Word of mouth does us the power of good

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Before Queen Cosmetics dipped its toe (delicately) into the murky waters of marketing and advertising some 18 months ago, our traditional means of reaching new customers was via word of mouth. This does remain one of the the most powerful ways of gaining new clients. If a friend looks good, you want to know how they've done it. And if that friend has always had rather sensitive or problem skin, you want to know how they suddenly look so radiant!

We operate from a farm which is located on a private road with lots of large detached houses. There is no sign on the road to indicate the different businesses working from the farm 'estate' so it is not a surprise that inhabitants of the road don't know we're here. A recent new customer who lives in a nearby village has been spreading the word about Queen, however, and it seems she has worked her magic on our 'neighbours'. "I can't believe you're here. I've lived in this road for 21 years and had no idea," a lady telephoned in. "Can I come down and try some products. I'm desperate to find a range to suit me."

She spent an enjoyable half an hour hearing about the range and bought lots of samples, including for her daughter. "I can't wait to try them. My friend looks so wonderful, I just had to know what she's using. I will let all my other friends know about you." Fingers crossed she likes them as she would be a fabulous advert for the range - attractive, fun, bubbly and engaging.

Another friend of Queen, a local osteopath who uses our Theatrical Cleansing Cream as a massage cream (it does a great job and is fabulous for any kind of osteopathic or other therapy which involves deep tissue massage as it is solid until contact with the skin when it melts - this saves on wasted oil and on stains on clothes and flooring and, because it is perfume-free, it is suitable for use on all clients) is also proving a wonderful PR agent for us. This week alone, she has recommended the products to three of her clients. Being very discreet, she only mentions them if her patients bring up the subject of sensitive skin.

Yet another woman called this week because someone she met while walking her dog had recommended the products to her! Often, those people who have been recommended the products by friends don't even have sensitive skin but are looking for products which really do work.

So, it seems we need to find ways to encourage all of our clients to tell their friends. We have in the past suffered from a syndrome where some women don't want to tell their friends their 'secret' so perhaps we can incentivise them in some way.

We've had yet more emails this week from women who are really struggling to find skincare/make-up products for their sensitive skin.

Says a lady from Scotland:

" I am unable to find a skin care product I am not allergic to. I desperately need some moisturiser, especially around the eye area. I have now seen a dermatologist, who said I should try 'ointments' rather than creams as these tend to be 'cleaner' products, and there would be less chance of an allergic reaction. I am 44 and really want to look after my skin. The only thing I can put on my face is Weleda moisturiser, but this is very light and I don't really feel it is doing any good. I recently spent a small fortune on a range of Boots No' 7 products, but they agreed to give me a refund after a severe reaction to them."

From further correspondence with her, it seems she can use perfumed products with extracts and essential oils which is very unusual as these tend to be the key irritants for sensitive skin. I do hope we can find something to suit her.

And so to our weekly stint at John Bell & Croyden where Queen products are continuing to sell well and to gain new followers. Eye Make-up Remover, a lovely gentle product which removes even stubborn make-up and is suitable for the most sensitive eyes and contact-lens wearers, was the flavour of the day for some reason.

Many sales reps were complaining that it had been a quiet week. It was therefore even more pleasing that Queen products had been selling at a decent rate. I met a lovely actress called Georgina Hain who is apparently a regular John Bell customer. We had quite a long chat about the number of famous thespians she had worked with and about her work with a children's charity which necessitated a visit to Luxor in Egypt next week. Not one to miss an opportunity, I gave her some Queen samples and assured her that they would be very useful in all that heat.

Another interesting 'sampler' was a Mrs Macmyllan-Reid who now lives in Gstaad in Switzerland. She talked a lot about Oscar Wilde and the fact that she owns some of his old furniture. Perhaps she is related in some way to him! She said she would introduce the Queen range to what she considered suitable outlets in both London and Gstaad. We keep our fingers crossed.

At the end of the day, a lady came in looking for Crow's Cremine, a make-up remover which is no longer stocked in John Bell. We have gained many new customers due to the disappearance of Crow's as our Theatrical Cleansing Cream is an excellent substitute. The lady's name was Lyn Joesph who told me she runs a fashion PR company, the eponymous Lyn Joseph PR (www.lynjosephpr.com). She was very complimentary about the Queen packaging and the more I told her about the company, the more interested she became. Despite my best efforts, she didn't buy a Theatrical, preferring quite rightly to try her free samples first. I did encourage her to come back next week if she liked them. Again, my fingers are crossed. And perhaps she will tell all her friends (and beauty writers, journalists, fashionistas etc!). As US advertising guru William Bernbach said 'word of mouth is the best medium'.

