Cincinnati area salon owner Gary Benz took a chance and offered an idea that's grown his own business — New Client Invitation — to his fellow Greater Cincinnati hair care experts.
"I've been invited to try exercise clubs and exclusive country clubs by way of new client invitation," Benz says of the idea behind
HairSalonDiscount.com. "If it works for them, it should work for me."
Benz, who, with his wife owns
Benzie Salon in Montgomery, has tripled sales since starting the salon in 2004. He attributes part of that success to his New Client Invitation marketing program, expanded online at
HairSalonDiscount.com. The targeted programs attract new potential clients with half-off pricing on services. It's similar to popular major daily deal websites, but the salon services are 50 percent off at most, instead of the up to 70 percent at some major daily deal sites.
It's a price point Benz says is both attractive to a potential buyer and to the business owner. Benz works to market the site to certain groups, like new homeowners and people who've moved into target neighborhoods that the salons typically service, which include Norwood, Oakley and Hyde Park.
Benz, who has a background in SEO and web development, also promotes the site through organic and paid online search results, he says.
The deals work like
Groupon or
Living Social — users go online and purchase a service deal. The deals are marketed as New Client Invitations and Benz says the goal is to attract five new potential clients each week for participating salons.
That's in contrast to the major daily deals sites that market to mass buyers, with deeper discounts. Those sites can bring businesses hundreds of new customers, but often they aren't the repeat clientele that salons seek, Benz says.
"We sold 350 deals (with another site), and a lot of people had no intention of ever coming back again," Benz says. "There are a lot of mass emails through those sites, and the next time another salon has a deal, they're going to hit up another salon."
The site has about 20 salons on its roster so far. While the bulk are from Cincinnati, it has already attracted salons from Georgia, Northern Kentucky and Dayton. He hopes to soon add some Chicago area salons, with an ultimate goal to include salons from every state.
"As long as I stay true to my brand, and to quality, I think it's a feasible business plan," he says.
By Feoshia H. Davis
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