October 26th, 2022
With Christmas just around the corner, the focus is shifting for many people to what to get as gifts for their friends, family and colleagues. This time of year can be the one that brings in the most income for many, so it’s important small businesses know how to maximise their potential.
We spoke to Ruth Atkins, a Salon System Educator, about the business of retailing and what you should do to make the most of the opportunity with your clients. Here’s what she said.
Retailing is essential for any beauty and nail business, as not only does it bring in significant extra revenue, but it gives personalised expert recommendations, which results in client retention. A therapist/nail tech who knows their brand will talk enthusiastically about it and know which product line will suit each client. It’s the ultimate in personal shopping that will continue to prolong the client’s salon results and is sometimes crucial in a treatments aftercare. As therapists and nail techs only have one pair of hands and there are only so many hours in the day to see so many clients, the rest of your business must be made up by selling retail products.
“by not recommending your retail lines you are doing your clients a disservice”
As a professional therapist who has trained in your field – you are the best person to recommend these items. If your client doesn’t buy from you, they will buy from the high street and possibly undo all the good work you’ve done during their treatment. After spending time and money on you and your salon they will want to extend the results of that treatment and by you not recommending your retail lines – you are actually doing them a disservice.
Retailing is part of the continuation of the treatments you offer to gain the best results, it’s also an essential way of increasing your revenue. You will have in depth knowledge of the products that you sell, and it is your duty to pass that knowledge on and sell to your clients. Clients can always tell if someone is not being truthful or just being ‘sold’ to, and no one likes that, and you won’t get many sales. Be consistent too with each client – assume everyone wants the opportunity to buy from you, so ask and don’t be afraid if they say no. No need to be pushy, just be enthusiastic, confident, a matter of fact and positive.
Also, think about your reception area and how you can use this to help sell product. Don’t clutter the area but have a few key hero products around the area to give paying clients time to muse over offers. Also, while your client has a treatment, this is a golden opportunity to discuss the products used and explain what is so good about them and the results they’ve witnessed. Even though you may know the products inside out, you must sell the benefits and not the ingredients as most clients won’t care about the INCI list.
Do also remember that that the retail opportunity starts even before the client steps foot through the door – so make sure the window dressing is full of ideas which will also encourage passing trade. When considering retail items, it’s a good idea to think about age, gender, budgets etc. Older type clients skins need will differ from younger/teenage skin for example, male clients will be more interested in facial hair products and manicures, nail clients love nail colour, nail oils, hand creams and gifts bundles of this type, lash clients always love lash serums, mascaras, eye masks and brow clients love brow pigments, brow gels and brow pencils and if all else fails, a gift voucher is always a winner and something that they might not choose for themselves but would appreciate all the same.
“word of mouth is your best marketing tool”
Promote yourself and your services and post regularly on social media platforms highlighting your work and offer advice. Make sure you respond to all comments positively and engage with your followers as often as possible. Run competitions, exclusive online discounts or free add on services and encourage your clients to post their own selfies of your salon and work too! And of course, don’t forget word of mouth is your best marketing tool so encourage your customers to share their positive thoughts with their contacts and look at ways to reward them with say vouchers with complementary add-on services for them and a friend. Plus, ensure you’re networking with like-minded businesses locally too. All businesses are looking to increase their customer base so work together where you can.
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