B (2:53)

And I'm in the amusing. I love them. They're so fun. Well, wherever you land, whether it's Team this is Hilarious or Maggie's Team, please don't this episode is still for you. In honor of April 1st, we thought we'd play a little Game called Could have Fooled me. Because no matter where you are in your career, brand new, or decades in, there are things we believe at one point that later make us pause, rethink, or maybe even open a spreadsheet. So today we're unpacking some stories that we've been told, some of the narratives the industry sometimes hands us and assumptions we make about business trends or even aging. We're not going to judge, I'm not going to shame, but we are going to grow. So let's start the game. Are you ready?

C (3:37)

I'm ready.

B (3:38)

Okay, so it's going to be. Could have fooled me about business. We're going to have three rounds. The first round is about business. I'm going to say a statement. Maggie, you're going to decide if you. If you already knew that or if you were fooled by that. Okay.

C (3:51)

Okay.

B (3:52)

And then we're going to talk about it. Okay. Ready? Round one. Statement one. Carrying more product lines. Give my clients more options. And more options mean more revenue.

C (4:04)

You could have fooled me.

B (4:05)

That's right. I think. I think it's interesting you sound so genuine about that.

C (4:11)

Thank you.

B (4:12)

So the more options we have means the more opportunity to sell. And I just don't know. Early on in my career I had. I was of the camp that more lines equals more prestige, and it could have been because I couldn't afford any of them. What do you think about that?

C (4:27)

Yeah, I think that makes sense. And I think that when you are just getting out of aesthetic school, you're not really certain, you don't necessarily have that business knowledge and you think, I've got to buy in and that means getting the whole line, filling your shelf, making it look full. And I think for me, anyway, there's maybe this idea that if my shelf is not full and I don't have the whole line with opportunity for the client to buy, then maybe I'm not making it or it doesn't look like I am legit as an esthetician.

B (5:01)

Right. For your retail shelves and even for your back bar.

C (5:04)

Yeah.

B (5:05)

Like, did you ever fall into that with your back bar where, um. Oh, I've got to have the latest, greatest. And if I don't have all of these five different enzymes that are kind of similar but just different enough. I was thinking of this one company that does, like, seasonal enzymes, then. Then I don't have enough. Or if I'm not offering every single service, then I'm not fully, you know, enough.

C (5:25)

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, how are you going to meet the needs of all the clients that are coming through the door. If I don't have the full line?

B (5:31)

Yeah, if. You'd never know who's coming. But the truth is that inventory sitting, whether it's on the retail shelves or in your back bar, is really frozen money. So it's okay to have a smaller back bar and be more creative with it. Kind of like cooking and really pulling your resources. Learning how to spice up each little protocol or to have a limited amount of retail's fine too. And being creative with it, like having core products and then bringing in specialty things, it's okay. It's nice to have what I would consider a curated selection, because that really builds authority. Remember, more is not more, but focus is more. Right? Yeah. All right. Ready for statement number two?

C (6:11)

I'm ready.

B (6:12)

This is one. Okay. Can't wait to find out if you were fooled or unfold if. I'm fully booked, my business is healthy. April fool. April fools could have fooled me. Here's the thing. Busy doesn't always equal profitable. I think we can both agree on that. I think all the listeners too, were. Were booked and broke. Right. You need to. There's some things that are not part of the social media content creation but are super important to having a healthy business. Burnout does not mean success either. It can be disguised as success, but just because you're busy, it doesn't mean you're really making it. One thing to consider is tracking your product cost is really important, and I don't think we talk about that enough. And then tracking your retail attachments, how your retail is received, and like repurchase. And then tracking your overhead, knowing what it costs for you every hour to run your business. It's something we see all the time, is that I'm exhausted, but I'm thriving. Energy, right?

C (7:20)

Yeah. I think also too, there's so many spa business softwares out there that will help you do this tracking, whereas it. It didn't exist even just a few years ago.

B (7:31)

Right.

C (7:31)

And use it to your advantage. Look at all the numbers, look at all the data, and it can help you build and grow your business. Whereas before, like some of this information, like tracking your product cost, tracking, retail attachment. To your point, I mean, when we went into business, what does that even mean if it sold? Awesome. You know, that's literally all I thought about.

