The private label trend is growing. As more professional managers bring best practices from other industries and bump their heads against the industry's notoriously low profit margins, private label sales have steadily increased. To many of the non-spa-industry professionals I've consulted with, private label is a foregone conclusion. They can't make their business plans work without it. Unlike the estheticians who fell blindly in love with Myrtle's Miracle, their first priority is making sure their business is healthy and profitable.

You've probably talked to spa owners who have dabbled with private brands and insist that they don't sell. This actually translates to "My staff doesn't sell." This, in turn, translates to "I don't know how to motivate my staff to sell." A private brand product line does best in a spa where the brand—the company—is respected and supported by its employees. A private brand flourishes in a well-run organization. Private branding is not the panacea for poor management or lack of management. In a weak organization, a strong outside brand may actually provide the support, structure, and vision that's lacking in management. This is an appealing proposition for many technicians-turned-managers who lack the skill or even the will to manage their spas and their retail programs. Ultimately though, branding autonomy gives the company the best chance of maximizing profit and value.

Retail sales in the spa environment have become more competitive and more difficult in the past 10 years. Customers are bombarded by companies marketing skin and bodycare products and cosmetics, including department stores, drugstores, infomercials, specialty retailers, multi-level marketers, natural foods stores, and even doctors. The fact remains that the primary influencer of a spa guest's beauty and self-care purchases is his or her service provider. It's a powerful sales platform. In the treatment room, thanks to the magic of the spa experience and the rapport and trust you've built with your guest, you are in charge. That means your brand has the opportunity to compete head to head with the best-marketed lines in the world and win.

Peggy Wynne Borgman is the CEO of Wynne Business and the director of two Preston Wynne spas. Borgman is a principal consultant and seminar leader for Wynne Business and author of Four Seasons of Inner and Outer Beauty: Spa Rituals for Well-Being Throughout the Year (Broadway Books, 2003). She is also a member of the Day Spa Association's advisory board. You can reach her at pwb@prestonwynne.com
.