Editor's letter: Should your therapists be specialising?

Allowing therapists to develop individual specialisms can give a huge boost to a salon or spa. Letting them spend more time on the parts of the job they enjoy the most can make a team happier, more motivated and ultimately more likely to stay with a business. Encouraging a therapist or nail tech to become highly skilled in a particular treatment can also allow a salon to charge more for it when booked with that practitioner.

While it may not be financially viable to invest in extra training for new staff, or to leave gaps in their skillsets, and your appointment book, by allowing them to specialise early on, extra training is a great way to reward therapists who stay with you.

And while many salons already adopt this approach – 66% of beauty salons and 69% of spas in our Insider survey in the Jan issue of PB said they encourage therapists to develop a specialism – few maximise the benefit to the business by charging a higher price point for a facial with their star facialist or a manicure with their top tech. 

Hellen Ward extols the virtues of specialism for boosting profits in her column in the January issue of Professional Beauty, while our launch analysis explains why the concept is at the core of new site Gazelli House.

Of course, specialism also assists with hyper-personalisation of therapies, a theme that shaped the launches of 2015 and one that’s set to continue into this year and beyond, with experts predicting developments in technology that will allow treatments to be matched to an individual’s DNA profile, or tell a client how and when to apply product to suit their skin. Find out more in this issue, then for a full line-up of the trends set to shape the next 12 months, based on exclusive statistics, turn to our annual trend report. From water conservation to superfood skincare, it’s packed with ideas to keep your business ahead of the curve.