Wellyb
Well-Known Member
Am I the only one a little bit star struck that Samuel sweet has liked my post
Never thought anyone would actually read it xxx
Not at all star struck hun, it's because they listen to their customers cause they care! Hugs
Is anyone else feeling as disappointed as me?
- Thread starter xXxCaZxXx
- Start date
Help Support SalonGeek:
Not at all star struck hun, it's because they listen to their customers cause they care! Hugs
Shellac newbie
Well-Known Member
Love and Respect should never be something you have to wait for.
That has been our guiding mantra since last year when we made the commitment to end queues at our booth.
Queues suck. They stop us from having enough quality time with professionals and in many instances, from having ANY time with people. Sure, it is nice to feel "Loved" when you see mobs of people literally rushing toward you as the gates open, but that short term buzz dissipates quickly as you struggle to accomplish what we invested so much to do: spend time with the professionals we serve.
For us shows are not about "The Sales". Shows are about the people. They are about the experience. They are about meeting new and old friends and a great opportunity to listen and learn new ways that we can be more meaningful for those we serve.
To be better at this, we needed to reduce queues. So at Excel we increased stand space, tills and team members by about 30%. Sadly it didn't make a dent. In fact the average queue time increased. At one stage the organisers installed security at the 2.5 hour mark to prevent people joining as the line was running outside the hall and down the concourse.
So how many more tills would it take to kill the queue? How many more team members? How much space would we really need and how much stand build would we require?
We still don't know. But here is the one thing we DID know: Since Excel we have launched Vinylux, Tibby Olivier and Dashing Diva which has more than DOUBLED the amount of SKU's (items) we had at the show. That meant we would have needed approximately 20 tills and twice the stand, space and team just to maintain a 2.5 hour queue. The thought of a giant till counter as the face of S2 gives me shivers. That is not what the show is about for us because that is not what we are about.
So we had to up the ante and seriously rethink things.
Those that went to the Event in 2013 were privy to our first test of what we were trying to do at the show. An App that would allow you to build your own order at the show (thereby avoiding queuing all together). That is still our objective that we will accomplish, however we needed the new till and picking/packing system in place FIRST. We launched that on Sunday.
Apart from allowing you to create your own order, a key objective of the system is to consolidate the fulfilment process in a significantly more efficient manner. In the Squarehouse, we can order products in a special way that makes picking them much faster and more efficient. At Olympia we started picking the order as you started to pay which meant that in most instances, it was ready for collection by the time you got to the window. It also meant we could tie your orders to your account so that you could qualify for the locators, receive emails of your receipts and have larger items drop shipped to you instead of having to lug them around all day.
Leading up to the show, we worked tirelessly on the system. We even set up a mock show in the Squarehouse. Complete with picking bins, staff, till points and randomly populated order forms. We were as confident as you can be at the launch of such an important event that we were prepared.
What we weren't prepared for was the almost complete lockout of the majority of our tablets due to the wifi being next to useless. Within 20 minutes we had a queue running out and around the stand with only 2 till points operating intermittently. It took us several extremely stressed hours to get fully operational by which time we were hundreds of orders behind. It took the entirety of the day before we could catch up and put a dent on the queue size.
So yea... kind of a serious disappointment. We invested a seriously staggering amount of time, money and energy to create a cool experience and eliminate queues. Only to find we did the exact opposite (for Sunday anyway).
The good news is that once the system was working, it did so exceptionally well and achieved our objectives of our first phase. The next is where we will really start to make a difference and I believe our third phase will complete our goal of totally eliminating queues.
Then we can get on with what we came to the show to do: Spend time with the professionals we serve.
Customers who were made to wait as long as they did deserve to be angry and upset. Know that you were not alone. We were ALL angry and upset to have let so many down. Just know that it makes our resolve to end queues even stronger and that we will all work harder than ever to make that happen.
nJoy
That has been our guiding mantra since last year when we made the commitment to end queues at our booth.
Queues suck. They stop us from having enough quality time with professionals and in many instances, from having ANY time with people. Sure, it is nice to feel "Loved" when you see mobs of people literally rushing toward you as the gates open, but that short term buzz dissipates quickly as you struggle to accomplish what we invested so much to do: spend time with the professionals we serve.
For us shows are not about "The Sales". Shows are about the people. They are about the experience. They are about meeting new and old friends and a great opportunity to listen and learn new ways that we can be more meaningful for those we serve.
