Whole Body Healing Column
Column 1: Giving Your Profits Away!
By Dana Pharant RMT
Selling product is a challenging prospect for many massage therapists. They may fear that they will be viewed as pushy, money hungry or somehow unprofessional by their clients if they sell products. On a different note, we’ve all experienced the client who thinks every treatment should be free; the one who doesn’t respect you or your services as being worthy of the term professional; the type who thinks minimum wage is a good idea for everyone but themselves. You can grow old quickly trying to please these people, so let’s focus on living in the real world instead.
When did making money - more specifically - profit, become an evil thing? Why is it that people in the health care or healing industries tend to shy away from admitting to wanting to make a good income? Why do we shun other practitioners who make a good income? Is this attitude part of the reason we are not viewed as being professional enough to be included in the same league as other medical practitioners? Does anyone ever ask his or her doctor (or their lawyer) for free services?
If you are still not ready to make money from selling products, you may consider this suggestion. Have a selected product or products for sale at your office and then take the money that you profit from them and donate it to your favorite charity. This allows you to offer an extra service to your clients, but not feel like they are being judged by profiting from it!
You can get your clients involved in the process by changing the charity you donate to on a quarterly or semi-annual basis and allowing them one vote for a cause of their choice with each purchase/treatment/session. Have a sign over the shelf where the products are displayed that outlines the policy and place the voting box beside it.
While you aren’t making money from sales, you can use this as a valuable marketing strategy. Send the local paper a press release letting them know how much you have raised for your charity and how you have done it. Be sure to get a photo of you and a charity rep shaking hands as you hand over the check and include that with the press release. You can also ask the charity for a tax receipt for the amount of the donation, which can help you at tax time!
On the other hand, if you believe that the services you provide have real value, but still feel conflicted about deserving a profit from the work you do, read my next column!
Biography: Dana Pharant is the owner of Whole Body Healing - Therapy Supplies. Her store rocks out at both its geographical location at: 68 Hooper Rd Barrie, ON and on the internet: www.wholebodyhealing.com.
Come back next issue for Dana’s next installment: Money Isn’t the Root of all Evil!
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Monday, March 15, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Know when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em, when to walk away and when to run
It’s easy to feel like a gambler when you’re trying to strike a balance between making full profit on your inventory and discount pricing. You want your stock to move, but you don’t want to give it away to do it. If you’re paying interest for the credit you used to purchase said inventory, then the situation can become even more perplexing.
What to do with the two or three items that you’re tired of dusting when the rest of the box flew out the door? Or even worse, what about when only a couple have sold and you’re still looking at the rest of the box sitting on your shelf when a salesman drops in to tell you about a really great deal on an even better product?
When to hold ‘em
Sticking to your regular price
You are not some big box store and you should not feel obligated to price match these behemoths. They can’t compete with your product knowledge and after sales support so why should you give that away by trying to compete with their pricing. Some products are sold strictly through professionals. On these types of items hold to the recommended pricing for the sake of maintaining your professional integrity.
Hold your pricing on the items that are your staples. How often do milk or eggs go on sale? I can’t remember ever seeing a sale on either of these items. That’s because they are the staple items of any grocery store, part of the regular provisions the majority of customers who pass through their doors will be buying.
“So what are the staples of a massage clinic’s retail line?” you ask. Epsom Salts comes to mind, as do ice packs and topical analgesics. They will regularly turn over without much assistance so leave the price alone. I would only recommend putting them on sale as an up-sell promotion such as buy a gift certificate for a one hour massage and get product X for half price.
When to fold ‘em
Marking down your regular price
If a product is not moving then mark it down until it goes. This is a form of compensation for mistakes in judgement but it is an opportunity to learn at the same time. Is the end of the box not approaching as fast as the expiry date? Was it such a good deal that you bought too many in the first place? Perhaps it was something no one wanted. Did you restock after you had already sold it to all your clients? Treat it as a lesson in mapping the purchasing habits of your clients and you can find a way to see the positive rather than treating it as a complete loss.
How much to mark it down? Part of this depends on how fast you want to get rid of it. The traffic flow you have will directly affect the speed with which you are able to clear out product. Still, you don’t want to start giving it away (your cost) immediately. Drop your price too much too soon and the clients who paid full price last week could get offended, or worse yet, decide that it’s better to wait for it to go on sale rather than buying anything at full price from you.
If you get to the point of having to sell at or below cost it may be wise to indicate this when displaying the sale price. Some people are very driven by thrill of hunting for the bargains and will only pick up your sale items. Thankfully there are also those who have to be the first to own anything. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a mix of both flowing through your clinic.
