SALON’S SUCCESS REIMAGINED

In an exclusive interview with Priyanka Parshurami, Ankit and Subham Virmani, Directors, Esskay Beauty Resources, discuss their innovative ‘Being Growth Partners’ initiative, which aims at building a collaborative partnership with salons.

WHAT IS THE CONCEPT OF ‘BEING GROWTH PARTNERS’? HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM THE TRADITIONAL SALON PARTNERS?

Our industry forecasts an immense growth potential, not just for the brands but for everyone involved. We, at Esskay, believe that consistent growth happens only when you put the benefit of everyone involved at par. Our relationship with our salon partners goes much beyond the traditional vendor buyer affiliation. Our growth is directly proportional to the growth of our partners, hence the concept of being the growth partners. What helps in making this proposition credible is the premium portfolio of products, which promises a higher return and a substantial growth graph.

WHY IS THIS INITIATIVE IMPORTANT FOR THE INDIA SALON INDUSTRY?

With an infinite number of players, the professional salon industry in India is highly cluttered. Fortunately, every player has an audience to cater to and a share of the pie. However, what is missing is trust and dependability. With this initiative, we hope to fill that void by positioning ourselves as the most trusted name, which is dependable during good as well as bad times.

Evolution is a communal attribute, which can never be sustained for long a term, if you are working in silos. We come from a background where building, nurturing and retaining relationships comes naturally to us.

WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT AND RESOURCES WILL YOU PROVIDE UNDER THIS INITIATIVE?

We aspire to become a ‘one-stop-solution’ name for our partnering network of salons. We have adopted an inclusive approach, with capacity building and colearning as our forefront crusaders. We come on board as 360-degree growth partners. We conduct educational programmes to train our partners on the usage of the products. We continue to support them for any requirement of visual merchandise, awareness creation or salon marketing and help them in acquiring more business by various in salon activations.

In our 22 years of experience, we have identified the pain points of salons and have devised a support system, which enables us to be a part of their team and face these challenges together. There are business scenarios that require a uniquely crafted and a more tailored approach. With our team of experts, we are able to come to their rescue.

DO YOU OFFER EDUCATION AS PART OF THIS INITIATIVE?

We have a team of experienced hair and skin care professionals who are dedicatedly working towards various skill development initiatives planned throughout the year. This encompasses seminars, in-salon training and exclusive master classes to train and upgrade the expertise of the salon staff.

In order to celebrate our long-standing relationships with salon partners, we have also devised an Esskay Loyalty Program that aids our salon partners around the year.

WHAT ARE THE KEY CHALLENGES YOU FORESEE IN IMPLEMENTING THIS INITIATIVE?

The biggest challenge we foresee is creating awareness of the wide portfolio of product range that we offer and convince our salon partners to pick us as their one-stop-solution. Since ours is a fragmented industry, sometimes reaching out to the partners, through their most convenient channel, gets difficult. Moreover, at times, we also face situations where the fear of experimenting in the minds of salon partners and switching to a new brand, poses a challenge.

WHAT ARE YOUR LONG-TERM GOALS FOR THE INITIATIVE?

Professional salon industry faces a high attrition rate, which can sometimes scale to as high as 50 per cent. We try to assist our salon partners by regularly conducting staff retention seminars to bring this figure down. We also become a helping hand to support them in their marketing and branding efforts and put them on a larger map.

PBHJ