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Retail sales are of considerable importance to the beauty salon: they are a simple way of greatly increasing the income without too much extra time and effort. Beauty therapy treatments are time consuming and labour intensive; selling a product in addition to providing the treatment will greatly increase the profitability.

An example: a facial treatment might take an hour and cost a client R250. You might then sell the client a moisturizer costing R150, of which R30 might be clear profit. Supposing that you sold 8 products each day, each yielding R30 profit, that would be a profit of R240 per day, or R6,240 per month. This will be of great benefit to the therapist as this is another form of increasing the commission in which you are working for. It’s also beneficial because with every product sold, you are also making money for yourself.

That is why it is very important for a therapist to know the products the salon is using in depth because the more product knowledge one has the easier it is to sell and educate the clients on the products.

Prices charged for treatments or products should be set initially at a level that will give you the highest profit possible. By increasing prices you run the risk of losing some clients but there are also those who believe that by paying a higher price for a service. They may believe a more expensive product must be better for them and worth the extra cost. Therefore the increase in profits may more than compensate for any clients lost.

An employer has to train staff in sales techniques and encourage them to sell products to clients that complement the range used during their treatments. During a treatment the therapist has the ideal opportunity to discuss with the client their beauty requirements; this will require good communications with the client.

Client care

A therapist has to remember that each client has a different personality and treatment needs, requiring an individual treatment approach. A client can be made to feel intimidated, uncomfortable or ignored, and this can happen without saying a word. Even without speaking you communicate with your eyes, face and body, transmitting some of your feelings. This is called non-verbal communication. How you look and behave in front of the client is important.

On meeting a client, a therapist has to smile, make eye contact and greet her cheerfully. As you communicate you can:

· Promote yourself, and gain the client’s confidence in your professional and technical expertise

· Develop a professional relationship with the client

· Establish the client’s needs

· Promote services and treatments

· Increase chances of product sale

· Motivate use of appropriate products

Verbal communication occurs when you talk directly to another person, either face to face or over the telephone. Always speak clearly and precisely, identify the client’s treatment requirements and understand their personality. You can then guide the conversations appropriately and advise on appropriate product to be used for their skin’s concern.

Always be positive and helpful and smile when making a sale but do not stare at the client and intimidate her into a sale. Do not rush the sale or be too persistent in your approach as this can also be very intimidating to the client. Concentrate solely on the client, answering their questions and asking your own. Open questions should be used, as these questions may be answered with a yes or no; they should include words such as why, how, when, what and which, to get information which may help to make the sale. Involve the clients by allowing them to smell, feel, touch and test the product.

The management should ensure that all members of staff receive the relevant training from the manufactures of distributors of all products sold. Being able to provide up to date, accurate information and explaining the features and benefits of products will inspire confidence in the client. The features describe the product and the benefits explain to the client what effects the features will achieve. Most companies provide up to date information through newsletters or offer a telephone helpline which salons may call for assistance.

A therapist must always listen to the client and ensure that they do not miss an opportunity to sell a product to the client, in particular when they are telling you about a problem they may have. Learn to sympathise with them and then assure them that you have just the right product for them. You must, however be honest and sell clients something that will be effective.

Once you have built a good client therapist relationship the client will always ask for your advice. You must also introduce clients to products you know will benefit then even when they have not asked. They will be relying on your expert opinion. Never sell a product that is not suitable for your client as this might cause critical conflict between the therapist and the client, causing loss of client trust and run a risk of being sued by the client.

An appropriate time to sell products during a treatment is when you doing your client card and asking the client what they are currently using. This will assist you during the treatment when they are relaxing and enjoying the steaming during facials; use that open opportunity to advise them and sell products to them. Another good time is when the client wants to know about the product being used during the treatment.

After the treatment has been completed then give the client about 5minutes for her to ask questions or you as the therapist can start the conversation regarding the treatment and listen to what your client has to say. Use that opportunity to advice and assist your client.

Link selling is always done when a client asks for a product; you link the product being sold to another one that can effectively complement the one asked for, for example a toning lotion with a cleanser or a quick dry top coat nail polish with an enamel.

This happens when you feel that the time has come to complete the transaction, and the client in your opinion is convinced that they want one or more of the products which are on offer.

Alternative Close

This is when you will ask the client questions, such as ‘would you like the large or small size?’ or ‘Would you like the red or pink?’ Clients will then make a decision.

The professional recommendations:

This is when you are using your professional judgement in advising clients so you would say, ‘I would strongly recommend that you use the primer for your brittle nails to give them flexibility and stop them from breaking’. This is the most effective as a regular client with whom you have a good relationship would not hesitate to buy what you have recommended

The ‘yes technique’:

This is when you ask clients a series of questions to which they will answer ‘yes’ so the final question completing the sale will be answered with a ‘yes’

The elimination technique:

Many clients like to feel in control of the sale so you must allow them to eliminate a number of products you are offering but make sure that you are left with an alternative.

The key to successful selling is to be honest with clients and ensure that the products you are selling to them are appropriate, will be effective in their use and good value for money.