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Beyond Services: Retail for Profit
15 Plays3 months ago
The Untapped Goldmine: Product Sales in Your Beauty BusinessAre you leaving money on the table? In this episode of Beauty and the Business, Renee Leone picks Damon's brain about a game-changing revenue stream for beauty professionals—product sales. Many beauty entrepreneurs focus only on services, but selling the right products can elevate your client experience and boost your bottom line.
From selecting high-quality, results-driven products to avoiding common pitfalls (like overstocking or liability issues), we break down how to integrate retail into your beauty business—without the risk. Whether you’re fresh out of school or a seasoned pro, this episode is packed with insider tips on maximizing your revenue while providing top-tier service to your clients.
🔹 Why product sales are a must-have for beauty professionals
🔹 How to recommend without "selling" (and still increase revenue!)
🔹 The dangers of white labeling your own product line
🔹 How to choose a high-commission, low-risk brand
🚀 Ready to add an effortless revenue stream to your beauty business? Tune in now!
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Transcript
Introduction to Beauty and the Business Podcast
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Beauty and the Business Podcast. I'm Renee Leone, a beauty entrepreneur, coach, and single mom who built a six-figure beauty business straight out of school. Now, I'm here to help you do the same.
00:00:17
Speaker
If you're ready to stop struggling and start scaling, you're in the right place. Let's turn your passion into profit. Hit play and let's build your beauty empire.
00:00:32
Speaker
Hi and welcome to Beauty and the Business Podcast. My name is Damon Roark, joined by my co-host and business partner, Renee Leon. Hey everybody. So today I'm really excited because I get to pick Damon's brain about an industry that he has completely crushed and this is product sales and why this relates to Beauty and the Business.
00:00:53
Speaker
um So Damon, tell me a little bit about the company that you started.
Damon's Product Sales Success
00:01:00
Speaker
So we have had Neora for 14 years. um It's completely medical grade.
00:01:10
Speaker
clinically tested products. um Yeah, mean, we just, every vertical that we're in, I'm sorry, every product that we launch and every vertical that we're in, we just make sure it's backed by science. We want to we want to give science-driven products, result-driven products, um and clean products on top of that. Everybody wants to use clean. Everybody, you know, they want clean products, but they also want results.
00:01:30
Speaker
And so we try to find that balance between clean and results, and then also just use quality ingredients. Yeah, and that's, you know, I've been using those products for eight years. It's actually how I met Damon. i love the fact that they're so simple and yet effective. It's kind of the perfect blend of science meets plant-based.
00:01:51
Speaker
That's kind of how I like to live my life. You know what i mean? Like little Botox here, little organic vegetables here called balance. So I
Missed Opportunities in Beauty Retail
00:02:01
Speaker
relate to it. That's so funny.
00:02:03
Speaker
But I think one of the biggest things when we started working together and we started working with we we started working with our clients is how many people don't have products on the shelves? It's such an untapped cash flow portion of your business.
00:02:16
Speaker
And typically, you know, I understand, especially especially if you're a beauty professional who has ah fresh out of school or maybe they are trying to go out on their own. And oftentimes a lot of skin care companies or hair care companies really want you to buy a pretty hefty amount to stock your shelves to be able to sell it in your establishment.
00:02:39
Speaker
And there's prerequisites for that. Usually you have to be a salon, have a cosmetology license or a nurse practitioner's license, just depending on how that specific company wants to market. And what I love about the products that we use is that it really is easy and accessible for everyone.
00:03:00
Speaker
If you can't stock the shelves, they do have product packs for retail sales. that If that's all you want to do, if that's the avenue that you want to take you can do that. um But they also have the option to do you like an affiliate link. Yeah.
00:03:16
Speaker
So I love that for young beauty professionals because oftentimes they don't have the cash to put down to stock their shelves and also guess what their clients might want right in the beginning of their business.
00:03:27
Speaker
I'll never forget the day that one of my new hairstylists here was approached by a product rep and it was a new hairline. And I personally never heard of it. Um, but it sounded great.
00:03:39
Speaker
It was plant-based, all the things you want to hear, all the marketing, you know, niches that you want to hear. And so they sold her the best value, which is around $3,500 or whatnot. Well, she didn't know to look into different options of how she could purchase these products. And a lot of the products ended up being for curly hair clients, but she doesn't have any curly hair clients.
00:04:02
Speaker
So what happened to that product? It was money wasted. They pitched that pack as, um you know, this much money, but you're going to profit this much in sales if you sold every single bottle of it. Right.
00:04:16
Speaker
But what happened was she had about 40% of those products that people didn't even like or they had to return. Yeah. And it really did a number on her business. So what did she do after that?
