Tuesday 15 February 2011

Romancing in Retail .......skin care

Hello and a heartfelt welcome to the first addition of romancing in skin care retail, a specialist blog for all skincare therapists and consultants. The aim is to offer inspiration, thought provocation, endorsement, and touches of humour in your world of retailing skin care products.

Surprise & Delight

This has nothing to do with ‘traffic stopping’ although the effect is just as valuable. The difference with the romancing principles is both you and the customer feel fabulous with the greeting – as of now approach everything you do and say with an “every encounter counts” mentality.

Quit using traffic stopping techniques which customers dread, and you’re bored to death with. Instead, engage your charm and imagination and begin to make every encounter count.

Ban the 4 most useless words in retail

Banned from this instant are the words “can I help you?” – it is dull in the extreme and makes you look like a numtie. Replace with a few of these suggestions, mix with several of your own and make it into a bit of a game. Have fun. Laugh a little. Be authentic. Be lovely

  • Compliment the person – love the style or colour of their coat/dress/hair? Then say so! Children do this effortlessly and it is charming, highly infectious and deeply irresistible – think for a minute how fabulous you feel when a complete stranger pays you a genuine compliment – so easy to do, and how much fun is it to make as your mission each day ‘discover something lovely about everyone’
  • Dare to be different – so few skincare consultants smile and say hello, and I have no idea why, we’re surrounded by such loveliness – what’s not to smile about?? Stand out from the glumness and say hello & smile at everyone (yes, even grumpy knickers, they offer the greatest reward when the smile gets returned)
  • Start an epidemic – smiling, enthusiasm and excitement are all totally infectious – so let’s start an epidemic. This has nothing to do with being perennially and psychotically irritating and everything to do with making the decision to communicate with energy and passion what you love about your products ……don’t love them? Leave – you do yourself a huge disservice staying with something you hate
  • Show off more! – when you have knowledge about skincare you owe to me to share this knowledge. Quit assuming I already understand why an eye cream is an essential part of my battle against face migration – I don’t! Quit assuming I want to know about product ingredients and ask me what I want to know about. I must, must, must leave smarter than when I arrived so inspire me with your expertise & insider knowledge
  • Answers create natural conversations – when you ask a question do you truly listen to the answer or are you waiting to speak? Asking questions is definitely the secret to creating great connections and effortless conversations so make it your mission to ask your question and then shut up! Sometimes people need a little time, especially if you’ve asked a fab question they’ve never thought about before, so give people space & time to answer instead of jumping into the silence. It really is the greatest compliment you can pay another – genuine listening is a rare and beautiful thing

The next blog will be about the ways we unwittingly confuse the customers ……until then, keep shining!

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