Strategies on staff involvement to boost spa accessories sales

by arslan_ahmed | January 4, 2023 7:00 am

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By Crystal Lengua

The pool and spa retail store is busy, but accessory sales are not where they should be. The shop’s inventory has a great variety of good/better/best products, along with items ranging from necessary accessories like steps and handrails to add-ons, such as booster seats and spa fragrances—but they are not moving. Training staff to ask questions, make suggestions, upsell, and cross sell are key sales strategies that can make a world of difference at the register. Upselling is the practice of encouraging customers to purchase a comparable higher-end product than the one they are looking to buy, while cross-selling invites customers to buy related or complementary items.

When it comes to selling accessories for hot tubs and spas, store owners must ask themselves the following five questions:

1. Are staff members trained properly? Do they know the product lines the store carries and how they function, and how they relate to the hot tub or other accessories?
2. Are there any incentives for sales staff to sell certain high profit or sale items?
3. Do staff members know how to understand/find out the customer’s needs and wants at the time of the hot tub sale—without coming across as pushy?
4. Does the shop merchandise accessories in a way to make cross selling obvious and easy for the customer to connect without sales assistance?
5. Does the store use planograms to assist in visual merchandising its spa accessories year-round to maximize sales through placement, point-of-purchase (POS), around holidays, and for inventory management?

For the sake of this article, the following will assume “No” was the answer to all the above. This article will elaborate on each area and explain how retail store owners can increase profit margins.

Staff accessory training

While this topic seems like a no brainer, staff tend to be trained on big ticket items (such as the spas themselves), but accessories are not highlighted by management in the sales process. It is sometimes assumed accessories are “common knowledge,” but taking the time to educate the sales team on the functionality of each item, how they work with other products, and what aspect of the customers’ hot tub lifestyle it will accentuate, etc., can help improve sales. Also, the more an employee knows about the item they are selling, the more confident they will be to suggest the upsell.

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The following are ways a pool and spa owner/manager can familiarize their staff with accessories:

• Hold weekly meetings which include an “unboxing” of an accessory. At this time,
  the accessory can be explained in detail as well as demonstrated with any spa that is functioning on the show floor. Employees should be allowed to try it, ask questions, and see firsthand how the accessory works with other items the store sells. If possible, arrange for manufacturer or distributor reps to come to the store periodically for brief presentations.
• Identify the high profit items as staff should talk about these first to maximize add-on profits.
• Focus on cashier sales training as staff in these positions have an opportunity to sell impulse items which can increase profits. POS items should be focused as too many can overwhelm the customer. It is also important to make sure any accessories placed at the register or in line rotate frequently. This way, return customers will pay attention, knowing new items will be available regularly. Cashiers should be trained to ask customers at the time of purchase whether they would be interested in “insert product here.” If those products are not selling? Change it up. Have cashiers ask if the customer found everything they were looking for and take note of the items the store was missing; it is great feedback for the store’s future inventory purchases if multiple customers want it—and it makes customers feel heard.

Staff incentives

Staff sales incentives are rewards employers can offer to their team for selling a certain amount of a featured accessory or reaching a dollar amount. The items a store owner/manager chooses can be products they want to clear out of their inventory (such as an older spa scent), a new and hot product, a fun accessory (such as waterproof spa games), or an item being pushed by the manufacturer. This incentive becomes added motivation to sell. This is especially successful in the world of upselling/cross selling because the accessory of focus changes frequently.

These types of incentives are one way to motivate staff and increase their levels of engagement. An owner/manager can even create teams if they feel the staff needs to work together and increase workplace morale. Employers will be surprised to see how much fun their staff can have selling anything, from hot tub booster seats to oil-absorbing sponges. What is important is the “prize” should be something the team identifies as worth winning. Stores can even create an anonymous staff survey to help with prize direction. The incentive could have a points system, a cash bonus, or physical prize-like tickets—employers will need to know their team and work with them to create the program for ultimate success.

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Understanding the customer

Customer data is incredibly important for any business, as it will help to further understand customers and what they want/need. A customer may be an existing spa owner or a new spa owner. They may have purchased a hot tub for relaxation or for physical therapy. Do they have children? Is their spa inset or raised? Knowing a customer and their purchasing history will make it easy to recommend accessories to complement products they have previously purchased, or they may otherwise be interested in. Previous purchases are an indicator of what customers will buy next. Online shopping makes this trend analysis easy but, in the store, staff need to ask the right open-ended questions and rely on product knowledge. Some open-ended questions that can help guide staff with accessory product suggestions include:

• “What hot tub/spa do you have at home?” This is an obvious question to ask, but it starts dialogue around any of the customer’s needs/wants relating directly to their spa.
• “Are you shopping for yourself or someone else today?” This will help focus in on more targeted functional items or gifts.
• “What brings you to the store today?” The answer will direct a sales employee to a specific section of the store, where the staff member can elaborate on different items that may suit their needs.

