Making Make Up Profitable
Often times Salon & Day Spa owners feel they must carry a color line. Too often though they fail to bring in dollars by not having a strategy to fit the needs of their business and their customer. Developing a plan can move their “color” numbers to the winner’s circle.
Many Salons and Spas look to carrying at least one color line as a means of better serving their customers as well as adding revenue to their bottom line. But how many of them wind up in the red when it comes to selling through on color? For many salon and day spa owners, making it with make-up is a push.
How can that be when women flock to the Estee Lauder, Channel and Elizabeth Arden counter? Not to mention the “new kids on the block” like MAC, Trish and Laura. And better clear the aisles when a line is “in gift”. As a matter of fact according to the District Supervisor of a popular department store chain, the Cosmetics Counter is the heart and soul of a major department store when it comes to attracting the consumer dollar.
Yet, a typical scenario for the day spa is that make-up winds up being a “must have” convenience for their customers rather than being an important revenue center for the business. Seasonal color shifts and product aging require mark down’s in order to clear inventory and therewith go the profits.
Call in the Reps
You have decided to bring in a make-up line. So, you do some research and select a few companies to contact that have a line which matches your client’s needs. The reps will line up at your door once the word is out you are shopping a line. They will seduce you with delicious samples and pie in the sky promises. Without some research and planning you may find yourself at their mercy.
The Make Up Myth To Avoid
‘You need the whole line so you can achieve a match for all your clients’.
You are not in competition with the Department Store. Why? You simply cannot afford to carry and move huge inventories. If you do, you will likely wind up with aging product that has to be marked down or marked out of inventory at a loss.
Consider who your customer is and how you can best serve the day spa/salon customer. She is a busy, typically more mature customer who has a life filled with many demands on her time. She often doesn’t take the time or doesn’t know enough about color to make wise choices. Your role can be to help her streamline her life by helping her create her own “color story”.
Think of it as you would putting together a wardrobe. Developing this model, my very successful make up artist and friend (faces he has worked on include J Lo and Jada Pinkett-Smith among others) Scott Ferrell, pulled off a huge make-up “buy” from a major company that manages spa’s services on cruise ships. He created 4 color stories or palettes. Each story got the “wardrobe” basics: 2 eye shadows, 1 eye pencil, 2 lip colors, lip gloss, lip liner and blush. That adds up to 8 pieces. Multiply 4 “stories” by 8 and you are selecting 32 pieces in whatever quantities are suitable to your sales plan. My recommendation is to begin with conservative numbers, track sales and adjust quantities on hand as indicated by the numbers.
As it is difficult to compete with the department store in the area of foundations it is best to leave it to them. The same with mascara unless you can give your client something nobody else has. Consistent sales growth is an indicator you are ready to try out new items. Never make the mistake of adding products when sales are sluggish. That approach rarely serves to increase sales figures.
My Product Isn’t Selling
This is the oft sung lament of the owner without a plan and the burden they bear of being oversold product. All too often the technicians representing “the look” your client wants to achieve do not themselves represent beauty at its best. Would the clerk at the Channel counter be caught not wearing the Channel look?
A polished appearance including at least modest color should be part of the “uniform” required of your staff. A 5 minute color consultation can be incorporated as part of the client in-take process. In other words, make color part of the culture. There is no reason this should not extend to all departments.
People sell product …Product doesn’t “not sell”.
Keep It Fresh
Now is the time to take a lesson from department stores…merchandise. It is not as much a matter of what inventory you have as it is how you display or present what you have for your client. What lures you to the YSL counter? And, what if after being lured in for a look see, every time for the next 6 months you see the same thing? There is a good chance you would lose interest.
On the other hand, if every time you are sure to see something new, an exotic new lip color, the latest smoky eye, there is a good chance you will become “conditioned” to look for the latest.
It is not about what you have in stock, it is about how you involve your customer. Do you have a trusted retail manager? If so, take a break from the spa and treat them to lunch at the shopping mall. Pass through the cosmetics department. Talk about what you see and how you can emulate some of what they’re doing. How are products displayed? What point of purchase collateral do they have? How are the signage and the lighting? How do the counter managers look and how are they dressed?
Now, go back to work and see how your department measures up. Get busy creating some visual interest for your customers.
STARSHINE Events
Tell it to the world…or at least tell your customers! Build sales through scheduling regular beauty events. Show your appreciation to key customers by inviting them in for a beauty make-over. The holiday season is a great time for that. Just post when everyone is ready for a “girl’s day out” can make for a successful event. “New Year, New You” is just one idea for a theme.
Pre planning and follow through are key to your event being profitable. Know what’s hot and what’s not. Check your color inventory prior to your event to make sure you have key items. Often times your vendor can provide a “guest” make up artist to add sizzle to your event.
Plan far enough out to make sure the event is well booked with appointments on the half hour. Do not just schedule indiscriminately. Know who your “buyers” are and make sure you have plenty of them on your guest list. Provide clients with a reminder card upon booking their appointment. Make them feel “special” for being included in your select group of invitees. Making confirmation calls 48 hours before your event will give you enough time to fill in gaps for cancellations and help to insure a successful event.
Get the year off to a great start and put a color event on your first quarter promotional calendar!
