Train your team to avoid like the plague even one unexpected “bad service event” or unpleasant guest experience.
Product knowledge is definitely valuable, but if you really want to get paid … live, breathe and sleep the 5 Rules to Customer Romance, the undisputed most vital habits of top retail sales associates worldwide.
1) Get Engaged!
Not with a ring, but like this: look up from what you’re doing, stand up, get out from behind the counter and greet tanners by first name, or at least introduce yourself every single time. Rude service will stop a sale in its tracks and disinterest is just as deadly. Just a note: the absolute enemies to customer engagement are phone calls, texting, Facebook, iPods, and so on. Strictly enforce a no cell phone policy in your salon. First offense warrants a warning. A second offense, and we will let you challenge yourself elsewhere (i.e. you get canned like tuna!)
2) Create “The One Unexpected Event”
Train every member of your team to do something absolutely unexpected, above and beyond “expected,” for every single salon guest at least once every time they visit! This rule works both ways, too. Train your team to avoid like the plague even one unexpected “bad service event” or unpleasant guest experience. It takes only one of either, and that one event forever changes your salon in the eyes of your customer.
3) Lavish Them With Your “Gifts”
In every customer romance there are always gifts. This one’s like the candles, poems and rose petals in a romance. In top salons, the amazing products and product knowledge that you offer and share are some of the ultimate gifts because they do what great gifts always do – make someone feel great. So a super-warm smile, a hug, or a sincere compliment are gifts in a romance the same way samples of awesome products, free tan consultations, discounts and so on are gifts in a retail relationship. Show her she’s special to you by letting her try your fantastic products free and often, and demonstrate your knowledge of how a certain product will help her get what she’s looking for. Instant Customer Romance!
4) Forget the “Lines”
Forget about stale, worn out sales lines like: “Hey, what lotion are you using? “or “Are you all set with lotion today?” Any team member past the one-week mark should drop these like a bad rash! When the whole staff says the same thing, it sounds practiced and insincere! Even more important, it doesn’t sound like you really care. Instead, every team member needs to really get interested in each salon guest. You should know and address every guest by name, know what they do for a living, about their family and so on. These facts are the real building blocks of connecting and knowing the real reason why they’re there.
5) Get into Their Heads
Always Always, ALWAYS make what’s important to them important to you. Get out of your head and into theirs. If a guest comes in and wants her skin to look younger, focus on that. If she’s a “neat freak,” make sure her room is spotless, smells good, and there’s not one shred of paper in the wastebasket. If she’s typically in and out so fast that you barely had time to say “hi” let alone connect personally, then plan ahead so that next time you have goodies, product info, samples, a “thank you” card, etc. all prepared in advance to hand her on the way in or way out.
Get ready for “Epic Sales” in November: What does your sales floor sound like? ■
Train your team to avoid like the plague even one unexpected “bad service event” or unpleasant guest experience.
