Kate: So I am all about saving money where I can but should that perk be something everyone can access? Bare with me for a minute whilst I am unpick this a little more… So when you first start out, money is tight… you pray to the social media gods daily, respond to every enquiry with absolute precision and unbelievable response time but then the booking hits your inbox and the task of ‘stocking up’ hits you like a brick.. you buy for the bookings as you’re not in a position to have a flashy tower of filler basking away on your high gloss workspace.. Then you look at the established businesses around the corner benefiting from free 5 boxes with every 10 bought.. even awarded with tags of genius on the back of their buying power… as if buying more stock ultimately equates to being an injecting genius…The ever looming sense of inadequacy and imposter syndrome creeping up at every breath- food for thought if nothing else.. Surely the industry as a whole would benefit from maybe giving a little help to those fighting away with every breathe for every enquiry with a vision of being in a position to benefit from the bogof deals so readily available to everyone else.. #REALTALK @nursesStnKate
Grace: It isn’t until you start in aesthetics that you realise how strong the competition is, and we aren’t just talking about your local competitors here. Every pharmacy, filler manufacturer and product rep all want a piece of the action. When did the industry become so fixated on figures? Probably long before I joined seven years ago. You soon realise the benefits you get from ordering high quantities, the more you order the more attractive they make your reward. You soon watch your unit price decrease, your local rep now wants to be your best friend and suddenly there’s a whole host of free training days they would love you to attend? The catch I hear you say? You have to continue ordering a minimum amount of units per month or all of your fancy perks are snatched from under your feet. The problem I have always found with this, the more you order = the more procedures you are performing per month. Is it really those that are ordering in the hundreds that require the ‘free hands on training?’ Surely if you are performing that amount of procedures you should already be adequately trained? OR is it those that are first dipping their toes into the world of aesthetics that require the most support and training? Who need their reps to be bombarding them everyday offering advice and training days?
Let’s think about a different approach, why don’t we focus on helping those who are first starting out to become competent and confident injectors? This will not only benefit the practitioner, but their patients therefore increasing the filler sales. Let’s celebrate and support those who are brave enough to start out in this industry by providing affordable unit costs and complimentary training from the get go and not just as a reward to those who have already made it.When do figures and finances stop becoming the ceilings to our success?#letsbreakthecycle @nursesStnGrace
Megan: When I first started my aesthetic journey 2 years ago I knew it wasn’t a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. You had to save HARD and work even harder to become a confident, competent injector. Investing thousands of pounds into training, I always wondered how on earth other practitioners were offering treatments at a price that I just couldn’t even imagine offering the same treatment at? How were they doing it? Why couldn’t I offer the same? Then I got my first discount after ordering a certain amount at a pharmacy. It was like someone had switched a light on, finally I could see how it worked. More buying power=more discounts. You get awarded for loyalty, just like Tesco . I also could never see why if I was using certain products I was never being promoted by a company, surely they liked that a confident, competent injector was utilising their product and promoting them for free on my platform? Nope. Not until you’ve done your due diligence, met with your local rep and promised to buy up your share of product. Only then will they promote and share your work, and even offer to train you . It makes you wonder, if Alan sugar invested into aesthetics, bought 70 boxes a month but never injected anybody…would he be awarded a ‘clinic of excellence’? Nevermind spending thousands on training. The struggle often disheartens new injectors and sometimes even leads them to turn to fake sellers to try to compete with big companies offering crazy deals they can’t match. Is the cost of trying to keep up worth the safety of patients? Is the industry investing money and time into practitioners at the wrong time in their career? Surely we should be helping new practitioners grow. Not putting more money into the pocket of those who have already ‘made it’. #cashdoesntbuycompetence @nursesStnMegan
One Response
Great discussion!
I didn’t even know this was a thing until a few months back when a girl on a training course (big following and name) was chatting about stock, we used the same brand, order from the same company but I was paying around a third more than what she was!
Id had no contact from any reps, where as she had monthly calls and promotions, also been invited on training days from the company and given incentives and free stock to try. I had been using them for over a year and nothing (probably ordering around 40 to 50 items a month at this stage).
I decided to look for another brand to try and have had great support from the current ones i use.