Traditional Add-On Services

Any aesthetic service will benefit from traditional add-on treatments. A single service becomes more of a spa experience when add-on treatments are included. Through perseverance, and by honing in on your aesthetic skills, your clients will leave the spa with a positive, lasting impression.

• Skin Care – For aestheticians, add-on treatments may include scalp massage, facial, hand and foot treatments, aromatherapy, makeup, collagen eye or lip masks, lip or facial bleaching, and eyebrow or lip waxing. For anything specifically related to facial treatments, always educate and advise each client about your add-on recommendations after your initial skin care analysis and consultation is performed. You can always suggest added services such as eye, lip, neck or décolleté treatments to enhance your client’s results. When recommending anti-aging treatments to clients, always include the hands, which tend to reveal age quickly. You should create a series of add-on treatments just for hands with exfoliation, masks and hyperpigmentation treatments. To entice clients for a future service, you could also recommend a miniature microdermabrasion treatment on the hands.
• Massage – For massage therapists, traditional add-ons may include reflexology of the hands or feet, acupressure for the face or head, aromatherapy, Reiki energy treatments, crystal healing, sound treatments, cellulite massage, stone massage, steam treatments, and sunless tanning applications. Many of these add-on treatments will be great introductions to a full body service that clients may book right away or at a later date. For instance, an application of cellulite cream and a miniature detoxifying massage may entice clients to try a full cellulite treatment that includes a steam bath, skin exfoliation, and a full detoxification treatment. By planting the seeds of inspiration with miniature treatments, you will influence clients to continually try new services.
• Body Care – If a wet room is available, aestheticians and massage therapists may provide spa add-on services such as salt scrubs, mud wraps or wet treatments. Dry treatments can also be provided with body wraps and mud or clay products that can be peeled or toweled off. During a normal facial or massage service, you could give an add-on that inspires clients to try a full spa body treatment by just treating the hands or feet. For example, an aesthetician could easily give a mud treatment to the hands, followed by a paraffin treatment; massage therapists could give a salt scrub to a client’s feet, followed by a heated foot treatment. 
• Hair Removal – Aestheticians should offer professional hair removal, as it is a very simple, fast and profitable add-on service. Offer eyebrow and upper lip waxing to every facial client. You could also add underarm or lower leg waxing quite easily to your facial routine. Many clients will be encouraged to try your full body waxing services later. According to Karen Short, senior vice president of marketing for Universal Companies, “Hair removal treatments should be a staple service provided by all salon and spa businesses. As a result, the business will experience a successful increase in its revenue by consistently promoting all of its hair removal services. Clients will enjoy better hair removal results from regular waxing services year round – not just in the summer!” Short also advises salons and spas to sell professional retail post-service waxing products such as ingrown hair and razor bump cream, tea tree oil for inflamed skin, or a numbing cream to use pre or post-service.”

Unique Add-On Treatments

Elevate your aesthetic services by offering exclusive, rare or superior add-on treatments. Creating your own combination of services is another way to raise yourself and your spa above the competition.
Lash Services – Currently, the number one best-selling add-on service is eyelash and eyebrow tinting. With a service time of approximately 15 minutes and a cost per treatment of roughly .53 cents, eyelash and eyebrow tinting is very profitable. In fact, Short shares that her company advocates salons and spas to create a Lash and Brow Bar in their reception area, so they may attract clients on their way in and out of their business. She also encourages the addition of eyelash and eyebrow services, such as eyelash extensions, eyebrow shaping or threading, as well as retail items.

