Make It Personal

Product compliance—clients using professional retail products correctly—can be tricky for any skin care practitioner once a client leaves the skin care facility. Want to help your clients stick with a skin care routine and ultimately sell more products? It all starts with a thoughtful approach that sets you and your clients up for success. Make it personal and build trusting relationships through clear communication that shows you care about your clients and their results.

Recommend properly. In addition to reviewing clients’ skin care needs, perform effective lifestyle consultations so you can customize appropriate home-care routines, including the number of products they use and how they are used. Expect to tweak along the way.

Clearly state instructions and benefits. Make it clear that you’re interested in the client’s health, satisfaction and results, as opposed to short-term sales. Clearly describe each product and its intended purpose; what both you and the client must do to stay on track; and when to expect results from product compliance.

Write down how to properly use the products purchased from your retail area on a note for clients to put on their bathroom mirror. Describe possible product sensations, such as tingling or burning, and explain why each step is important to the overall routine.

Start small. If too many corrective products are recommended at once, it’s hard to recognize which ingredients may be irritating when there’s an issue. Slowly adding products lessens the potential for negative side effects, which, in turn, creates better product compliance, as well as results, and reduces pressure on clients’ wallets. If a client is experiencing negative side effects, often it’s not the product, but rather a simple adjustment in usage.

Follow up. Even if a client needs to reschedule later, schedule a two- to six-week follow-up at the time of treatment. Remind clients to call with any questions. You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know about it, so encourage clients to be in touch if needed. In addition, call at appropriate intervals, particularly with clients using a highly active resurfacer or other corrective topical for the first time. Make the call yourself—don’t hand this off to an associate. If a client has discontinued the use of a product because it wasn’t working, ask open-ended questions to uncover unknowns. This avoids client dissatisfaction, brings products back to the front of their cabinet and reduces product returns.

Keep detailed charts. Check product purchase dates to measure expected usage/refills. Date and list all pertinent information from consultations and treatments. If a client calls for a re-order, take advantage of the opportunity to check satisfaction with the products and the routine.

Offer tips to ensure compliance. Busy moms are looking to improve their skin, but generally don’t have time to manage complex routines. Listen to what clients are dealing with and offer viable suggestions. Too tired at the end of the day? Try doing your routine when you come home from work or after picking up the kids. Have to bathe the kids? Let them splash around while you follow your routine at the sink.

Focus on long-term satisfaction. Satisfaction creates trust and loyalty. Be sensitive to shifts in lifestyle or financial circumstances, and make adjustments. If necessary, simplify the entire routine so all benefits aren’t lost.

Educating your clients, and following up after assessments and services shows them that their results are important and promotes continued success for both of you. The highest profit potential in the skin care industry is in retail sales, and properly prescribed home care is the key element of client satisfaction and business profit. By helping clients achieve noticeable, measurable results, you can be certain that they’ll be repeat clients and tell their friends, both of which boost your bottom line.

Janine Marzetta is owner and practitioner of Exquisite Skin, Ltd., in Geneva, IL. Her diagnostic approach to assessing skin health is the key to proper skin care and individualized service. She can be reached at 630-262-0700.

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