The Cost of Not Teaching Your Team How to Sell

We challenge the belief that teams hate selling and show how selling becomes service when we teach a simple process. Through real stories and clear language, we map the cost of not selling and how training restores trust, results, and team confidence.

• reframing selling as listening, diagnosis, and guidance
• the $5 upgrade story and what went wrong
• empathy without a plan leading to poor outcomes
• why “selling is optional” hurts guests and teams
• competence over motivation through systems and language
• scripts, practice, and tools that make service easy
• the deeper costs beyond missed retail
• preview of consultations as the make-or-break moment

Stay with us because next week we're gonna be talking about a moment where selling is either won or lost. The moment that most salons rush through without realizing its power. And you guys, once you see it, you'll never look at consultations the same way again.

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Transcript

The Myth That Teams Hate Selling

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Let's start with a sentence that actually makes a lot of salon owners uncomfortable. You ready for it? It's my team doesn't like to sell. My team doesn't like to sell. And if you that thought has ever crossed your mind, we want you to know something first. You are not alone. Hallelujah, right? And you are not wrong for feeling frustrated. But today we're going to gently challenge the meaning behind that sentence. Because what if your team doesn't hate selling? What if they've simply never been taught how to do it with confidence? Confidence comes with the root word fader, which means to trust. So they trust themselves to do it. And what if that real cost of that gap is far bigger than missed retail sales?

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Yes, I agree, Jen. It's probably far bigger than missed retail sales because you know, in our industry, selling has quietly or not so quietly become a dirty word. You know, it often gets associated with pressure, manipulation, pushing, being salesy or taking advantage of people. You know, so many beauty pros grow up believing if I'm good enough at my craft, the selling part shouldn't matter. Or worse, if I sell, I'm being selfish. So what do they do? They underrecommend, they avoid conversations, they think they're staying safe, you know, they wait for the guest to ask. Not because they don't care, but because no one has ever showed them a better way.

Selling As Service And Trust

The Pedicure Upgrade Story

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Yeah. And so when salon owners think about the cost of not selling, they usually think about money, right? Like those missed upgrades, those lower tickets, you know, even those flat retail numbers. But truly, the real cost goes much deeper than that. You know, when a team isn't taught how to sell, you know, guests don't fully get served. You know, problems don't fully get solved, you know, results aren't fully optimized, and trust quietly erodes. Because selling isn't convincing someone to buy something. Like it truly is not convincing someone to buy something. Selling is helping someone say yes to what they already want. And when that doesn't happen, everyone loses. You know, Lindsay, it reminds me of we were in, I think I was Arizona do it for a training, and we went and got our a pedicure after our training. And um, we wanted the new color. I think it was the new it color for I don't even know what time this is the winter time, right? And the color was matte, but it was the it color. And so we asked the guy, we're like, hey, is it can we upgrade to this? He said, and remind me if I forget anything, but he said, um, well, it's gonna be five dollars more. Like, okay, no worries. And he's like, and you know, it's gonna chip and it's gonna look dirty and it's gonna look just it's just not gonna look good. But and it's five dollars more. What did he say anything else? I can't remember in that moment.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

No, he was so he thought we were gonna be really worried about that five dollars. He's like, it's five dollars more. Like kept saying that. We're like, okay, yeah, five dollars.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Great. It's five dollars. Yeah. And so it just that probably happens in our salon sometimes too, without even realizing it. It's just that was just a really interesting experience. How like we almost talk people out of a five dollar add-on. And you know what? That five dollar add-on was one of the best pedicures I ever had. It lasted like eight weeks. So, you know, if you're you if you're hearing this and you get pedicures, that's a long time.

Missed Diagnosis, Missed Outcomes

Optional Selling Hurts Everyone

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Yeah, because you know, it was weird, he could have just helped us say yes to something we already wanted. So I want you to picture this. You know, a guest sits in your chair and casually says, My hair just never feels the way I want it to. You know, the service provider nods, you know, they emphasis, emphasize, they they have empathy for the guest, you know, they listen, but then they move on. No diagnosis, no recommendation, no plan. Not because they didn't know what would help, but because they didn't know how to say it. You know, that guest leaves with the same problem and the quiet belief that this is just how my hair is. That's not neutral, that's a missed opportunity to lead that guest. You know, recently we actually just got a four-star review in the salon. I know it's not the end of the world, but man, it felt like it in that moment because that guest went on and on about what a great experience she had in the salon. She enjoyed her beverage and the welcome into the salon. But what upset her was the stylist didn't use a straight razor on her hair. And, you know, I don't know if her hair was curly or, you know, there could have been who knows what it was, but that client wanted a razor used on her hair, you know, and so sometimes, just like our Matte Polish story, we need to make our teams aware on how to give the guest what they want. Because at the end of the day, you can educate the guest, you know, you can say, absolutely, you know, I'm happy to do what you believe is best for you. Um, here's a little bit of education, and you can make the best decision and we'll move forward. You know, the the gentleman at the Neil Salon could have approached that the same way. Hey, just so you know we have gotten this feedback, we're happy to do it for you. I just want to give you a heads up in case it happens to you. You know, so when we set the guest up, like if they've already decided, yes, this is the only way forward, us meeting them with resistance does not help lead that conversation in a productive way where the guest feels supported.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

