Selling Without The Ick! Mastering Skin Clinic Sales With Heart

So… What’s Your Secret? (And Can I Steal It?) If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, “How do you get the sales you guys do?” “What’s your secret sauce?” “Is it witchcraft?” I’d have... well, let’s just say I wouldn’t be worried about end-ofmonth targets.

And here’s the honest truth: anyone can do it. Seriously! It’s not some exclusive sales sorcery reserved for unicorn skin therapists or KPI-loving extroverts. Once you get your head around it, it’s actually bloody easy. (Like, “Why didn’t we do this sooner?” kind of easy.)

It wasn’t easy to break it all down. I’m still working on reverse-engineering the magic for a future course or workshop. But today, I want to give you the good stuff: a practical, instantly actionable guide to making sales feel easy, ethical, and fun.

They’re grounded in human decency, excellent service, a bit of behavioural psychology, and, most importantly, a mindset shift around that awkward little word: selling.

Because once you and your team stop seeing it as grubby and start recognising it for what it really is - helping people feel better and get results - you’ll wonder why it ever felt icky in the first place.

Carly Knowles

Why Are Sales So Important? (Spoiler: They’re Everything)

Let’s break it down.

Say one therapist sells one extra retail product a week - maybe a $20 lip balm or mini cleanser. That’s $1,040 in extra revenue over a year.

Now imagine a team of five doing the same thing. That’s $5,200 in extra sales - from just a tiny tweak in focus.

Now take a higher ticket item, like a $135 serum. One sale per week = $7,020 a year. Multiply that across five therapists and you’ve got $35,100 in revenue, just from one product.

With a 50% margin, that’s $17,550 profit.

What does this tell us?

That a small shift in mindset and behaviour can massively impact your bottom line.

When you focus your team, educate them, and remove the fear around sales, the results are immediate and scalable. Cashflow is king in small business, and this is one of the most accessible, repeatable ways to boost it.

Sales isn’t something we do occasionally. It’s a skill. And one that needs constant practice. If you’re not selling, you’re not growing!

Sales = sustainability. Sales = scalability.

And the best part? It doesn’t have to be awkward or unnatural.

Let’s normalise sales as part of client care and watch your numbers increase.

Let’s Talk About the (Unspoken) Stuff That Gets in the Way: The Objections!!

Every clinic, no matter how incredible, runs into resistance around sales. From the team. From clients. Sometimes, even from ourselves!

Let’s name it, claim it, and reframe it.

1. “It’s Too Expensive” – The Price Objection

Often, this is more about our baggage than the clients bank balance!

We’ve been conditioned to associate “selling” with sleazy. A few bad retail experiences, and suddenly we’re afraid to recommend a $135 serum, even when we know it’ll help.

Here’s the thing: you’re not their financial advisor. You’re their Beauty Therapist/ Dermal Clinician/Skin Boss. Your job is to make educated recommendations. What the client does with that info is up to them. Don’t let your money story dictate their skincare journey.

2. “I Don’t Feel Confident” – The Knowledge Gap Easy fix: train your team. Then train them again.

Product knowledge is the foundation of confident selling. If your team doesn’t know what’s on the shelf, they won’t recommend it. Period.

- Schedule training once or twice a year

- Ask your brands—most offer free education

- Make it fun: demos, role-plays, skin scenarios

- Layer in quality incentives & bonus’ to drive momentum

If you need help creating a plan, reach out to pros (shoutout to Total Coaching Academy—they’re amazing at building custom training and bonus structures).

3. “I Forgot” or “I Was Too Busy” – The Lazy Sales Loop

We don’t want robots, but we do want sales automation in our team’s behaviours.

Not scripted. Not pushy. Just consistent!

If your team starts to slip (it happens!), then it’s time to:

- Reinforce accountability: track performance supportively

- Pump up the energy: rewards, incentives challenges

- Bring the fun back: “10 products = freebie” or “first to target gets a reward”

Sales consistency doesn’t come from pressure, it comes from momentum.

But What If It’s Deeper Than That? (It Usually Is)

You can give your team all the templates and tools, but if they have limiting beliefs around selling, like “It’s pushy,” “I’m not good at it,” “Clients can’t afford it” - those beliefs will show up in their results. Mindset comes first. When you’re focused on your own discomfort, the client can feel it. That’s when sales feel icky - because you’ve made it about you, not them.

Real-Life Sales = Real-Life Humans

No one knows your clients better than you do. You’ve got treatment notes, purchase history, preferences…and your intuition!!

Like Mrs. Boerma, who loves rich, lipid-heavy products. I’ll recommend those first, but also gently introduce exfoliation to help shift the dead skin cells clinging on.

Or Mrs. Savage, an unapologetic sun worshipper. She’s getting a crash course on tyrosinase inhibitors and SPF layering whether she asked for it or not.

Sales magic happens when you personalise and meet clients where they’re at, not where a generic script says they should be.

Objections Aren’t Roadblocks—They’re Opportunities

Hesitation isn’t a no, it’s a chance to educate, reframe and support. The better we understand the why behind clients’ objections, the easier we can respond with empathy and clarity. Selling isn’t the enemy. When done well, it’s one of the highest forms of service.

Rewiring the Sales Mindset: Keep It Simple, Keep It Human

Once you’ve worked through the mental gymnastics and fear of selling and helped your team do the same, don’t overcomplicate it! Yes, there’s mountains of research on consumer psychology, behavioural economics, and neuroscience of persuasion but for now, stick with the basics.

Introducing the S.E.L.L. Analogy.

A simple coaching tool to help your team reset their mindset.

S = SHARE

You’re not pushing. You’re sharing. You’ve got something that will help. Why keep it to yourself?

E = ENERGY

Your vibe matters. Clients pick up on your energy in seconds. Are you calm? Confident? Present? Or giving “I’d rather be anywhere else”?

You’re not just making a sale. You’re creating a buy-from environment.

Ever been ignored in a cafe? No eye contact, weird tension, no “hi”? You don’t stay for a second coffee.

Great salespeople meet clients where they are—then lift the vibe. Nervous? Slow it down. Excited? Match it.

This is emotional intelligence in action.

L & L = LISTEN & LEARN

Ask questions. Get curious. Understand their goals, concerns, lifestyle, budget.

Then connect them to something that makes sense for them. That’s not pushy, it’s service.

When you listen, you stop selling and start serving.

Rewiring the Brain, One Interaction at a Time

When you use the S.E.L.L. method, you retrain your brain. You move from anxious or transactional to confident and connected.

And you’re not in your own head anymore, you’re focused on the client, where the attention belongs.

So next time you hesitate to recommend a serum or book the next appointment, remember:

You’re not being pushy.

You’re not being salesy.

You’re simply helping someone get results.

And that, my friend, is the kind of selling we should all feel proud of.

@carlyknowles @totalcoachingacademy_