How to sell retail in your salon without feeling pushy

By Maffy · 20+ years running spas, salons and clinics · 7 min read

You recommend a product. The client smiles and says "I'll think about it". You feel like a salesperson, so next time you say nothing at all.

Meanwhile, she buys her shampoo at the supermarket or online, and the result you created in the chair fades in a fortnight. She loses the result, and you lose the sale to a shop that never touched her hair or her skin.

I've trained therapists, nail techs and stylists on cruise ships, in five-star hotel spas and in clinics across the UK, and the ones who sold the most retail all had one thing in common: they treated home care as part of the service.

First, know your number

As a rough guide from the businesses I've managed: a hair salon can reach around 25%, and beauty and skin businesses can go over 50%. If you're far below that, the gap is usually in how the products are recommended.

Why your team doesn't sell

1. They're afraid of sounding pushy. Nobody showed them a way of recommending that feels like care.
2. They don't know the products well enough. If they've never used the serum, they can't talk about it with confidence.
3. The recommendation comes too late. "Would you like to buy anything?" at the till sounds like a sales pitch. By then, the moment has passed.
4. Nobody tracks it. What isn't measured every day quietly drops to zero.

The method: home care is the second half of the treatment

Step 1: Use the product during the treatment, and say why

The client experiences the product on her own skin or hair before anyone mentions buying it.

Step 2: At the end, prescribe home care

Write one to three products on a small home-care card. Then put the products in her hands. A client holding a product is already halfway to buying it.

Step 3: At reception, confirm the recommendation and the price

Say the price clearly and with confidence: the client already knows why she needs the products. And if she says no today, the card goes home with her, and she'll often come back for it.

Scripts for other departments

• Hair colour: "The shampoo I used today protects your colour. Most supermarket shampoos strip it in a few washes, and you'd be back to dull in two weeks."
• Nails: "Your cuticles are very dry, which is why your polish lifts at the edges. A drop of this oil every night will make this manicure last."
• Massage: "Your shoulders hold a lot of tension. This balm with arnica, rubbed in after a hot shower, will keep it from building up before your next session."
• Lashes and brows: "This growth serum will keep your brows full between tints. Use it every night, like your skincare."

Make it a team habit

• Let the team try everything. One product a week, used by everyone, discussed for two minutes in the morning meeting.
• Put products where clients can touch them. Testers at the mirror, the nail station and the treatment room, not locked behind the desk.
• Set a daily target per person. Share yesterday's number every morning, and celebrate the best of the week in front of the team.
• Add a small commission. Even a few percent shows the team that retail matters to the business.

What it's worth

Take the example above: £12,000 in services and retail at 8%. Reaching 20% means £1,440 more every month, from clients who are already in your chairs, and products that keep your results looking good between visits.

Your numbers will be different, so work out yours. Retail is often the quickest leak to close, because it needs no new clients at all.