We all know: in order to make a profit and develop as a sales manager working independently, you need to have certain skills and know the psychology of people. Do you think it's difficult? Not at all!

In addition, you need to always be in the know, have an idea about the main trends in fashion and makeup. In addition, you need to improve yourself, participate in a lot of specialized trainings and educational seminars. And by the way, this pleasure is quite expensive. Not every manager, even an average one, can afford such luxury. But you can’t do it without basic skills and knowledge.

Suppose you decide to work as a manager, selling cosmetics through catalogues, but you have no idea how to sell. At the same time, you know that you can receive good dividends for quality work. But you shouldn’t think that when working in this field you need to have the skills of an entrepreneur. Even Bill Gates once had to start, collecting bits of knowledge, gaining experience and skills in communicating with people. There is nothing complicated about sales models. It is enough to be thoughtful about the self-learning process and practice a little.

Experienced teachers, managers and even psychologists have developed a scheme, following which it is easy to build your own system of communication with different clients, get ample opportunities to implement your ideas and, most importantly, implement a plan for successful sales. So let's look at it:

Experts focus on the above points. Why? Let's take a closer look, citing examples from real sales experience.

Determining a potential buyer

This is a simple process, and if you rank your potential customers, choosing one or the other in turn, it will be much easier to sell. What's the point? You just need to determine for yourself the circle of potential buyers. Here it is worth thinking carefully and taking into account not only your own friends and relatives, but also analyzing all the available opportunities for selling cosmetics, including wholesale. So.

Determine the list and location of retail chains and companies in the city or nearby town that sell or use cosmetic products (retail outlets, markets, beauty salons, hairdressers).

When compiling a list of potential buyers, you need to identify possible competitors who are also interested in sales in retail outlets or distribution of goods on city streets.

Identify potential clients among large enterprises whose employees use cosmetic products (mainly women's groups, teaching staff in educational institutions, enterprises purchasing household chemicals, soap, etc. for their own needs).

It is important to remember about the capabilities of the company’s employees. If this is a budgetary institution, where the staff is not pampered with high salaries and bonuses, the purchasing power of the employees is reduced only to purchasing the essentials. In the case where the company is large, developing, employees have high incomes, and receive significant bonuses for the holidays, it is worth giving preference to such teams.

However, you can also offer a kindergarten nanny a certain line of products that suits her wallet. Several inexpensive deodorants, samples, low-price products, but very necessary ones.

Companies in other cities. Here you need to evaluate your delivery capabilities and how cost-effective it will be.

Another way is to offer cosmetic lines to passersby. If you work outdoors, there is one aspect worth paying attention to. By the way, beginners often don’t take it into account. Take a closer look at their faces, because existing cosmetic problems are often expressed in dry skin (which means a person simply needs a moisturizing and, in winter, a nourishing cream), acne (specialized cleansers, drying lotions, light gel-creams are suitable), pigmentation (whitening creams, tonics) based on cucumber water or parsley extract), etc. It is important to start the conversation very tactfully. Don’t throw out the phrase: “Hello, you have acne, I can suggest this cream...”. It’s worth getting acquainted, talking about something abstract, telling that you once had a problem, which a cream containing this and that helped to cope with. The important thing here is not to confuse the potential buyer, but to win him over and make him understand that you can be trusted.

For clients accustomed to using elite brands of cosmetics, it is advisable to offer the highest level of products from more expensive lines. You should not think that if a woman has placed expensive creams and lotions on the shelves of her bathroom, and her cosmetic bag contains only branded eye shadow and lipstick, she will not be interested in products of very high quality, but sold in bulk or to order. You just have to find the right approach to each client.

If sales concern wholesale sales of cosmetic series to companies, then the price preferences of customers should also be taken into account. There are cases when they are prohibited from selling certain goods. It is worth carefully studying the product range of a retail outlet before offering this or that product.

When selecting potential clients, you cannot do without a creative approach. Throw the first thing that comes to mind onto a piece of paper. And let it be neighbor Dasha, Grandma Anya from the high-rise building across the street, or strangers walking their dogs, the first step towards victory has already been taken.

It is important to think about the outline afterwards and bring your lists into proper form. For example, it is very convenient to offer cosmetics sets to retail outlets that sell clothing. After all, they can be sold as a related product. What do you think of the idea? Or it’s worth imagining another situation: a woman goes to a store to buy shoes and receives a sample of lipstick as a gift with her purchase, and then purchases it from a catalogue.

You can think of a number of non-standard solutions, play with them and present them to the buyer on a silver platter.

Preparation for sales

You should not make acquaintance with a potential client (company) without first collecting the necessary information about the buyer. It is important to find out information in the following areas:

1. What kind of company (or client) is this? What is the main range of products that it sells (uses), in what batches will it be able to buy cosmetics.
2. Who makes purchasing decisions? It is important to find out the personal qualities of this person, try to understand what he is focusing on when giving preference to certain products.
3. In relation to private clients, it is advisable, if possible, to find out (through acquaintances or, if you are close friends, analyze) not only his solvency, but also his physiological characteristics: skin problems, even minor flaws that can be corrected with the help of cosmetics. For example, the drooping corners of the mouth in women are perfectly “lifted” with a lip pencil. Only the technique of applying the product in the case of this particular client is worth studying and explaining in detail. The same goes for pimples or pigmentation. It is enough to give examples of friends and girlfriends, talk about your own experience of using “washes” and creams, and the client, as they say, is yours.

Beginners make a fairly common mistake. They begin to post valuable information and, thereby, interest people in purchases who have nothing to do with the process of ordering goods at a retail outlet. It's a waste of time and effort. It is important to quickly make inquiries about the person conducting the procurement and establish contact with him, or find out what the financial capabilities and physiological characteristics of the proposed private client are. This is why preliminary collection of information about a potential partner (company) or client is so important.

By the way, collecting information about the customer’s preferences and capabilities will help create personalized, very profitable offers for him. Remember, it should be beneficial not only for the seller, but also for the buyer.

It is important to know the product being sold well: its features, advantages, application possibilities, pros and cons. It is also worth paying close attention to the study of this aspect. This will help both at the initial stage of sales and in the future.