B (7:56)

Right. And also I leaned on the brands to tell me how much this protocol would cost me. Right. So it was like the tropical facial. That's gonna be our new thing. Tropical. Like the cost per Treatment on my protocol, on the little sheet that I got said $15 or $10 or $8, and I believe them. But there's something, you know, sometimes you're a little heavier handed with a mask or lighter with an enzyme. So being able to track that in real time is cool with those softwares you're talking about, which is awesome. I just actually converted to a new software. Well, was that a pain in the butt? I'm telling you, but worth it. And then spending that time in analyzing the numbers or inputting your products, so important. So make sure to allow time in your schedule for that. All right, this is number three statement in our round one about business. It's the last one, so lock in here. It's my clients can't afford higher prices.

C (8:53)

Could have fooled me.

B (8:54)

Could have fooled me. That's such a hard thing to raise your prices because it's scary. You think, oh my gosh, how am I gonna make this happen? But the truth is, clients really invest in what they value. So don't worry about it. Be sure that you're communicating this is going to happen and have a plan for the rollout. Be confident in your pricing too, and in your value. And then be careful how you're projecting your own money fears. Does that align with you?

C (9:27)

It does, yeah. Sometimes. It's not their budget, it's our narrative, right?

B (9:32)

A hundred percent. I can't agree more. All right, round two. The industry. Let's talk about the industry and could have fooled me statement number one in this section. Here we go. Ready, Maggie? If it's trending, it must be necessary.

C (9:48)

Oh, I am not fooled by this one.

B (9:50)

Yeah, can't fool me. No, no, no, me neither. We know that there are ingredient cycles of things that are super important and must haves. And then we have this theory. You know, we've seen it come back cyclically and then a rebranding of old actives is now trending again or this new thing is reformulated. Here's the thing. Clinical need versus marketing momentum is something to keep in mind. What would you say is one of the trends right now that you think is going to be imp Stay Right. That's around for a while.

C (10:28)

Well, I think this idea behind whole body health is here to stay. I think this is more than a trend. I think it's a shift in our industry.

B (10:37)

I think it's a shift in our cultural awareness. I would agree with you. I think what we in our industry get caught up in is what is they call it ego products or ego purchases. And so very smart in, you know, the, the marketing world. But it's like, oh, we have this super exclusive protocol and here's all the products and we're going to launch and are you so excited be the first to have it. And you see it not just in like skin care, but in lash lifting or different kind of other modalities. Right. For sure. And it's interesting. So you need to be very sure that when you're purchasing or adding things to your menu that it's discerned between. Is this ego or is this necessary? Right. Yeah. Because your clients, they don't need every launch. Yeah.

C (11:25)

Trendy doesn't equal transformative for sure.

B (11:28)

Good one. Okay, ready for statement number two in round two?

C (11:32)

Ready.

B (11:33)

If it's professional only, it must be superior or better.

C (11:37)

Oh, I can't be fooled by this one.

B (11:39)

Nope, could have not fooled me. I think that a lot of times what we need to keep in mind is marketing efforts. I'm gonna be honest with you. The line I carry is just introduced a medical only line of products. And I have a med spouse, so I'm fine, I can get it. But there's not a big, there's no reason for that other than exclusivity, implied superiority. And it works. Oh, it works. But it's not necessarily the case. Like it doesn't work any better than the serum that I have from the same line. That is not for medical professionals only.

C (12:17)

You're saying that the product works. Are you saying this exclusive superiority works?

B (12:23)

Both, they, both the products work.

C (12:24)

Yeah.

B (12:25)

But this, the thought of like, oh, this is better for me. Oh, I'm. And we look at it now like when you think of, oh no, I'm going to go to a med spot, I get that done when I could have it done in a, you know, another place too. Yeah, I think it's very, very effective marketing. Uhuh.

C (12:39)

So it is superior.

B (12:40)

It's quote unquote. It's not superior in product, but it is a, a superior level of thinking, I would say. Yeah, not really.

C (12:49)

Like in all it's superior in name.

