10 Ways to Upsell at Your Salon or Spa

Sometimes we don’t see the opportunities sitting right in front of us. The best way to promote your product, service, or beauty facility as a whole is to assess the upsell potential of each client. It’s important to pay attention to every phase of your client interactions, from booking to payment. Each step deserves careful attention and holds the potential to maximise your upselling opportunities.

At the same time, many health and beauty businesses believe the misnomer that trying to upsell is strictly about making extra profit. They may feel resentful towards suggestions and recommendations because they do not like the idea of somebody making money by duping people. Successful upselling however is tuning in to your client’s needs, and then just giving them that extra little nudge to treat themselves. Upselling also implies hard work, in-depth marketing knowledge, and mastery of industry terminology that can benefit any salon owner or a stylist in search of opportunities to boost their business.

Note: It’s important not to be pushy when upselling. If there’s one thing that will guarantee your client never comes back, it’s giving them the feeling that they’re being sold to the whole time they’re with you. They’ve come to you for self-care and relaxation, so that’s your first priority. Don’t try all of these upselling strategies all at once, just pick a few to test out and see what works best for you, and your clients.

Here are our top 10 strategies to upsell at your salon or spa:

1. Upsell during booking

Offer deluxe services to your client before you work your way down to basic packages. Always start with what is the best.

2. Upsell during check-in

If you are interested in getting higher profits while keeping your client satisfaction rates high, you need to know how to upsell products and provide your clients with an opportunity to get upgraded services. For instance, if they have booked a basic option, it does not necessarily mean they would refuse an offer of an upgrade. Your task is to upsell the full/deluxe service, or any extras you may have on offer.

3. Upsell during consultation

Using a consultation process allows you to better hone in on what the client really wants. We’ve already covered why a consultation is so important, but it’s also a great opportunity to upsell. You know how to get the results the client wants better than they do, so if that means choosing a more expensive package, or adding retail products, then let them know.

4. Upsell while waiting

Waiting time is a perfect time for upselling products. You can supply your clients with print menus or brochures where you can place important information. Pay special attention to the quality of the content or address a professional help with assignment service to get it written. The quality of your promotional material will have a direct impact on how often your offer is taken up.

5. Upsell through product placement

Sometimes it is better to give your clients free time and space to wander around your salon. With this in mind, you can offer free samples of spa products so that they can ‘test drive’ the products on their own and choose what appeals to them.

6. Upsell during the treatment

A friendly conversation opens every door. You should keep it professional but focus on every detail the client tells you. Listen to their plans, problems, and ideas, and you will find a myriad of opportunities to provide them with new treatments, products, and services in a friendly manner. Again, don’t be pushy. You don’t want to be seen actively selling while the treatment is being done, but you can name drop brands and products that you can then bring up again during the payment process.

7. Upsell during payment

How do you inform your clients about special offers and loyalty benefits? Track every client’s favorites, offer discounts to them, or address them when they may need to replenish anything they bought from you. It is a good idea to provide gift vouchers as a potential opportunity to upsell products. Payment is an especially important part of the process, as the client will see how much all this upselling is going to cost them. Using a service like Afterpay will help your clients manage their spending, by splitting it over multiple interest free payments.

8. Upsell with seasonal offers

Contact your clients through email marketing whenever you have something new to offer. It can be a seasonal sale or something that comes in a limited edition. Inform your clients about the unique opportunity you provide for them and briefly describe the benefits of it.

9. Upsell through social media

Facebook and Instagram have made it much easier to reach your audience. Thus, it is a must for salons and spas to have social media promotional accounts. They are the best way to reach out to your clients to inform, entertain, or invite them. Moreover, this is a perfect place to get objective reviews and respond to positive or negative feedback. Communicate with your clients and get the most of your products and services.

10. Upsell more by training your team

There’s no way that you, by yourself, will be able to capitalise on all the opportunities for upselling to your clients, so why not engage your whole team in the process? You should teach your team to identify these opportunities and maximize their outcomes. Explain why upselling products is important for business and provide your team with examples of how they can use advanced upselling tactics on clients.

Given the wide variety of marketing methods and techniques available, it is most important that salon owners and managers know which works best for them when attempting to upsell to their clients. You should use the right tools and carefully adhere to timeliness when offering additional products and services. Every interaction with a client should be friendly, unobtrusive and professional. Extra profit is great for business, yet it should not be obvious to the client that you are trying to make extra money.

Upselling shouldn’t be seen as a source of additional income, but an effort to supply the client with a new treatment or service that would best satisfy his or her needs.