It happens to me nearly every time I go to the nail salon. I always show up with something in mind - a manicure or a pedicure usually. This is a typical conversation:

• Me. I’d like a manicure, please.
• Them. Okay, choose a color.
• So I do. Then I sit down and the manicure commences.
• Them. You want French color?
• Me. No, I like the color I chose.
• Them. Ok. Pedicure?
• Me. No thanks.
• Them. Ok. How about flower? I can do beautiful flower.

That day, they had me at the flower. And I ended up with a pedicure, too. The flower ended up on my big toes. And she was right, it was beautiful! So over the course of sitting there, they managed to talk me into two things I hadn’t originally planned on getting.

Look at the conversation again. What happened? I was there anyway. I was already a customer. I said no to the French manicure, which adds ten extra dollars. I said no to the pedicure. I said yes to the flower, and then eventually to the pedicure after she casually mentioned that the flowers look better on the toes.

Brilliant. She could barely speak English (not cliche, just a fact) and she managed, in very few words, to talk me into spending $30 extra dollars. Her tip increased because I spent more, and the salon made more money.

How did it happen?

1. She wouldn’t give up. She kept asking and asking until she hit on something that interested me.
2. Once she found it, she backpedaled and revisited the pedicure option by appealing to my sense of aesthetics.
3. I was already a paying customer.

I can learn from this. In fact, this is the very principal behind having a list.

The next time you go to a nail salon, observe what happens and see if you get hooked. And it’s happened to me on both coasts. The most recent experience for me? A few days ago I went in for a mani and pedi and left with synthetic gel overlays. More money spent at the salon, a higher tip for the manicurist!

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