How To Retail: Lash Business Tips For Selling Products Naturally
If you’re reading this, you’re likely already a skilled lash artist who can craft beautiful, unique lash sets for your clients. But that’s not the end all be all — retailing necessary and useful products to your clients can be a huge part of your success!
But maybe you’ve already tried selling products to your clients, and it just feels super unnatural and possibly a little slimy. No one likes to feel like they’re actively being sold something or forced to walk away with an item they really didn’t want in the first place.
Luckily, there is an art to being a natural salesperson! Even if you don’t incorporate all of our tips in the blog below right now, it’s always a good idea to have a few tricks up your sleeve if you decide to add more retail options in the future.
Why Should You Consider Including Retail In Your Lash Business?
We’re not going to say that selling products is more important than being a skilled lash artist. However, if you’re not thinking about including even just a few retail items in your shop, you’re really missing out on a great opportunity.
Having a selection of high quality lash and aftercare products for your clients or other lash artists can help cement your business in the lash industry. You’re not just a lash artist; you can offer helpful guidance and products as well. You’ll start to build loyalty and trust with your clientele, which can help your retention. Expanding your business into retail gives you an extra edge (not to mention the extra source of income!).
Ready to learn more about how to sell to your clients in a natural way?
Retailing Beauty Products For A Successful Lash Business
Understand Your Clientele
As a lash artist, you should be familiar with your clients’ wants and needs. By immersing yourself in your industry, you’ll start to learn how to cater to them and what goods you can provide to elevate their experience.
And while it’s important to know your clientele as a whole, the knack of a natural salesperson comes down to understanding the individuals as well. Lash clients in general might want one thing, but perhaps the client you’re seeing today isn’t interested in it; selling to this particular client might not be the best move. Make sure you’re actively listening to each of your clients so you can interpret their individual needs and specific situations. Keeping the client centered in the transaction helps them feel comfortable and lets them know you’re really trying to understand their needs. Then, you can tailor your recommendations to them, creating a personalized retail experience.
Be Knowledgeable About Your Products (And Actually Use Them!)
If you’re trying to sell something that you don’t know anything about, it will come across very unnatural and super salesy. Your clients will instantly be able to tell that you’re just trying to get them to buy something they might not really need.
The solution? Only sell items that you thoroughly know and/or use on a regular basis. Be educated on the products you have in your salon and test them before selling them. For example, if you’re interested in retailing a lash serum, like the PLA Velocity Lash & Brow Serum, take a few weeks to try it out on yourself first. That way, you’ll have firsthand knowledge about the product when you bring it up to your clients (and you can show off the effects as well!)
Make sure you’re giving your clients a lot of guidance about how to use the products you're selling to them. They’ll probably have questions, and it’s your job to answer them thoroughly. If something comes up that shows a certain client is not a good fit for an item you’re retailing, don’t try to push it on them.
Create A Curated Selection Of Products
Just because you want to start retailing more products doesn’t mean you need to stock anything and everything. Actually, the opposite might work better — having a smaller selection of your favorite items can work in your favor.
If your salon sells everything from lash sweatshirts to tumblers to tote bags (just to name a few), clients can feel overwhelmed and not know where to start. If you’re just at the beginning of your retail journey, it’s usually a better idea to pick only your favorite products — maybe the items you yourself would purchase. This helps your clients understand that you’re not just trying to get them to buy a ton of unnecessary products, but that you actually want to provide them with an opportunity to purchase something that has meaning and function.
Incorporate Your Retail Products Into Your Services
The best way to get someone to buy something without feeling pushy is to actually demonstrate its use in front of them. Would you buy something without seeing it in action first? Probably not, and neither would your clients. But if they see that you’re actively using these items, the sale will feel much more natural and comfortable.
Try wearing a super cute lash sweatshirt during your appointments or using a cleansing brush to wash your client’s lashes. If you can seamlessly integrate your retail products into your lash services, you’re instantly showing your clients that these items are useful and that you vouch for them.
PLA Retail Partner Program
Did all this talk about retailing lash products get you interested in more? Our Retail Partner Program is a great opportunity for salon or other beauty business owners to expand their inventory and start retailing!
If you’re a lash artist who loves PLA products and is interested in becoming a mini-PLA for their local beauty community, take a look at the details of our Retail Partner Program. We’d be honored and excited to have you join as a Retail Partner!
Get All Your Lash Extension Retail And Supplies With PLA
We hope our retail tips were helpful and that you can apply them to your own business! We know it can be overwhelming to try and sell to your clients or other lash artists, but it can really help boost your income and attract new clients. If you remain authentic, build strong rapport with your clients and keep them centered in your interactions, your products will start selling themselves.
Happy lashing and happy retailing, everyone!