Even if you are a solidly booked nail technician who gets top dollar for her services and you work six days a week, there is still a limited number of services you can do — which means there is a limited amount of money you can earn. Retailing is an opportunity to remove the limits on your earning power.
Look at some numbers: If you can add a simple bottle of polish (which is the hottest selling retail item) to just half the tickets you write in a day, you earn an extra $115 a month (based on the average nail technician workweek and a $1.50 bottle of polish sold for $3). Don’t balk at that: What else can you do, starting tomorrow, that will get you a raise of $115 a month? Let’s say you took a few minutes during your clients hand massage and told her why you choose the hand lotion you are using on her. Let s say again that she is impressed and purchases a bottle. If your markup on an $8 bottle of hand lotion is $4 and you entice just a quarter of your clients to try a bottle, you’ve just gotten a $150 a month raise. Are you interested in earning a little more money?
The key to understanding retail and feeling comfortable with it is understanding that when you offer a customer a product for purchase it’s part of the service you are providing her. You are a professional she trusts and you are making a professional recommendation. You are not trying to dupe her or “make money off her.” You are simply doing what all service professionals are supposed to do: providing service. Providing a take-home or a maintenance product is an extension of the service your client came to the salon for in the first place. She expects that you will recommend products and services.