LINK to Promo Planner to close 2024:
https://heatherpod.kit.com/c33c065299
LINK to Creating a Retail Experience:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/five-easy-steps-to-holiday-success/id1767511345?i=1000674013282
[ 00:00:05]Welcome to the Hair
Hustle Podcast. I'm Heather Podlesney, your salon coach dedicated to helping
stylists master the business side of beauty. Whether you're starting your
journey behind the chair or you're a seasoned pro looking to level up, this
podcast is for you. Each week we'll dive into the tips and tricks you need to
run a successful salon business with topics that will change the way you work
and earn. From budgeting hacks to help you keep more of what you make to time
management tips that will keep your schedule stress-free and the strategies for
boosting your retail sales and nailing that next promotion. Get ready to build
your dream business without burning out. Together, we'll cut through the noise
and get to the root of what makes your salon thrive.
[ 00:00:47
] So grab your shears,
turn up the volume, and let's hustle. Hey, hey, welcome to episode eight of The
Hair Hustle Podcast. Thank you so much, thank you so much for joining me today.
I am so excited to have you to talk about one of my favorite subjects. And
today we are going to talk about the retail hustle and how to make you sell
without feeling salesy, pushy-and we're going to get rid of that ick for you
today. I've got three ways. We all know retail is such an important part of our
business. However, I know many of you are going to say, well, I don't know how
to sell in retail. I know so many of you hesitate to promote products because
you don't want to come off feeling salesy or pushy.
[ 00:01:31
] I hear this so many
times, especially in my one-on-ones, even with owners. And I totally get it. We
are people who work from our heart, and sometimes it's really hard to number
one, charge people what we're supposed to be charging. Last week's episode was
about that. 1. 5% of our sales per week. And then we're going to top it off
with a number of times; off and put the cherry on top with some retail. So a
couple of things that I'm going to share with you right now to start this
episode. Number one, we are not in charge of anyone else's money and it is not
our job to spend someone else's money. We're going to take ourselves out of
their wallet to start this episode.
[ 00:02:16
] The next thing that
we're going to talk about to start this episode is you guys, it is 20**24**, if
you are not making the correct product recommendations for your guest, your
guest is being influenced or being sold to by a 20-year-old on TikTok. Now there's
nothing wrong with the 20-year-olds on TikTok, but at the end of the day they
could be recommending, number one, they might not even be a professional.
Number two, they could be recommending a product but the guest really isn't
understanding exactly why they would use that product. It works for their hair
so it must work for them. Number three, they could be recommending a product
but the I want you to all think about that and we're going to get those
thoughts working through our head and we're going to take a deep breath and we
are going to talk about the three ways to help boost your retail sales in the
salon without feeling pushy or salesy.
[ 00:03:06
] Let's get into it. The
first way we're going to talk about is we're not going to be a product
salesperson. We are going to be a product matchmaker. I want you to get
everything in your head that you ever thought that you were about being a
salesperson in retail and I want you to think of it in a little lighter fashion
like a matchmaker. You are no longer this person that just has to push retail.
We are now connecting our client with a product that solves their problems. We
want to make sure that we are connecting the guest with the correct product to
solve what problems that they have. How do we do that? In three ways. We're
going to pay attention to what the client's hair needs truly are and we're
going to start that right in the consultation.
[ 00:03:57
] How we start that in
the consultation is we can simply ask, 'How are you feeling about your hair or
'Is there a look that you have been trying to achieve that you simply haven't
been able to get?' There are so many different questions. There's two. Number
one, how are you feeling? That's so simple and that's something I want you to
think about. I want to make sure everybody has something. If you've been doing
guests for a really long time, I totally understand this and now we're just
going to like jump into this retail game. So those are very simple easy
questions, and light that it's not like oh, and now I'm starting to sell retail
right now.
[ 00:04:36
] When we ask them that,
it could be something like yes, actually after I do my hair, I notice at work,
right before I'm about to leave, and I have to go to my son's football game,
and my hair is a little messy, and I'm not really sure what to do about that.
There was one in on what product that we are going to match this guest with, in
order to help solve her problem, because at the end of the day she would much
rather buy a 30 or 40 dollar product than look like a hot mess at her son's
football game. We have to think about those things and how that would make
someone feel and the confidence that it would give them if we match them with
the right product.
[ 00:05:17
] So, now using that,
we're performing the service; we can simply say, 'I have this amazing spray oil
that you can actually put on and blow out your hair, and it lasts 72 hours
because you had explained to me that whatever frizz product that you're using currently
is not lasting throughout the entire day. So, this one would actually last 72
hours, which is three days for you. Would you like me to give it a try on you?