Have a good weekend.

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Long live Queen!

Our recent advertisements which have appeared in the national and trade press have led not only to new customers discovering Queen but to old customers coming back into the fold. The problem of having done little to no marketing for some 30 years is that clients who may have used the range many years ago – buying our beauty products for sensitive skin from small independent pharmacies which were subsequently swallowed up by the big chains – think we have gone out of business!

‘Are you the company which used to sell its products in a store in Wigmore Street in London?’ one lady asked yesterday. I told her that yes, we are and we still do sell our products in John Bell & Croyden. ‘I knew it,’ she said. ‘I used to work in the fashion business in London and a colleague of mine swore by your Suntan Lotion and used to make pilgrimages to John Bell & Croyden to buy bottles of it each summer.’ She was interested to try the products herself and was keen to pass on our details to a friend of hers who suffers with sensitive skin.

Another lady from Worksop in Nottinghamshire writes by email:

“I have just discovered (with pleasant surprise) that Queen cosmetics are still available. I won't bore you with a long story, but in 1947 I developed a very severe allergy to lipstick and was directed (by my doctor) to a chemist - Boutall's in Lambs Conduit St, London, where I became a sort of guinea pig. Eventually, Boutall's solved my problem by identifying the substance – Eosin – that I was allergic to. Unfortunately, the choice of lipstick colours available in those days, was very limited.

“Many years later, a few more cosmetic companies came on the scene, and I drifted from one to another and finally ended up with Almay. I am now finding it difficult to locate Almay, (I believe they have been acquired by an American company and I am, consequently 'lipstickless'). I am delighted to see your web page but do not find it easy to get a clear idea of the colours available. Would you be good enough to send me a colour chart so that I can place an order, which hopefully will answer my (desperate) need. Innoxa 22 was successful, but disappeared years ago. Boots No.7 range, Clinique and Dr.Hauschka do not work for me at all. I do have quite a problem.”

Far from being bored, we just love to hear these stories. Queen has an interesting history and it is great to hear from people who were part of this. The company was started in 1927 by three Harley Street dermatologists who, along with a pharmacist at Boutall’s (a pharmacy which had a branch in Southampton Row which overlooked Queen Square, hence the Queen name, and a branch in Lambs Conduit Street at the other end of Great Ormond Street) began to develop, and sell via the pharmacies, products for very sensitive skin. Boutall’s, in conjunction with the dermatologists, worked with clients to identify the substance(s) to which they were allergic and were able to recommend existing products or develop suitable new products. The forties and fifties were Queen’s heyday and the range had a large following among wealthy young women. Oh, that lady from Worksop has ordered her lipstick. We hope she doesn't stray again!

One of these young women was Raine Spencer, then the Countess of Devonshire (and who later on became Princess Diana’s stepmother). She has remained a loyal customer. In fact, she sent us a lovely note a few months ago, saying ‘I am such a fan of Queen. I have used it for over 30 years – the Foundation Cream, Skin Food and Eye Cream are essential. Thank you making creams really non-allergic.’ Skin Food was the old name for Skin Cream. It had to be changed when trading standards officials of the day said case people might think it really was a food!.

Back to the present day, it was time to visit John Bell to do our weekly promotional stint where we give out samples of products such as our Queen Medicated Cleansing Lotion and Queen Moisturiser and tell unsuspecting shoppers about the range.

I was rather worried that the large consignment of products we sent up last week to fill the empty shelves might not have made its way onto the shop floor. I need not have worried. All the shelves were beautifully stocked and stacked. Despite having sold Queen Cosmetics skincare and make-up products through John Bell for 60 years, the range has for many years been bought by loyal, longstanding customers alone. With no advertising or PR to alert the uninitiated to the benefits of the range, new customers have come via word of mouth or luck. As a result, until two years ago the products didn’t really have their own shelf space but were kept in a special drawer. Now, however, all that has changed. With our recent promotional activities, sales are up by 50% on the year and now, not only do we have a decent amount of shelf space, but we have just been allocated a special cupboard for surplus stock! What can I say?! Previously, products would languish down in the cavernous warehouse where they were impossible to find. Irate customers would be told that the system showed stock was available but that no one could locate it. But not any more!

