I’m going to try to get through this whole letter without using a particular six-letter word because it’s become a bad word to a of salon professionals But the word represents a concept that I believe nail technicians must embrace if the industry it self’s going to continue to grow. It’s going to be hard to get to the bottom of the page without using the word but I’ll try.

Recommending products to your customers is a way to enhance the service you provide in the salon environment. By suggesting that a client use a product you introduced to her, you extend your professionalism and keep a client loyal. Not to mention, it indicates caring and empathy when you recommend something to someone.

Educate clients constantly about the products you use. Wouldn’t clients be more interested in trying items that they knew a lot about? If you talked during a service about how a product worked, its ingredients, and why you had chosen it for the service, wouldn’t that prompt a client to try it out on her own as well?

Take-home products are ideal products to recommend to clients. Most manufacturers provide items in prepackaged kits designed to drive sales. There was a time that nail professionals worried if clients purchased items from a salon to use at home they’d stop patronizing the salon. We’ve seen evidence that the opposite is in fact true.

Accept that not everyone wants to buy something Don’t take it personally—and don’t stop trying.

Incentives, incentives, incentives! Salespeople do what is sometimes a very difficult job, but they do it because they get to keep a portion of what they make. That’s powerful incentive. If nail techs and salon are expected to get customers to buy things, they ought to make an enticing percentage of what they bring in.

Let you clients decide. Recommend something to them educate them on its features and benefits, and let them determine whether they want to purchase it. It’s simple. You don’t have to persuade, cajole, hard-sell, upsell, or anything else. Recommend and let them decide.

Whew. I made it without using the word. But for more on this extremely important subject, and for an introduction to our 2001 campaign on this subject, read all about it on page 78.

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