B (12:52)

Superior in name. Wink. It's superior. So it could have fooled a lot of people. Right. Okay, let's talk about statement number three of the industry. This device will pay for itself in three months.

C (13:09)

The fantasy math.

B (13:10)

The fantasy math, yeah. It's so such a sales tactic for device salespeople like, oh, this is how you can. Here's your roi and all you gotta do is get this many people in and so, and so. And it's just not true. Like, things that you have to think about are the utilization rate, the training time, how much you're going to give people so that you can have before and afters that are legitimate from your own clinic. Also the demand versus, like, the provider excitement. Sometimes it takes some time. I just brought in a new radio frequency device and it takes time to grow. Grow your role with the clients. And like, I'm really excited about this thing and do you want to try it? It is not a cheap treatment for sure. And it's definitely not a time where people are, you know, it's not too far after the holidays coming up. It will be because of tax returns and whatnot. But yeah, not. You have to spend the time there. So three months is a little bit ambitious to have it paid off.

C (14:08)

Well, I like to believe this is true. I really buy into that hype whenever I see those devices that tout this kind of thing and they're giving you all the marketing and da, da, da, da, da. And you will pay it off. Plus, this is the revenue that you'll be making by these treatments. I'm like, buy in. And you know, Right. It's like, easy. It's easy to believe.

B (14:32)

It's easy to believe. So you could have been fooled.

C (14:34)

I could have been fooled.

B (14:35)

You could have been fooled.

C (14:36)

I could have been fooled. And listen, I'm booking a radio frequency.

B (14:38)

Nice. Come on in. Let's tighten it up. But yeah, not for me. I'm the. I'm the worst one. I'm kind of the biggest critic with that. I'm like, no, can't. No, it won't. I still bought the device, but I'm not fooled to thinking that it's going to pay back itself. But it's close. All right, cool. Then let's talk about the next thing. Ready for this one? This is really something that happens in our industry quite a lot. If someone has a big platform or a lot of followers, they must have current experience.

C (15:10)

Oh, I don't know.

B (15:13)

You think in the last five years that we've definitely equated followers with legitimacy? No, no.

C (15:22)

I mean, I don't equate that. This is a tricky one because we've got our influencers and there could be estheticians with a lot of followers that are current and great.

B (15:36)

I think that, as a rule, is wrong. You know Janice Gonzalez, we have. We had her on the podcast last year. She taught me something called engagement rates. Have you ever heard of those? Yeah, I didn't. So basically like the followers to What? Who's really interacting with the profile. And I think that's a good point. But some of the loudest voices that are in my, like, I guess, algorithms or feeds that I see, I know they're not practicing.

C (16:05)

I see.

B (16:05)

So they're, they're, they're not currently practicing. So this gives the difference between, like, influence and lived experience, which it's so interesting because the industry has changed so much in the last two years. Yeah. And then in the last five years. Whoa. In the last 10 years, it's almost completely different. So when you're taking advice from someone, be sure to ask, like, are you practicing? You know, are you practicing professional? Not to say that they don't have anything to share, that it's not valuable, but I'm telling you, last year, 14 months ago, let's just say 14 months ago to now, totally different buying habits for consumers and a lot different way of practicing with understanding perimenopause and emotions and things. Like, it's not the same. So definitely could not have fooled me. Cause I see it and I want other people to be aware of it. Followers are not the same thing as treatment hours either. That's the other thing. You have, like, these brand new people who are just really good at content creation, who have a following good on them because I don't, because I suck at social media, but I know what I'm doing in the treatment room, Right.

C (17:14)

Oh, yeah. There's a difference there for sure.

B (17:16)

Let's talk about the other side of our industry, which is like aging and appearance. This one is good. Excited?

C (17:23)

Yeah.

B (17:24)

Okay, statement number one. If someone guesses your age is younger, your skin care is working trail could have fooled me. And I fool people all the time. That's really important. As is lighting, demeanor, energy. Also confidence reads as youthful. FYI, genetics matter. And then also the way your skin functions is even better than how they perceive it. So it's not just your skincare that's working necessarily. It's also you who's working. Get it, girl.

C (17:58)

Dang.

B (18:00)

All right, ready number nine. Maggie.

C (18:02)

Ready.