00:04:27
Speaker
She stopped selling products. No products. No
Importance of Product Sales for Beauty Professionals
00:04:29
Speaker
products. Yeah. And then you're putting the responsibility into your client's hands. So consider this then they get their hair done and it's a great platinum blonde, or maybe it's somebody with a lot of rich color that think she's added to it.
00:04:43
Speaker
And she's not telling them exactly what product to use and handing it to them and selling it to them out the door. They're going lie to your face. yeah They're going to go use their Drugstore. Yeah. I was trying not to, you know, drop labels, but,
00:05:00
Speaker
but they're going to go to Walgreens and they'll, they'll tell you that they're doing everything right. And maybe they're using pri plus a clarifying shampoo. slap of in And like, this makes, I'm fully aware. This makes absolutely no sense to Damon right now. He's like, what are you talking about lady?
00:05:15
Speaker
But my salon girlies know. So this good lady goes home and she's using clarifying shampoo and then they're upset with the results of their hair. And they're going to blame you. And this is why product sales in the salon is so important to guarantee that your clients have the ultimate result but when they're leaving the building.
00:05:34
Speaker
There's just so many things that you're just missing on, right? Like it's not like you're a gas station selling protein powder. Right. Have you guys ever seen that? it's it's It's you are a beauty professional and you want to have beauty products like you want to capitalize on everything it took to get your client in the door with as many really providing the best service possible.
00:05:55
Speaker
Like that's really what it comes down to. Provide the best service possible for your clients and build your business. Not selling product is the same as not using social media in my eyes.
00:06:06
Speaker
It's just, it's something you don't want to do. It's so easy to do and it's going to help your business tremendously. And if you don't do it, like you only have yourself to blame.
00:06:17
Speaker
And so I think that's the the first thing. And then like Renee was saying with, with providing your clients with the best service, like you're a beauty professional. When I go to my mechanic, Like I want my mechanic to give me aftercare instructions if there's something wrong, if something needs to be fixed, right?
00:06:33
Speaker
Like if I'm doing something wrong that's hurting my car, I want to know from a professional how I can not do that anymore. A beauty professional, when I go to a beauty professional, I want to know how I can extend the results. I just made a huge investment.
00:06:46
Speaker
Yeah. just ah If you don't tell them what they're doing, if you don't tell them how to have the best results, and obviously they're interested in it, they paid you for it. So you just have to make these recommendations. you don't have to push it on them. You're not selling anything, but you have to give them these options that are good options for them.
00:07:02
Speaker
Otherwise, they're just going to go do what they want. Well, think we've touched on this in the course several times, but it's providing like solutions to the problems and then solutions to the problem that the client doesn't even know that they might run into and getting ahead of it and communicating.
00:07:17
Speaker
Communication is key in this industry. So if you're doing 22-inch expensive hair extensions, hand-tied weft extensions on a client, and then trusting they're using the right ingredients properly,
00:07:28
Speaker
in their shampoo when they get home chances are they're not yeah so it's part of the job like they've it's almost disrespectful to not offer it to them at least you communicated yeah and and you're saying this is what i recommend and 80 of the time they're gonna say okay yeah if that's what you recommend i mean they're trusting you with their hair with their skin with their lashes whatever it is they are trusting your recommendations And you've got to get in the mindset is this is a business. yeah
00:08:03
Speaker
You run a business and part of business is making money. yeah And it's also ensuring that your clients have the best results possible that they can. So product sales, if you are.
00:08:15
Speaker
not sure of where to start there or what product lines. We know a great one.
00:08:22
Speaker
oh One of the best selling products from there is a last year. so like maybe you're a hairstylist and you're like, well, I don't, I'm not married to a shampoo line or I'm not married to a skincare line or i don't know what to sell.
00:08:33
Speaker
Everybody wants last year. yeah Like everybody, literally i'm I'm living proof of that. um But there's so many possibilities. Like, of things that you can offer to compliment your services and just to, you know, build that closer relationship with your clients.
00:08:48
Speaker
And you're kind of killing two birds with one stone. Yeah. Yeah. You're just expanding the amount of services you offer, the amount of value that you provide to them. Um, And just really showing them that you actually care also.
00:09:01
Speaker
Right. When you set yourself up as a professional and you treat your business yourself like a professional, and that means you treat your clients with but as as your professional clients, like they're not just your friends. Like if you don't tell somebody how to take care of something that you did for them.
00:09:17
Speaker
You're disrespecting there the sacrifice they made to come see you. yeah but You don't know what somebody went through. and You can say, well, that person's really wealthy. Well, at some point they made the money or somebody made the money, right? Somebody put time and effort and energy in and then they're giving that money to you.