Establishing contacts with clients

All this happens in two stages. The first is introductory and superficial. This is simply having a conversation, as they say, “about the weather.” It seems that you are talking about nothing, but during the conversation you find out the necessary information without even asking certain questions. Here it is important to establish a trusting relationship with the client, which will take no more than 5-7 minutes. Make a great impression, don't miss the chance to make friends with a person and make him a reliable partner!

At the first stage, it is advisable to consider the following:

1. Creating a trusting atmosphere. A kind disposition, a desire to listen, and ease of communication do their job.
2. A story about the company you work for as a favorable, successful company.
3. The ability to give the impression that you are a professional is always on top of fashion and makeup trends.

How to start a conversation? You can just get acquainted or say that you are very grateful for the moment of communication given to you. Next, it is worth noting what externally catches the eye. For example, say that the store has a stunningly beautiful window display or very bright, original decorations in the hall.

An equally pleasant reason for communication is a hot promotional offer that is currently valid or the presentation of a small gift.

The second stage is identifying the needs of a potential buyer. Preliminary preparation is necessary here, otherwise, after a trusting relationship is established, they will not go beyond empty talk. But you need to sell! By the way, almost the entire success of the business depends on the stage of collecting information about the client.

It is important to learn how to ask questions in such a way as to ultimately lead the client to the idea of ​​buying. This is a simple matter, but it requires some ingenuity.

So, first of all, it’s worth asking questions that make it possible to get answers regarding the buyer’s situation. Next - problematizing ones. They provide information about the customer's needs. After - activating ones, which concentrates the client’s attention on the fact that the problem will not be solved without this purchase. It is important to ask design questions that form an understanding that there is a motive for the purchase. We should not forget about distracting, so-called transitional issues.

Let's look at an example of a “funnel” that logically leads the client to making a purchase:

Good afternoon, Anna Vasilievna! I am Elena Petrovna - leading sales manager of the Cosmetic Firm company.

Hello! Please come in and have a seat!

Your window displays are very interesting. I couldn't take my eyes off them as I walked across the sales floor to you! It can be seen that your company’s range of cosmetics is quite wide.

We place orders from the best companies, carefully selecting products. Most recently, we signed an agreement with representatives of the large O brand.

Yes, these are very high-quality cosmetics that sell like hotcakes.

In general, everything is great, but, as in any company, interruptions still happen.

So, do interruptions still happen?

Yes sometimes!

Such situations probably do not have the best effect on sales and on customer opinions about the company, including your store?

Yes, yes, I have to admit! Buyers are unhappy when the desired product is not available, and our profit does not increase from this.

And if we exclude situations where there are interruptions in production, will this affect the work of your store?

Of course it’s positive! In addition, we are able to increase sales volumes and the percentage is quite significant. This is up to 40%, which will lead to a significant increase in profits.

So maybe just have a more reliable supplier who won’t give you any trouble with the assortment and will always deliver everything on time?

What if I guarantee you such cooperation? How do you like it?

This option is preferable and I could consider working with you. What guarantees do you provide? (...)

Above are the main points of the proposed dialogue. The manager easily brought the client to the conclusion that he needed a company ready to guarantee uninterrupted supply of products. In this conversation, the client himself logically completed the conversation and now it’s a matter of demonstrating the best qualities of your company’s cosmetics.

Stages of the presentation

Well, the client has a need for a product and the manager knows his preferences by walking around the sales floor and examining the assortment. It’s just a matter of small things: offer exactly the type of cosmetic products that the client is used to selling. To give a competent presentation, it is important to know the following:

1. Have complete information about the product provided.
2. Be fully aware of the company’s pricing policy, including yours.
3. Be aware that each cosmetic line is valuable in its own way.

Understanding what you offer to clients means not knowing anything about the product. It is important to thoroughly study all the information about the product, its parameters, composition, methods of use, disadvantages and advantages, and even possible side effects.

It is worth not losing sight of the idea that you will have to reduce the cost. However, here you can put pressure on the value of the product itself, which depends on the ratio of cost and quality, as well as psychological characteristics (the buyer understands what benefits he receives, that the product is in demand and there is a fashion for this or that type of product). In addition, additional services offered by the manager are a significant motive for cooperation. For example, recommendations for sales, provision of necessary information about the characteristics of potential buyers of this cosmetics.

It is worth focusing on the client’s needs and problem areas. Based on the above dialogue, the customer has problems with the assortment. You can simply invite him to track the best-selling items and reserve the required quantity of a particular type of product in advance. It’s better to let the boxes sit in the warehouse than to not have enough of them at a crucial moment.

The flow of the presentation is as follows:

1. Complete information about the company you work for, right down to its history.
2. Information about the product, the possibilities of its sale, the main characteristics, the economic and psychological value of the products of your company.
3. Information about yourself as a valuable employee who is reliable at work does not fail.
4. Guarantees.
5. The essence of the commercial offer.

When finishing your presentation, it’s worth asking security questions, the answers to which will help you understand whether this is really your client and whether it’s worth working with. Among the main questions are the following:

1. Do you like this offer?
2. Are our conditions 100% suitable for you?
3. What do you think about our product?
4. Can we help you solve your supply problem?

The client should be indirectly led to the idea of ​​purchasing the first batch and long-term cooperation. If you ask questions directly, you can scare off a potential buyer and make him doubt the decision. Afterwards, depending on the results, you can continue the presentation or successfully leave.

Dealing with client objections

A smart client will definitely look for a catch in your story. Many people will be suspicious of the information you provide. It's quite normal. Nowadays there is a popular proverb: “Free cheese is only in a mousetrap.” Of course, there is no talk of any “freebie”, but if you sing the praises of your products, praise the company and yourself as a manager too much, any person will have a question: is he slipping me a second-rate product, presented as the best?

Without working with objections, it is impossible to imagine optimal negotiations. At this stage, the manager demonstrates his true intentions - the potential buyer thinks. So there is no need to dissuade him of this.

