Live Selling Tips: 5 Ways to Make Live Selling Work For You

For retailers, the new normal meant shifting their businesses online and pushing sales through live selling. One entrepreneur shares how these extra efforts saved her brand.

For many years, Lizle Hilario-Guillartes had been creating her own swimwear line through her brand, Pink Belter.  She was able to successfully open three branches a little over her first decade of operations. Moreover, she established a following of beach enthusiasts who regularly shopped for her products. She didn’t have to get into live selling, then.

However, the pandemic dramatically changed the course of her business. Like many others, her small business could not withstand the two-year-long lockdown, which kept everyone from going to the beach and engaging in various recreational activities. Her three stores closed down, and she and her husband suddenly found themselves with zero income.

Just when they thought things couldn’t get any worse, both Lizle and her husband contracted COVID-19 and came dangerously close to losing their lives. Lizle found herself in a deep slump.

Her business, which she had spent years building, was shut down overnight, and their savings were drained by hospital bills. “I had always been passionate about swimwear, but with the pandemic closing all the resorts, I hit rock bottom,” she admits. “We had COVID and no income.”

Physically and emotionally drained, Lizle still had two children who depended on her and her husband. Despite not having fully recovered from COVID, she immediately set to work, brainstorming ways to save her brand.

The first step Lizle took was to adjust her product line. With resorts still closed and people staying in, she shifted her focus from swimsuits to loungewear, expanding her designs to cater to a broader, older age group.

Merely posting items online, however, was not enough. With physical stores closed, Lizle noticed a growing trend of businesses turning to live-selling, many of which seemed to be thriving. She began feeling the pressure to follow suit in order to keep her business afloat.

“Of course, I felt embarrassed,” she recalls. “I didn’t want my friends to see me like that. But I had no choice. Kelangan kong bumuhay ng pamilya (I needed to support my family) and provide for my kids.”

Adding to her struggle, Lizle was also uncomfortable speaking in public. “I would always buckle,” she confessed. She prayed hard to sum up the courage to face the camera. 

After surrendering everything to the situation, Lizle pushed aside her fears and doubts, and made the decision to get to work.

Three years later, Pink Belter has built a loyal online following, growing its Facebook followers from just 6,000 before live-selling to a remarkable 43,000 today.

Lizle Hilario-Guillartes, owner of Pink Belter

Based on Lizle’s experience, the success of live selling comes down to these five factors:

Similar to a corporate presentation, selling on camera requires careful rehearsal and preparation. Lizle, for example, was not accustomed to public speaking, so she made it a point to practice in front of the mirror before going live.

She treats her live-selling sessions like a performance, meticulously arranging the clothes and making sure they are well-pressed in advance. At the same time, she comes fully prepared with detailed descriptions and all the necessary information.

Lizle considers this as one of the biggest factors that helped increase the number of Pink Belter’s followers. She has gradually allocated a significant budget for it over time.

Before spending on ads, Pink Belter would only generate less than 20 viewers per session and hardly any sales. “There were times when no one would buy. Other times, we would only get two miners,” she recalls. “I would cry from exhaustion.”

She shares that the daily ads significantly increased their viewership, which now averages 80 viewers per airing, and has boosted sales. Lizle now spends Php 500 to Php 1,000 a day on ads alone, spending a portion of what she has saved from no longer renting commercial spaces to promote her business to a wider market on the internet.

“When I had physical stores, our reach was limited to the customers in the areas we were in. But on the internet, we can now reach people nationwide,” she muses. 

To entice people to tune in and share Pink Belter’s posts, Lizle would offer prizes and freebies as incentives. She warns, however, that giving incentives must be done with caution since not all followers are legitimate buyers. Some, she says, have made it a livelihood to join live selling sessions just to win prizes, but never buy anything. Lizle recommends conducting promos that require a minimum purchase to get discounts and freebies.

“You should delight your customers,” says Lizle. This means answering inquiries as promptly as possible in their message box (which would reach up to 800 inquiries in a day during the pandemic), and always dealing with customers with patience, courtesy, and respect.

Lizle admits this could sometimes be taxing especially when you’re already exhausted from live selling. “Imagine you’re talking for 3 to 4 hours straight, while also fitting clothes the whole time, and checking messages and inquiries. It’s very tiring,” she says.  

Lizle reminds her staff to always be polite and cheerful online and offline and to always make it a point to provide a pleasant experience to their customers. “Even when we still had the physical stores I would always remind our staff to be welcoming and polite,” she says.

“I tell them that it’s okay even if the customer doesn’t buy. If they have a good experience with you, they will come back when they already have the budget,” she says.

Good customer service also means ensuring high quality control, especially because the transaction is done online.  Lizle has assigned a staff member just for this purpose, who ensures that all items for delivery are correct, have no damage, and look as good as they do online.

From embracing technology and pivoting to the digital space, Lizle continues to adapt to what is new and effective. She now also markets on TikTok, and says it is becoming a more lucrative market than Facebook.

Live selling also requires her to come out with new designs more frequently than she did with a physical store, since followers want to see something new weekly.

To adapt, she’s had to research new designs more often, have more styles available in smaller quantities, and source additional suppliers to have new items to offer all the time.

Despite having a team of four people, Lizle still personally does her live selling 5 to 6 days a week, alternating between Facebook and Tiktok. She has fully embraced the new digital marketplace, thankful that it has not only saved her business but has also made it more profitable.

Lizle is grateful. “I feel that God has given both us and our business a second chance at life after COVID,” she says in conclusion.