Any business is unthinkable without suppliers, if, of course, it wants to be called a business. So is the beauty salon. We will try to sort out the very concept of "supplier" and the dangers that it carries in this article ...
So who is the supplier? His Majesty the Seller, Market Connoisseur, Commerce Wizard, Wizard of the Country of Sales ... All these epithets are not accidental, since we are talking about suppliers not only as those companies that bring us magic drugs and wonderful tubes, but also as our strategic (yes -Yes !!! strategic) partners.
At one of the landmark events held last year in the capital of Ukraine - Kiev and dedicated to the salon business, one of the most pressing problems for the owners of beauty salons - unreliable suppliers - was voiced. The fact is that suppliers of professional salon cosmetics began to enter the mass market or mass retail sales together.
Perhaps a common man in the street will say (and most likely he will say so!) That it is very great that now professional cosmetics can be purchased in pharmacies and cosmetic stores, and more often even via the Internet. After all, what's wrong: the buyer is cheap and convenient, the seller is a lot and profitable ?! However, there is one undercurrent that washes away the dreams of salon business owners in a turbulent whirlpool. And it is connected precisely with this phenomenon - with the transition of suppliers of professional cosmetics for beauty salons to mass retail sales in stores and pharmacies, and even worse - on the Internet. All the trick is in the collision of interests between a supplier of cosmetics and a beauty salon. The first is hungry for money quickly and a lot. The second, in fact, wants the same. Only the methods are different. For a supplier to get quick profits on a large scale, it is more profitable to operate through retail. Why? Yes, simply because more people go to stores, pharmacies and online stores. And when the flow of buyers is greater, then the chances of a successful purchase are higher.
And what about a beauty salon? The salon, by its very nature, is the place where the chosen ones go with only one thought - to have an effective rest. That is, the client, coming to the beauty salon, expects to feel the moral satisfaction and professionalism of the people who work with him. And in such circumstances, completely new requirements (or expectations) are put forward for the jars carefully displayed in the window. The client wants to receive interesting information about these jars in order to make sure of their magical effect. Such consultation in the salon is usually provided by masters and administrators. And they are people, therefore they must receive wages. This makes it necessary to set a higher price for products in a beauty salon than in a regular store, where no one tells anything to anyone so professionally.
Although the tricks of suppliers already reach such delights. More and more often, in supermarkets of cosmetics and perfumery, there are boys and girls who answer in detail the consumer's questions, making it clear what exactly the customer should choose from the products of the "X" brand. Well, the World Wide Web is even worse - an online consultant, chat with doctors, etc.
But there are still several fundamental differences between sales of cosmetics in the salon and retail sales. And these differences, perhaps, should be adopted by the owners of the salon business.
The first is that a beauty salon doesn't care which brand to recommend to a client unless the supplier pays a commission for the recommendation. Unlike a supplier who has one or three brands and advertises them. This can be used when it comes to building lasting customer confidence in the beauty product recommendations in the salon. After all, they always trust professionals and their words more than even the most colorful advertising, which comes out in a huge circulation, is the same for everyone. Moreover, a beauty salon should focus on an individual approach to each client and talk about it tirelessly so that clients can hear and remember. Then they will stop paying attention to the promoters guarding the shelves with their brand's cosmetics in stores, and will come to their favorite beauty salon to hear an exhaustive consultation on the use of the chosen cosmetic product and buy it. Here, there may be objections to the topic: "The client will listen, but buy in the store, because they are cheaper." It is like this: a fish is looking for where it is deeper, and a person - where it is better. But this is already a matter of professionalism of the employee of the beauty salon, who is entrusted with selling cosmetics. If he does not know how to be completely convincing, then either he is wrongly motivated, or by nature he is not a seller. Both of these cases are in themselves the topic of completely different articles. And we return to the question of differences in the sale of cosmetics in the salon and in the store.
The second of them is that the salon has a much higher chance of "hooking" the client to professional recommendations of cosmetics by masters or administrators than a supplier with promoters. In a beauty salon, a person spends a lot of time, being on its territory personally. It is most important. The task is to organize the work of the salon in such a way that the whole atmosphere in it encourages the client to buy without hesitation. These can be catalogs (which you have every moral right to obtain from a supplier), samples, a well-organized showcase (!).
A few words about the showcase: a glass cabinet with a lock has a pitiful look, to open which you need to ask the "housekeeper" (her role, as a rule, is given to the administrator or craftsmen), and inside of which there are 3 jars on each of 5 shelves. No and no again! If you want to beat the supermarket in terms of sales, then act like a supermarket - you will never see showcases with goods closed with a key in it. The approach to the shop window should be free so that even a casual visitor can freely approach and familiarize himself with the composition, features of the action of a particular product. It is better to put the showcase closer to the entrance / exit and not to put sofas, tables, nightstands, etc. in front of it. And one more thing! It has long been proven that people are more willing to buy where there is a wide range and a large number of goods. So declare a resounding "no" to half-empty display cases.
The whole point of visiting a beauty salon for a client is how professionally and beautifully this salon works. If a person was well received, warmly received, professionally served, then when he leaves, he is already yours. He wants to buy cosmetics, but he is often not offered. Teach your staff not to be ashamed, because it is unnatural to be ashamed to increase your own income.
And, finally, some tips on how to find out a real reliable supplier who is not only capable, but also aims to become an excellent strategic partner for many years of beauty salon operation. His portrait in simple pencil is as follows:
1. He informs about new products even before he himself received them to the warehouse.
2. He trains your staff to work with cosmetics of the represented brand for free or for a reasonable fee, but in any case not for unthinkable money.
3. He without any problems on demand provides the necessary handouts, whether it is printing, product samples, gifts to customers, etc.
4. He NEVER exchanges for retail sales through shops, exhibitions, Internet, pharmacies, etc. It is especially easy to recognize him at an exhibition, pretending to be a simple buyer of cosmetics for himself. If a reliable supplier - he will not sell you anything, if he is unreliable, then, on the contrary, he will gladly put everything in a bag for you, take the agreed amount of money and let him go, without even asking who you are by occupation.
So carefully choose partners among suppliers of cosmetics for beauty salons, so that your cooperation with them can be called a business and can be characterized as mutually beneficial and simple-minded. The task today is not an easy one, but the experience that you received in your own practice, and which was summarized in this article, is intended to work in your favor.
ISMIe