Your Guide To Selling Skincare!
Late last month we were delighted to announce our newest partnership with PCA Skincare! In light of our recent launch, we thought it appropriate to review some important features of creating a successful retail plan when selling skincare in your aesthetic practice.
When we do our annual survey of over 2,500 aesthetic practices, year after year we find that most of our members have not maximized their earning potential with retail sales. On average, at least 10% or more, of a medical spa’s revenue should come from retail sales…this is often not the case (and this varies for physician offices). Regardless of whether you come from a medical spa or you’re a part of an aesthetic physician’s office, we’ve included five tips to sell skincare more effectively and to help you increase your overall retail sales.
- Choose the products your patients want & need! Consider your target demographic and identify what types of products they want. Also consider geographic location—if you’re in sunny southern California, sunscreens and skin repair products are in high demand. Alternatively, if you cater to a younger, health-conscious customer, you may want to consider adding a completely natural or organic skincare line to your offering. It’s also worthwhile to review product ingredients as not every skincare line will contain the active ingredients that actually provide the benefits that many brands claim to offer. Due-diligence is key! Finally, a good skincare strategy requires that you choose only a select group of retail products that match your brand (in terms of your customer and price point) and don’t confuse the customer. You’ll more than likely scare someone from a sale if they have to look through ten product lines to identify which one they should take home! Make it an easy decision and stock three brands or less to remove confusion.
- Show off your goods! Where do you generally ‘showcase’ the products you sell? If not properly displayed, then it’s time to make some changes. All of your products should be on display somewhere in the waiting or reception area. In addition, remember to keep things C&S (clean and simple). Don’t put loads of stock on a showcase – just what is necessary to show the range of products you offer. Vendor sales representatives can always help you with merchandising if you don’t think you have an ‘eye’ for design!
- If you don’t mention it, they won’t ask. Don’t expect your customers to buy the retail products you put on display, JUST because they’re on display. Be sure to drive patients to ask about your offering. You can do this through your digital marketing, signage, and sampling. Your vendor sales reps will also help you to coordinate events around their brands, they’ll provide signage, and will generally help with a number of marketing tactics to help you get creative to create demand for the products you offer.
- Present your products using the most effective sales tool in your practice. I’m not talking about how you present the products when you place them on the shelves or the presentation you may give at a special product event. This type of presentation is how your employees present themselves when they walk into work every day after having used the products you offer. Your staff members are walking testimonials to the treatments you offer and the products you sell, so make it available to them! When a prospective customer sees your receptionist’s glowing skin at the front desk and gives a compliment or asks a question about a product, she’ll be there to save the day and get the sale! This probably isn’t the type of “presentation” you had in mind, although both types are necessary!
- Sell only the products you use. ALWAYS consider what types of back bar products you use when you offer retail solutions. This is extremely self-explanatory and MANDATORY although so many manufacturers don’t offer it and aesthetic providers don’t do it. If you offer a PCA peel in conjunction with LED light therapy, PCA Skincare and handheld lights, like LightStim, should be in the front office available to customers. The best way to sell products is to treat your customer/patient with a product(s) and provide them the opportunity to get better results by using it at home. Take this one step further and consider giving a free post-treatment skincare kit to customers to ensure they’ll get the results they desire AND will come back to you for more!
Jamie Parrott, MBA, Vice President & COO, MedResults Network