• Luxury Skin Care – Always have additional specialty facial treatments to recommend for your clients after their initial skin care analysis. Eye masks and pads with collagen, wine extract, or blueberry can treat delicate under-eye tissue. Acne spot patches infused with tea tree oil can soothe inflammation while hyperpigmentation patches can help to lighten spots. Treatment ampoules, which are available for a wide array of needs, should be used prior to a coordinating mask. Try a Q10 ampoule for anti-aging, an oxygenating ampoule for tired, dull skin, or hyaluronic acid to restore moisture balance. Nothing says luxury like a 24 karat gold anti-aging mask to hydrate and lighten the skin of the face or hands, while a diamond mask can firm and brighten, and a collagen crystal gel mask can be used as a neck lift.
• Go Exotic – Get indigenous with add-ons that add a little spice to your spa menu. An uplifting lemongrass and kaffir lime salt soak soothes tired feet; a detoxifying kopi coffee body polish can smooth cellulite, and a moisturizing kakao cocoa body mask melts into the skin for superb hydration. Indonesian bali spice treatments use warming spices and earthy roots balanced with cooling emollients to awaken circulation and provide energy. A hot Thai herbal ginger compress can also be used to detoxify and soothe during foot treatments, warm tight muscles before massage, and stimulate acupressure points during energy work. Indian Shirodhara oil treatments for the scalp are deeply relaxing with therapeutic benefits. The different types of exotic add-on treatments can also go hand-in-hand with retailing lines for a great presentation.
• Go High-Tech – There are an array of equipment choices for superior facial and body treatments, including microdermabrasion, microcurrent, light emitting diodes (LED), infrared light treatments, low level laser therapy (LLLT), and product penetration systems that include oxygen infusion and ultrasound. You can provide superior add-ons with these services while significantly increasing service revenue and results. The President of Laser Wellness, Ronnie Weir, provides an example of the benefits of using high-tech equipment in skin care by elaborating on LLLT devices. “These devices can soothe chronic skin conditions such as acne, eczema, psoriasis and rosacea by reducing inflammation and increasing blood flow and nitric oxide production… For anti-aging benefits on fine lines and wrinkles, they reach the deepest levels of the skin to fight free radicals, stimulate collagen and elastin production, and decrease scar tissue. Since LLLT devices soothe inflammation, they are especially helpful to apply after exfoliation, chemical peels, or any treatment that inflames the skin.”

Marketing Add-On Treatments

After examining the wealth of options you have available for including add-on treatments in your menu, now consider how you can incorporate and share your new offerings with clients. You should always begin treatments with a client consultation, at which time you want to inform your client of the additional treatment choices and the added value they will gain from them. For regular clients, explain that you are starting a new program of optional add-on treatments designed to transform their normal service into a total spa experience.

• Become Comfortable – As a skin care professional, you are in an excellent position to advise your client on what additional steps they can take to enhance their salon or spa experience and add-on treatments are a great way to offer those added results. Lauren Gartland, founder of Inspiring Champions, regularly instructs beauty professionals on how to successfully upsell salon and spa services. Gartland says, “Add-on treatments are a way of expanding the existing purchase of a client. If the idea of upselling makes you uncomfortable, remember that your goal is never to pressure your client into unwanted services or to make your client spend money irresponsibly.”
• Push Creative Campaigns – You should designate certain add-on treatments for certain days, offer discounts on multiple treatments, or offer product discounts with purchase. Consider creating printed cards with an array of add-on treatments that guests may select before their service begins so that they are reminded of your offerings. You could even offer complimentary miniature treatments to introduce a more complete add-on service. For example, in an effort to garner client interest in aromatherapy, you may want to offer a complimentary aromatherapy spritz at the beginning of each facial treatment, explaining that you offer this optional add-on for a full aromatherapy experience. Furthermore, be sure to share all of your new services through client communications and social media platforms.
• Plan for a Revenue Boost – To really increase your profits from add-on treatments, start to plan them into your day. Arrive at work half an hour earlier and go over your schedule. Look at any available openings and visualize them as opportunities to create multiple services. Think about which clients will buy extra services and products and what would benefit their needs. Then, plan ahead to upsell them with customized solutions to meet their personal needs. Gartland shares that, “Add-on services can really boost your income. Let us say you have a basic add-on treatment that costs $20 and you complete two per day. In a week’s time, you will have made $200 above your baseline. Over a 50 week period you have totaled $10,000 above baseline, all without adding any additional clients!”
• Do Not Forget the Love – Clients should never feel pressured into adding services, so avoid any confusion by stating up front what your recommendations are, why you advise the particular add-on treatment, how long it will take, and how much it will cost. Be sure to tell your clients the special benefits to meet their beauty care challenges and why they will love the service. Describe what their results will be, how the treatment feels, and how they will look afterward.

We are not in the professional beauty industry for the sole purpose of receiving a paycheck. Most beauty professionals choose their career because they love the industry, are good at their craft, and enjoy being around people and helping them to always look their very best. Your job is not just to practice massage or skin care, but to create a picture for your clients of what they can become. Your job is to educate them and advise them on the possibilities of what they can look and feel like. Always remember that you are in a position to enhance your client’s salon or spa experience and add-on treatments are a great way to offer them added results. You will dramatically increase your income, create more balance in your work and life, and add value for your clientele.

Jenny Hogan is the media director at Marketing Solutions, Inc., a full-service marketing, advertising and public relations agency specializing in the professional beauty and spa businesses. She can be reached at 703-359-6000 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..