Dealing with objections does not happen “here and now.” We need to prepare for it. To begin with, it’s worth writing down the most common remarks from clients who doubt the manager’s veracity and want to check him “for lice.” At the same time, it is worth considering the answers to the questions.

According to the experience of specialists from large companies, it is advisable to create a whole bank of customer objections and learn how to work with them. It includes all the questions collected over the years from various sources. When writing answers, you should be guided by a number of rules:

1. Even the most minor objections should not be left unanswered.
2. During the conversation with the objecting client, you can ask clarifying questions. For example, “what exactly do you mean by excessively high prices?”
3. You can give the following explanation: “The price includes the cost of additional services.”
4. Don't tell the client that he is wrong, even if he is. It is worth agreeing with his right to doubt and being sincerely interested in the reasons for such an opinion, and then smashing all the “nos” to smithereens.

There are some phrases that work well when conducting a dialogue with “Doubting Thomas”: “I understand your doubts...”, “Well, well, I understand that you are concerned about the question...”, “I’m very sorry that...”, “Your concerns are absolutely clear to me, and you, of course, will analyze all the pros and cons before making a decision, “What other information do you need as additional?”, “You say that the product is of low quality, what is it manifests itself?

According to the experience of specialists, the most common customer objections relate to the price of the product. Each of them says that competitors have cheaper prices or that this in itself is expensive. The main thing here is to point out that the products you offer are very valuable and unique.

If you work through all possible objections in advance, you can be 99% ready for the conversation. After all, there is still a possibility that the client will ask a question that is not quite common.

Handling objections from beauty salons

The administrators of these organizations seem to have taken the cake on orders for cosmetic lines and know exactly what the salon needs. They are sure that what they are buying at the moment is necessary and nothing more.

In turn, the sales manager can easily find an approach to the salon employee and find out what problems there are now, whether the suppliers are failing, and whether the clients’ requirements are fully satisfied. Here is a sample dialogue that includes the most common objections from administrators:

I offer you a new shampoo that will work 100%.

Administrator: This is very expensive for us; it is not profitable for clients to wash their hair with a product of such cost.

Yes, I agree with you. There should be benefit in everything. The employees of the manufacturing company, which I represent, took this nuance into account. So I can tell you for sure, this product is more economical to use than others. This is not an unfounded statement. We recently set up an experiment to test how beneficial it is to use this particular shampoo. We used a small bottle cap as a measure. For long hair, the entire cap is used, for medium length - exactly half, and for short hair - a drop. If you have a measuring cap, you can significantly save not only product, but also money. Here's your benefit!

By the way, each portion of shampoo that clients use to wash their hair is included in the cost of the hairdressing service. However, the manager, understanding this, still accepts the reason for the objection and finds a worthy answer. In this case, the administrator may completely forget that “all inclusive”, and agreeing with his arguments has a psychological overtone, which works flawlessly.

Another situation: the manager offers the administrator hairspray.

Not only is it expensive, but it’s also “crappy”!

I assume you have already worked with this varnish?

Exactly! It sprays unevenly and the smell is terrible.

Obviously, you have been using this product for a long time. I can assure you that the manufacturer has eliminated this shortcoming. The parts supplier was replaced and the sprayer now works great. By the way, the product passed the examination, and it confirmed its high quality.

But I told you about the price. It's too expensive.

I completely agree with you. But I repeat: the updated atomizer works flawlessly, due to which the bottle does not leak. The spray of varnish is thin, which significantly saves the product. This provides advantages and benefits.

And again the conditional consent technique worked. This psychological technique never fails. In this case, regarding varnish, two objections were raised at once: price and quality. The second is more significant.

So, due to his ingenuity, in both cases the manager convinced the administrator, but situations are different, and some of them are very unpredictable. But it is worth remembering that you should always use the conditional agreement technique, while speaking without using the preposition “not”, and using the word “no” is completely prohibited.

Also, no less important, be sure to have complete information about the product you are selling, as well as about the nuances and organization of the intended buyer’s business. Information can be extracted even from the lips of the client himself by starting a casual conversation. By understanding customer problems and trying to find ways to solve them, you can find new friends and regular partners among customers.

Transaction results

At this stage, it is worth asking the client if he is ready to receive the first order. But you can’t do this by asking questions head-on. It is important to ask: “What do you think about this product?”, “How do you like my offer?”, “How do you feel about the fact that the first, trial batch of the product will be delivered to you on Thursday?”

It is worth conducting the conversation as if the client has already made a purchase decision. For example: “I sent you additional catalogues, but delivery is tomorrow - after lunch”, “when is it more convenient for you to receive the goods, on Monday or Tuesday?”

Another move: inform the client that at the end of the month the price for this batch of goods will be 15% higher. By placing an order now, you can save a lot. Once an offer has been accepted, there is no point in continuing to advertise the product. This can provoke a new wave of objections. After ending the conversation on a positive note, you should take your leave. Now it is important to fulfill everything you promised.

Maintaining connections and further interaction with the buyer

To cooperate for a long time and successfully, it is necessary to build a trusting relationship with the client and constantly maintain it. Fulfilled promises are the main condition for subsequent sales. It is also important to adhere to delivery deadlines, as well as ensuring the required range of products.

The above scheme for gaining trust and communicating with prospective buyers is only an approximate plan of action. Based on the data provided, each manager is able to develop his own guidelines for action. When communicating with clients, you can skip some of the above steps. The reason for this may be the buyer’s readiness to complete the transaction.

It is advisable that the answers you prepared sound natural. And the presentation of information about the product itself did not raise any questions. By the way, it is worth considering that the majority of clients are, as they say, “in the know.” They are prepared for possible arguments in favor of the product and for what the manager will say when praising the product. Administrators of retail outlets and beauty salons have perfectly studied all the tricks that cosmetics sellers can do. So, in a huge number of cases, it is worth conducting sales according to your own unique scenario. All this comes with experience. We wish you success in this beneficial and interesting endeavor!

