. “Host a Man Day Monday or Men’s Day Wednesday; a half hour event with food, drink and goodies to help promote your services and products. Invite your female clients to buy two men’s care products to take home; then they receive a complimentary service when they bring in their man for your gentlemen’s event.” A local craft cocktail company could be included or a local store sharing men’s bow ties or hats. Now you’ve created a new client who is a spa and retail client, created new money on slow days and boosted referrals!
THE NOBLE EXPERIENCE
18.21 Man Made Grooming provides instruction on how to elevate men’s services by providing the Noble Experience. This includes topics like greeting the guest properly or draping the cape during haircare or barbering in an expert manner. By improving the spa visit with simple personal touches that take no additional skill or cost, businesses can significantly improve male client retention. LaFon notes, “Salon and spa clients may not always remember the service that they received, but they will remember feeling honored and respected with a proper greeting, or that you spent time coaching them after a haircut on how to style their hair at home. By offering men additional services like waxing, beard grooming, aromatherapy or additional upgrades, you could grow your price point while guests will also be inspired to keep coming back and tell their friends!”
ROGUE SPA CARE
At the birthplace of Route 66 in the heart of Springfield, Missouri, the Rogue Barber Company grew from deep roots. This barbershop and spa is housed in one of the ten original 1936 Sinclair gas stations in America. It is an eclectic business offering a clean haircut, straight razor shave and a nice bourbon. Owners Ryan and Dacy Mulcahy specialize in giving male clientele a classic barbering experience with modern styling. Their tagline “Enter Rogue. Leave a Gentleman” is emblazoned on the vintage gas pump in the front of the house that a local motorcycle pinstripe artist adorned with filigree. Ryan says, “We specialize in providing an elevated, quality client experience. We want to pamper our guests. We let them sit down and get away from everything. Here they can relax and socialize, have a drink and then walk out with a rad haircut.” Dacy Mulcahy runs the spa, offering men’s skincare, waxing and specialized beard therapy!
Men are notoriously loyal clients…
BEARD THERAPY
Dacy says, “Beards are so popular right now. Beard treatments are basically a really good deep cleanse for the skin underneath the beard. Often the skin there can get clogged and cause flaking, especially if the beard is coarse or curly. To deep clean we use high frequency diodes that pass through the hair to kill bacteria with ozone. The treatment is deep cleansing, exfoliating, anti-bacterial and conditioning. For cleansing at home, we recommend 18.21 Man Made Wash, which is sulfate free and has quinoa protein in it to promote the growth of both hair and beards. A little beard therapy doesn’t hurt anyone!” Mulcahy offers skincare tailored for the needs of men’s skin. “Men’s skin produces more oil and can be more prone to acne. Our skincare is tailored more towards those needs and includes manual extractions, common for bearded men. Men are generally looking more for clean and clear skin and not anti-aging services as women are. As an extra touch we infuse hot towels with essential oils for added cleansing and aromatherapy.”
WAXING & WEDDING TRENDS
Waxing is a large part of Rogue’s spa care. Dacy Mulcahy says, “I have done esthetics for over 10 years, yet my first year here I did more noses and ears than the past 10 years combined! Backs and chests are also common, especially with athletes. One trend we are seeing for weddings is that grooms are asking their groomsmen to grow beards! It has become a wedding trend. The groomsmen grow beards out and then we taper and shape them. Also common for weddings is waxing for eyebrows, noses and ears. It has become a fun group thing for the groomsmen to come in here to get waxing together. They even post it to social media!” Having a social media presence has been paramount for the Mulcahy’s. It has really helped to increase their clientele. “Word of mouth is so huge for our business. Women dictate most of the wedding plans and bring in their men. Just talking to clients in our shop and on social media about our services helps us grow every day.”
RETAIL BEARD CARE
With the popularity of facial hair, it is important to include beard care retail products for male clients. 18.21 offers a gentle multitasking bodywash for convenience. LaFon says, “We have the Man Made Wash which is for hair and body and is sulfate-free. It is important to treat the beard with professional grade products as you would for your skin. Our Beard Balm works like a pomade for your beard and you just apply to your hands and run through your beard, using the palm of your hand to shape. For coarser beards, it acts to tame and control flyaways.” Oils and protein are important for conditioning and strengthening. Most of the 18.21 line contains quinoa, a protein that is important for strengthening and improves the health of hair with every use. Their new Beard Balm has shea butter and beeswax, which is fantastic for keeping the beard and the skin under the beard healthy to promote growth. The wax allows it to stay longer on the beard. All products in the line have the unforgettable scent of Sweet Tobacco Spirits, transporting you back to a prohibition era jazz lounge!
Your perfect spa client is just waiting for you to find him and spoil him. Offer him elevated men’s services and products he will take pride in owning. He’ll become a loyal client for years to come and tell all his friends!
