5 Habits That May be Killing Your Hair Business Sales
Your Empire Won't Grow Without Great Sales
Hey PLE babes! You know I always come with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! Before I get into the details of the truth that I'm about to share I want to applaud you for actually having enough courage to take a chance on your dream. A lot of people are still sitting on the sidelines waiting for some divine intervention for them to start playing in the game of life and business.
That's why you're so unique, and your decision is the key to you doing something that a lot of people never do while experiencing things that people around you probably won't ever be able to. The key to that type of success, though, is becoming more in-tune with one of the basic functions of your hair company and that is getting sales.
A lot of you are not making money in your hair companies because of a few bad habits that you have. A lot of us want to build an empire or be the boss of your business, but the problem comes when you're not paying attention to your sales. Some of you may not even know what it is that you're doing that's causing you not to make purchases in your business so in this article I'm going to discuss the five habits that may be killing your sales. I know I usually tell you to go ahead and press play on a playlist, but this time we're not playing any music because I need you to make sure you are focused. Grab your PLE notebook to take notes.
Five Habits That Are Killing Sales
1. Not conducting research
The main problem that a lot of hair companies have is that they are not researching their products, clientele, nor investigating the sales process. When you don't do any of these things, you have no idea of how to move someone through the purchasing process. Market research is one of the most underutilized processes, and the reason is that it requires a lot of data.
Honestly, good hair is not hard to sell but what is hard is you trying to help your company stand out against competitors. Because it's so crowded, it makes it difficult for you to stand out if you're not clear on what it is that the consumer wants. Within your market research, you also want to check out reviews that your competitors have received to see what people are saying about their product whether that it's good or bad. Doing this helps you to identify their strengths and their weaknesses to compare to your strengths and weaknesses.
By identifying these, you can then see where there are potential gaps in their marketing that can help you to define a niche for your company. Conducting research may take time, but it is the key to you getting better sales and increasing customers.
2. Struggling with your purpose
So many of us still struggle with our purpose when it comes to our lives and running a business. We make this thing called “purpose” a mythical ideology that seems difficult to attain, but it isn't. The truth is your purpose is whatever brings you joy when you do it. You have to ask yourself why is hair vital to me and remember it cannot be just because of the money because people don't like feeling like a “sale.”
When you look at your hair company, you should be thinking about what your purpose it should be to help women feel beautiful again. The purpose of your hair company is to make the shopper’s experience about more than just the extensions but a total experience or transformation. Doesn't that sound a whole lot better than saying “buy my hair extensions because they're great quality”?
Usually, your purpose is sitting right there in front of you, and you've been ignoring it for so long, but it's essential that you stop struggling with trying to find your purpose. Journaling and honestly meditation can help bring you clarity in this area. Once you get that clarity, you'll be able to create a sales process that is going to be very targeted to your ideal client.
3. Wanting to do everything yourself
I'm just going to raise my hands and leave it up high in the air because this is me. I am notorious for wanting to do everything myself. The outcome is I do okay with a bunch of tasks, but if I had asked for help, I could have done extraordinary with all of them. You cannot do everything yourself because you need other eyes on the merchandising, sales process, and shopping process so that you can refine it to make it easier for your customer to make a buying decision. It's crazy for you to think that you can run a hair company all by yourself.
As hard as it is to find great people you got to be able to sit in the seat as the boss (that you want to be) and searched high and low and till you find the right people. You may need a personal assistant, someone who fulfills online orders, as well as someone who can engage with customers when they have questions or issues with their orders. The bottom line is we you've got to be confident enough and who you are and the business that you set up to be able to bring in additional help, and I promise you won't get far without extra help.
Think about the number of sales you are missing out on because you're too tired to get up that morning to follow up on emails or answer inquiries from your website. Have there been opportunities for you to attend an event as a vendor but was there something else going on in the family that didn't allow you to participate in the event? When you're burning the candle at both ends, you never have enough energy to be everywhere that you need to be and then it also hurts your networking capabilities. My advice is to stop trying to wear all the hats in your business and get the help that you need from a family member or friend or even a college student.
4. Failure to invest in your business
Okay, so you decided to open your hair company for many reasons one of those being that you want to make money. You know what they say “it costs money to make money” and in today's age of online shopping, investing in the visual appeal and operations of your business are vital. Now don't get me wrong I understand that everybody starts somewhere, so it is okay for you to go to the Dollar Store and purchase the things that you need for your vendor table when you are starting out.
However, there needs to come a time when you decide to invest in your hair business and get it looking more professional. This means when you make a sale you do not pocket that money as personal money. The money earned needs to go back into your business to purchase items such as a branded table cover that has your logo and your name on it as well as tags for your extensions. Some of you may be saying I don't have the money to invest, but you’re speaking death over your business when you talk about the things you don't have.
I know running your own business may seem glamorous, but honestly, when you get in the trenches of it, it's not this way all the time. So here's your assignment for the next two weeks; grab your notebook and write down everything that you spend money on for the next two weeks. You may think you don't have the money to invest in your business, but I bet when you look at how many times you went and ate out, or you went to the vending machine at work you'll see that you've been spending a lot of money on stuff that you could have done without. Comment below and let me know how the assignment goes and what you learn from the process!
5. Lack of product knowledge
My last habit that is probably killing your sales is lack of product knowledge. As I stated earlier, the hair industry has become incredibly crowded, and with that, I think a lot of companies pop up, and they start saying “hey I sell hair”! Your goal is to separate yourself from those types of hair company because the more you know about your product, the better you'll be able to sell it. Shoppers already come with reasons why they won't buy your hair. They know your price point is a little uncomfortable for them, but they'll still go to your website to look at what you have to offer. They may be a bit hesitant about getting 20 in extensions, but when you feature those extensions on your homepage, and they see them, they start to think a little bit harder about purchasing them.
The best thing you can do is know everything about all of your extensions and wigs. Make index cards and put them in a binder with the small sample piece of the extension so that you can review it whenever you need to. This is a great idea when you're a vendor at an event to show attendees the variety of extensions that you offer. The other bonus is a lot of your competitors may not know those answers, so you understanding your product is going to put you above your competitors and give you a definite advantage over them. Remember, when you know more about your product you can educate potential customers better, and this thing leads to conversions and more sales.
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