Still the Best Way to Sell Retail in the Salon and Spa

How you present your merchandise verbally (whether referring to products, your skills, your experience—anything that you want the client to accept or ‘buy’) is one of the most powerful forms of merchandising you have.

What other form of merchandising is more important than the words of someone who is an expert at handling and using a product, who understands the benefits it provides, the quality of its ingredients, secondary benefits like SPF protection, vitamins and anti-oxidants or aroma-therapeutic traits—what piece of literature or signage, what counter top display or shelf talker is more powerful than your words?

Nothing!

But think of it like this:

Imagine that you are trying to teach a cooking class and you also happen to carry all of the ingredients needed for each recipe for sale in your business. But because you are afraid to sound like a salesman, you don’t tell your students what ingredients you’re using in the recipe.

Whatever is holding you back, realize that until your customers hear and truly believe the depth of your convictions when it comes to the products you choose for them, based on your education and experience, they will not believe in them, either.

And if you withhold product endorsements, you appear ambivalent (like it doesn’t matter and you don’t care) — as if you are neutral about the products you use. When the transfer of product knowledge is omitted from the customer experience, you leave the impression that products are an unimportant component of their overall experience.

Yes, they know you used shampoo and conditioner at the back bar. And they know that you emulsified something in your hands and then applied it to their hair prior to blow drying. And then you used something else when you pieced out their bangs, just before you sprayed some sort of finishing shine or holding product that had a great fragrance compared to what they are using at home. Your customers might have noticed fragrances and bottle colors…