The aesthetic industry has been witness to accelerated growth as noninvasive treatments increase in popularity. With accelerated growth comes frequent questions, and your clients (perhaps even you) may be confused about tipping etiquette in the medspa environment. ⁠ ⁠

This confusion is easily understandable. Your business is likely a hybrid between the traditional day spa and a cosmetic treatment practice requiring education, expertise, and clinical-like procedures.⁠ ⁠

Day Spas = 10%-20% tip⁠

Medical Clinic= 0% tip⁠

Medspa = ???⁠ ⁠

The decision of whether to accept tips is up to you as the business owner. Professionals in the industry hold diverse viewpoints on this topic. Some believe it is unprofessional to allow tips within a medical setting, and others welcome them, to better compensate their team members. Still, other professionals find it appropriate to accept tips for services performed by aestheticians, but don’t allow tips for medical procedures performed by physicians or injectors.⁠ ⁠

Here’s my advice:

Decide your policy on tipping, remain consistent, and discuss it with your team. ⁠ ⁠

In most instances, clients will ask at the front desk if they should tip. Be sure that all of your team members are aware of your medspa’s policies and can share them professionally with clients when asked. ⁠ (Write out a script for the correct verbiage.)⁠ ⁠

-If you opt to allow tips for services provided by your estheticians, the standard spa practice of tipping 10-20% is a reasonable guideline. ⁠When it comes to a larger ticket like a $1,500 laser treatment, your front desk might want to suggest a flat dollar range instead of a percentage. ⁠ ⁠

-If you opt to forgo tipping for your medspa, have team members encourage clients to leave positive reviews on your Google Reviews and RealSelf pages! You can also ask clients to post about their experience on social media and tag your medspa/ their aesthetician.⁠ ⁠

What’s your medspa’s policy on tipping? ⁠