In an ideal world when you purchase 12 pieces of a particular item, 10 sell at full price while the last 2 go for 25% off the regular price. Then you move on to a new item you discovered for your clients. In an ideal world.
When to walk away
Saying “No” is not a bad thing
This applies to whether or not you will continue to carry specific products. Maybe the whole line isn’t working for your situation. Just because you sold all of the first shipment doesn’t mean you have to re-order immediately. Changing inventory when your selection is narrow is a good thing. Many clients will ask when they can’t find the display of that great thing they got last time they were in, but few will ask about that new thing you haven’t shown them yet, unless it’s proudly displayed on your shelf.
Whether your selection is narrow because of budget constraints or shelf space to use as display, variety is your friend in that situation. If you’ve already had one product through your inventory and aren’t sure whether it’s worth restocking right away, consider putting up a picture/poster of the product and list it as a special order item to see what kind of response you get for that.
We all know the type of client who thinks every treatment should be free. You can grow old quickly trying to please these people, so don’t be surprised when they want to haggle with you over the already fair sale price you have clearly marked on your product. They always want you to lower the price you charge them down to your cost or below. Try not to get offended in that it’s not necessarily personal (they treat everyone this way), then calmly explain to them that while you appreciate that if you don’t ask you don’t get, your answer is “no thank you.”
The wrong approach in this situation would be to get defensive and start telling them about how hard you work for your money and how you deserve to sell products for a profit. How dare they offend your sensibilities with such an offer. this customer does not care and it will just leave you in a foul mood, not to mention looking bad to anyone else who may be in earshot.
This type of individual has to “win” which in their mind means that they must “beat” everyone else to be satisfied. If you offered to give it to them for free, they would want you to pay them to take it away. When a bargain has to be bad for you before they’ll consider it good for them, that is when it’s a good time for you to walk away from the deal.
Personally speaking, I would refer them to another clinic, because I don’t want price shoppers coming to me for therapy. I believe it is okay to say “no” to clients who ask for something that will cost you money. Even more than okay, I believe it is in your own best interest.
When to run
Sales people who don’t believe in win-win
Some salespeople consider their greatest asset to be the ability to change their minds to buy something they don’t really need or can’t afford simply because the salesperson needs to sell so many of said product to make their life easier. They don’t usually have a lot of repeat business, but that not a concern to them because there’s always new fish to fry. They always seem to have a deal that sounds to good to pass up and won’t be around for long.
Avoiding the type of traps set by these individuals requires you to know what you can move at your clinic. Would 80% of your clients be likely to buy it? If less than 25% would be even remotely interested then you may as well forget it. Unless those people will commit to buying enough to make it worth your while to bring in your chances of moving the product in a decent turnover time is low. Try asking the nice salesman if you could have a poster to display so you could special order those items if people show interest.
Avoid the classic volume discounts that are commonly used to talking you into purchasing more inventory than you can move based on the promise of a lower price per unit. When their only focus is on how much money you’ll make from the entire deal, stop for a moment and consider the amount of time and effort that will be involved on your part to make that mountain of money. I will continue to mine that same vein of thinking in that I recommend avoiding selling product altogether if you are not willing to talk about it to your clients to the point where they are excited about it. Basically, if you’re not going to sell then don’t spend the money on inventory that you hope will sell itself.
Biography: Dana Pharant is the owner of Whole Body Healing - Therapy Supplies. Her store rocks out at both its geographical location at: 68 Hooper Rd Barrie, ON and on the internet: www.wholebodyhealing.com.
What to do with the two or three items that you’re tired of dusting when the rest of the box flew out the door? Or even worse, what about when only a couple have sold and you’re still looking at the rest of the box sitting on your shelf when a salesman drops in to tell you about a really great deal on an even better product?
When to hold ‘em
Sticking to your regular price
You are not some big box store and you should not feel obligated to price match these behemoths. They can’t compete with your product knowledge and after sales support so why should you give that away by trying to compete with their pricing. Some products are sold strictly through professionals. On these types of items hold to the recommended pricing for the sake of maintaining your professional integrity.
Hold your pricing on the items that are your staples. How often do milk or eggs go on sale? I can’t remember ever seeing a sale on either of these items. That’s because they are the staple items of any grocery store, part of the regular provisions the majority of customers who pass through their doors will be buying.
“So what are the staples of a massage clinic’s retail line?” you ask. Epsom Salts comes to mind, as do ice packs and topical analgesics. They will regularly turn over without much assistance so leave the price alone. I would only recommend putting them on sale as an up-sell promotion such as buy a gift certificate for a one hour massage and get product X for half price.
