Wayne Grund Shares His Best Practices for Ramping Up Your Salon Retail

For many stylists, the leap into sales can be intimidating—no one wants to feel like they’re pushing products. Yet proper take-home tonics are essential in order for clients to effectively maintain their hair at home. According to Surface hair care founder Wayne Grund, when a client leaves your chair with a takeaway item, you’re building loyalty while exponentially increasing salon dollars. 

Change Your Perception

“The majority of people who enter the beauty biz don’t have experience in direct sales and don’t have a healthy attitude toward selling,” says Grund, who notes that sales isn’t something you do to someone; instead it’s something you do for and with someone.

Think Long-Term

“All too often stylists feels like they’re trying to sell everything on the first visit, which is very short-sighted,” says Grund. Instead, recommend a long-term plan that’s within clients’ budgets. Prioritize the products they need within a three-appointment or five-month timeline. Grund also suggests specifying wet, dry and second-day styling recommendations to help thoroughly build clients’ hair regimens.

Know Your Products

You want to make sure you’re educated on why each product works so you can confidently pass this knowledge onto clients. Additionally, if a salon carries too many brands (more than six), this can create confusion for both you and the customer. To eliminate this situation, Grund recommends “focusing on brands you believe in.”

Set Realistic Goals

Aside from benefiting your client’s hair in the long run (which makes your job easier as well), retailing adds significant financial returns. According to Grund, if you’ve been in the industry between one to two years, then you should be selling one unit per guest, per visit. At six guests, this translates to an additional $180 per day or $3,600 a month. For advanced stylists, Grund recommends a goal of 1.5 units, or approximately $5,000 per month. If you take the appropriate steps to carry out a successful retail strategy, everyone benefits— stylists, clients and the salon as a whole.

 

[Image: Bigstock]

This story first appeared in the March issue of Beauty Launchpad. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.