00:09:33
Speaker
You want to respect that as much as possible. If you don't respect that by making recommendations, You're going to disrespect that and then you're not going to have clients. You're not going to have repeat clients. They're going to go to somebody else that does respect them enough to say, hey, this is the product you should use. And if they look it and say, i can't afford that. That's too expensive or or I can't buy it for whatever
Product Inclusion in Service Costs
00:09:53
Speaker
reason. That's fine.
00:09:54
Speaker
You still made the recommendation. great Sorry. No, no. I'm just saying you still you still did your job. I also would say if that's an issue that you're running into, then roll it into the cost of your service for first time clients.
00:10:09
Speaker
That's smart. That I do. So I'm a permanent makeup artist, paramedical tattoo artist. Aftercare is crucial. It is literally 50% of the turnout and that's in the client's hands.
00:10:21
Speaker
So in the beginning, I would tell them to go purchase certain things. Back in the day, we used to use like Aquaphor and baby wipes, cotton rounds or whatever. So i'm like, oh, I don't need to give that to them.
00:10:34
Speaker
What I found is if I didn't give them supplies, then they just weren't going to do it. yeah And so then I've developed, I found a line that I love, Bowler Aesthetics is who I use for all my aftercare. And i purchased that and it just lumped cost of my service. So I can ensure they're getting the best results.
00:10:50
Speaker
You can do the same thing with skincare. Maybe they get, you know, a cleanser to take home. At least, you know, they're doing the right cleanser at night. And that's included with every facial. There's a way to break that down tax-wise, payment-wise, to where like you're still getting reimbursed for that or you're able to allocate that appropriately.
00:11:08
Speaker
But if you're a lash artist, you should be, and someone comes to you for their first set of lashes and they've just spent $150 plus, you should be giving them the lash shampoo to take care of them appropriately.
00:11:19
Speaker
Or upselling them one at the end of the service. and that briefs So I've always had this question, Renee.
Risks of White Labeling Products
00:11:25
Speaker
When you're looking at, like, I've i've worked with a lot of, i mean, a lot of estheticians, a lot of beauty professionals over the last 20 years.
00:11:33
Speaker
ah Some of them have, like, their name on the bottle. Like, they go and white label their own bottle. Yeah. i never really So there's a few different things on this. if it's If it's not good enough to carry its own brand, but it is good enough for a white label, like ah that's ah one thing I don't understand is that it's not good enough to make it on on its own brand.
00:11:54
Speaker
right And then they go white label it. um The other thing is, like what happens when somebody has a reaction with a bottle that has your name on it? So this is something that, again, where social media can get to. You're looking at other and influencers, Instagram influencers. It might be lash artists or whatever that are putting their own label and selling to their clients. And that comes with liability. The minute you brand it you assume all liability. Do you have your ingredients listed on the bottle? No.
00:12:24
Speaker
That's a reason for someone to sue you if they have a reaction. How are they going to know what ingredients are in that bottle? How are they going to know what they reacted to? You assume all liability. For me personally, i am not going to ever white label product.
00:12:40
Speaker
um i That's why I choose to go with your product line because that product line assumes all responsibility. for any reactions and we've never had a reaction it's all really gentle skincare and stuff but um you really just got to be careful you got to be careful those are things that you know it sounds good but if you've got the money to back a proper product line and to put all the you know legal terms behind it it and make sure that you are
00:13:15
Speaker
prepared for that, then go for it. yeah But there's so much work that goes into product lines and product development for your own time. So if it's a lie, you're like, you're telling me if there's a ah liability attached to it that you're willing to accept, then go for it. But it's something that most overlook and it can be, it can really take down your whole entire business. Yeah.
00:13:37
Speaker
Well, let's, um I guess let's switch
Selecting the Right Product Lines
00:13:39
Speaker
gears a little bit. So if you're looking at a product line, And you try to evaluate what kind of product line you want to have or what you should be looking for in a product line.
00:13:48
Speaker
Let's really look like, what would you be looking for as a as a provider? Like what should everybody be looking for in a product? I want real results.
00:13:59
Speaker
I want testimonials. I want to know that there's a lot, there's product ropes that come through my salon constantly trying to sell me something. i want to see this actually works.
00:14:11
Speaker
I want to see that the product does what it says it's going to do. And I want to see client reviews. I want to, I want to make sure like when I'm selecting a line, Again, you've got to be careful with social media.
00:14:24
Speaker
There's a big push on, quote-unquote, medical-grade skin care and a big push on retinols. Well, do you know in your in your field, in your industry, are you an esthetician that does microblading and you're also pushing retinols? Because those two things don't go together.
