Business - Sue’s Master Class in Sales
Are you achieving your earning potential? Sue Masters encourages therapists to sell products in order to maximise their earnings
H
AVE you ever bought or sold products following a reflexology, hot stone massage, or acupuncture session? If not! Why not? It’s almost accepted in the industry that it’s okay to retail a nail polish after a manicure, or a moisturiser after a facial, but many therapists don’t have the same confidence in recommending when it comes to the holistic and complementary treatments. Why is this? In my fifteen years as a therapist and lecturer, I have met hundreds of holistic therapists, and a high percentage of them do not feel comfortable retailing products in treatments. This is often due to a feeling of being ‘pushy’ or “I don’t want to be a salesperson” and to ‘sell’. I’m sure you have recommended a service or product such as car insurance provider, exercise class, even a hairdresser or dentist to a friend, family member and client before. Why? Because you believe that individuals would benefit from that particular service and you believe in it. What’s the difference in recommending a product you believe will help and benefit your client at home? Installing a homecare programme will facilitate the speed in which your client will see results; in turn this reinforces your therapy and the industry as a whole.
provide the best therapy, service and advice possible
which may involve using the products at home. Many may only be able to afford a session once every four to eight weeks, and so it is vital we provide guidance on how they can help themselves at home. Ultimately, we can only provide the best therapy, service and advice possible - we have to be compassionate with our clients and give them space to help themselves.
It’s often our own beliefs why we don’t retail – NOT our clients’ Client: Carly “I’ve been receiving treatments from Sue over the last five years for a range of stress-related conditions including IBS, poor sleep patterns, headaches and anxiety. The treatments are always amazing, but I soon came to realise I needed to make changes at home and to my lifestyle to see long-term results. I use products at home as a way of life now, to keep my symptoms at bay, and I have also introduced meditation, yoga as well as improved my diet… these have made such a difference. I trust Sue completely, and I know she will only recommend what I need, and these products work! I have recommended Sue to many of my stressed colleagues!” My path as a therapist included a decade at one of the UK’s leading health spas, in which I held the top position in sales for eleven consecutive months, and in that time I never felt I ‘sold’ to a client.
Surely, it’s those who come to us for holistic therapies with specific conditions that need our additional advice and support,
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holistic therapist 2013
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