Fresha's Five Tips to Successful Upselling in Your Workspace

In the beauty and wellness industry, the difference between a steady growing and a flourishing business often comes down to one powerful skill: upselling. But what does upselling actually look like in real salons, spas, and wellness spaces?

When upselling is done well, it adds an elevated experience for both you and your client. We spoke with Fresha business owners about their five tips for successful upselling, guaranteed to increase sales and reduce any awkward silences.

What is upselling and how does it help your business?

Although it can look different in various settings, upselling refers to the practice of encouraging clients to purchase a higher-tier version of their product or service through extra treatment add-ons, products, or enhancements. The overall goal is to increase the value of the sale while still enhancing the client’s experience. However, successful upselling heavily relies on genuine, personalized recommendations, making the sales pitch subtle, organic, and customer-centric. People can always tell when they’re being sold something, so keeping it real is key!

Create organic moments for upselling with these five tips: 

1. Make your retail exciting and relevant

The art of upselling doesn’t solely come down to whoever’s on the register. For example, Sephora doesn’t rely on vocal upselling but embraces the tactic of aesthetics, creating a golden walkway of travel-sized products as you make your way to checkout. Keeping your shelves stocked with relevant and on-trend products is also a great way to subtly tempt. If it’s summer, lay out the SPF, wave sprays, and heat protectants. If it’s Christmas, swap out everyday essentials for beautifully curated gift sets that set the tone for the festive season. We’re all enamored by good design, so embrace a keen eye for detail and channel your inner interior designer.

Fresha’s Top Design Tips: 

Add small mirrors around displays to invite and encourage customers to try the testers on display. 

• Use warm lighting or soft LED strips to spotlight bestsellers and create a boutique-like ambience in the process.
• If it suits your aesthetic, use natural textures such as rattan trays, ceramic bowls or marble trays to group products and make your display stand out. 
• Mixing heights by placing smaller products on stands or risers will help you avoid the ‘flat’ shelf syndrome
• Use your bookings as an indication as to what should sit front and centre. Lots of blow dry bookings this week? Front-load shelves with heat protectants, shine serums and blow wave sprays.  
   

2. Make recommendations

Throughout the appointment, there may be a few opportunities to upsell. If you’ve noticed something your client needs, whether it’s more heat protectant, a purple shampoo for their freshly balayaged hair, or a deeply hydrating face mask, mid-appointment is a great time to mention it. This ensures an organic, digestible, and genuine experience, while also showing that you want them to see the very best results. Another way to approach recommendations is by observing their needs during the consultation process, ensuring you’re offering the right products.

3. Let clients try your retail products

Nobody likes to commit to a purchase without knowing they’ll love it, so clients are much more likely to say yes once they’ve experienced a product’s benefits firsthand. Instead of a hard sell, integrate recommended products into their treatment or offer take-home samples and let the product do the talking! This builds trust between you and your client, increasing the likelihood of a sale and future purchases based on your recommendations.

4. Train your team

Sometimes the best way to upsell is simply through confidence. Provide your team with the product knowledge and conversational skills they need to make recommendations that feel like helpful advice, not a sales pitch. Role-playing scenarios, creating cheat sheets for top-selling products, and keeping your team’s product knowledge fresh are all great habits to ensure upselling feels natural and is consistently effective across your entire team.

5. Leverage Fresha’s Client Loyalty add-on

Your most loyal clients are often the easiest to upsell because the trust is already there. Fresha’s newly launched Client Loyalty add-on encourages repeat visits and builds stronger relationships over time, making personalized recommendations feel natural and far more effective. 

Better yet, you have full control over how your loyalty programme works. From offering points for retail purchases to service upgrades or customizing rewards that resonate most with your clients, you can tailor the experience to fit your brand and business goals. Loyalty points can even be tied to retail, incentivizing clients to try something new or indulge in products they might not have considered otherwise without the need for a hard sell.

With Fresha’s smart tools and these simple upselling tips, you’re one step closer to maximizing every client experience. Explore more professional beauty and wellness tips and tricks on Fresha’s blog today.