To be better at this, we needed to reduce queues. So at Excel we increased stand space, tills and team members by about 30%. Sadly it didn't make a dent. In fact the average queue time increased. At one stage the organisers installed security at the 2.5 hour mark to prevent people joining as the line was running outside the hall and down the concourse.
So how many more tills would it take to kill the queue? How many more team members? How much space would we really need and how much stand build would we require?
We still don't know. But here is the one thing we DID know: Since Excel we have launched Vinylux, Tibby Olivier and Dashing Diva which has more than DOUBLED the amount of SKU's (items) we had at the show. That meant we would have needed approximately 20 tills and twice the stand, space and team just to maintain a 2.5 hour queue. The thought of a giant till counter as the face of S2 gives me shivers. That is not what the show is about for us because that is not what we are about.
So we had to up the ante and seriously rethink things.
Those that went to the Event in 2013 were privy to our first test of what we were trying to do at the show. An App that would allow you to build your own order at the show (thereby avoiding queuing all together). That is still our objective that we will accomplish, however we needed the new till and picking/packing system in place FIRST. We launched that on Sunday.
Apart from allowing you to create your own order, a key objective of the system is to consolidate the fulfilment process in a significantly more efficient manner. In the Squarehouse, we can order products in a special way that makes picking them much faster and more efficient. At Olympia we started picking the order as you started to pay which meant that in most instances, it was ready for collection by the time you got to the window. It also meant we could tie your orders to your account so that you could qualify for the locators, receive emails of your receipts and have larger items drop shipped to you instead of having to lug them around all day.
Leading up to the show, we worked tirelessly on the system. We even set up a mock show in the Squarehouse. Complete with picking bins, staff, till points and randomly populated order forms. We were as confident as you can be at the launch of such an important event that we were prepared.
What we weren't prepared for was the almost complete lockout of the majority of our tablets due to the wifi being next to useless. Within 20 minutes we had a queue running out and around the stand with only 2 till points operating intermittently. It took us several extremely stressed hours to get fully operational by which time we were hundreds of orders behind. It took the entirety of the day before we could catch up and put a dent on the queue size.
So yea... kind of a serious disappointment. We invested a seriously staggering amount of time, money and energy to create a cool experience and eliminate queues. Only to find we did the exact opposite (for Sunday anyway).
The good news is that once the system was working, it did so exceptionally well and achieved our objectives of our first phase. The next is where we will really start to make a difference and I believe our third phase will complete our goal of totally eliminating queues.
Then we can get on with what we came to the show to do: Spend time with the professionals we serve.
Customers who were made to wait as long as they did deserve to be angry and upset. Know that you were not alone. We were ALL angry and upset to have let so many down. Just know that it makes our resolve to end queues even stronger and that we will all work harder than ever to make that happen.
nJoy
Just wanted to say I saw the size of the que on Sunday & I didn't realise there had been a technical fault.
I don't use CND at the moment but that may change, hats off to all of you for all the hard work and months of prep, we are only human and sometimes gremlins do get into the works to dampen the best of plans.
Just from the responses alone I can tell that CND are one of the few companies that actually care about their account holders
I don't use CND at the moment but that may change, hats off to all of you for all the hard work and months of prep, we are only human and sometimes gremlins do get into the works to dampen the best of plans.
Just from the responses alone I can tell that CND are one of the few companies that actually care about their account holders
Steph41
Well-Known Member
I couldn't go to the show due to a hospital stay for kidney infection so i ordered today on line and as always a great and easy experience ( I did spend twice what I should have ) opps but I will be at the show next year ... Kidney or no kidney and I know S2 will being doing everything in their power to reduce waiting time and I think the bar is a fab idea souz !!!! I really feel for all of you that had to wait so long but sometimes life doesn't go they way it's meant to x
I have seen Directors from companies standing all day talking to their customers before, but I can't recall a Director of a huge company going into the warehouse bending, packing and getting their hands dirty.
I took this photo of Samuel just after he served a customer at the Heros collection point. He didn't stick his head out of the window to pose for my photo - he was actually already there serving a customer from the stockroom and you can just see Jim at the side who came along to see how he was doing.
I took this photo of Samuel just after he served a customer at the Heros collection point. He didn't stick his head out of the window to pose for my photo - he was actually already there serving a customer from the stockroom and you can just see Jim at the side who came along to see how he was doing.
