Is the Spa Industry Walking Its Talk?
Competition in the beauty sector is fierce, with spas and salons up against department stores and retail outlets for consumer sales. An obvious competitive advantage that we have over beauty counters are our therapists; trained licensed professionals with in-depth knowledge of skin and body. However, this advantage must be leveraged beyond mere product training. Personalization is the goal. But when it comes to our therapists is the spa sector falling short?
Traditionally, spa training has consisted of educating therapists on product ingredients and treatment protocols. But in today’s service driven market a different type of training is also required; training that builds on the inherent talents of therapists and assists them to interact more confidently. Therapists who feel confident in what they do are more likely to ask the right questions, make informed recommendations and deliver the type of personalized experience that customers are looking for.
To generate robust sales, therapists must understand the art of engagement and be able to deliver a superb customer experience. Most sales are not based on simply spewing product knowledge. Customers buy from people who listen well, ask the right questions, express empathy and offer the best and fastest way to address their concerns. If a therapist can do all of the above, customers will not only purchase products from them but return to them again and again. With targeted training for the introvert personality, this can be accomplished.
Redesigned Training
Traditional sales training has always been designed for extroverts. But the spa industry is largely comprised of introverts. Customization should begin at home. It’s time to walk our talk and deliver training programs that elevate our teams to perform at their best. The truth is that introverts have the same capacity for sales but simply process information differently. They prefer to observe first rather than doing. They like time to process their thoughts rather than offering spontaneous responses.
When effective training modifications are made, positive results are swift and dramatic.
Join me at ISPA 2017 on Oct. 18 where I’ll present “Introverts: The Secret of Increasing Retail Sales”
Linda Harding-Bond