When to fold ‘em
Marking down your regular price
If a product is not moving then mark it down until it goes. This is a form of compensation for mistakes in judgement but it is an opportunity to learn at the same time. Is the end of the box not approaching as fast as the expiry date? Was it such a good deal that you bought too many in the first place? Perhaps it was something no one wanted. Did you restock after you had already sold it to all your clients? Treat it as a lesson in mapping the purchasing habits of your clients and you can find a way to see the positive rather than treating it as a complete loss.
How much to mark it down? Part of this depends on how fast you want to get rid of it. The traffic flow you have will directly affect the speed with which you are able to clear out product. Still, you don’t want to start giving it away (your cost) immediately. Drop your price too much too soon and the clients who paid full price last week could get offended, or worse yet, decide that it’s better to wait for it to go on sale rather than buying anything at full price from you.
If you get to the point of having to sell at or below cost it may be wise to indicate this when displaying the sale price. Some people are very driven by thrill of hunting for the bargains and will only pick up your sale items. Thankfully there are also those who have to be the first to own anything. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a mix of both flowing through your clinic.
In an ideal world when you purchase 12 pieces of a particular item, 10 sell at full price while the last 2 go for 25% off the regular price. Then you move on to a new item you discovered for your clients. In an ideal world.
When to walk away
Saying “No” is not a bad thing
This applies to whether or not you will continue to carry specific products. Maybe the whole line isn’t working for your situation. Just because you sold all of the first shipment doesn’t mean you have to re-order immediately. Changing inventory when your selection is narrow is a good thing. Many clients will ask when they can’t find the display of that great thing they got last time they were in, but few will ask about that new thing you haven’t shown them yet, unless it’s proudly displayed on your shelf.
Whether your selection is narrow because of budget constraints or shelf space to use as display, variety is your friend in that situation. If you’ve already had one product through your inventory and aren’t sure whether it’s worth restocking right away, consider putting up a picture/poster of the product and list it as a special order item to see what kind of response you get for that.
We all know the type of client who thinks every treatment should be free. You can grow old quickly trying to please these people, so don’t be surprised when they want to haggle with you over the already fair sale price you have clearly marked on your product. They always want you to lower the price you charge them down to your cost or below. Try not to get offended in that it’s not necessarily personal (they treat everyone this way), then calmly explain to them that while you appreciate that if you don’t ask you don’t get, your answer is “no thank you.”
The wrong approach in this situation would be to get defensive and start telling them about how hard you work for your money and how you deserve to sell products for a profit. How dare they offend your sensibilities with such an offer. this customer does not care and it will just leave you in a foul mood, not to mention looking bad to anyone else who may be in earshot.
This type of individual has to “win” which in their mind means that they must “beat” everyone else to be satisfied. If you offered to give it to them for free, they would want you to pay them to take it away. When a bargain has to be bad for you before they’ll consider it good for them, that is when it’s a good time for you to walk away from the deal.
Personally speaking, I would refer them to another clinic, because I don’t want price shoppers coming to me for therapy. I believe it is okay to say “no” to clients who ask for something that will cost you money. Even more than okay, I believe it is in your own best interest.
When to run
Sales people who don’t believe in win-win
Some salespeople consider their greatest asset to be the ability to change their minds to buy something they don’t really need or can’t afford simply because the salesperson needs to sell so many of said product to make their life easier. They don’t usually have a lot of repeat business, but that not a concern to them because there’s always new fish to fry. They always seem to have a deal that sounds to good to pass up and won’t be around for long.
Avoiding the type of traps set by these individuals requires you to know what you can move at your clinic. Would 80% of your clients be likely to buy it? If less than 25% would be even remotely interested then you may as well forget it. Unless those people will commit to buying enough to make it worth your while to bring in your chances of moving the product in a decent turnover time is low. Try asking the nice salesman if you could have a poster to display so you could special order those items if people show interest.
Avoid the classic volume discounts that are commonly used to talking you into purchasing more inventory than you can move based on the promise of a lower price per unit. When their only focus is on how much money you’ll make from the entire deal, stop for a moment and consider the amount of time and effort that will be involved on your part to make that mountain of money. I will continue to mine that same vein of thinking in that I recommend avoiding selling product altogether if you are not willing to talk about it to your clients to the point where they are excited about it. Basically, if you’re not going to sell then don’t spend the money on inventory that you hope will sell itself.
Biography: Dana Pharant is the owner of Whole Body Healing - Therapy Supplies. Her store rocks out at both its geographical location at: 68 Hooper Rd Barrie, ON and on the internet: www.wholebodyhealing.com.
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