[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
As always, my friends and clients circumstances encourages ideas for my Blogs. This week I had a couple of messages regarding products being found on the internet and/or amazon.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Why are we surprised? Why do we get so angry about our clients doing this? Why do we feel abandoned? Why do we feel offended?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
The real question should be…..Why are we being hypocritical?
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1534802218178{margin-top: 50px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2798″ img_size=”500×500″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” css_animation=”none”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
How many of you search the internet for products or items you are looking to purchase? Heck, as recently as this week I was notified by one of my Mfg’s that support me, a client of mine called them directly to bypass Centre for Beauty….hoping to get a better price.
I could take it personally and I guess that twang in my heart tells me I did for a moment. However, this particular Mfg. has integrity. They referred the client back to me.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1534802218178{margin-top: 50px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2799″ img_size=”500×500″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” css_animation=”none”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
I recently saw a post on FB where someone was inquiring about Autoclaves. There were a couple of recommendations to check on Ebay? Ebay?????? Really?????? My response was so quick, I didn’t have the chance to pull it back, but I just can’t wrap my brain around the idea of our own Industry piers recommending their fellow piers to check on Ebay or Amazon for products?
First of all, who stands by the product when purchased at these sights? Who is available to ask questions on usage? Who is there to help if you have any issues with the products or items you buy? The problem however, is bigger than that!
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1534802218178{margin-top: 50px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]We get angry and frustrated because we are losing Business. Yet, we have no problem telling our own to go and do the same thing, taking Business away from the food chain.
The bigger issue (although they are both big), we ALL have to support each other. There are many great Distributors in this market. Distributors are the backbone of this industry. Distributors are responsible for putting most of these brands in the hands of our Salons. And, for a Distributor like myself, we are responsible for educating and helping your Salons grow.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2800″ img_size=”500×500″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” css_animation=”none”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1534802238716{margin-top: 50px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
If we can’t be loyal to our own, how do we expect our clients to be loyal to us?
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]There was a great article I happened upon in Linked in last week. It talked about what many of us who have been in this Industry for a long time know as diversion.
Initially we would find a handful of our products on line. We knew they were diverted products and the Mfg’s did all they could to control it. Eventfully the Mfg’s became a part of it. The products found on line weren’t diverted, they were being sold directly from the source.
The point of the article, which I thought was great, was the remembrance of Industry Leaders at that time Educating for success. They Educated to connect. They educated to develop a future, to build a future for our Industry.
Every time you refer a fellow industry pier to “search on line”, you are disconnecting them from the Industry. You are destroying the opportunity of building a future.
This Industry is built on connections. We connect with our clients through making them feel and look beautiful. We know about their spouses, we hear about their children, we laugh with them, we cry with them. It’s what’s built the future of today.
We need to stop being hypocritical and practice what we preach. If you want your clients to stop shopping on line…..so do you. Support your own.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]So, how do we deal with our clients when they find a product on line, (which you sell) for a cheaper price.
- To begin with, it’s imperative for you to share with your client that YOU support the Mfg’s request of selling their products at the Mfg’s suggested retail price. It’s call Integrity!
- 2nd, explain that YOU offer education on the product (I hope you do), that YOU guarantee the product (I hope you do) and that YOU can promise your products aren’t old or out dated (I hope they aren’t)
- Build loyalty. Build your connections. I can’t help but think when you have that loyalty and you have that connection with your clients, they won’t want to go elsewhere.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]So, how do we deal with our clients when they find a product on line, (which you sell) for a cheaper price.
- To begin with, it’s imperative for you to share with your client that YOU support the Mfg’s request of selling their products at the Mfg’s suggested retail price. It’s call Integrity!
- 2nd, explain that YOU offer education on the product (I hope you do), that YOU guarantee the product (I hope you do) and that YOU can promise your products aren’t old or out dated (I hope they aren’t)
- Build loyalty. Build your connections.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]There are so many things going through my mind right now. I think if there is one thing that is left for me to say it would be this;
Please think before you speak. Think about the consequences, the people you may affect, the people who you inspire. If you are reading this you are our connectors, you are our Industry of today. Teach properly, Educate with integrity and help in developing our future.
Everything you say and do publicly has an influence on someone. Teach what is right, not what is easy.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”2087″ title=”CJ Murray, President”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Great article.
I got my answer in the form of my blog saved in a draft for more than i year now….hesitating to post it.
Because it is not to friendly and the “why” i go to Ebay and Amazon lol 😉
Email it to me???? love to see it.