Makeup is after all for making the most of one's beauty. Makeup items are not just simply products. They are magical tools that can make a woman more beautiful. AMORE Counselor Lee Sung-eun, who works as a professional makeup lecturer, has her own strategies for lectures and sales based on this essence of makeup. Her beauty knowhow is always considered a faithful, customized prescription for each customer and counselor.

It's 10:30 a.m. and, after a brief morning meeting, AMORE Counselors of New Gangneung Office are waiting for Lee Sung-eun's lecture in a conference room. She starts a lecture on her sales knowhow and explains makeup tips by doing makeup on a model. Every AMORE Counselor listens and writes a note carefully. From skincare to makeup, Lee's makeup skills look like a wonderful 40-minute magic show. After she finishes with her makeup tutorial, all counselors give an exclamation of surprise and start to ask questions. Their questions are endless but Lee answers each one carefully by giving solutions and her own knowhow.

Lee has worked as an AMORE Counselor for 10 years and as a makeup mentor at AMOREPACIFIC sales offices for five. While she has always ranked no.1 in sales of makeup products in Gangwon province, she was chosen as one of the 51 professional makeup lecturers this year. Since being appointed as a professional makeup lecturer, she spends most of her time passionately lecturing to other AMORE Counselors.

"Whenever new products are released, I always first try to do makeup on my own face, imagining that I'm a model. That's because when I use those products myself, I can fully understand and apply them on customers with confidence. What I find with makeup products is that they have longer expiry dates and a more diverse range of products than skincare products. That's why it's so essential that I have my own strategy."

With her experience and self-studies, Lee has developed her own strategy of "related sales" which involves providing customers with tips on how they can use the products they already have in a more useful way, rather than throwing them away.

"For instance, if a customer uses a foundation from another brand, I give her a makeup tip to mix face oil with foundation in order to make her skin more moisturized. That way, she is more likely to buy the face oil recommended by me and, when she has done this for a while and seen for herself how it works, she will contact me again for other makeup tips. This is the crux of my sales strategy and I always stress this in my lectures. Instead of forcing customers to buy products, you should recommend good products to them. That way, you can build customer trust, which is vital for repeat sales."

Lee's success as a career woman follows some difficult times which she faced in the past.
After getting married in her mid-twenties, she moved from Seoul, where she had lived all her life, to the town of Gangneung in Gangwon province. The lack of relatives or personal connections there made it difficult for her to find new customers.

"This was the time I first realized how hard finding new customers is. One day, I ended up running round the same area five times or so, which caused one of my heels to break. I was so embarrassed. By meeting more people, I was able to find out ways that worked when it came to finding new customers: above all, customers can distinguish dishonesty. So I decided to approach customers as a "beauty expert" who can solve customers' problems, rather than a saleswoman."

After developing a technique that worked for finding new customers, she decided to develop her own professional specialism, too. The professional specialism she chose was "makeup." In the case of makeup products, customers tend to keep using the same products. Therefore, instead of talking about and recommending new products, she devoted her time to specifically listening to customers and showing the products that they wanted.

"Whenever I introduce products or give lectures, I spend most of my time listening to others. That's because, while listening to customers carefully, I can also ask them questions such as what kind of products they're using now or whether the product they are using is suitable for their skin type. That way, I can figure out what customers want more easily. In my lectures, I spend my time discussing with AMORE Counselors what products they find most difficult to sell. Discussing their challenges with them helps me come up with a workable solution more easily. Makeup is always the same. Rather than simply introducing makeup items, I listen to customers and give them specific makeup tips, which is a sort of customized prescription."

Lee Sung-eun feels the most fulfilled by her work whenever a customer really appreciates being advised for makeup tips. Yet, Lee has two other professional goals. The first is to provide more makeup tips to AMORE Counselors and the second is to make her New Gangneung Office top-ranking in sales. With her special beauty prescriptions and her passion that has stayed with her for 10 years, she will definitely achieve these two goals.