Absolutely! So, do you see how we talked about? Her problem was at the very beginning
of the service and now we are solving that problem. Then at the end of the
service, we are going to pull that product from the shelf with her shampoo and
conditioner that we used on her and we are going to say, 'Here are three
products that I used on you today.' If I had to take one home, I would highly
recommend that you take home the frizz oil spray that we talked about because I
know
[ 00:06:19
] that you really want to
be able to maintain that frizz-free look all day long. Do you see how easy that
was? It was exactly what she said, 'we are going to mirror that.' That's a
trick in selling. We are going to mirror that to help her feel more comfortable
with her purchase and help her understand. Bonus tip! We're not going to say,
'Would you like to take this home today?' We're not going to say that. We are
simply going to say what you recommend. We are going to recommend frizz-free
look based on stuff that you have. You may want to consider the feelings and
the problems that they had at the beginning of their service, and we're going
to match them.
[ 00:06:56
] We're going to make a
whole new little love out of this client and this product. They are going to
live happily ever after together with great hair, and that's what we want to
see. We're going to become product matchmakers, get rid of the salesperson, get
rid of all that. We are matchmakers. Next up for the second way that we are
going to boost our sales without feeling pushy or salesy, we are going to make
sure that all of our retail is visible and accessible. There's a couple
different things that we can talk about here. First of all, when we say visible
and accessible, if you have things behind glass or under glass or in glass, oh
my word, let's get that out, and we want to make sure that we can touch it.
[ 00:07:36
] I want you to think
about like an Ulta and a Sephora experience or just a shopping experience that
you're used to, that we can actually go in, touch, see, feel. I did a holiday
episode about like a sensorial experience, which was like using all of your senses,
and I want you to go back and listen to that. I will put the episode in the
show notes so that you can kind of check that out as well, because when we
create a retail experience, we want to make sure that the guest has the entire
experience, and we do not want it to be blocked by some glass, okay? We want
them to be able to open up that shampoo and give it a smell, because some
people purchase based on sense, which is really important.
[ 00:08:16
] We are going to make
our retail area visible and accessible. We are going to make our retail area
accessible. A couple more tips that we have on this subject is to create a
retail station for your guests. Almost think of it like a PlayStation. I had a
salon that did this when I was in sales, and it was almost, it was a spare
station, so if you have an open station, this could be a great way to utilize
it. If you don't have an open station, you can simply do a chair and a mirror
and like some type of a, it doesn't have to be like a formal station, but some
type of like a table. You can put a mirror in front, make it look cute, and
make it look like an experience, but it had like their top-selling iron on it.
[ 00:08:55
] It had their
top-selling products. It had their, some of their stylist faves and their salon
faves, and a guest was literally able to go see, touch, feel, use, use the
iron. It was plugged in all the time, use the blow dryer, things like that, so
then this way a guest could really get a feel for how that iron worked, how
that product worked, what the product smelled like, anything like that, and
that was actually really, really important. So, if you have an open station,
it's going to be great to have like in their waiting area because then this way
it gave like the whole shop around a whole new level because then they were
able to use it, which I think is super amazing, and it even starts the
conversation, I feel like, with the guest before they even get into your chair.
[ 00:09:35
] Another thing is going
to be to make sure, this one seems so simple, but make sure that your styling
stations have some type of a product. I know some of us have like community
stations for all of our styles. I'm totally on board with that, but if you're a
stylist using the product, make sure to either, you're using the product,
you're either going to hand it to your guests so that they can check it out, or
you are going to set it on the station right in front of them so that they're
actually able to see it, and they can start to make that connection with it.
Remember, you're a matchmaker. And then the other thing, this is a really great
hot tip, and it's simply to make sure that you have a product of the week.
[ 00:10:14
] So, are you
highlighting any type of product? Are you highlighting like your stylist's
favorites? Are you highlighting a salon favorite? So, that's something that can
go right up at your front desk or your cash register. Then, your guests can
always know which one is the salon pick of the week. That's also a great social
media campaign, helps to fill some of that social media, because I know
sometimes we dread that too. And I want you to keep this in mind, and it's that
visibility builds curiosity, which also builds sales. People want to see,
touch, feel, and they are coming to the salon for that experience. So, if
you're a matchmaker, you're going to want to make sure that we give that to
them, even on behalf of retail.