For the second week running, I was unable to spy any famous faces. What a shame. Still, with plenty of nice customers to chat to and Queen products selling well, I can’t complain.

Right, it is time to get the orders dispatched. We are frantically filling jars of Moisturiser and bottles of Medicated Cleansing Lotion as we have had a run on these and have had to make new batches.

Have a good weekend.

Selling like hotcakes

We are in the midst of the usual end-of-week flurry of activity when everyone seems to want to order their Queen products, including one of our stockists John Bell & Croyden. We have had a number of John Bell customers calling the office this week to say/complain that the store - a large specialist pharmacy in London's Wigmore Street - was out of stock of sensitive skin essentials such as Medicated Cleansing Lotion, Theatrical Cleansing Cream and Queen Moisturiser. Finally, John Bell has ordered (delayed by a big stock taking or somesuch) and obviously they need the products yesterday. So much for Friday being a day for winding down.

The fact that we are in the middle of making new batches of Sensiderma Day Cream, Medicated Cleansing Lotion and our lovely gentle Shampoo (ideal for sore, itchy scalps and sufferers of seborrheic dermatitis etc) mean it's a bit hot and steamy down here at Bulrushes Farm, our Sussex headquarters.

Talking of the farm, there are some interesting businesses here. It's a mini 'industrial' estate except there's nothing very industrial about the horses, donkeys, foxes and pheasants that wander nonchalently around. In high summer, the farm is a profusion of hanging baskets which almost makes you think you are entering a UK-version of an agriturismo (those lovely Italian farms which double as or have been turned into hotels) when you drive up. The noise heralding the arrival of the sandwich van rather ruins this illusion at 11am. Some visitors this week thought it was an ice-cream van despite the sub-zero temperatures.

Just around the corner from us is a company called The Tiny Box Company www.tinyboxcompany.co.uk which sells all sorts of eco-friendly boxes/bags/packaging. All the cardboard and paper is re-cycled and we have started to buy all our gift boxes from them. They only opened in October but have clearly hit a nerve because they are run off their feet. I was talking to the founder, Rachel, the other day and discovered that she started the company because she was unable to find suitable boxes for the fairtrade jewellery she also sells. The company sells to the public as well as to other businesses and is well worth checking out if you are looking for ethical, stylish packaging.

Yesterday's weekly Thursday visit to John Bell was rather marred by the empty shelves although, yet again, I was able to use the gaps as proof that the products are selling like hotcakes! Sadly, there were no stars to be seen this week unless, of course, they were well disguised. Still, there were lots of interesting customers to talk to, including a lady who worked for gents' outfitters Brooks Brothers in Regent Street. I was telling her about one of our longstanding customers, the wife of the Chairman of Aquascutum, who looks about 35 and is a wonderful advert for Queen when the woman herself walked in (looking marvellous for her age and thus proving I do not exaggerate!). Annoyingly for her, the products she wanted were out of stock and I think, from talking to the girls on the cosmetics' counter, that it was her sister (another longstanding Queen customer) who had purloined the last of the items she wanted the previous day. Fortunately, they are both such devoted fans that they will make return trips once stocks are replenished.

We have had lots of nice comments about the range this week, including from John Bell customers who have had samples of the products or who buy Queen regularly from the store. One woman ordered two Theatrical Cleansing Creams saying 'your representative told me this was better than anything else I would try and he was right'. It just shows if you can get samples into people's hands you have a good chance of converting them.

Trials are still ongoing of our anti-wrinkle cream and our new cleanser made from safflower oil and we hope to be able to update you on these soon and to introduce them to the range in the not-too-distant future.

For now, it's back to the orders. For some reason, Sensiderma Gentle Toner is flavour of the day and our Kohl eye pencils for sensitive eyes are not far behind.

Until next week.

Buy your sensitive skin products online....or not

It’s been a week of ups and downs at Queen Cosmetics. We were really pleased with our new ad which featured in magazines such as the Saturday Times Magazine at the weekend. The new artwork looks lovely and fresh (we think!) and the ad did stand out. The response too has been very pleasing with lots of women ‘phoning in or emailing for details, asking for advice and asking lots of questions about the range.