Online sales of cosmetics

As a bonus, we will tell you how to find a buyer on the Internet. Just 10 years ago the Internet was completely different. There were a lot of websites operating in its vastness, and there was advertising, but social networks were not as popular as they are now. Nowadays, a large number of people associate the World Wide Web exclusively with “likes” and photos on their pages. And there is a huge field of activity for sales. By the way, finding out information about potential clients is much easier here. It’s enough to read the comments to the photo or look at the feed, which reflects your favorite popular expressions and sayings, glamorous photos or none at all. Based on this, it is realistic to make an informed decision: is it worth offering this person products that are profitable for him or is it a waste of time.

By following the client’s interests based on previously studied information on his page, it is easier to successfully formulate a reasonable commercial offer, taking into account individual characteristics.

Another way is to maintain your own blog. Here you can, as they say, go wild, but there are several basic rules: it is advisable to provide the most complete information about the product with several photos or even videos, be sure to talk about the composition of the product, its cost. It is important to talk about how to properly use cosmetics, for what skin type and age certain products are preferable. And finally, contact information, which will make it possible to receive orders.

There are a lot of message boards on the Internet where you can post your advertisements for pennies or absolutely free. Forums on topics of cosmetic products or makeup techniques and skin care are also helpful.

Well, what would we do without a modern type of women's magazine - its virtual prototype? And such portals accept advertisements.

It is necessary to rank online orders, and be sure to analyze: through what advertising manipulations the majority of customers come to you. By carefully recording all the data, you can increase your profit significantly.

Always be aware

How can you find out about the most important new products without going to international conferences and without following news every day from the websites of leading cosmetic brands? Participants of the Cosmo Expo know the answer; they know where to publish their information and announcements of educational events.

How to increase sales of professional cosmetics

Alexander Khodakov

Any supplier of professional cosmetics is interested in expanding the number of beauty salons switching to its cosmetic line. To do this, sales managers are hired, money is spent on their training, on exhibitions, on advertising, free training seminars are held - alas, all these traditional methods have recently begun to stall, because competition between suppliers of salon cosmetics has reached a boiling point. The choice of salon cosmetics is not just great - it is excessive for the domestic market of salon services. Selling professional cosmetics has become extremely difficult. Even in order to simply get into a beauty salon with samples and brochures, a traveling salesman has to make enormous efforts; exhibitions are becoming more and more expensive, and the return on them has noticeably decreased; reaching out to beauty salon owners and cosmetologists through industry magazines is also becoming more and more expensive, and the return on not great.

Have new, modern ways of stimulating sales of professional cosmetics been born? Have new technologies appeared that make it easier to establish contact between the manager of a company selling professional cosmetics and potential consumers? Have new advertising channels for professional cosmetics emerged? Yes, the beauty industry market does not stand still, and some suppliers of professional cosmetics are coming up with new methods to achieve results. No one wants to reveal professional secrets, so I won’t name all the new “tricks,” but I will reveal some of them.

Indirect sales of professional cosmetics

This method of increasing sales of professional cosmetics and equipment for beauty salons cannot be called too new - five years ago SPORTMEDIMPORT, VIP CLINIC, ALPHA SPA, several other major players in the beauty industry market formed consulting divisions within themselves, whose task was to help newcomers create beauty salons. Now, at least a dozen companies have such departments - after all, even if you provide salon business design services for next to nothing, you can, as a matter of course, equip a new beauty salon with your own equipment and your own salon cosmetics. Of course, you can’t hide the sewing in a bag - thinking newcomers to the salon business understand that when ordering the creation of a turnkey salon from suppliers, they will receive a frankly biased choice of equipment and cosmetics. But not everyone has figured it out and gotten their bearings yet; the “indirect sales” method is still working, bringing an increase in sales to companies by 10% or more.

Those suppliers who have not yet acquired their own consulting department began to look for approaches to independent consulting groups engaged in the creation of turnkey beauty salons and spas in the hope that they would recommend their equipment and cosmetic lines when equipping new beauty salons. From my own example, I can say that we receive several such requests every month. I don’t think it’s shameful to listen to such proposals - after all, the head is not the House of Soviets, you don’t always have time to get acquainted with new products. So you can miss something really worthwhile, and cosmetic exhibitions are not the best place to delve into it: they are too noisy, troublesome and chaotic. We actually start working with some of the suppliers after this - but on one condition, that their line of salon equipment or professional cosmetics is not only good-looking, but also adequately presented not only in booklets, but also on the Internet. Otherwise, we find ourselves in a stupid situation - our consulting group recommends something, and our clients - future owners of beauty salons who have chosen us as consultants, cannot clearly get acquainted with the advantages of their future purchase, and believe that we are recommending something counterfeit, made in Odessa on Malaya Arnautskaya. And remember Kisa Vorobyaninov from 12 chairs, who dyed his hair with TITANIC dye! So here too - there is nothing intelligible about professional cosmetics on the Internet, which means the immediate impression is that it is not worth considering it seriously.

How to arrange networks on the Internet

“Catch a fish – big and small!” - the wolf said, lowering his tail into the hole. His fate was unenviable. I caught it in the wrong place. Of course, you can't catch consumers this way. Surprisingly, very few suppliers of professional cosmetics post information about their products on the Internet. Most often you see beautiful websites, the creation of which cost a lot of money. And what potential consumers actually come to the site for is that there is no clear, intelligible information. The second option is to provide necessary but insufficient information. That is too short. The third option, on the contrary, is striking in a flurry of texts and pictures, and, alas, the texts are copied from annotations for cosmetics or equipment, apparently in poor translation from a foreign language, from which little is clear. It’s not difficult to get lost in such a jungle, and the potential consumer... gets lost. A simple human desire arises to close the site, and then, as in the Odessa joke, the authors say, “go to the market, buy a rooster there and... brain him.” Sorry for the quote, you can’t remove the words from it.

