Repêchage Hosts Annual Power Lunch with Leading Industry Experts

Dec 13th, 2018

The first Monday in December is reserved for Repêchage. The brand held their annual Power Lunch on December 3rd at their office headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey. Estheticians and spa owners came from around the world (including Ghana, Italy, Trinidad, Poland and Mexico) to take part in the day-long event, featuring talks by industry leading experts, networking, champagne, lunch and shopping. Agata Golubiewska, Chairman of the Polish and American Women Entrepreneurs Association, and Maciej Golubiewski, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York were special guests in attendance.

The brand’s CEO and Founder, Lydia Sarfati, kicked off the event, greeting all attendees and announcing the launch of the Repêchage FUSION Face & Body Sugar Scrub Collection—which is available in Matcha Lemongrass and Chocolate Espresso. Sarfati’s presentation, appropriately titled “Sugar & Spice Up Your Spa Business,” included tips on how to get more deeply involved in body care, offering more to guests. “The skin does not stop at the face,” pointed out Sarfati, who noted that the largest organ in the body presents myriad opportunity for treatments and treatment extras. In particular, she suggested the using the scrubs during pedicures or manicures, as a standalone service or as an add-on.

Following Sarfati, Leon Alexander, Ph.D. of Behavioral Psychology and Founder of Eurisko Design, spoke on the future of spas. He noted in his talk, “A Window into the Consumer’s Mind” that consumers have shifted their priorities – they now “speak digital.” According to Dr. Alexander, customers value entertainment as much as experience. Salons and spas should take this into account, building up their business to encourage customers to stay longer (which will up their purchasing). Dr. Alexander summed up his talk by sharing the three E’s of business: entertainment, experience (which can be shared on social networks) and education, as staff must be competent to justify high-priced services.

In addition to expecting more from their salon and spa, consumers are generally “time poor.” Lois Christie, Owner of Christie & Co. Salon and Spa explained how to work around this in her “Think Differently: How to Succeed in a Competitive Market” talk. To rectify time constraints, Christie offers Repêchage Glow and Go, treating clients with the brand’s line of sheet masks. This allows customers to reap the benefits of glowing skin without committing to an entire facial. She also explained that in the beauty industry, change is constant and though it can feel intimidating it’s nothing to stress over. She noted that instead of fearing internet giants like Amazon, we should borrow from their model. For instance, by personalizing the consumer experience by suggesting services they might enjoy and prepping staff on client information before they visit the salon.

Gordon Miller, CEO of Hairbrained followed with “Future Proofing in an Age of Disruption,” which was the final presentation of the jam-packed day. The speech focused on the fast-paced changes overtaking the industry and how to keep up on social media. Miller explained that those who are able to capture a greater audience on social will see more customers in the salon. If you want to increase your engagement, “consistency” is key, he explained. Miller practices what he preaches and posts on Instagram at least once daily. Though you want to monitor your followers, he notes not to check your numbers obsessively—think of it as being stopped by the scale when trying to lose weight—it’s the fastest way to get discouraged.

After his talk, Sarfarti joined Miller on stage for a rapid-fire Q&A session, explaining how she got her start in beauty, her attraction to seaweed as an ingredient and how to make the spa experience more appealing to millennials—she recommends to “make it fun.”

Guests were then treated to champagne and enjoyed a shop trip around the company HQ. Each attendee was gifted the complete Repêchage FUSION Face & Body Sugar Scrub Collection, to sugar and spice up their client services and translate expert advice into their new normal.

–by Emilie Branch