lizmckeonwrites are you an expert? Great service = great reward, says LizMcKeon
No matter what you are marketing or selling in your salon, unless you have a monopoly or other competitive advantage, you will have direct competition from other businesses selling the equivalent.
This means that the only way you can set yourself apart from the others is the level of service that you provide your clients.
To put it another way: Great service = great reward Poor service = poor reward.
Assuming you offer retail products and services which you truly believe in, while providing great value to the client, all you need now is to add expert service to really maximise your salon potential. Clients want help and guidance and they would rather give their business to an expert.
7 steps to becoming an expert:
step 1: product-ivity It is virtually impossible to maintain high sales volumes without an intimate knowledge of the services and products you sell. Selling your services usually means educating your clients about their skin and about the products you sell.
On-going training, revising product manuals, seeking advice from experienced therapists and reading professional articles are vital to keeping your product knowledge up to date.
step 2: competitive analysis Your competition determines your level of sales, the price you charge and how much money you make. Every
salon has some form of competition, so if a potential client asks you how your salon stacks up and you don’t know the answer, they will go to the competition and find out for themselves, possibly meet an expert there and you’ve lost the client’s business to somebody who is better than you. Find your competition’s weak spots and be better than them.
step 3: get to know your clients You must know your clients. Learn their needs, their wants, their concerns and their budgets. That is the only way you can serve them properly.
It is your responsibility to guide them towards making the correct decision and to protect them from bad products, poor services and higher prices. Always think from the client’s perspective, if you were your client, would you buy from you?
step 4: ask - don’t tell Don’t tell the client what you can do for them, ask them what they need you to do. Human beings are conditioned to respond to questions, so one key to providing better service is to simply ask your client what their needs are. Clients want to be heard and acknowledged, and it so easy to do that, simply by asking questions.
Another benefit to asking questions is if you ask clients what they want and then confirm it before proceeding, the client feels confident that you are trying to find the correct solution for them. This helps them to trust you and maintains their desire to buy.
step 5: shut up! ‘Listening is positioning’. After you ask a question, be quiet, and start to really listen to the client. They will tell you everything you need to know.
Telling is not selling. Think dialogue, not monologue. Don’t talk when it is decision time. Instead, when you want to close the sale, be quiet and wait for the client to respond. This does feel uncomfortable, but you have to sweat it out, let them speak and then you can determine what your next move is.
step 6. ‘KISS’ your clients “Keep Interest, Sell Simply”. Don’t overwhelm a client with technical terms because this will interfere with their ability to make a decision. Just because you understand it, doesn’t mean they will. Preferably explain the benefits in simple layman’s terms. Overloading your clients with facts they don’t need or want to know gives them a perfect excuse ‘to think about it’... you can usually kiss that sale goodbye.
step 7: help! Your client is seeking help, so what happens when you are courteous, caring, take time to listen, understand the concern and work to fix it? The client can’t thank you enough and will continue to give you, the expert, all her business.
It’s about sowing and reaping. Your reward is equal to your service. If your focus is to provide expert service, you will get more referrals, receive excellent testimonials and maintain a successful business.
What can you and your staff do to improve your level of expertise? Find your weaknesses and take action today to change your weak spots to strengths. Figure out exactly what’s necessary for you to have a more successful salon and open the door to closing more sales by simply providing expert service.
Liz McKeon is a Business Coach and Trainer, specialising in
the beauty industry. For further information about One to One Mentoring Services and upcoming Business Seminars, check out
www.lizmckeon.com or call 00353 86 386 1243
GUILD NEWS 83
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