Chip and Dale to the rescue

We help some of the suppliers consolidate their positions on the Internet if we see that they do not have employees on staff who have extensive experience in Internet promotion - preparing information, search engine optimization, identifying sites with the target audience where it would make sense to look for beauty salon owners ( present from future) and cosmetologists. Do you know how many of these there are on the Internet? At least 250 thousand people a month visit our salon-themed sites alone. And five years ago there were only 75,000 of them. This is how the Internet is growing to search for professional cosmetics and salon equipment. But in fact, there are even more Internet users among beauty industry specialists. More than 35 thousand (five years ago there were 10 thousand!) subscribers to the electronic magazine Cosmo Expo - every week they receive the next issue of this magazine to their email address (subscription is free). Another five thousand subscribers of the free electronic magazine “Bulletin of a Cosmetologist”. Several years ago, an Internet exhibition of cosmetics and equipment for beauty salons appeared, where 24 hours a day and 365 days a year you can find contacts of all suppliers, and dozens of them have built their pavilions. All these are modern methods of contact with consumers. The main value is the availability of sales managers even outside of working hours (and which of them will refuse a business call from a consumer even outside of the deadline, if they are all on interest). This is how, using modern methods, some suppliers beat others.

To support my words, I provide data on traffic to several sites with information for salon market specialists:

Salon-related websites:

All site statistics are open for viewing, see for yourself by clicking on the counters.

Internet promotion is actively used by the giants of the cosmetic market - Hitek, Martinex, Trium Trade, VIP CLINIC, WellnessProf, Syneron and some other notable players. But there are not many of them. The rest prefer to spend money on training their sales managers, on exhibition stands, on glossy advertising in industry magazines and on other activities that are becoming less and less effective. Well, everyone chooses their own path. And everyone deserves where they ended up. Forgetting, or not knowing the famous phrase of the Chinese sages - “if you don’t know where you want to go, why should you go there?”

Two sides of the barricades

The relationship between suppliers of professional cosmetics and consumers of their products - beauty salons - is increasingly reminiscent of war. Supplier managers are met with hostility in showrooms. And they are becoming more and more intrusive in their offers. “Sometimes there are five calls a day,” the director of one of the salons complained to me bitterly, “but how offended they are when you refuse a meeting! And a week later they call again...” Meanwhile, popular wisdom says: “a bad peace is better than a good war.” Why not try to understand what beauty salons need and help them with something. Making friends, joining an alliance - this is the strategy some suppliers follow.

The situation on the part of suppliers of professional cosmetics

“We give samples, participate in presentations of our professional cosmetics in the beauty salons themselves, hand out posters - what else do they need?” And as soon as you ask the managers of beauty salons - what do you want to get from suppliers besides high-quality cosmetics, these are two or three points:

1. Human attitude - that is, not “call tomorrow,” but a quick response to questions asked.
2. Continuity of supply – and not the phrases “the car is at customs, please be patient a little longer”
3. Real advertising support - coffee cups with a logo, posters and samples are not a substitute for serious advertising campaigns in conjunction with beauty salons.

One of the old finds of some suppliers of professional cosmetics is advertising support for those beauty salons that have agreed to switch to their cosmetic line. There are several options here:

1. Advertising articles with a story about your professional cosmetics for end consumers, where are the coordinates of beauty salons where this most professional cosmetics is present. Moreover, two-thirds of each advertising article can be devoted to the advantages of the advertised professional cosmetics, and the remaining third to the coordinates of those beauty salons where they are used. Moreover, it is important not to pit competing salons against each other, but to indicate the contacts of beauty salons in different areas of the city. This method continues to work, but the advertising medium will have to be changed - if earlier the supplier advertised in glossy magazines, now - on mass women's Internet sites: fashion, beauty, health - those three pillars that are in demand by the female audience. Why female? Yes, simply because women are still the main client for beauty salons. A phenomenon has long been noticed - you attract a woman to the salon, and she will bring her man there herself.
2. A simple solution is to promote not so much the cosmetic line itself, but salon services using this cosmetic line, indicating the places where these services can be obtained. This approach has been used more than once in magazines, but for some reason no one has yet thought of doing it on the Internet. Among more than five thousand Moscow beauty salons, there will certainly be a certain percentage of those who agree to this, especially if the advertising onslaught on the Internet is very dense. Back in 2007, we made the first experiments with “shared advertising” - when a dozen beauty salons “shared” a small amount, which was enough to post an advertising article on two dozen sites. The hundred clients obtained in this way were distributed among the alliance members, each receiving their own ten. Having the opportunity to place information on more than 150 sites in bulk, at low prices, you can double the results. And we, the Salon Business Department, have such an opportunity; we have at our disposal one and a half hundred sites with a total traffic of more than 100 million per month. These include women's sites about beauty and health, and men's news and business sites. And the blogosphere and social networks. And press sites and so on. Why not the target audience of consumers?
3. The most luxurious find - conditionally free seminars. And Martinex, Christina cosmetics and many other suppliers of professional cosmetics have long understood and practice selling through training. It is clear that a cosmetologist who has learned new techniques and technologies, and even received a coupon for purchasing a trial batch of professional cosmetics, with a probability of up to 80% will become a follower of this cosmetic line. And the latest feature is management seminars for managers of beauty salons, where compensation for the costs of the seminar itself is not only and not so much a set of cosmetics (managers don’t need it), but, for example, a coupon for a certain amount that the manager of a beauty salon can spend on advertising. For example, we, the department of salon business, issue such coupons, and the owners of beauty salons willingly go to such seminars, and then redeem their coupons for advertising on the Internet with us, realizing that this gives them clients.

The situation from the salon business

Beauty salons and spa centers need customers like air. You can’t get them without advertising, and finding funds for advertising is becoming more and more difficult, and the return on advertising in the salon business is also deteriorating - the client of beauty salons has become “blind-blind”, and strives to let advertising go unnoticed. This means that there should be more of it, it should be varied, and it should wait for the potential consumer of beauty salon services where he would still want to accept it. For example, when a woman comes to the idea that it’s time for her to change her hairstyle, or smooth out wrinkles on her face, or straighten her figure, then most traditional advertising channels require a random coincidence of circumstances - from the series “I walked past, saw a sign for a beauty salon, and walked in.” Or - “I opened a glossy magazine, and there was a suitable article, and even with an advertisement for a beauty salon.” Another thing is the Internet: “I typed a search phrase, saw the title of the article, and in it - the coordinates of the salon.” If a client of a beauty salon is looking for a solution to his problem on the Internet, then when he gets to the salon’s website, there is a high probability that he will immediately call or make an appointment. Many beauty salons BEFORE suppliers discovered this feature of the Internet, and are much better represented on the Internet - their sites are informative, visual, and easy to use. But having your own website is not enough - salons today want to place their advertisements on mass “women’s” sites where their potential clients are concentrated. But there are not enough funds for this.

