Boost Your Bottom Line: How to Increase Upsells in your Salon or Clinic
In the competitive world of salon business, the key to success lies in maximising sales of services and retail products. Ahead, Liz McKeon, salon business expert and founder of the International Salon Business School, offers valuable advice on how to increase upsells in your salon.
Selling is “the exchange of goods and/or services for money” or “to persuade into accepting an idea”. Selling is the process of reaching an agreement to shift goods and services from the hands of those who provide them to the hands of those who will benefit from them. There is no necessity to ever sell you clients a product or service they don’t need or want, all we want to do is make recommendations, encouraging them to purchase from you and not your competition.
Upselling is to persuade a client to buy something additional. For example, if a client asks for a shampoo, upsell the corresponding conditioner.
Cross selling invites a client to buy related or comparable items. For example, by giving lots of advice, suggestions and recommendations, it is very easy to cross sell a colour service to a wash and blow dry client.
The day of the single, once-off service is over. Professional stylists must recognise that selling is an integral part of delivering excellent technical creative work. Encourage your team to start suggesting a plan of services for clients. This means suggesting an on-going new programme of services over the coming months, depending on the client’s needs. You need to tell your clients when and how often you need to see them in order to get the best possible look. The plan can include a range of different services to achieve the desired result and all salon services need to be supported with the correct homecare regime.
Top 3 changes to boost your salon upsells
Improve your product knowledge
Part of a salon professional’s job is to build a client base, upsell the correct homecare items while reaching their target.
Product knowledge is the information needed to clearly explain a product or service to a client. It is a highly relevant skill for client facing team members. Besides being able to clearly communicate details about the service or product, the stylist must be able to explain the features, benefits and price, plus offer alternatives.
If the client is not given a clear explanation of the service or product and the associated benefits, clients will leave your salon for a competitor. By training your staff and arming them with all the necessary information they need to serve client well, product knowledge ensure that won’t happen.
Start a daily ‘morning opportunity check’
Remember the saying ‘fail to prepare and prepare to fail’. Before opening the salon, check every client’s history and find the ‘upsell opportunity’. Have a plan in mind, not just about today’s service, but about the plan of services and the homecare you are going to recommend. Make this the primary conversation point before starting general chit chat. Never begin the upselling conversation until you have taken a few moments to put yourself in the shoes of the client and think about why you want to buy or not buy, if you were in their place.
Stop thinking single service and start speaking about the plan, your creative ideas and suggestions – all of this will enhance your client’s experience, encouraging them to rebook before they leave.
Close the sale!
Clients buy from stylists they like and trust. Your client must feel your trustworthiness as early as possible. Building rapport is the getting to know you stage that comes with meeting any new client. You will not get a second chance to make a first impression, so make sure it’s a good one.
Now you can leverage that rapport and trust by asking for the upsell. Don’t lose the sale because you haven’t the nerve to ask for it. Remember, if you don’t ask, someone else will. All you need to do is simply ask for the sale in a professional manner. This is called ‘closing the sale’ and it should flow naturally and smoothly.
Remember, the more you sell to your clients, the more loyal they are to your salon.