If we’re being technical, the act of making a sale is quick. As soon as someone hands over their payment, you’ve officially made a sale.
The transaction happens in the blink of an eye, but anyone who’s sold, well, pretty much anything, especially cosmeceuticals, knows that there’s a much more extensive process to making a sale.
It’s a journey, almost like a relay race, and if your team isn’t 100 percent on board with walking your client through the sales process properly, you’re not going to make it to the close. Here’s how you can use your team to control the structure of the sale and ensure the baton doesn’t get dropped in the hand-off.
The Provider’s Seal of Approval
Every cosmeceutical sale should start with the provider for a couple of reasons. Introducing a product too soon in the process can be confusing for your client or can come off as an unwelcome advance. Sales is about relationship building, thus presenting a sale too soon can feel like proposing on date three…it’s a little off-putting.
The provider’s seal of approval anchors the sale and sets the tone for the rest of the process. While the first reason is important, the second is truly critical because the provider is who legitimizes the medical use of a product purchased at your clinic, spa, or office.
The provider has the strongest tie of trust to the client, and they hold the position as the leading expert in the practice or spa, so it’s crucial their recommendation is properly communicated to the staff to carry out the sale.
Educating Your Client to the Sale
Because providers rarely have time to “sell,” or sit and go through the details, applications, and information on the product, it’s critical that staff take over this process and bring it to life. But, as we previously mentioned, their process and message must align with the provider’s. If it doesn’t, or the staff recommendations deviate, that’s where clients become confused, trust is breached, and a sale can be lost.
The way to ensure that this miscommunication doesn’t occur is by using supporting staff experts such as aestheticians and nurses to educate the client’s way to the sale. Some of the methods of educating to the sale include explaining the features and benefits of the product, how to use it, and why they should purchase it at your practice or spa versus alternatively-labelled products that claim to have the same results from different providers who may not be reliable in their cosmeceuticals’ quality.
Through the education process, a client will decide whether the product is for them right now (yay!), but even if it’s not the same day, know that the sales process still isn’t finished…
Closing with a Consistent Message
Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “the fortune is in the follow-up,” whether you have or not, know that it’s entirely accurate. There are hundreds of reasons why someone might be a “no” on buying a particular product or service today, however, that “no” can turn into an effortless “yes” (thanks to your educational sales process) down the line. That "yes" might come a day or two, a month, or even more than a year later, but you won’t know until you follow up.
Let your prospect know they can expect someone from your team to be in touch within a particular time frame and stick to that time window. Also, know that your prospect might get back in touch before you follow up, which is again, why everyone on the team from the provider all the way down to the support staff who answers the phone need to be on board with a consistent message.
Once you have this key component of your sales process solidified between all the members of your team, it’s time to start closing those sales and changing the lives of your clients.
Jasmine Hill, MBA serves as a co-founder of Aesthetic Influencer, a Los Angeles based organization assisting medical practices with developing their brand voice and digital strategies. She can be reached at jasmine@aestheticinfluencer.com. You may also follow @AestheticInfluencer on Instagram for more tips on digital tools like Instagram and Facebook for your aesthetic business. PS - She wrote this article from the view of being a former cosmecutical sales rep ;-)