Golden Deal Rule

It was in Chicago in the 20s that they lived by the principle of “sell and run away.” And modern management apologists argue that any deal should be mutually beneficial. Both to the one who sells and to the one who buys. A textbook example of a “golden deal” is when an unknown journalist bought an Underwood typewriter for $100, and printed a book on it, selling which he earned $100,000. It’s good for Underwood (his product was bought), and it’s good for the journalist. Why is it good for a typewriter manufacturer? Because as soon as he got rich, he bought himself a new, more expensive car of the same Underwood brand (brought good luck!), and besides, he glorified the brand in his next book.

The mechanism described above for the proposed campaign for issuing coupons to beauty salons for advertising on the Internet if they switched to a new cosmetic line after the seminar (or on their own) is simple and transparent. You can find beauty salons that want to switch to other salon cosmetics and receive advertising support in return with our help. We can offer this on the Internet, fortunately there are sites where many beauty salon managers visit. We can organize seminars for managers, bring them together.

Detailed analysis of what NOT to do, using 4 examples

What is the difficulty of selling cosmetics on social networks and what rules might there be?

1. This is not an easy task, because where potential customers “live”, you are not alone - competitors are there too. But the consumer doesn’t actually see the difference. Well, a new cosmetics company and good, so many of you have opened in a few years.
2. The woman ALREADY uses cosmetics. She chose her and this is already a habit - to interrupt her, you need arguments. And very strong. Judge for yourself - would you easily refuse a hairdresser whom you have been going to for a long time and in whom you are 100% sure? It's the same with cosmetics.

You can sell on social networks in different ways, but this channel is especially beneficial because you can find a passionate audience here. It’s easy to track a person by comments under a post, by membership in a thematic public, by interests and profession.

And come up with a targeted offer to those who should really be interested in it - and we know about it.

It is much easier to sell to such people.

In theory.

Let's see how it happens in practice. The examples you will see below are attempts by cosmetic companies to offer their products and events to professional cosmetologists.

Rules for selling cosmetics on social networks - 11 catastrophic mistakes

Please note - this is a PERSONAL message!

Now in order:

A) “We invite all cosmetologists to a seminar in Dnepropetrovsk”. I'm not all cosmetologists. I have a name and you know it. Tell me, when you meet a friend and want to invite her to an event, do you say that too?

Using a name is one of the most effective sales techniques. Professional salespeople will give a lot to find out the name of a potential client BEFORE contacting him. And here the name is on a silver platter, but it’s not being used.

B) "Pre-registration is required" And “The condition of the seminar is a deposit...”. Wait. What is this tone? You start by setting conditions for me, although you haven’t even interested me in the event yet.

C) The seminar is divided into two parts and each has a module "Getting to know the company". Error: The reason why the reader should spend time getting to know the companies is not given. Why are they good, famous, remarkable?

D) Okay, the master has read the letter - what should he do next? There is no call to action, it is unclear how to take part in the event. A person is forced to make a lot of decisions on his own - he does NOT want to do this.

The main mistake was that the event was not sold. Because the most important thing is missing here:

• Why should a master still go to this seminar?
• Why does he need Dermium Lab products?
• Why does he need to get acquainted with the Casmara company and its new products in the second part?

No benefit.

Read more about how to find it.

Next example:

In this example, the benefits are precisely indicated (increased income, etc.). Their weakness is that they are too formulaic - competitors offer the same thing to cosmetologists.

A) Again, there is no calling by name - it’s just unpleasant for the person.

B) On social networks, people want to communicate with people, not with “Fast delivery of teddy bears from China” pages. If you created a page for a cosmetics brand, introduce yourself at the beginning of the message. These are the basics of sales.

Imagine we approach a person on the street. Is this how we talk like in the screenshot? Do we immediately dump all the information on him or first find out if he is interested in this and tell him what our names are and who we are?

So why do things differently on social networks?

B) Phrase "we want to inform". Don't write like that! You are already reporting, so save the person from false curtsies "Let me offer you" and the like.

G) “Theoretical day of global learning will take place”. At this point the reader fell asleep. A very complex and incomprehensible phrase with a weak verb of the state “to take place.” Write more simply. Don’t burden a person with abstruse phrases and ornate turns of phrase. This is NOT what he needs.

D) “Systematize knowledge about unique technologies...”. An unfounded statement and a primitive manipulation that is working worse and worse. Who said this technology is unique? Where is the proof? Stop throwing dust in your eyes - get to the point.

And the most important thing:

• This message lacks understanding of the target audience. Who is the person writing to? He writes to the cosmetologist! What does it mean? That in order to come to the seminar, a specialist needs to free up his working day - that is, not register anyone and lose money. FOR WHAT? Secondly, the master ALREADY works with some brands of cosmetics, he chose them, they suit him - it’s very difficult to interrupt. And certainly not with that kind of message. We need ARGUMENTS!

A) An abundance of emoticons and flowers - kindergarten. Yes, this is possible when selling cosmetics on social networks to a specific audience. But when you write to an established specialist like this, it looks ridiculous and frivolous. And this is how the sender is perceived and treated the offer.

B) Lots of exclamation marks. Usually they resort to this technique when there is essentially nothing to say. And people have already learned to recognize this. A person perceives several exclamation marks as a scream. Sell ​​through the benefits of the offer, present arguments - then you will get the effect.

Last example:

Let's break it down piece by piece:

1. There is a call by name - finally, at least someone guessed it. Test.

2. “We would like to introduce you to a professional German brand”. If you want, introduce me, but don’t waste my time reading long, useless phrases. The adjective “professional” is very weak.