B (18:03)

Looking younger is the ultimate goal of skincare. That.

C (18:07)

Yeah, that's true.

B (18:08)

It is true. It is. Does. But it felt weird, right? It didn't feel comfortable.

C (18:13)

Yeah, it didn't feel comfortable.

B (18:15)

Why doesn't it feel comfortable?

C (18:16)

Well, because that's not the only goal. And the goals vary from client to client, I think.

B (18:24)

So what is, I guess, younger or like, looking younger? What does that equal to? I would say looking healthier.

C (18:32)

Yeah, I was gonna say skin health is really the ultimate goal.

B (18:36)

Yeah. I think that is what's now kind of replaced is like how healthy is your skin? And then to what you were saying about whole health is different. So it's how healthy do you appear versus how young do you look? Because I told you I got a pimple. I'm like, oh, look how young I look. Nobody says that. Nobody says that. Right. What do you think about the switch in terms to age management?

C (19:04)

I don't like that.

B (19:05)

I hate it. I hate it. I understand what, what is trying to happen is to replace anti aging because anti anti is like not a good word. But I hate age management. It makes me feel like I have a caseworker.

C (19:18)

Yeah.

B (19:18)

Well.

C (19:19)

And what was the other term that we had like last year? It was not anti aging.

B (19:24)

It was pro aging.

C (19:26)

Pro aging. Yeah. I mean, let's just call it what it is. We're all trying not to age. We're all trying to look young. We're all trying to have healthy skin.

B (19:35)

It's called inevitably aging, but not that fast.

C (19:38)

But that's it. Inevitably aging.

B (19:40)

Inevitably aging.

C (19:41)

It just rolls off the tongue.

B (19:42)

Yeah.

C (19:43)

Come in for your inevitably aging facial.

B (19:46)

We'll hold your hand.

C (19:47)

Yeah, we're going to wash your face.

B (19:49)

Yeah, no, I think I like your skin health better. Okay. This next one kind of goes along with that. If I don't look 25 forever, I'm failing as an esthetician.

C (19:59)

Oh, no, that's.

B (20:00)

You're not following me.

C (20:01)

I'm not fooled.

B (20:02)

No, I don't know that if I. But I'm aging. I'm at that time where I'm. I'm noticing the little things, like the little things that I saw in my mom, like the jowls and the neck and bleh. And I'm not failing as an esthetician. I still know how to keep it nice and pretty for everybody else and myself. But it is a thing. It does feel weird. There's a lot of pressure for that. But we have to think about realistic aging, like where I'm at. And also my 30 year high school reunion is this summer and I'm. Listen, I've seen the pictures on Facebook. I'm like, I'm doing great. Here's just a couple questions. We won't go too deep in them, but just say real quick, yeah, no, I'm not fooled. Okay, ready? You need a ten step routine. No medical automatically means better.

C (20:45)

No retailing feels pushy sometimes.

B (20:48)

Sometimes more certifications equals more skills.

C (20:51)

Not necessarily.

B (20:52)

Not necessarily. Clients don't notice the details.

C (20:55)

Not true.

B (20:56)

And you need every modality so that you stay relevant.

C (20:59)

Not true.

B (21:00)

Yeah, awesome. April Fools April Fools is light hearted, but this industry asks us to grow and growing sometimes means outgrowing old ideas. We hope that's what happened for you today by listening to this podcast. Now listeners, we really want to hear from you. What's your biggest could have fooled me moment in this industry? Reach out via Instagram, Facebook or send us an email@getconnectedscpskincare.com we want to know all the details. In the meantime, thank you for listening to ASCPSDtalk. For more information on this episode or for ways to connect with Maggie or myself, or to learn more about ascp, check out the show notes and stay tuned for the next episode of ascp. Estee Talk this is not April Fools. The episode is done.

A (21:48)

Estes, your future looks bright and beautiful. The Massage Envy brand is focused on helping people not only feel their best, but also look their best. Would you like the opportunity to make a positive difference in your clients lives every day while growing your career in a supportive, nurturing environment? Join a welcoming team of like minded professionals at a Massage Envy franchise location near you. Visit massagenv.com sdcareers for more details and to apply today.