Should an esthetician sell/use Rodan and Fields? Your opinions would be much appreciated!!
As an esthetician I have been approached many times by consultants trying to recruit me to sell Rodan and Fields. My response to them has always been "I am an esthetician. I only use professional products." I cannot sell products to people if I have not had them under the mag light and analyized their skin. The consultants are told they are selling professional products. They do not understand the hard stance I am taking. I am very polite however i am firm. To me, it is a matter of integrity. I don't believe a product line can be sold by people who are not a dermotologist or an esthetician. I understand the line was created by dermatolgists but these clients are not sitting in their chair getting a dermotogist recommendation. They are getting a home consultants recommendation based on what the client tells them. How many times have you have someone tell you what their skin type is only to get them in your chair and find out something totally opposite? I believe they have the right to sell their multi-level marketing products just like mary kay and avon however mary kay and avon doesn't try to get me to sell their skin care line. My question to my peers is this. Am i thinking of this the right way? I'm come to find out that there are many estheticians who do sell this. Am I wrong? They use it in their room and they retail it. While that may be fine because they are looking at the clients skin, to me it sends a message that if she's using it, it must be good so lets all go buy it and we don't even have to waste our money on an esthetician doing our facial. Plus, I"m not sure what the commission is but it's probably not 100% markup which is what the retail we sell typically is. I would just like to hear your thoughts on the issue. I was approached again last week. I gave her my speech but told her I would research things and get back to her. I have been wrong before and I will admit it if I"ve made a mistake about this. Your opinions, please!!!!
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Denise Ivers on
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Hi Regina,
Yes, in my opinion you are on the right track.!!
Is this the same maker of ProActiv? If so I would definately stay away from this product line.
Last year I was retailing a MLM product line called Beauty Society. I was sold on the "paraben free, sulfate free" products they have and products could be ordered in refill form. The company is relatively new and boasts that they are a "green" company which I liked. I was suprised when they showed up to the IECSC last year in Vegas. MLM companies are allowed at the conferences but I don't think this is appropriate. I'm in my 3rd year as an Esthetician so I am still a newbie and learning how to go about gaining clients, finding the best products etc....
I am no longer retailing this line and here are my reasons.
I agree with you that if just anyone can sell the product line, you truly cannot call it a professional line at least the way we interpret "professional". From what I've heard from other estheticians, these MLM products do not have the strength of active ingredients to really make a dramatic difference. I know this to be true since I've changed my product lines to PCA Skin, my clients have had amazing results for treatment of acne, rosacea and hyperpigmentation.
To be successful in this type of business you have to recruit others to get in under you and do the same. The typical MLM business model. You make your money based on your group sales and some bonuses for recruiting and achieving certain levels. As my clientele grew and I got much busier, I didn't have time to devote to "spa parties" or recruiting. Another negative for me was that they don't have back bar sized products.
Most importantly, I think that as estheticians we need to provide our clients with the best professional skin care lines and there are many out there to choose from. My reputation means everything to me and I felt that I wanted to provide my clients with exceptional products that they could only get from a skin care professional.
As far as retail income, I make much more than I ever did selling the MLM products. When selling with this type of business model (MLM) there is no 100% markup, you make a commission on what you sell based on your total sales and your "level" in the business. The way it worked with Beauty Society is customers could order from your website that is hosted by the company, they ship the product (you don't have to stock) and the customer gets their product in a few days. This system lacks a personal touch for those that do not attend spa parties and like you said, customers are often incorrect in diagnosing their own skin type/condition.
I'm sure that many would disagree with our opinion as it seems we feel the same about this issue.
Hope this helps!
Denise
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Permalink Reply by Mary Turner on
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Bottom line for me is: if a non professional is able to sell it to customers, than a professional should have nothing to do with it. It cheapens your education and hard work !
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Permalink Reply by Jodi on
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I've been approached a few times as well to sell this line, and have considered it, but always said no in the end. The fact that these are the same people that created ProActiv scares me, because I've heard nothing good about that line. I get alot of acne clients in my chair that tell me they used ProActiv and it did nothing. Not to mention other professionals reviews of the product. But I keep seeing magazines like Allure and shows like the Today show endorsing Rodan + Fields antiaging line, and it bothers me. I work in a unique setting where our salon is in a retail area, so we sell other lines other than what I use professionally, and I can't tell you the amount of people who swear by lines like Philosophy and Hydroxatone, just because they see it on TV all the time. So I wonder how many people will use this line just because it's being so heavily endorsed. I would love to see the ingredients, and find out if it really would work. But their track record with ProActiv makes me very leary of this company.
