An Easy Way to Sell Skincare Products and Services

In this episode, Brittany discusses the importance of selling products and services in the esthetician industry. She emphasizes the need to sell products that clients actually need and believe in, rather than just upselling for the sake of making money. Brittany also addresses the fear and scarcity mindset that can hinder estheticians from selling higher-priced products and services. She encourages estheticians to focus on the value and results that these offerings can provide to clients. Additionally, Brittany explores the challenge of affordability and the importance of recognizing that not everyone will be able to afford certain services. She reminds estheticians that they are running a business and need to make money in order to provide quality services and products.

Takeaways

Sell products and services that clients actually need and believe in, rather than just upselling for the sake of making money.
Focus on the value and results that higher-priced products and services can provide to clients.
Recognize that not everyone will be able to afford certain services, but that doesn't mean you are greedy or dishonest.
Running a business requires making money in order to provide quality services and products.

Brittany Hagemann (00:01.102)
You are listening to the Estheticians Earning More podcast with Brittany Hagemann episode number 151.

Brittany Hagemann (00:16.174)
Okay, is that better? Better?

Brittany Hagemann (00:28.366)
Monday.

Brittany Hagemann (00:33.646)
and welcome back. I'm so excited to be back here with you today talking about building your business and making more money in your business, which is really obviously what I'm doing in this podcast. But today I want to talk about something that I've had many conversations with my clients over the past month or so, and that's around overcoming the...

mindset that selling someone products when they have a expensive or.

Brittany Hagemann (01:17.934)
an advanced treatment service, and they're already spending three, $400 on their treatment and then being like, hey, here is an additional $200 growth factor serum or $300 skincare routine. And I think that there's a couple different things to talk about when we talk about

this kind of selling and this kind of like talking to your clients about products. And I think the first thing that I want to go over with you and for you to spend time thinking about is that...

Brittany Hagemann (02:16.59)
First thing.

Brittany Hagemann (02:21.646)
I think the most important part of this for you to really spend time thinking about and believing in is that you are not selling at a spa.

You're driving me absolutely crazy.

Brittany Hagemann (02:47.63)
You are not selling at Massage Envy or a fancy hotel spa or resort spa where they have sales quotas that you have to meet every day. And so now you're just selling product to people so that you meet your sales quota and you keep your job, which I know is the case for a lot of estheticians, right? Maybe that was previous experience that you've had that you've had to do that.

or maybe you yourself have been sold that way and you've been sold products that were not great and you're mad about it still, the money that you spent. I know for me that happened, desperate to get rid of my acne and would go to a bunch of estheticians in fancy resort skin places. And they of course would sell me hundreds of dollars of products that never worked.

And so I also, like if you've listened to this podcast, you know that that's been something that I really struggled with when I first became an aesthetician and really had a hard time selling skincare myself because I never wanted someone to feel the way that I felt, which was like, I bought all this product, it was so expensive and it doesn't work. Now I'm never gonna go back to that aesthetician. I don't trust them. And I don't...

like these products, you know, like it's a negative association I think a lot of us have with products. But you are a business owner and you can decide that you will only sell products to people who need the products. I want to tell you though, because I've heard this from my clients and I know I did this myself, this does not mean you make decisions for your clients and don't tell them all the things they think.

that you really believe they would need. I'm talking about not just upselling for the heck of it, just selling just to sell, just to make money. But like, if you truly believe five products would give them the results that they really want, that they're asking for help with, but you only tell them three, not helping the situation. If you think, yes, they need five, but the first thing you just do three because...

Brittany Hagemann (05:04.334)
Their barrier is not great, and XYZ, so we're gonna add the other two later. Great, tell them that when you're talking about products. Like these are the products that are gonna give you the results that you want, that we're talking about, all the things. But we're gonna start with these three because of XYZ, we're gonna add the other two down the road at this time. So you can still give them that advice, like if it's the products they don't need right now but you know they need eventually, you can still talk to them about that and have that conversation.

But if you think they need five products today and you're only selling three because you're afraid it's too much money for them.

That is not.

actually working out of integrity. That's actually working out of fear and scarcity. Because again, if you genuinely believe the products are gonna work for them, like I remember, as you may know, I did face reality, I still do face reality, and I still sell a lot of face reality products, and I would be so nervous that I wouldn't wanna sell them toner. What else would I not sell them? Sometimes cleanser, yeah, toner, cleanser, SPF. I'd be like, it's fine, you can use whatever, you know?

And then it just like never worked. And so, because I felt like the cleansers and toners, they can't be like that. You know what I mean? Like I really discounted the value of the products that I had and that they were better than what things my clients were using, that they did give the results that my clients were looking for. And so once I finally just like went all in and was like, no, I'm just gonna offer, this is it, this is what I recommend. People bought it.

Brittany Hagemann (06:45.934)
I mean, sometimes people would have questions and stuff and we'd just talk through it, but it wasn't like they didn't buy the products and then never come back. And here's the magic about when you sell products to people that they're really, really wanting and really, really looking for is that they come back and buy more. They love the results of the products and they trust you more and they come back for more services and they come back and buy more products.

