Retailing products can help increase your income while gaining new clients and offering new and exciting experiences in your bodywork practice or massage establishment. In this 16-minute video, we'll review 7 ways in how you can start a retail practice, boost income and retain clients with retail sales. This review includes:
1. Choosing a Product Manufacturer
Find/select a company that offers benefits to massage therapists. Many product manufacturers have solid point-of-sale and gift-with-purchase programs, or free classes and education, but many massage therapists do not take advantage of these valuable marketing tools. Ask manufacturers what they offer to support their product sales. Most should provide:
• High-resolution product pictures.
• Discounted or free product testers and samples.
• Product education via books, online videos or live classes.
• A solid product return or exchange program for any returned products.
• Posters or signs that can be displayed on or around the products, cash register, doors or walls.
• Gift with purchase opportunities, such as a trial size product for free with the purchase of a full retail-size product or with a certain purchase amount.
2. Choosing the Right Products
Determine which manufacturers offer products that have a good reputation for therapeutic benefits without unpopular packaging or chemicals. Choose products that complement your massage. While it is perfectly acceptable to retail jewelry or homemade items from your BFF, you should also sell items that are used in your massage service.
3. Talk About the Product Benefits
Some clients will purchase a product to remind them of their fabulous experience. For these clients, reliving their service through product use is an enjoyment, and it could even provide prolonged therapeutic benefit with the product’s active ingredients.
Products with active ingredients that could provide therapeutic benefit include: menthol; products that promote circulation; cinnamon to reduce inflammation; or arnica, which could promote pain relief among other benefits.
4. Put Your Sales Opportunities into Electronic Action
Once you have chosen your manufacturer and products, it’s time to activate sales. Include your new product promotions in customer emails, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to create a sense of excitement. Do not forget to use your manufacturer’s high-resolution pictures and any available promotions or gift with purchase.
5. Keep the Excitement Going at the Office
Display any available product promotion posters in the service or waiting areas, restrooms, hallways or any other appropriate place. Small picture frames are regularly available at dollar stores, so manufacturer print items can easily be made into something elegant or professional with a little effort.
6. Product Display and Merchandising
Create a designated area for product testing, merchandising and sales. Be sure that the product sales prices are readily available so that clients do not have to guess or ask what a product costs.
Your designated product area should include a “tester bar” where clients can see, smell, touch and feel the actual products. Mark the product testers with stickers to ensure the testers are not sold instead of new products.
Display any promotional marketing materials provided by the manufacturer at the tester bar, including customer testimonials, signage, discounts, sales promotions, gift-with-purchase info and so forth.
7. The Educational Check-Out
Take advantage of your manufacturer’s educational information so that you can select the right products for clients and promote their therapeutic benefits. Then, make sure to inform clients that your product is available for sale and take-home use. You can even write customized product instructions that include how much product to apply to which areas and how often so that their new product(s) are used effectively between professional services.
If you have not already informed the client of your product’s benefits before their service or during treatment, do not miss this last opportunity at check-out. Educating your client about your product’s benefits shows them that you are invested in their personal care and therapeutic outcome.
Most clients are not aware that additional therapeutic benefits such as pain relief or increased circulation can be continued at home with product use. Be honest with your client. Explain that these products will probably not achieve the same benefits as receiving an actual massage service. However, any prolonged or added benefits are always a plus.
For more training opportunities, please visit: https://ceinstitute.com/
To view the Massage Magazine article that was written by Selena Belisle at CE Institute LLC that covers what is reviewed in this video in greater detail, please visit: https://www.massagemag.com/retail-selling-118449/
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