Alana Mitchell has been a highly sought after beauty expert in the skincare industry for over a decade. Having grown up in the midst of the beauty industry where her parents have owned beauty salons and day spas for over thirty years, Alana Mitchell opened her first signature day spa, Spa Alana, in Dana Point, in 2005. There, she not only created unique and highly effective treatment regimens in her own spa but she extended her care and personalized touch to her online boutique, called Skincare by Alana.
Since its launch in 2008, Skincare by Alana has specialized in offering customers around the world hard-to-find products that are typically only available in-spa, and which Alana has carefully vetted. An advocate of natural and organic products, Alana additionally creates hands-on instructional and educational videos for many of her products.
Skincare by Alana offers highly trained staff to guide customers via telephone, helping customers ongoing to achieve their skincare goals. With sales that have grown over 400% in the last four years, Skincare by Alana is continually expanding and now offers over 200 brands, including Rhonda Allison, Eminence Organic Skincare, Image Skincare and Epicuren.
“One of the ways I have managed to stay in a growth stage is through innovation and forward thinking. For example, I was the first in the beauty industry to offer customized video tutorials for most of the products and brands that are available on my site. Also, I was the first to launch an Iphone App,” said Alana.
Furthermore said Alana, “with every purchase on skincarebyalana.com, customer's have the ability to fill out a survey which lets us know what our site is missing! Listening to customers with regards to site functionality and new ideas, and what brands we should carry has been a huge part of our growth!”
“Obtaining my Bachelors Degree in Marketing from Biola University in La Mirada, California had a significant impact in the shaping of my business strategies! A huge concept that has stuck with me throughout my business was taught to me by Professor Les Harman, who stressed a servant-based attitude when approaching customers. Ultimately it is always about serving my customers wants and needs, not mine” as Alana reveals.
After obtaining her Bachelors, she went on to complete her Esthetician hours at Career Academy of Beauty in Anaheim.
Alana also gives major credit to her Mom and Dad. They are both entrepreneurs: having achieved the title of successful business owners. Her Mother was also in Los Angeles real estate for years! The both of them poured their knowledge into Alana.
Alan stresses that “there are a number of things that set me apart from other spas in the area, my huge product selection has attracted customers both near and far. Also adding to the success is Spa Alana and my team of estheticians, which currently consists of about 15 people in house, all of whom not only have a lot of higher education, but have also been personally trained by myself!”
Alana also researches and tests every product she sells personally in a variety of ways, magazines, beauty trade shows, customer recommendations and by her own intuition.
When asked about how she provides a personal experience online Alana said, “It sounds like an oxymoron, offering a personalized experience over a website, but we believe we are starting to figure it out. Offering how to Videos has really been a key factor in making our customers feel like they are gaining personalized help. Also, we encourage phone calls over web orders! Yes, we would rather take an order over the phone than online! Most websites discourage phone calls. We have licensed beauty experts and estheticians standing by to help customers personally over the phone. Later this year, we will be offering personalized live video chat over the phone with customer service agents so that a person anywhere in the world can have their skin analyzed via live video chat.”
Alana's business model proves that even in this economy your business can flourish and you can expand your customer base outside of your community by utilizing the internet and offering innovative ways to reach clients.
For more information go to www.skincarebyalana.com
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