And I know you're afraid that they're gonna take the product home and hate it, but don't sell them products that you think people are gonna hate. Like that may be a problem that you need to figure out in your business. Maybe the line you have is not a great line. Or maybe it's great for lots of people and people like love the line, but you don't. And that's okay. You don't have to sell face reality. You don't have to sell DMK. You don't have to sell skin better just because people have great success with it and sell it and really love it.

If you don't like the products, don't sell it. Because you're right, you're not going to really believe in the products, you're not gonna think that they are doing that great of a job, it's gonna be very hard for you to talk about them and sell them. Sell products that you love and you know will work. So then you have no integrity issues, be like, yeah, this is such a great product, this is what you're looking for, and this and this and this and this is why.

It's when you are selling just to sell, when it becomes problematic, when it becomes problematic for you and for your clients. So I think that's the first and most important thing to just keep reminding yourself is like, you're not trying to get one over on them. You're not trying to like take their money and like see you never. You want them to come back. This is a relationship built on trust. So selling them products,

that they will love and get results from builds that trust. It doesn't do the opposite. I think we have in our mind, it does the opposite, that we think them buying products from us that are expensive, and I'm putting that in air quotes if you're not watching the video, on top of an expensive, again, an air quote service, that we are trying to pull the wool over their eyes and trick them and take their money. And if you believe that,

Brittany Hagemann (09:03.79)
you're gonna be really weird when it comes to talking about product. You're going to either just be weird and they're gonna be like really confused about if you really are acting in integrity because you're acting weird or you're just gonna totally chicken out and not talk about your products. Like, I guess you may know, I recently got Procell and got the growth serums and it's expensive, I mean quote unquote marks. It's like over $500 out of the door with tip, product service, all the things.

but I am loving my results. I'm so happy. It is worth the money for me in so many ways. So that's gonna take us to the next part of this is.

Yes, it may be $500 for them to come once, $400 the next time, or whatever, $300 the next time. I recognize that. And yes, that is a lot of money. But what I want you to think about is how it's actually a really great deal, and it's not that much money.

For instance, I help people with their acne and I know that the acne price points are lower, but this is me that I obviously had to overcome in my own belief system.

Brittany Hagemann (10:37.774)
And that is looking at the long -term investment that they are making and how it's a fantastic investment for the result that they're getting.

And it can feel scary because people do get nervous when they see higher numbers, right? When people see a number that isn't like a drugstore price. And you know what drugstore prices have even gone up? Like, when you go to Target, you can get like a $30 moisturizer, okay? So like, let's just be real about that. But when people see a price of something, it can make people kind of pause, right? They're like, oh, that's not...

$100, that's $300. Oh, the skincare that's required for this service is $200. It's not nothing or $50. But what happens and what I know to be true,

here is.

Brittany Hagemann (11:39.118)
Is that?

Brittany Hagemann (11:43.182)
People who cannot afford it or people who do not really care about whatever it is that you're offering, like if you have, if they don't really have acne, they're not going to spend money on the consultation products, multiple appointments. They're just not going to, it's not a value. Like why would they do that?

If you are doing advanced treatments like microneedling or micrachanneling or anything like that where it's in a more expensive service, someone who is 20 years old, unless they have acne scars or not at all would ever be interested in that. So you're looking at the budget of a 20 -year -old.

and being like, they can't afford this. That's true. Most 20 year olds, unless their parents are paying for it, wouldn't be able to afford that. But most people who are looking for those treatments are older and have more money, right? And have the motivation for it. They want it. They really want to have different skin. It like, for instance, five years ago,

If someone had talked about Procell and been like, oh, this is so great. For me, I've been like, I don't know. Maybe one day. Not interested. Definitely not worth spending the money for me. Not on my radar. My skin care was doing great. Not a thing. And it's not because I didn't think that it's a great service. It's not because I don't believe people or think someone's trying to sell me something I don't need. It's something I just really don't need. Right?

But now I'm approaching 40 and I've had a baby and I haven't gotten a lot of sleep in the past few years and I've been under a lot of stress. And so my wrinkles are like so different than they were five years ago. So different. So anything that's going to help minimize that is much more interesting to me. And so my priorities have changed. So I really want you to spend time thinking about...

Brittany Hagemann (13:59.31)
The person who this is for, why is it a great deal for them to get the service and the skincare? Why is it the exact thing they're looking for? You spent a lot of time thinking about why it's too much money, it's too expensive. Your brain has spent a lot of time in that space.

But that's not serving you or them. What's more impactful is to spend time in the why it's a really good thing for everybody and why maybe they spend $3 ,000 with you with product and services, but why $3 ,000 is a fantastic investment to have the skin that they really love, that they look in the mirror and they feel good about themselves. I mean, especially,

with scarring and acne and also aging, people have, like wrinkles and stuff, people have a lot of...

emotional pain around these topics, like deep rooted pain. Like people will spend a lot of money on makeup, cosmetic procedures to get rid of them. This is not something that the beauty culture has created necessarily. I mean, they're definitely fed into it. Don't get me wrong, but like it naturally is something that people really don't like about themselves.

