ACCORDING to McKinsey, the worldwide beauty and wellness sector is worth more than US$1.5 trillion (RM6.63 trillion), with annual growth of 5%-10%. Over time, the notion of beauty has evolved, with total wellbeing taking centre stage. Consumers today see wellness through a much wider and analytical lens, including not just beauty and appearance but also fitness and nutrition, with overall physical and mental health as a personal objective.
Despite its growth, the sector is beset with problems. Negative sales strategies include gimmicky hard selling practises, emotional blackmail, and body shaming. In the process, these techniques put the client under pressure and intimidate them, resulting in sales but a terrible image of the industry as a whole.
The beauty business received the most customer complaints, according to the Consumer Association of Singapore, when compared to other industries. Among other things, the industry’s employment of aggressive sales practises was identified as a cause. Last month, beauty and wellness brand Beauty & Co. hosted an event titled Selling with Love, teaming with worldwide speaker and author of the book Selling with Love: Earn with Integrity and Expand Your Impact, Jason Marc Campbell, to address the key issue.
Campbell believes that we must propagate and share knowledge on the value of responsibility in how we sell, how we market, how we treat our employees, and even how businesses invest their money. “This applies to any industry, but is particularly rife in beauty and wellness,” he said. Beauty & Co. CEO Yap Yann Fang also stated at the event: “Hard selling is a major issue in the beauty and wellness industry. The tactics may result in short-term gains, but over time, damage the reputation of the industry at large.