Attachments
Manda79
Well-Known Member
well, all I can say is I would have gladly queued for 3 hours to get my hands on the new shellac collections, instead I will wait patiently for 2 months for it to arrive in Australia
#firstworldproblems :wink2:
#firstworldproblems :wink2:
Jen889
Well-Known Member
Holy wow!!! Im actually from across the pond, never dealt with S2 in reality but i just hope you geeks know how much work and MONEY went into that stand! Here a booth 1/4 the size is close to £15,000! I also just wanted to mention you have access to some awesome products etc that we dont even have on this side. I think everyone should be grateful and give all these lovely people at S2 giant high fives for even surviving the weekend
sunshineinme
Well-Known Member
I was angry and disappointed after Sunday but somehow this situation was probably much needed. it opened my eyes on other brands and opportunities so actually something positive came out of it. I came back on Monday and was out there trying products, asking questions- really enjoying fact finding and researching First time I really actively took part in the show.
I think, I might be wrong, the Sunday show "disaster" came at a very bad time. Plenty of us were already disheartened after the Vinylux stock issues and other essentials being hard to get hold of. so quite likely the criticism was a bit too harsh at the time (now when i read my comments i can see i had a right rant here :/ sorry but it was much needed at a time)
I am CND trained and used to have no confidence in trying anything else but there is plenty of nail techs using variety of top quality products and therefore being more accommodating for their customers' needs. I will always be CND girl but hopefully with a wider menu soon.
But anyway..... I just want to say that it is lovely of Samantha & Samuel to come here and be so honest with us. It's lovely that they've read our complaints and honestly address them.
It must have been very hard for you and I'm sure we all appreciate your words.
Now when the dust settled we can joke how we are S2 obsessed and would sell a kidney for you...or queue for 3 hours just to be the first ones in uk to get our hands on CND goodies
First time I really actively took part in the show.I think, I might be wrong, the Sunday show "disaster" came at a very bad time. Plenty of us were already disheartened after the Vinylux stock issues and other essentials being hard to get hold of. so quite likely the criticism was a bit too harsh at the time (now when i read my comments i can see i had a right rant here :/ sorry but it was much needed at a time)
I am CND trained and used to have no confidence in trying anything else but there is plenty of nail techs using variety of top quality products and therefore being more accommodating for their customers' needs. I will always be CND girl but hopefully with a wider menu soon.
But anyway..... I just want to say that it is lovely of Samantha & Samuel to come here and be so honest with us. It's lovely that they've read our complaints and honestly address them.
It must have been very hard for you and I'm sure we all appreciate your words.
Now when the dust settled we can joke how we are S2 obsessed and would sell a kidney for you...or queue for 3 hours
just to be the first ones in uk to get our hands on CND goodies 
depths
Well-Known Member
well, all I can say is I would have gladly queued for 3 hours to get my hands on the new shellac collections, instead I will wait patiently for 2 months for it to arrive in Australia
#firstworldproblems :wink2:
Amen to that!
Sent from my GT-I9305 using SalonGeek mobile app
Jessica15
Well-Known Member
My mind is still blown from reading that Geeg is Samantha's mum! I must be a little behind lol! How beautiful xx
xx
Claire@OBNMK
Well-Known Member
Great pics, the stand was massive. Ok i take it back about possiably getting a bigger stand next year LOL :o
Luv the pic of samuel, LOL at his cheesy grin! x
My mind is still blown from reading that Geeg is Samantha's mum! I must be a little behind lol! How beautiful
Me too, & I liked reading how the Sweets met... 💕 xx
Manda79
Well-Known Member
My mind is still blown from reading that Geeg is Samantha's mum! I must be a little behind lol! How beautiful
me too I had no idea, how sweet :biggrin:
Yes bless the story was a little muddled but it was a damn good try at piecing it all together. :Love:
classixuk
Well-Known Member
Lol! I like my version...very Mills & Boon! You should get someone to write a book Sam, but put it into a business perspective, detailing your climb to where you are now starting from watching your mum do nails, including a chapter on how you and Samuel met and the challenges you have both faced and how you overcame them.
Put it this way...I would buy it! My favourite "business auto-biography" was by Ray Croc...the guy who made McDonalds what it is today....starting from just one outlet. I would highly recommend it to anyone else building a business...excellent read!
And I'd imagine yours would be just as insightful. Anyone else agree?
Rinn
CND Shellac EA
I'd read it too but not for any business insight really just because I'm nosey. Lol
cheekychick
Well-Known Member
My mind is still blown from reading that Geeg is Samantha's mum! I must be a little behind lol! How beautiful
I didn't know this either! Till I saw this thread. Haha xx
