Are you satisfied with your retail sales? Considering the huge revenue upside of retail for your spa or massage practice, you’ll want to ensure that your retail strategy and execution are on target to maximize the potential. However, at the heart of any retail sales strategy, our clients, and on their behalf, you’ll want to create an engaging experience. Clients never want to feel they are being pressured into making a retail purchase. Clients are looking for in-home product experiences that enhance wellness as well as beauty. To this end, the sales experience needs to feel that the client's best interests are the primary concern.
Begin with team training
Training your team to create a positive, personal experience for the client is the first step to successful retail sales. Since retail sales don’t come naturally to everyone, you may have team members who are uncomfortable about the prospect of selling. Put your team at ease by emphasizing that client care is at the heart of the sale, and retail is a logical extension of the service treatment.
Try role-playing and have someone act as the client. Create scripts for team members, so they are sure to emphasize key product ingredients and product protocols. Make the situations as real as possible, including selling to a range of clients from someone looking for advice to someone who is more aloof. As part of the role-playing, the team should go through the various sales scenarios – selling during a treatment, when the treatment is concluded, or at the retail center. Try videotaping the training sessions so staff can see how they are coming across to a client in terms of enthusiasm and credibility.
Merchandising matters
There’s a lot of art and even science that creates a display that attracts the eye and holds a customer’s attention. If your retail displays are not attracting enough attention and sales, consider the following:
- Every good display needs a focal point or main item or features you want the customer to see.
- Good lighting helps to attract customers. It makes products stand out and enhances colors.
- Customers are drawn to colors. Use bright colors as focal points.
- Location matters. In addition to creating a retail space near the entrance. Also, consider display areas in your treatment rooms and even along highly trafficked hallways areas.
- Take advantage of the various holidays or seasons to create a theme around retail offerings.
- Keep things fresh by changing your displays routinely.
Maintain enthusiasm
Some other ongoing activities maintain to keep enthusiasm for retail offerings:
Blog: If you maintain a blog, make sure to include information about your latest products, discussing ingredients, proper use, and expected results. Get more mileage out of blogs by posting links to social sites.
Reach out on email or text: Drop periodic emails to clients about new products or send them a text (make sure you have their permission to be in touch).
Manage inventory: Be sure to have popular items on hand by carefully monitoring inventory. Use a software inventory program for maximum results to tell you the amount purchased and vendors, plus help with planning and forecasting, and more.
Strengthen e-commerce: If you sell via your website, consider adding chat, and make sure that the purchase process is easy to use.
Bundle: Bundle complementary products and offer a special price.
Don’t take retail sales for granted. They offer significant additional revenue opportunities and should be approached with a strategic plan that gets the buy-in of your entire team.