Beauty is a tactile and experiential category, and the lifeblood of the industry has been an army of talent on the front line—educating, creating experiences, and making sales happen. Scotty Ferrell is one of those rock stars that make retail magic happen.
Your career in the beauty industry is deeply grounded in being on the front line for beauty brands making the crucial connection with beauty advisors and the consumer. Can you share your beauty backstory?
Yes, I started by falling in love with Payot skincare and makeup because it fixed my adult acne. When I moved to Miami in 1994, I got my first makeup artist job working behind a large Payot counter at JCPenney. I got very lucky because at my first event all my appointments came with full face makeup, so I learned by taking a little bit off and putting a little more back. The amazing women I worked with pushed me to start freelancing for big makeup events and my career really began to grow from there. All the major brands at Miami’s Dadeland Mall had multimillion-dollar counters where I improved my skills and learned a lot about servicing customers.
Were there leaders around you in the organizations you worked for that empowered your growth? What did they teach you? Was there a specific person?
Bill Parks, Account Executive for Trish McEvoy, gave me my first big break because I was creating large events selling Trish at a little independent beauty store on South Beach. After seeing me in action, Bill put Trish McEvoy on the phone and I was told to go to Henri Bendel’s in NYC if I wanted to be on her national team. I proved to Trish that I could put people in the chair and sell. Trish trained me hands-on herself, and I learned how important the half-face technique is to really improve the client’s makeup skills and their happiness about their look. Trish McEvoy personally asked customers to show her their makeup bags with their products and gave them advice. I carried on this tradition to respect the client and never tell people to throw everything they like to use away.
You clearly have that intangible quality that inspires teams in-store and makes sales happen. It’s a skill that comes naturally to some. Can you share a bit of your secret sauce with us?
I can’t help but exude pure excitement talking to people about their makeup and skincare. I know I have to awaken this same feeling and listen to Beauty Ambassadors remembering to always compliment their strengths. When I perform in-store appearances, I make certain that I don’t take all the oxygen out of the air but supply real care and concern for customer happiness.
The confluence of beauty tech, DTC hype, and influencers shifted the focus away from the importance of the front line in retail stores. I believe they were always and remain one of the most important pieces of retail success. For the consumer, they are the face of your brand, in that store, at the moment. What advice do you have for brands to harness the full potential of beauty advisors or freelance retail support?
The best advice I have is to make sure that the beauty advisor actually loves your products and uses them. Brands have to invest in this relationship and be included in the conversations about the successes that happen on the floor. Know your people and know the names of their number-one customers.
Two of my favorite COVID innovations are how innovative brands like Credo and Deciem have pivoted their retail teams to support DTC initiatives and the emergence of technology to enable and empower these teams. Can you share your thoughts on the new and perhaps expanded role of retail teams?
Makeup and skincare sales come from personal discovery and are guided by conversations with an emotional investment. This is the power of the team approach in creating relationships with customers. Having a Customer Consult area to have these conversations is key to servicing customers with products that accomplish their needs.
There will be an end to the current crisis we find ourselves in and I believe brick-and-mortar retail will look different, but it will remain an important piece of the beauty revenue equation. What do you think post-COVID beauty retail will look like?
I foresee clients being able to use a makeup app on their phones to schedule counter appointments, and working with their personal face chart digitally at the counter or remotely to add to their look for product pickup orders.
How do you envision the role of the beauty advisor in a post-COVID world?
I think the beauty advisor is such an important job because it’s the relationship with their clients that drives sales. Beauty advisors need a new digital client book that shows their client’s selfie/face chart listing all their products on one page. Beauty advisors should be able to coordinate client purchases by categories because they will know their customer’s day look from their night look.
Can you share a bit about your new venture Face My Makeup app?
Face My Makeup app is a digital customer consult for people to share and remember their makeup and skincare products. It is reality-based for customers to create a makeover video, selfie, and face chart using new makeup or makeup they already own. The goal is to make it easier for people to buy makeup they love or create new looks. Let’s face it, it is hard to remember the exact names, shades, and brands of all our favorite beauty products.
You’ve built your career in the beauty industry—what is your favorite thing about the industry?
It may sound cliché, but I love connecting with customers so they can see the beauty in themselves. I am my most authentic self when I guide people helping them learn more about their personal style and what products are going to work best for them.
If you could change one thing, what would it be?
This question is at the heart of being heard. I believe e-commerce must change for beauty customers and I want to be a part of this process. The industry right now is too focused on selling new products to new customers. Servicing customers by knowing what products they are currently using and are loyal to is part of the change I seek.