And if you can help them with that and change the way they feel when they look in the mirror, it's a really small investment for that result, right? That is the result that they want. They wanna look in the mirror and feel good about themselves and like the way that they look. And as someone who suffered from acne for years and would wake up and be like, oh no.

Brittany Hagemann (16:04.43)
and you're like, you can feel the pain of it coming under the skin, when you have acne. As someone who's now having a lot more wrinkles and seeing pictures of myself sometimes and being like, oh my gosh, I look like my mom. I don't look like me. I look like someone different. And I know I'm gonna continue aging and getting wrinkles. I'm not against that, but I think there's like...

If I can feel different in my skin and a little bit better, I'm going to take, I'm going to say yes to that. And that was true for me in my 20s with acne and it's true for me now almost in my 40s. And it's true for so many people, millions of people. I would say millions of people, not hundreds. And I think of course there's many people who want what you do and can't afford it.

So that's gonna be the last part of this episode is like dealing with the feelings that you're having about the people who really do want and need and could use your services and products, but can't afford it and how you're feeling about that. It's really hard as someone who definitely periods my time could not afford to have seen an esthetician for my skin 100%.

Especially as I became an older adult and my parents weren't paying my bills. Like when I was my teenager and stuff, they would have paid for it. But you know, when I was approaching 30, it was like, you know, I'm an adult, pay for my own stuff. So I didn't have that budget. I know what that feels like. Even a few years ago when I first had my baby and money was really tight, I didn't have the energy or time or interest, honestly, to get any services, but I definitely didn't have the cash. That was like...

We were just trying to pay our bills. We didn't have any extra cash, right? So I'm sure like me, you have empathy for people who are in that position because you yourself have been in that position. Maybe you grew up in that position that your mom was in that you witnessed or family or friends. And so it kind of strikes a chord with you of like, but what about these people?

Brittany Hagemann (18:26.766)
And I know I felt that way, especially when I became an esthetician. I was like, well, what about the people who can't afford all these services?

And I think that's when you have to go back to you're not a nonprofit. You are a business. If you want to do a nonprofit, then do a nonprofit and help people who have no money or figure out a way to have scholarships or other ways to give people who don't have the financial resources the services that they want.

but you can't solve that problem for them. And for someone to get results and to do all the products and all the services no matter what you're doing, it's going to be a lot of money. So discounting it here and there so that they can afford it is actually not giving them the result that they really want, that really is gonna make an impact on their life.

So in some ways you're actually wasting their money. Yes, maybe the products helped them, if they just sold them products from yes, maybe the service definitely helped with one service for sure. Like I've seen huge changes in my skin with one pro cell treatment for sure.

But the real result that I want is different than what I have currently. And if someone really wants that result and they spend, they save their money to have the one treatment or one product and they can't consistently do that, they've actually kind of wasted their money. Like if someone's skin got cleared,

Brittany Hagemann (20:16.366)
on a few products, but they can't afford to rebuy those products, it's not gonna really do a lot. If someone's skin fine lines diminish, skin became fuller, had more collagen from one pro -cell and one round of growth factors, but then nothing else, they don't do anything else, the collagen is just gonna keep depleting without that extra collagen boost, right?

So yes, maybe for temporarily that it was a good thing, but not really what they're looking for long term. So you're actually kind of wasting their money. That I actually find to be less integrity. And I'm not saying you don't wanna work with people and you can decide how you want that to look in your business, but I think trying to be...

Brittany Hagemann (21:14.958)
Trying to be accessible for all budgets isn't helping people who don't have the budget. Really.

And it's OK that that's hard. It is hard. Most people who are aestheticians are empaths. Most people who are aestheticians really deeply care about people, which is one of the reasons we came into this field. If you know my story, I didn't care about making money. I really didn't. I just wanted to have a job that I liked. And I was kind of surprised that I could make money.

But the people who I've helped with their skin have spent a lot of money. And I guarantee if you ask them, would they do it again, they would say yes, because they're still buying products and they're still really happy with their results. So it was worth every penny for them, even if that means they couldn't go to Cabo with all their friends, right? Or that meant they couldn't buy the new designer purse that they wanted or they didn't eat out or turn anything fun for a few months while they paid for everything, the treatments and everything.

Right? So I really just want you to spend more time in.

You actually are working in integrity by offering the entire thing that will be helpful for them. And people are so allowed to make their decisions. And if it's not with what they want to do, it doesn't mean you are a bad person for offering it.

Brittany Hagemann (22:50.83)
Just because people can't afford you doesn't mean you are greedy, that you are dishonest, that all you care about is money. That is not true. You can, again, figure out ways to give back to people in a lot of different ways, but you have to make money to do that. If you aren't making money,

You can't help anybody.

Okay, that's it for today. I hope that this kind of gave you a lot of things to think about when it comes to selling products and higher priced services, even if your services aren't higher priced, that you can really start to lean into doing it, doing both.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'll be back next week. Have a thinking tested week. Bye for now.