3. “We have been present on the European market for 56 years”. This is good, specificity and a strong fact in itself. BUT! You need to move on to selling the company at the end, when you have interested a person in the Offer. For now, the fact about 56 years is not interesting to him, because... It’s still unclear WHY he needs this? What's the offer?

4. Next comes a list of the assortment - nothing remarkable. As a result, the brand in the eyes of a cosmetologist is still no different from dozens of others. Well, certificates, well, samples and protocols of procedures - everyone has it!

5. "My name is Inna". Test. For the first time, someone introduced themselves, but you need to do this at the beginning of the message (I remind you, imagine that you approached a person on the street - you need to introduce yourself, right?).

6. “My name is Inna and today I am the official distributor of the brand”. A very complex phrase, try not to write in such long and cliched phrases. After all, you can write it simpler “I’m Inna, I represent such and such a brand.”. Everything is simple and clear.

7. “I am looking for professional cosmetologists to cooperate with and we are ready to work on mutually beneficial terms”. Yeah. So this is the Proposal. This is where we need to start, but for some reason it was shoved to the end. The Proposal itself is, of course, too abstract, "mutually beneficial terms"- wild stamp. Although, it is clear that the company does not want to “shine the conditions” in the first message. And now we come to the main thing - what the sale of cosmetics on social networks should be like according to the rules:

• Call by name
• Perhaps we’ll add a conclusion to our proposal, show through some fact that a cosmetologist needs this (in short - 1-2 sentences “Hello, Elena. I just read the articles on your website - you write very well, interesting and useful”)
• Introducing ourselves
• We voice a proposal (in this example it is cooperation)
• We reveal it - we show how the work proceeds, what is the benefit of the parties
• We provide the benefits of cooperation
• Introducing the company
• We end with a call to action (in the example, this is a request for a price list, or a discussion of individual conditions, or to receive samples). IMPORTANT: do not try to sell 3 options at once - choose one

This is a head-on selling option if the company does not have the resources for multi-way combinations. Multi-pass – what are they?

We are in social networks. There are a lot of opportunities to study your target audience. First, we can enter a person’s information field: like his posts, comment on them, etc. This is how we accustom him to our brand, to the fact that he has us.

Afterwards we can write a message, ask some intermediate question, communicate somehow, get to know each other.

And only after that, when the time comes, write an advertising message. By this point, the cosmetologist already knows us, so the advertising message can be warmer and more friendly. The chance that it will be read and responded to is much higher.

As you saw in the article, the perception of the Proposal depends on the text and the sequence in which we present the information.

To learn how to write selling texts and appeals, read the material “ATTRACT MORE CLIENTS IN THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY” (it is for cosmetologists, but it contains basic information: from how to develop an Offer to targeted techniques for strengthening the text).

Cosmetics and perfumes are among the top ten most popular products sold online. After household appliances, books, clothes and shoes, flower and pizza delivery. At the same time, breaking into this market is no longer as easy as it was initially. True success can be achieved if you love a particular brand or create your own production. Today, the procedure for creating creams and lotions has become much easier due to the availability of a wide variety of high-quality ingredients. That is why you can safely pay attention to the point of creating your own cosmetics. You can start with simple things like lip balms or eyebrow wax, and then expand the range. Fortunately, the country has no shortage of soap-making ingredients stores.

But, even if you don’t plan to create your own line of cosmetics, then you have every chance to conquer the market using our little tips. There are many advantages to selling cosmetics. Firstly, you can find a brand that you really like and sell only the products of one company, or even just one product. Secondly, you know the product so well that it allows you to provide professional advice. Thirdly, you don’t need to target the entire market and win a piece of the pie from companies that import mass-market products and have huge turnover. You find your niche where there is no competition at all. If you love a particular brand, you are unlikely to have difficulty finding customers and expanding your online store. And now the promised tips.

1. Find a product or a dozen products that you sincerely want to sell. As practice shows, if you love the product you are selling, then it is as if it sells itself. If you don't feel strongly about the product, it can really hurt sales. Especially at the first stage, when the network of clients has not yet been expanded and there are no sales. Your enthusiasm and ability to talk about a cosmetic product with fire in your eyes is the first and most necessary sales tool in the absence of an advertising budget. Do you have at least 1 product that you would like to sell? Get down to business, and later you can expand the range to 10-20 products. Remember that niche stores have one important advantage - they can be completely independent of assortment. You can learn to sell even one single product and make a business out of it.

2. Write at least 3 articles on products every week. This is simply a necessary condition for promoting the product. Content has been declared king, and even if you are going to use contextual advertising, you cannot do without content. It is written not only for search engines, but also for people. Content increases people's trust in your project, so it is an extremely important component in promoting any product.

3. Use contextual advertising. Even a budget of several tens of dollars can bring success in sales, provided that contextual advertising is used correctly. Learn to look for the most profitable words for promotion. Learn how to properly manage advertising budgets and get the best return on your investment - it will come in handy. Even with 10 dollars you can already start getting your first clients.

4. Conduct webinars and master classes. This is a great way to engage your audience and build trust. Nothing helps increase confidence more than conducting live master classes or webinars via the Internet. You can also record a master class on video and use it to constantly attract new audiences. One video can always work for your name, provided, of course, that it gives users valuable information.

5. Invite a good cosmetologist to visit. It is so important to take expert advice! Interview cosmetologists and makeup artists, indicate their real names and phone numbers. In general, agree on cooperation! Advice from a good cosmetologist will help you sell a lot more cosmetics. Professionalism is judged by the kind of consultations and advice a specialist gives. So take the trouble to find a good professional. If you manage to get a good interview and advice, your content will seriously increase your credibility.

6. Go to forums and niche blogs. There you can find the “hottest” and most prepared audience. People may buy from you immediately if you convey your unique selling proposition and it suits them.

7. Show that people are already buying from you and orders are coming in constantly. For example, take a photo of the number of orders you have packaged and couriered today. Such photo reports clearly show what people buy and order from you, that they can trust you, and that it’s worth trying to buy from you.

