Today, beauty shoppers are inundated with choices. New brands pop up daily across the makeup, skincare, haircare, fragrance and wellness categories—each one promising unique benefits and outcomes. For customers, navigating the beauty landscape can feel overwhelming.
At the same time, generative AI and machine learning are transforming how beauty brands interact with clients. Retailers are leveraging data to create a more curated and convenient shopping experience.
The key to standing out? Sales associates.
Customer engagement before, during and after a purchase is essential for building strong customer relationships and fostering loyalty. By empowering associates to create meaningful connections, beauty brands distinguish themselves from their competitors.
Here are three strategies to help local beauty associates educate and guide customers.
1. Understand Customer Needs
Consumers crave personalized and convenient experiences. This is especially true for beauty shoppers with different skin and hair needs. The customer experience must celebrate self-expression and value the emotional aspects of beauty shopping.
Associates should take the time to understand customer needs and provide tailored recommendations—leveraging data as much as possible. Brand preferences, browsing history and past purchasing behavior help associates identify opportunities for cross-selling and upselling.
But, tracking customer needs and concerns can be challenging. Sales associates need a place to manage client data and interactions. With Salesfloor, associates have instant access to customer profiles. Our Customer Boards feature also enables associates to curate personalized product pages—streamlining the beauty shopping experience.
2. Develop Product Knowledge and Integrate Demonstrations
Supporting the customer research process is critical, especially for younger consumers. According to research from McKinsey, almost half of Gen-Z consumers say they research products “extensively.”
Associates can support customers by staying up to date on products—including product ingredients, benefits and how to use them. In addition, they should provide customers with online resources (e.g., shade-matching tools, customer reviews and photos) to help them make more informed decisions.
Demonstrations also make shopping for beauty products more accessible for customers. Beauty products can be expensive. Customers want to understand the value before investing in them. By providing tutorials, associates help customers feel more confident about their purchases.
In a digital-first world, associates must be able to demo products in person and virtually. Salesfloor’s geo-location and routing feature connects customers with a local store associate. This allows customers to choose how they want to interact with an associate (e.g., online or in person). And our appointment management, live chat and video shopping features make real-time interactions seamless.
3. Build Long-Term Relationships
Sales associates are critical in cultivating brand loyalty—even among younger generations. Despite their love for experimentation, 60% of Gen Z beauty shoppers stick to their favorite brands.
Regular communication is essential to cultivating long-term relationships, especially post-sale. It can be easy to overlook the post-purchase experience. But it’s a valuable tool to build trust, ensure customer satisfaction and strengthen brand loyalty.
Here are some ways associates keep in touch with customers:
- Check in with customers to see how products are working.
- Share new products that align with customers’ needs and preferences.
- Inform customers about relevant promotions—ensuring customers know about available savings.
- Ask for customer feedback about their shopping experience or send a survey.
- Invite customers to upcoming beauty events, demonstrations or workshops in their local stores.
- Send thank you notes, birthday cards or congratulate a customer on a special event (e.g., wedding, graduation, or anniversary).
Salesfloor’s customer management tools make it easy to track client information. With SMS messaging, email marketing and social selling tools, associates communicate in their client’s preferred manner. And our Automated Smart Task features make it easy to remember when to follow up.
Enhance the Customer Beauty Experience with Salesfloor
Generative AI and machine learning allow retailers to better understand their customers and provide more customized experiences. But, the human connection is crucial for differentiation—especially for beauty brands. Retailers must empower associates to build lasting relationships with customers. That’s where Salesfloor comes in.
Salesfloor is an all-in-one customer engagement platform. With virtual shopping, clienteling and AI-assisted selling tools, sales associates combine AI and the power of human connection. The result? A personalized customer experience that strengthens customer loyalty and drives growth.
Book a demo today to see how Salesfloor helps over 50,000 store associates enhance the customer experience.
Megan Honan: Apr 8, 2024
