Top 5 tips for retailing

Founder of The Sales Habit Academy, Kerry-Lee Viljoen, provides valuable pointers on how to get therapists to ramp up their retail skills.

Photo by Francesca Grima on Unsplash

have been in the beauty industry for several years now and having personally experienced the lack of education and fear when it comes to selling retail I products, this made me want to change something and help others in the industry who feel the same way. Unfortunately selling isn’t taught to us in beauty school, but it’s expected of us in our jobs and even worse, we are expected to be good at it. “My job is to perform treatments, not to sell products.” Sound familiar? Can you imagine booking an appointment to see a doctor, then having the doctor take one good look at you, doing a vague check-up and not giving you a prescription or any helpful advice? Therapists may not be doctors, but we are beauty professionals and it’s our job to provide our clients with honest, results-driven homecare based on their concerns. This is why it’s so important to learn, practise and understand the process of selling. Because, like it or not my fellow beauty professional, it’s your job to sell retail products. So instead of putting it off and getting away with selling the bare minimum, rather get comfortable with the uncomfortable, embrace it and learn the skill of selling. Who knows, you might actually be good at it?

Tip 1 - First impressions count!

The fact is that a first impression is made within the first seven seconds of meeting someone, so your credibility and professionalism are taking that test in those first seven seconds. What first impression do you make? Would you book a treatment with you? Would you be impressed with you? You could be the best facialist in the world but if you don’t look the part, or sound the part, no-one would ever know it. Therefore, it’s crucial to deliver an exceptional first impression. Become selfaware and know how you come across.

Tip 2 – Plant the seedling during consultation

The most powerful tool you can use during a consultation is: THE CONSULTATION FORM. If you aren’t using a thorough consultation form, or at least a simple consultation form, you aren’t doing yourself any favours but rather a disservice. The importance of the client

consultation is underestimated most of the time within our industry. It’s by far one of the most, if not THE most important aspect of the treatment. The client consultation is an important time for you to get to know the client and it’s the main opportunity for you, as the therapist, to find out the reasons terms, with your client. Explain things verbally or using a simple diagram. This is the opportunity for you, as the expert, to explain to the client what the cause of her concern is and how this treatment, with emphasis on the products (homecare), is going to help to eliminate her concern completely. It’s important that your client understands WHY they have the problem in the first place. Then follow with the ‘prescription’ to eliminate their concern. When you, as the therapist, have established what their core concern is, and you have clearly explained the cause of their concern, the homecare advice you give her will be much more useful and valuable at the end of the treatment. This is because your ‘prescription’ will be solving her problem, by giving her a ‘solution’ to eliminate her concern.

Therapists may not be doctors, but we are beauty professionals and it’s our job to provide our clients with honest, results-driven homecare based on their concerns.

WHY your client has come to see you today. The real reason why. You, as their therapist, need to dig a little deeper to find out what really concerns your client – their true concern. You can do this by asking the right open-ended questions.

Tip 3 – Educate your client

Share your knowledge of the skin and body, in the most simplified also known as closing the sale. But before we close the sale, we need to hear the ‘yes’ first. Recommending is ‘telling’ your client what they need to continue using at home to get optimal results. Closing is asking them if they are actually going to do it. A successfully proven closing technique is the two-option close. When you give someone two options, they are likely to choose one of the options presented. The best way to implement this is by creating two separate personalised programmes for your clients according to their concerns; Programme 1 being budget-friendly, Programme 2 being ‘everything that they

Tip 4 - Dedicate time to recommend products

It’s important to not rush this part of the sales process. Recommending products shouldn’t be as transactional as it sounds. You need to describe it as a transformation instead, a transformation that they desire – solving their true concern. This is the part of the entire process where it all comes together: the consultation, the education and the treatment. You are ‘prescribing’ to them what they NEED to continue doing at home in order to get optimal results. Bonus tip: use keywords like programmes, packages or even kits to sell a regime and not just a singular product.

Tip 5 – Ask for the sale

As the old saying goes, ‘if you never ask, you will never know’. This stage is

A successfully proven closing technique is the two-option close. When you give someone two options, they are likely to choose one of the options presented.

need!’ Then, clearly present your client with both options and finally, ask your client for the sale: “Kerry, which one would you like to start out with today?” Once the question is asked, let your client answer first before saying anything else. Don’t say a word. Just by following and practicing these five simple tips, you will see an improvement in your retail sales. Always remember to be

Kerry-Lee Viljoen is the founder and host of the Redlips & Stilettos Podcast and the creator of The Sales Habit Academy. Viljoen has been working abroad for the past five years, experiencing multiple sales environments relating to the beauty industry. She trains The Sales Habit to spas, beauty colleges and beauty professionals around South Africa.

KerryViljoen@hotmail.com