00:14:41
Speaker
So reason that, again, I carry your line is because it's pretty safe across the board. Right. It's great for laser recovery. It has powerful ingredients. There's no micro dusting of and powerful ingredients and it's safe with permanent makeup, which I love. It's safe with lasers. There's no pausing use of this before a micro blade before we do lasers. yeah There's no, there's none of that. It's really like no guessing.
00:15:07
Speaker
So those are the main things that I looked for. And listen, I've looked everywhere. i have tried them all literally. um And I can't find anything better. Yeah. And then, so yeah of course you want to have something that's effective. You want to have something that actually works.
00:15:21
Speaker
You want to limit your liability. Look for something. It doesn't take a huge investment, but on the other side, you want to make sure you're making good commissions. Like if you're only making $3 for when you sell something you have upon yourselves, it's it's not worth it, right? No.
00:15:36
Speaker
No. um A good, a normal is 20%. So the brand that I get from you that I carry, it's a 50% plus. yeah And that's a huge margin. yeah And so that's something else that you want to factor into. Also, how many products is the consumer going to actually use?
00:15:55
Speaker
um And this more, I guess, we focus on skincare. You got to read the client. A lot of times clients want you to a question that I like to ask them is like, well, what do you currently use? yeah Okay. How many steps do you like? Like, tell me, because that's how I'm going to adjust my answer. I'm not going to give them 25 steps if they're used to doing one. Yeah.
00:16:15
Speaker
I might add in two or three and enhance their results, but really, you know, taking those questions with your client, getting to know your client, their lifestyle, things like that is important for product sales.
00:16:26
Speaker
Yeah. And you guys, one thing that we do cover in the community and we do cover in the course that you'll get when you join those is we have these conversations and we also have prompts.
00:16:36
Speaker
Like we also have, this is what you say, or like, this is something you could say. um You know, what what kind of products do you use now? Are you interested in in a new skincare routine?
00:16:47
Speaker
Are you happy with your current skincare routine? These are things you can say. you know When you say them, they'll come up natural. ah they'll They'll sound natural. But these are things you can say, just evaluate where they're at. If you can expand your your kind of your footprint with that client and help them more, then it's a great idea to do. it And we go over these very, very, very simple ways.
00:17:06
Speaker
To bring it up, we
Client Education and Product Conversations
00:17:08
Speaker
don't go over sales training. We're not going to teach you how to how to close somebody. We're going to teach you how to open up a relationship, open up a conversation. And if it's for them, cool. If it's not for them, cool.
00:17:18
Speaker
Like it really doesn't matter. you're Not everybody's going to go and buy products that you have on your shelves. They are there for you. They are there for the service that they originally booked. Anything else is ancillary. Anything else is is just something that you're not necessarily focused on, but you want to be ready for it when the time comes.
00:17:34
Speaker
You want to be ready to expand your footprint when you find somebody who's interested. You don't want to have to go send them to somebody else or go look up a link and send them a link. You want it to be something that you know, you like, you trust, and that you can recommend with full confidence.
00:17:48
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I think, again, just going back to the educating the client, laying it all out on the table, communicating it. If they don't pick it up right then, that's okay. But at least you did deliver the information to them. yeah So when they're looking in the mirror and they're saying, you know what?
00:18:03
Speaker
Damon told me that my boards were too big.
00:18:07
Speaker
And this is an issue we're dealing with. I'm going to get facials at once every two weeks. And then, you know, it looks great after she does it, my facial, but it's just, it fades away. Well, maybe I should go ahead and purchase that from her.
00:18:20
Speaker
So like they really do, they might, you know, they might be under husband's thumb. They've got a certain budget that they're trying to follow. You don't know how to balance somebody's checkbook, or you may assume that they're not willing to spend it because it might not be something that you're willing to spend your money on, but you can never balance somebody else's checkbook.
00:18:36
Speaker
If they're coming to you, they're desiring a better result. And the best way to ensure that they're going to get the best result is by taking control of what they're using on their hair, skin, lashes, whatever it may be of the service you're providing them.
00:18:47
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
Community and Resources Promotion
00:18:49
Speaker
Well, you we go over this and more on the on our community. So go on over to beautyinthebusiness.vip, www.beautyinthebusiness.vip.
00:19:01
Speaker
um You can check out our, we have a free planner there that you can download. We have our community and we have our course. We will see you on the next episode. a Hey, everybody. If you like what you heard today, join us over at beautyinthebusiness.vip.
00:19:19
Speaker
Again, that's www.beautyinthebusiness.vip. That's where we have our courses. That's where we have our community group. And we look forward to interacting with you over there. beautyinthebusiness.vip. We will see you on the next episode.