[ 00:10:52
] All right, way number
three that we are going to boost retail sales without feeling salesy. Are you
guys ready? Is we are going to use promotions, bundles, and incentives. Now,
when I say promotions, bundles, features, incentives, we're not going to give
away the farm here, you guys. I understand that sometimes you're like, Heather,
I don't want to give away this deep discount or do this crazy thing. And you
don't have to. I don't want you to feel like if you're an owner or manager,
we're just going to give away the farm all the time. You're not going to. When
I say features, sometimes it's just about talking about a product. That's it.
Maybe we all know that some products are also seasonal, just like I was talking
about that frizz product.
[ 00:11:36
] This is the time of
year where your hair gets really dry and frizzy. That's what we're going to
talk about. January and February, we typically talk about scalp health. Why?
Because we want to make sure that we're featuring products seasonally, but then
also we're looking at all of our products and how we can sell them together. So
we may be looking at creating some product bundles. For example, if you have
some box sets that are not moving, maybe we need to change up the real estate,
take them out of the box set, put a cute little bow on them, put them in a
different little like organza bag or something like that, and do something cute
and fun and create it the X, Y, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z,
Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, experience bundle.
[ 00:12:20
] And so it could have
your top selling shampoo and conditioner, something like that. So do you see
how you changed the way that looked than just a box set? Also, something, and
this one I do love, so that's why I'm saying it. However, I also came from that
side of things. So I totally understand if this is not, you're not able to do
this and it's to offer free samples. So for example, if we take the guest up,
we show them three products and they don't purchase, we typically go with, like
a free sample. So like, great. You didn't want to take this oil home today. I
do have a small sample that I'd love to send you with. Also on that, we want to
make sure that we put a sticker or something on there.
[ 00:12:58
] Our cart, we need
something on there that says, bring it back for 20% off the full-size friend.
Just so then this way, it's like a bounce back. So they go home, try it. They
love it. They're going to bring it back and they're automatically going to get 20%
off. I also understand that there are not always samples. So if you have a
brand partner that you can reach out to, to maybe get some sample sizes, some
brand partners, brands don't even offer certain things in sample sizes that you
want. You have to be a little bit more strategic there, but if you can, please
try. The last thing under bundles, incentives, features, promotions is to make
sure that you're running a promotion. Honestly, you only need six promotions a
year.
[ 00:13:35
] Everyone thinks you
need once a month. You don't, you don't need one once a month. You don't need
to be changing it every four weeks. Honestly, I feel like when you kind of get
into this whole idea that you need to change it every month, you just get into
the promotion and then it's changed. And typically on average, guests aren't
coming every month. They're coming every four, six, eight weeks. So I want you
to keep that in mind that as you want to keep your promotions to simply six a
year. And that, like I said, doesn't have to be giving away the farm. It can be
new to you for January and February. And that's any product that's new to you.
You get 20% off something super, something simple.
[ 00:14:17
] Maybe your client has
never tried this specific hairspray that you think would be great for her hair.
And you can simply say, oh my word, you've always wanted to try this hairspray,
or we've talked about this hairspray so many times. We have this really great
promotion called new to you. You can get 20% off today because you've never
purchased it from here. Oh, done. Do you see how you close that sale? And it
felt like a friend conversation. I also want you guys to keep in mind that when
we run these types of promotions, guests want to purchase from you. So if
you're a new to this promotion, you need to make sure that you have a product
that's new to you. It's something that we hold back on and we don't make it
part of our appointment.
[ 00:14:53
] That's why we want to
make sure that we have promotions or features. That's like we talked about
earlier, stylist favorites, product bundles, that's promotions, that's samples,
that's features, that's even stylist picks. Like we had talked about before,
what a great way to feature each product. And we can actually have a retail
area all out and imagine putting just cute, fun little stars. You can make them
in Canva, get yourself a template with your stylist headshot and making it say
Heather's fave. Every stylist has a fave and it goes on there. Then once the
guest goes to sit down in their chair, they can say, well, why do you love that
multi-benefit spray so much? And then we can tell them exactly why we love it.
[ 00:15:43
] So there's so many
different ways and that doesn't even necessarily have to be on sale. That's
being able to talk about it. And it's bringing the retail conversation up in a
way that does not feel salesy. It's a conversation. Think about when you're going
on a girl's trip and you have all of these women around you and they're like,
well, what would you use on my hair? What would you do? We all in this industry
have had that experience. I want you to think about that. And I want you to
take that right to behind your chair and helping your guests find the products
that they need. To give them the confidence in their real life every single
day. Stop thinking that we are being salesy, that we're being pitchy.
[ 00:16:26
] You guys got this. I
know you can do it. And I know your guest wants to...