And as salon owners, you're thinking, okay, great, they want a razor. I didn't have one. Hey guys, go back there and give me a knife. We'll we'll get this client wants some razor, we'll give her some razoring today. Like it's like it's a salon owner, sometimes it's always natural for us to create that solution. Um, or you know, to to really make the guests feel cared for because that's important to them. But just have to remember that your team doesn't always view it through that lens. So making sure they have the tools and the systems in place so they can see opportunities and possibilities. I just had to throw that in there because I could see myself when as soon as you said that, I was like, where's the knife? Oh, we'll raise or something. That'd be the best cut you ever had in your life. Um because truly, guys, like, here's the belief that's quietly running mini salons, that selling is optional, right? But in reality, especially if you scroll TikTok, like or Instagram, any kind of social media feeds, like you'll see it these days too. Like, why do we have to sell retail? Because we're hairstylists, right? That so we've created this belief that selling is option, optional. But really, in reality, like if your team doesn't sell retails, that guest does guests do not get the best outcome. You know, team members don't grow financially, the confidence stays low, the motivation fades, and the owners carry more pressure. And you know, and over time, resentment starts to build on both sides, not because people are bad, but because expectations were never taught.

Redefining Selling And Training Gaps

SPEAKER_01 8:19

So good. You know, Jen, when you said that about TikTok, I was thinking on if you scroll TikTok, you'll see the exact one you were talking about. And then on the next one, there'll be some 19-year-old who doesn't care about anything. She's trying to sell you whatever she's trying to sell you. You know, so let's redefine selling because selling is listening deeply, it's diagnosing honestly, it's recommending confidently, you know, and it's guiding with integrity because selling is leadership, and leadership without teaching isn't leadership, you know, it's just hoping.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Lindsay, you mentioned that word diagnosis or diagnosing honestly. And when I discovered that diagnosis comes from the root word metamorphosis, which if you think of a butterfly, it goes through a metamorphosis, like that transformation. Like when we truly diagnose someone honestly, like you just mentioned, like you're helping them create that transformation. And so I just like if you truly understand the word diagnosis, it's just like, wow, that's so incredible that we get to do that every single day in our salons. Um, you know, and here's the part that gives salon owners their power back. It, you know, if your team struggles with selling, it's not a character fall. You know, it's actually just a training gap, super easy. And gaps don't get fixed by, you know, pep talks, pressure, you know, posting numbers on a wall, telling people to just try harder. You know, they get fixed by teaching a process, you know, a step-by-step with language, with reputation, with reputation, with safety, you know, because confidence doesn't come from motivation, it actually comes from competence. Um, yeah.

Systems, Language, And Practice

SPEAKER_01 10:06

You know, Jen, that that reminds me of um a salon owner that shared with us one time, uh, you know, they were doing a retail competition and um she was very frustrated and you know, mentioned, well, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, you know, they don't run billion-dollar companies by going in and helping people be better. You know, they did it by telling them what to do, and they did it. And, you know, I think that that's uh a misconception, you know. Um, of course, they probably have some leaders on the team that are training, but in any good company, there's people always training to the systems and always making sure it goes back there and making sure that people have that language, you know, they they understand the process on how to get there. Um, because it's not gonna happen, like you mentioned, Jen, by pressure or pep talks alone. It's gonna um happen by giving them the words, practicing, doing all the things. So, what is the real cost of not teaching your team how to sell? Because it's not just revenue, you know, it's stalled careers, it's burned out owners, it's guests who don't get what they need, you know, and it's also teams who never realize what they're truly capable of. And that cost compounds quietly until something breaks, you know, because it it really just makes me think about when people people don't know the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut. You know, they they you will never hear a guest say, I don't have the tools to recreate my look at home. So that's why I don't like it. No, what they're gonna say is, I got a bad haircut from XYZ salon. Because all of a sudden they can't remember the name of the the stylist who who did it, you know, they're gonna say, I got a bad haircut there. But the truth is, when they don't have the tools to recreate their look at home, they're never gonna feel supported.

The Real Cost And Next Week’s Focus

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Yeah. So listen, if you've ever felt frustrated with selling in your salon, I want you to hear this clearly. Your team isn't broken, they're just untaught. And teaching is one of the most generous things a leader can do. So stay with us because next um week we're gonna be talking about a moment where selling is either won or lost. The moment that most salons rush through without realizing its power. And you guys, once you see it, you'll never look at consultations the same way again.