Planning
Aesthetic Salon
We encountered a popular aesthetic salon in the heart of Osaka city in 2019.
This salon catered for both male and female patrons, with an extensive menu of massage such as oil, aroma and spas.
This particular salon is extremely welcoming to foreign customers and over the years, has built a foreign client-base mainly through walk-in and referrals.
They first contacted us with an inquiry on how to create new foreign client needs and scale a new target base.
No Localized Promotion
First and foremost, the biggest challenge that this client faced was that they had absolutely no multilingual marketing material.
Their website was completely in Japanese which meant that there was no organic multilingual traffic.
In addition, having a Japanese-only website would construct a large hurdle and confuse any potential clients that happen to drop by the website.
Google Translate can go so far when it comes to a specialized industry such as aesthetic massage.
Our Solution
First place to start, we provided the client with a full renewal of the website, starting with creating an English version of the original website.
We researched, implemented and optimized search keywords to target new leads.
In addition we localized the original Japanese content for foreign users to better understand the available services and positive effects they could receive.
Aesthetic massage is something very new to people from certain countries.
Unable to Take Reservations
After completing the client’s English website, taking reservations and answering inquiries in English was the next challenge we projected to face.
The main issue was the client’s staff were not specifically trained to deal with foreign clients.
Another issue consisted of confirming whether or not the reservation itself was valid or not.
For Japanese and foreign clients living in Japan, they can be contacted by phone.
However travelling or tourists usually don’t have a valid number of contact and the staff worried if they would show up or not.
Our Solution
We automated and made a template for everything.
We implemented a sales funnel system that took reservations in English, relaying the information in Japanese to the staff automatically.
When it came to inquiries, we incorporated an extensive Q&A system for foreign users to check before their reservation.
In addition, to decrease the number of ‘no-show’ clients the same system was set up to automatically contact the user periodically before the reservation to confirm their intent.
Japanese-Only Staff
Lastly, the final challenge focused around when the new foreign client came into the salon for their reservation.
In the past, the foreign clients that frequented this salon could speak some Japanese.
The question was "What if a new client has ZERO Japanese language ability".
The Japanese staff were not trained in another language and explaining the menu courses, giving the client instructions, and in general communicating with the client was a massive feat.
Our Solution
We focused on the main points of communication between staff and client within the salon and created an English manual for the staff to utilize during sessions.
This manual consisted of menu translations, simple phrases to use and Y/N questions to confirm wellness to safely take care of the foreign client until they leave the door of the salon.
Our Solution
Results
Increased Leads 4x
Through highly targeted keywords and content marketing, we were able to increase the number of new foreign client leads by 4 times.
Increased Efficiency
By automating and preparing templates for all sales communication with potential foreign client leads, staff didn’t have to spend any extra time dealing with foreign clients.
Decreased Anxiety
Some of the client’s staff were anxious when dealing with foreign clients, due to their lack of English ability. Through thoroughly researched manuals, each staff was able to increase confidence.
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