Sales Force Grows Younger For Mary Kay
As Mary Kay Inc. begins hosting 30,000 women for seminars in Dallas over the next three weeks, the company sees a younger sales force as a way to attract younger customers – taking on makeup rivals like Avon's younger sister brand, mark., and trendy mall staple Sephora. Company sales have gone up 13 percent in the past year, even with the recession, and the fastest growing age group of women selling and purchasing the products is between 24 and 35. Not only is Mary Kay trying to compete with other cosmetic stores, but employees find jobs with Mary Kay to be more stable. "I wanted something that was secure, something that was recession-proof," said Rebecca Beckford, 25, of Addison. "In this business, you can control your own career."
To read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-MaryKay_22bus.ART0.State.Edition1.4d61cb7.html
How important do you think business experience is versus personal opinion for selling products like cosmetics?
As a customer, especially for something like cosmetics, I love having someone advise me on what to use from experience. However, I also wonder if beyond the customer relations, if business wise perhaps personal experience can't take you very far. From my knowledge, Mary Kay is much more about seller/customer relations, though, so in this situation I think younger employees with more personal experience makes a lot of sense since the main goal is to get younger buyers.