Training the sales team to read body language so they know when to step away is also a way to ensure return customers—understanding them enough to know they may be introverted and appreciate solo shopping will entice them to come back. Not everyone wants help from salespeople (this is where proper merchandising comes into play).

Merchandising your spa accessories

Design the retail floor with the consumer in mind. The goal of visual merchandising is to provide a great experience for customers. Creating a positive shopping experience (that strategically drives sales) can include everything from lighting, fragrance, sound, and organization of the aisles to signage, and product placement.

Product placement is key—the saying “eye level is buy level” refers to merchandise placement on the shelf. Highly recognized, high profit products are placed on the shelf at “eye level,” whereas less dominant/desired products are merchandised at the bottom of the shelf. This affects sales of the product. Also ensuring all products are faced, pulling the items to the front, and making the labels all face forward for easy readability will make the product more visible and appealing to the customer.

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Other quick merchandising tips include:

• Always keep the pool and spa shop’s brand and target market in mind. From colours to signage, consistency is key to success.
• Be sure the first 1.5 to 3 m (5 to 10 ft) of the store floor is clutter free. This is considered a “decompression zone” for arriving customers. It should be a stress-free transition into the store and an opportunity to scan the flow of the space and choose direction.
• Be sure to have the proper fixture for the spa accessory the store sells.
• Group related products and sell them at different heights when possible.
• Do not be afraid to place a product in multiple areas for cross-selling opportunity.
• For POS merchandising, keep inexpensive and sale items at easy reach while customers wait.
• Place products strategically—best-selling go to the front and those that are least popular go to the back corner. Another option is to consider separating essential items on opposite sides of the store to entice customers to make impulse purchases throughout the store. Different strategies work for different stores.
• Change product displays regularly, especially when sales begin to slow or when new items arrive.
• Use holidays (e.g. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, etc.) as a sales advantage. All of them can have themes and gift options readily available.
• Use planograms to direct staff, change the floor plan, purchase inventory, maximize space, and—if the business has more than one retail location—create consistency for the brand experience.

Make use of planograms

The purpose of a planogram is to increase sales by ensuring the most popular and profitable products are given the right number of facings and allocations. Planograms (also known as layouts, price on goods (POG), space plans or shelf space plans) help make sense of the products on shelf both from a retailer’s perspective and, most importantly, the shopper’s perspective as they assist with theme planning, holiday purchasing, seasonal accessory displays, POS features for sale items, and more. They help keep the entire staff on the same page, allow for team meetings and input from staff (which, in turn, makes salespeople feel a part of the bigger picture) and are data driven. Reviewing and comparing the planogram to the success of accessory sales will also help tweak new configurations moving forward—it is not a static document by any means.

To create an easy planogram, owners/managers should measure the store’s square footage, place the unmovable areas (such as cash registers and chemical test areas), know the measurements of each additional fixture, and place them accordingly. For smaller retail stores, perhaps the fixtures stay the same, but the product placement can be changed. There are programs available owners/managers can purchase to help design their layout—cut out shapes over paper will work, too. It does not need to be fancy. By using these tools and methods, owners/managers will have enough layout data to drive product placement quickly and easily as it will be based on customer habits.

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Pool and spa retail store owners and managers should never forget—the sales staff’s success is the business’ success; therefore, providing the right tools will help ensure profits increase. Further, new employees can shadow experienced staff members and listen to how they pitch customers. Since product knowledge is key, it is a good idea to combine different types of training that appeal to the individuals hired. It is also important to have regular meetings to discuss wins and losses as a team so everyone can learn and reflect, as well as be excited about the products/accessories the store sells.

Author

Crystal Lengua is the director of sales and marketing with Ultralift Cover Lifters. The psychology in marketing and merchandising is what originally sparked her interest and has ultimately driven her career. A graduate of marketing management, public relations and corporate communications, professional sales, social media marketing, and event management, she has positioned herself as a leader in both digital and traditional marketing methods. A past president of the Pool & Hot Tub Council of Canada (PHTCC), Lengua is a veteran in the pool and spa industry with 22 years of experience and counting. With in-class seminars and other speaking sessions on tradeshow floors, she has also written articles for Pool & Spa Marketing Magazine, Pools & Patios, and was featured in Spa Retailer Magazine as a “Power Woman” in the industry. She can be reached via email at c.lengua@smpmetal.com.

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/features/strategies-on-staff-involvement-to-boost-spa-accessories-sales/

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