6

Small Business Management

Tecora Shutes

Promotion and Pricing Strategies

Professor Garabedian

December 10, 2020

Small Business Management

Beauty Bar

My small business is a beauty bar that would offer beauty services such as hair, waxing and threading, face treatment that enable the skin to look young, manicure where hands are treated including fingernails and cuticles, pedicure which is the treatment of feet, toenails, and calluses. My beauty bar would also offer body massage, which improves skin functionality, and would sell various beauty products.

Primary Target Market

Though my business would target a significant male client, my primary target is women. Women primarily like to look beautiful and clean always (Priya, Balaji &KarthigaPriya, 2019). Since GB beauty bar is about beauty services and products, women are the appropriate target.

Three Methods I Will Use to Research My Customer's Needs and Wants

In this business, customers are our primary focus, and on that note, this business's goal is to treat customers with the utmost respect and ensure they are satisfied with our service. The three methods I will use to reach out to my customers include: delivering quality customer support, mapping customer's journey, and measuring customer satisfaction regularly (Camilleri, 2018).

1. Delivering Quality Customer Support

Delivering quality products is not the only way to ensure customers are happy; Customers prefer businesses where attendants value their time well by responding and resolving their queries as fast as possible for them to save time for other engagements (Camilleri, 2018). In my research, I found out that providing real-time support ensures the connection between my business and customers through live chat to offer help to sales and also support queries, adopting live assistance by use of co-browsing and video chats ensures faster solutions and lastly, employing automotive customer support through the use of a chatbot to interact with customers always to respond to their queries (Flores Saldivar et al.,2016).

2. Mapping Customer's Journey

It is visualizing what customers feel when using my products and services. Flores Saldivar et al. (2016) said that this could help detect areas of weaknesses to make improvements and the strength if they are there. In mapping, many phases and touchpoints are considered beginning from potential customers to loyal ones. The customers need to get an excellent experience to be regular business customers (Fargnoli, Haber, &Sakao, 2019).

3. Measuring Customer's Satisfaction Regularly

According to Fargnoli et al.(2019), happy customers are always responsible for any business's growth. Several mechanisms should be put in place to determine whether customers are satisfied or not. These mechanisms include net promoter score (NPS), customer satisfaction score (CSAT), and customer effort score (CES). Measuring customer satisfaction ensures the following (Zhang, Zhang & Zhang, 2019):

1. It gives much information about the business's performance based on what can be improved, and it shows if there are gaps.

2. CSAT score assist team leaders to identify coaching chances to enhance agents' visibility.

Marketing Mix

a. Products and Services

My business will offer the following products:

1. Foundations- they make a base that people use before makeup.

2. Makeup palettes- they are used for makes, and they are designed for every user.

3. Eyeliner- is applied along the lash line. It is in different colors.

4. Lip gloss- is a product applied on the lips to make them look shiny. It has different colors.

5. Hair shampoo- is used to wash the hair before braiding or blowdrying.

6. Styling cream or gel- used in improving hair texture.

Services to be offered:

1. Hair cut- is trimming of hair.

2. Massage- is rubbing of the skin by use of cosmetics to improve skin functionality.

3. Bleaching service- is applying some products to make the skin lighter.

4. Manicure- is treating the hands together with fingernails.

5. Pedicure- is treating the feet together with toenails.

6. Facial- is moisturizing and cleaning of the face.

b. Pricing Strategy

I will price my products slightly lower than my competitors in the market to attract customers from all corners. This will be done after a though survey in the market to establish their pricing trend (Kienzler&Kowalkowski, 2017). I will repackage my products so that it looks unique from those of my competitors; for example I can add an extra product and increase the price slightly. For instance, a package of five shampoos is sold at $30, while in my shop, I can sell a package of six shampoos at $32.

c. Promotion

I will advertise my products and services by stating its uniqueness through social media, for example, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube (Akhmetshin et al, 2018). I will also put offers on my products; for instance, when one buys three products, is given another one for free. I will register my business with Google places to be found easily whenever somebody searches it (Akhmetshin et al., 2018).

d. Placement/ Distribution

GB beauty bar is located in Washington, DC, in the town of Seattle. This place is strategic because only a few beauty bars in the town are overwhelmed because of the high demand for products and services. The town can also be accessed easily by customers with vehicles or even on foot without any hurdle.

One-Year Advertising Budget

References

Akhmetshin, E. M., Ilyasov, R. H., Sverdlikova, E. A., Tagibova, A. A., Tolmachev, A. V., &Yumashev, A. V. (2018). Promotion in emerging markets. European Research Studies, 21, 652-665.

Camilleri, M. A. (2018). Understanding customer needs and wants. In Travel marketing, tourism economics and the airline product (pp. 29-50).Springer, Cham.

Fargnoli, M., Haber, N., &Sakao, T. (2019). PSS modularisation: A customer-driven integrated approach. International Journal of Production Research, 57(13), 4061-4077.

Flores Saldivar, A. A., Goh, C. S., Chen, W. N., & Li, Y. (2016). Self-organizing tool for smart design with predictive customer needs and wants to realize Industry 4.0.

Kienzler, M., &Kowalkowski, C. (2017). Pricing strategy: A review of 22 years of marketing research. Journal of Business Research, 78, 101-110.

Kofman, D., Nolan, L., Sawyer, E Rogan, K.,.,&Zuk, J. (2018). Client: Hair Crea'Tique Beauty Bar December 2018 Account Executive.

Priya, V., Balaji, P., &KarthigaPriya, M. (2019).Dimensions and Dominant Groups of Customer Perception and Attitude towards Beauty Parlour Services. International Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, 10(1).

Zhang, J., Zhang, J., & Zhang, M. (2019). From free to paid: Customer expertise and customer satisfaction on knowledge payment platforms. Decision Support Systems, 127, 113140.