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Permalink Reply by Brenda Griffin on
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Any products available to the masses have less efficacy than those that are sold only through authorized professionals. Therefore, they do not produce the same results. Yes, Pro Active was created by two dermatologists and they have a huge market but it is only 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide and professional BP is 5% or higher. I have many clients who tried Pro Active and reported to me that it worked for a while and then stops. This is due to the low efficacy of it.
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Permalink Reply by Jami amidon on
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Not all products, professional and OTC are created equal. Since the additional discoveries of how cells communicate with the gnome project in 2004, scientists have learned A LOT about ingredients and delivery methods. The companies who can compete in that research arena are the winners of the product development game. Participating at that level requires a tremendous amount of capital and many skin care lines, including the "professional" lines cannot afford that higher level of research. Marketing/advertising is how they compete.
While R and F is not my choice for several reasons, the whole MLM bash is in my opinion, holding people back from a huge opportunity to really create significant income because it is fear based. This generation is experiencing a paradigm shift in thinking in the way companies are doing business. This distribution method simply takes the middlemen out of the equation. For example, do you remember how short a period of time it was that the avg household even used the internet for online purchasing? If my memory is correct, it was around 1999 that internet sales exploded, now everyone does their shopping online with no issues. That same shift of thinking is happening with this distribution method.
Personally, I have structured my aesthetic business to include both and educate the client about the products accordingly. I am consistently booking 30-35 appts per week ( My Hybrid MLM has contributed to this significantly), too many appts for me really- but that is another story.... My team across the country is properly representing the line to the point that I could almost walk away from my aesthetic business if I wanted to and certainly would have no issue if I broke my wrist and needed to take 6 months off of work. We have earned trips,(this year we are all going to Atlantis in August- Yay!) cars, Tiffany jewlery, flowers, and on........ Have you ever represented a company who said thank you so often? I will say this though, people who enter that type of business with only themselves in mind should definitely expect to not do well. If it was easy, it would be sleazy.
I told my husband the other night that an aesthetician bashing a product line because it is an MLM makes as much sense as a college degreed person bashing an aesthetician for only going to "beauty" school.
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An afterthought to the previous comment..... I hope my comments won't be taken personally, I mean only to speak in generalities, not intended to offend anyone. It is a common misconception because there are so many companies and products that should not be represented by professionals. I was fortunate to land with a great one and also have teenagers with friends who want to consider cosmetology or aesthetics and their other friends are telling them to avoid the industry because they are too smart for "that". so frustrating to hear!
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Permalink Reply by Gina Williamson on
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I appreciated your input, Jami. Thanks!
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Here is my chosen approach to this issue- carry the products you believe in.
If you believe that you can only serve your clients best with "professional only" products, then that is how you operate.
If you believe you have found a fabulous, cutting edge product that you know is exceptional, and it happens to also be produced by a MLM or direct sales approach, then by all means offer it to your client.
Yes the proverbial Aunt Betsey might be selling it on the corner, but she might also be selling Obagi on ebay- so regardless of what product you choose to carry, IF you believe in it, your clients will trust you, and will buy it from YOU.
Professional product does not guarantee that you will get sales- they may simply take your list of recommendations and go home and get online, and you've just been undercut by 40%.
I think the key here is to offer to your clients what you believe to be the best product for their particular situation. That is our unique position. We are in the expert seat. So whether it be Arbonne, or Rodan & Fields, or Obagi- do you know it's right for your client, and can you help them make the best choices that they will actually carry on with at home? That is being a professional.
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Permalink Reply by Kathy Cecchin on
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Smart Girl Gina!
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GREAT feedback Gina!
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Permalink Reply by Nondy Llewellyn on
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Ah, here comes my dual personality again.
My basic answer is that I think it is not a good idea to promote any MLM within the professional realm. Not because, as I have heard before, their products are "crap". Some are, some aren't. It's because you are promoting two different business models simultaneously. In order to build a successful MLM, you need to view everyone as a possible "prospect" or "recruit", and that is not why someone is coming to see me as a professional esthetician.
From a product standpoint, there is no way a smaller professional skin care company can compete with the financial power of a company (in this case, Nu Skin) that does 1.2 BILLION in annual sales, and can afford to pay for research from Duke, UCLA, Stanford, etc. It is obviously true that there is no way there can be what we consider "therapeutic" actives that must be administered by a professionally trained skin therapist in MLM products sold to the mass market.
In MLM, the money is made by building a network of reps who buy from the company and the company in turn gives you back a small percentage of your rep's purchases. In Direct Sales more money is made by actually selling retail to the public (up to 50%), and you also can get a smaller % of your rep's sales. In MLM, less is made by retailing to an end-line consumer, (usually 20-30%), and more by buildong a network. BTW, there is nothing wrong with this business model. In its purity, it is completely appropos to make money this way. I believe it is fine to have different streams of income, but I would keep them separate from my professional "gig". I could write a book, but I won't for now.
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