8. Take photographs of cosmetics and conduct experiments with them. Do you sell cream or organic shampoo? Wonderful. Try experimenting with them. For example, add a little white or blue clay to your shampoo. Take a photo of the recipe. Apply the cream as a mask. All this advice is very rarely something outstanding. But they show that your cosmetics can not only be safely stored in jars, but that they are a working tool for beauty and youth.

9. Show your face and record some video messages. Record at least 1-2 videos with your participation. All for the same trust. Without it there will be no sales, no matter how you look at it.

10. Find your USP and don’t forget to remind your audience about it. Finally, remember your unique selling proposition. Without a developed USP, you will not be able to tell the buyer why he should try your product. And it doesn’t matter how wide your range is.

Today, almost any product can be purchased on the Internet, and online store owners often make good money.

An example of a product that is sold online is cosmetics. Recently, selling cosmetics via the Internet has become an increasingly popular activity, so we can conclude that selling cosmetics online is a profitable business. Trading on the World Wide Web has many advantages that can be listed for a long time. For example, there is no need to rent an office or premises for a store; there is no need to spend money on security guards, sales consultants and other workers that might be needed. That is why young businessmen are increasingly asking themselves the question of how to open an Internet site and sell goods using it. It is worth knowing that for this you need to have cosmetics.

An interesting fact is that the niche of perfumery and cosmetics in the Russian segment of the Internet is represented by about a hundred stores, most of which are not working or do not receive any orders.

Analyzing the leading sites selling cosmetics via the Internet, it is worth knowing that their traffic is about 5,000-15,000 visitors per day.

Several dozen mid-level stores have approximately 30-40 orders per day. We should strive to achieve such indicators in our cosmetics sales business in the first six months.

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What is the cost of opening an online store selling cosmetics?

Opening a store on the Internet requires the following expenses:

• organizational costs for online;
• organizational expenses for offline;
• working capital;
• costs of maintaining the site every month.

It is worth understanding that there are two ways to create an online store:

• creating a website from scratch;
• launch on the basis of an existing company.

If the choice falls on the first option, all components of the listed expenses are important. If the website is created on the basis of a ready-made company, part of the offline costs can be eliminated, since some issues related to this have already been resolved. Costs can be reduced if the entrepreneur initially works from home and acts as an online store manager, and the goods are not purchased, but simply picked up from the supplier’s warehouse to order.

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Organizational costs for online

First you need to register a domain. The cost will depend on the zone that will be selected. "RU", for example, will cost approximately 500 rubles annually.

The next thing you need to order is an exclusive online store design. The cost of the design will be approximately 30,000-60,000 rubles.

In order to launch a store on the Internet, you will need to purchase an online store management system along with hosting and technical support. It is important to note that payments can be made either every month or once a year. Approximate costs are 2000-5000 rubles per month or 24000-60000 rubles per year.

Total costs - from 55,000 to 120,000 rubles.

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Organizational expenses for offline

The first thing you need to take care of is registering an enterprise in the form of an LLC. Then you will need to open a bank account, if you don’t already have one, and also deposit a minimum authorized capital of 20,000 rubles.

The next stage will be to organize the manager’s workplace, which should contain the following elements:

• laptop;
• printer (inkjet or laser);
• cash machine.

The cost of this equipment is approximately 40,000-60,000 rubles, depending on the selected manufacturers and type of printer.

The total offline expenses will be approximately 60,000-80,000 rubles.

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Working capital of an online store selling cosmetics

If it is planned to place about 1000 items on the site, of which about 75 are popular, then it makes sense to keep only the last ones in stock, and provide the remaining 925 to customers upon order.

If one item, for example, costs 1,000 rubles, and it needs to be purchased in at least two copies, the costs will be approximately 150,000 rubles.

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Monthly costs of running an online cosmetics store

General expenses will consist of the following items:

• rent of a small premises for an office-warehouse - 20,000 rubles per month;
• accounting support - 15,000 rubles per month;
• payment of utility bills for telephone and Internet - about 5,000 rubles every month;
• office expenses - 1000 rubles per month;
• payment for work performed by the manager (if such an employee is hired) - 25,000 rubles every month;
• contextual advertising - from 20,000 rubles per month;
• store promotion in search engines - about 20,000 rubles monthly;
• additional advertising experiments - another 10,000 rubles per month.

The total costs will be approximately 116,000 rubles.

At the very beginning, the owner of an online business can cope with the functions of an order manager and assortment and price manager on his own in order to save money. If the store develops and the number of orders increases, it is recommended to hire individual employees to perform the duties of managers.

Courier delivery is a separate cost item, but it is often included in the cost of the order. That is why, until an online store selling cosmetics organizes its own delivery unit, it is recommended to use the services provided by courier services that specialize in delivering goods from online stores.

It is worth noting that you can save money on some expense items if you want and need it. However, the minimum cost of creating a business selling cosmetics on the Internet is 100,000 rubles, and monthly maintenance costs start from 30,000 rubles. Price examples are given for Moscow.

The total costs of creating an online store may vary, so the amount must be calculated in each case individually.

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What needs to be done in order for an online store to pay off and generate stable income

In order for an online store to become self-sustaining, the amount of net profit must be no less than the monthly maintenance costs, taking into account all taxes and additional possible expenses.

For example, if to achieve payback the profit must be 1.5 times greater than all the above costs, we can conclude that the monthly profit should be about 170,000 rubles. In this case, the store will pay for itself.

If the average cost of one unit of goods in an online store is 1000 rubles, with a trade margin of about 70%, then in order to achieve payback, you need to sell about 400-440 goods per month, that is, about 20 goods every working day. To sell 20 products per day, site traffic should be about 2000 people per day.

Regarding advertising, it is worth saying that after the first few months of promotion, a situation may occur in which 40% of visitors will come on their own. This is due to personal recommendations from clients and repeat sales. The other 40% can be obtained through contextual advertising and search engine optimization, and the remaining 20% ​​will come from links on third-party sites. In this case, the conversion will be 1%.

In order to promote an online store at the initial stage, it is recommended to recruit as many users as possible who will receive their first positive shopping experience in the store. The quality of service must be monitored so that customers return and purchase other products.