Often Imitated, Never Duplicated: A Case for Knowing Your Worth

You’ve likely heard the saying, “You get what you pay for,” and maybe you’ve said it within your own business a time or two (or ten).

Like that time you had a potential client balk at the price of your treatment claiming they could get it somewhere else for half the price. But here’s the thing you know, and they don’t:

First of all, they’re not your ideal client, so buh-bye and best wishes.

Secondly, you know that often a sweet deal often can lead to a sour outcome.

Whether it’s someone getting a botched treatment that resulted in damage or the luckier case, it was merely a waste of money since the desired outcome wasn’t achieved.

At the crux of it, is the concept of value and knowing your worth.

It’s about highlighting your expertise, education, the quality of your products and treatments, plus the experience you provide for your clients and customers, and having your brand and offerings reflect that value.  

This is something we’ve also had to navigate outside of the treatment room because the truth of the matter is, there will always be imitations for your clients to choose from, the key is not being duplicated.

Here’s how we do that at Herbal Skin Solutions:

Knowing Who We Specifically Help

Remember that first note above about that person not being your ideal client?

Well, even though any licensed skin care professional can use our micro needling devices, we didn’t set out to serve every esthetician in existence.

Instead, as a solo esthetician and business owner who worked full-time in the treatment room, I had a difficult time finding a professional company who could supply me with the best tools for my esthetic practice while also providing proper support, and thus, I saw a need and I set out to fill it.

My top priority became serving a solo esthetician the way I desired to be supported to reach the level of success I envisioned for my business.

And now, after traveling (and continuing to travel) the country to visit as many of our CIT Pen Providers in person as possible, the answer is still the same: our support and the intention behind the attention we give our providers is what magnetizes so many other brilliant, like-minded professionals to us.

While we could serve every kind of skincare business in the industry, and are happy to serve any esthetic professional who find us and connects with our message, our specific focus on providing outstanding support to the solo esthetician has never wavered.  

Going The Extra Mile

Speaking of service…what are we in this for if not to serve?

Regardless of industry, the foundation of business is to provide exceptional service and be the trusted source for your clients and customers, and even though we are a business that provides devices and products, where we really connect with our providers is beyond the purchase.

For example, our customer service team isn’t a pseudonym for “sales team.” Our support team is comprised of experienced, licensed skin care professionals who specialize in needling and are available to guide you at any point in your CIT Pen Provider journey.

Then there’s continued education.

We believe in the power of hands-on experiences and providing opportunities for esthetic professionals to cultivate deeper connections within our community which allows for individual and industry-wide growth.

Thus, we offer all of our providers the opportunity to take discounted continuing education courses through The Esthetics Academy, join in on free meet-up events we host across the country, as well as utilize tools such as a live virtual one-on-one device training, an extensive training manual, pre- and post-care information, sample protocols, and sample consent forms via our private CIT Pen Provider portal.

Additionally, our private provider forum on Facebook allows for providers to plug into an existing network for advice, support, and feedback, which for us, makes service and support come circle since we believe that community support is just as crucial as customer support.

The Professional Edge

As anyone in esthetics knows, continuing education doesn’t apply solely to technique and protocols; your esthetic expertise also extends to the science behind the products you offer and the legalities associated with practicing in compliance to uphold an exceptional reputation.

We go about ensuring our professional edge by spending significant resources on research and development to create our own high-quality products alongside other top-notch brands we distribute, all of which are backed by case studies and supported by product education.

Furthermore, our products are not available for general public purchase, as our website is locked to professionals who must show proof of licensure to gain access.

This goes hand-in-hand with our mission to support solo estheticians in building successful businesses as your clients have to see you, the professional, to purchase the retail product we sell.

And to help reinforce the earning potential  that our providers stand to make with our devices and products, we are adamant about implementing the ideas and requests for product and treatment room offerings that we receive through customer feedback in addition to providing marketing assistance via downloadable and customizable templates, which address the capabilities and common client concerns of nano-infusion and micro-needing.

Another top-of-mind concern for our providers is complying with their state’s regulations, which is why we’ve reached out to every state to get written responses for their regulations regarding skin needling so we can be at the forefront of any changes in politics that could affect the esthetic industry and thus, our providers.

Lastly, we’re often asked about FDA approval and here’s a piece of info to keep in your back pocket: Currently no dermal needling device is approved by the FDA.

Although a company may list their product as a Class One medical device—low risk and least regulatory controls—does not mean that the FDA agrees with that designation.

In fact, in official correspondence, the FDA rejects the assertion that skin needling devices are Class One simply because a company claims that it is skin to dermabrasion or other similar brushes and tools. Anyone can get a device or instrument listed (or registered) by completing a simple form and filing it with the FDA. However, this does not designate the device as an “FDA approved” skin needling pen.

Focusing On The Features

Now in business, and specifically marketing, you may be familiar with the concept of highlighting the “benefits over features.”

Everything we’ve detailed in the sections above are our benefits and where we believe so much of the value we provide lives within the Herbal Skin Solutions brand, however, at the end of the day, if you don’t have a product that achieves outstanding results or fulfills your specific needs, things like industry trends and market demand will only take you so far.

Again, your client could go to the esthetician down the street who provides more services at half the price, but if the results aren’t optimal, they could be paying a much heftier price at the risk of poor service.

So, how do our features stand out from other skin needling devices?

First, let’s talk about the pen itself: it’s cordless (any esthetician knows that keeping a cord out of the way is a sanity saver), lightweight and ergonomic due to the smooth vibration and light humming glide versus an aggressive motor power, which can lead to unstable handling.

The CIT Pen also has options for both nano-infusion (tips do not work past 1/10 of a mm regardless of depth) and micro needling (0.25mm up to 2.5mm) and has five different speed settings with depths that range from cosmetic to medical and are more customizable than the standard  .5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 mm depths you see on the majority of micro needling pens on the market.

Then there are the consumables, which we keep affordable to meet the needs of solo estheticians by not having a minimum order requirement on cartridges and giving two free cartridges when providers buy any 10. (Plus, two rewards points for every dollar spent, which can be redeemed at any time and can cover shipping costs as well!)

But beyond the affordability, we know consistency in the quality of our cartridges is what our CIT Pen Providers count on the most, which is why every nano cartridge (both silicone and surgical steel) and micro needling cartridge (that comes with 12 or 36 tips) is sterilized in EO gas and contains a silicone lock to prevent back-flow.

Furthermore, we continually enforce the quality of our CIT Pen and cartridges with an incredible quality control team that performs regular internal audits.

With all that said, we’re not hesitant to say that we provide tremendous value and that comes from knowing our worth.

A CIT Pen Provider is so much more than the owner of an esthetic device. They’re smart and savvy business owners, they’re industry experts who are always eager to learn and continually excel, and they care a hell of a lot.

They care about their clients and the quality of treatments they provide, the safety of their practices and techniques, and how the desired outcomes they’re working to achieve can impact the people they were meant to serve.

So, while there may be plenty of imitations, know that no one can duplicate top-notch service and support, your expertise and professional edge, that’s all you and unique.

Have more questions about the CIT Pen and becoming a CIT Pen Provider?

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