Many of the emails we have received are along the lines of this one from a lady in Lincolnshire: ‘I have very dry sensitive skin and the beauty products I have been buying have done no good whatsoever’. This does back up our belief that there really is a need for a good, tried and tested range of speciality products for sensitive skin and that there is room in the overcrowded cosmetics market for Queen. It is just a question of plugging away at getting the Queen name and our specialist beauty range for sensitive skin out there.

The next up came when we saw we had lots of orders via our online shop. The Sensiderma range – cleansers, toners, moisturisers for dry or mature sensitive skin – was very popular in addition to our make-up for sensitive skin. A down was soon to follow. As I excitedly clicked on each one to see what they had ordered, the message came up: ‘the customer quit the process before payment was made.' While this is not unusual once in a while, it did seem odd that none of the orders made it to the payment stage. I tried processing an order myself and quickly found the problem was the HSBC secure epayments site via which customers can pay for their products. The HSBC page just wouldn’t load.

I tried throughout the weekend with no luck. To have new customers visit the site, try to buy and find they can’t is the worst possible scenario and to have it coincide with the launch of our new ad campaign was devastating. I am sure that no one at work on Monday believed me and thought it was the Queen side of the site, for which I am responsible!

So, today I was mightily relieved when a letter arrived from the Group General Manager, Commercial Banking at HSBC saying: ‘The Secure ePayments gateway was unavailable to you from approximately 11.30 Friday 28 March until 07.30 Monday 31 March 2008……Please accept my profound apologies for this failure in our service and the impact on your business.’

Further consolation is that some of the ‘lost’ customers have re-visited and finalised their orders this week but some haven’t, perhaps put off by our seemingly hopeless system. We keep our fingers crossed they may give us a another chance!

We also ran an ad in trade publication ‘The Pharmacist’ magazine with a view to increasing the number of stockists of Queen products. The magazine appeared yesterday and the ad does, again, look very striking. We have a small number of wonderful stockists around the country, including beauty therapists and independent chemists, but it would be nice to add a few as we do appreciate that many women prefer a real shopping experience when it comes to buying cosmetics. Given that Allmay (who took their lead from Queen back in the 1920s might I say) is no longer to be sold through independent chemists in the UK (I don’t know if it will still be available in the bigger chains), pharmacists and buyers should be looking for a range for sensitive skin.

Our Managing Director, David Lees, made his weekly pilgrimage to John Bell & Croyden, our major stockists in London, on Thursday to tell people about the Queen range and to give out samples of our Medicated Cleansing Lotion and Moisturiser. In his weekly report, he writes:

“I am now operating Summer hours, starting a bit later so that I can finish later and perhaps catch those after-work shoppers. It was a joy to see so much stock had sold and to be told by staff that the profile of our buyers is broadening all the time. Traditionally, we have appealed to older ladies and, while we are delighted to have them as customers, many of our products are designed for/are suitable for young skins. Queen focuses on all types of sensitive skin – from oily to very dry and from teenage to very mature skin.

“The store was very busy with lots of interesting ladies to talk to, including an American actress called Anne Whittman and a lady calling herself ‘Gillie’ who said she was well known in the PR industry. She said she knew just the person who could work with us as a PR consultant so we will wait and see if she gets in touch.

“I was intrigued by the reaction of ladies to the somewhat diminished Queen stocks (huge gaps on the shelves!) and found it a useful PR tool. ‘Look, our products are so good, they are flying off the shelves.’ Two ladies were convinced by my sales banter and snapped up a number of products, leaving further gaping holes. Hopefully, a new consignment will arrive early next week to replenish supplies.”

Back to the factory floor, we are working on our ‘natural’ cleanser for sensitive skin and hope to get it ready to rest over the weekend. While we never tamper with the formulations of our existing products, we do think there is a gap in the market for products which adhere not only to the Queen philosophy - no fragrance, perfume or essential oils and only a few ingredients per product - but which also will be suitable those customers who have been led to believe (by certain companies marketing their own products) that they should be wary of a number of ingredients. We are interested to see the reaction to this cleanser and to gauge whether it is worth rolling out the concept to include moisturisers and body lotions.

Have a great weekend and come back soon.