Estée Lauder

Separate yourself through relentless selling and resourcefulness, not price competition. Your competitors may be smarter or have more money, but they cannot compete with your willingness to work.

Estée had no large advertising budget, no sales team, no fancy offices. What she had was her ability to talk to people, make them up, create excitement, and follow up relentlessly. She would ride trains, visit beauty editors, work unpaid summers at hotels on Long Island. Her resourcefulness and effort were her competitive advantage.

“I operated full time on that precept. Make the most of what you have.”

The vendor, not the product, is the competitive advantage. Even excellent products fail if the entrepreneur is not passionate, clever, and personally committed.

When the buyer in Canada asked how Estée sold out everything so quickly, she responded: 'You don't sell cosmetics, you sell yourself.' Her passion for beauty and relentless personal engagement created a compelling customer experience that products alone could not achieve.

“You don't sell your products, you sell yourself. Soup, glue, or beauty can all be packaged in jars, tubes, and bottles and all vended like any other commodity. The big difference lies in you.”

Involve your family in the business so that your obsession with building the company strengthens rather than destroys personal relationships. A family business allows spouses and children to share the mission.

After an initial divorce due to her obsession with business, Estée remarried her husband Joe and brought him into the company to manage finances while she handled sales and product. Their sons were given real responsibilities from childhood, including typing invoices, delivering packages, and learning the business through correspondence while in college.

“I refuse to either choose business or family. I wanted both. We were never to be separated for longer than a few days ever again.”

Never underestimate customers based on appearance or perceived economic status. Every person has a desire for beauty and the means to purchase. Treat everyone with respect and full effort.

A sales associate in San Antonio told Estée not to waste time with a woman who looked like she couldn't afford anything. Estée ignored the advice, gave the woman a full demonstration, and she bought two of everything. The woman's relatives bought products the next day. Estée learned that prejudging customers costs sales and dishonors the customer.

“Never be patronizing. Never underestimate any woman's desire for beauty.”

Never discount the potential of small markets or economically modest communities. People everywhere will pay for perceived value if convinced of worth.

Estée rode buses for six hours to open a store in small-town Corpus Christi, Texas, despite advice that the clientele was modest in size and economics. She treated the opening with the same rigor as any major city launch.

“No community was too small for my attention. Never underestimate people who live in small towns or those with limited budgets. People, no matter where they live or on what their finances will spend if they're convinced of worth.”

Never underestimate any customer based on appearance, wealth, or status. Treat every person with full attention and respect, as they may become loyal advocates or spend more than expected.

At a store opening in San Antonio, a salesperson warned Estée not to waste time on a barefoot woman with gold teeth. Estée gave her a full makeover anyway. The woman bought two of everything, and her relatives made purchases the next day.

“Never be patronizing. Never underestimate any woman's desire for beauty. That proud woman embodies my entire philosophy.”

Customer loyalty built through genuine service and goodwill is worth far more than any single transaction. Give gifts with purchase and even gifts without purchase to ensure customers leave with a positive experience.

Estée pioneered the 'gift with purchase' technique decades before it became standard. She would give samples of products customers did not buy and often gave gifts without any purchase at all, knowing that if women tried her products at home, they would become lifelong customers.

“A woman would never leave empty-handed. I did not have an advertising department. I did not have a copywriter. But I had intuition. I just knew that gift with a purchase was very appealing.”

Act with urgency on important opportunities and insights. If you do not act immediately when you recognize something important, you probably never will.

When Helen Blake mentioned that a merchandise manager at Woodward department store had complimented Estée's appearance and asked about her cosmetics, Estée called immediately rather than delaying. She emphasized that timing and immediate action separate successful entrepreneurs from those who procrastinate.

“If you do not do important things when you think of them, you probably never will and you will lose out.”

Invest your entire savings into inventory when you get your first big retail break. Stock depth proves the business works and prevents the retailer from dropping you.

When Saks gave her an initial eight-hundred-dollar order, Lauder invested all their savings into inventory and product creation. This prevented stockouts and ensured consistent sales, demonstrating the strength of the business and making the retailer confident in expanding.

“Breaking that first mammoth barrier was perhaps the single most exciting moment I have ever known. We had to have enough faith in our work to invest all of our savings.”

Controlling costs is the foundation upon which other competitive advantages are built. A manager should maintain lean operations from the start, not as a reactive measure but as an embedded organizational practice.

Estée Lauder partnered with her husband Joe to focus on finances and cost control while she managed sales and product. This discipline allowed them to offer lower prices, drive growth, and spread fixed costs across more sales, creating a flywheel effect that competitors could not match.

“You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation, or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient.”

Learn to say no consistently. Saying yes to everything stems from a childish desire to please and prevents focus.

Lauder maintained extreme focus on her vision by saying no to inferior products, ideas, and distractions. She understood that saying yes to everything dilutes your effort and compromises your standards. Selective no-saying was essential to building a luxury brand.

“Saying yes all the time stems from a childish desire to please and to be loved. You must say no to inferior products and ideas.”

Maintain an unwavering focus on a single target and do not allow distractions to pull you away. Success comes from sustained attention to your core goal over many years.

Estée emphasized that her entire life was about fulfilling her dream of building a beauty empire. She kept her eye on the target and never allowed it to stray, maintaining focus through setbacks, slow growth, and competing demands.

“I keep my eye on the target, whatever that target was. I've never allowed my eye to leave the particular target of the moment. Success comes from not letting your eyes stray from the target.”

Train your salespeople obsessively on how to represent your brand. The quality of customer interactions is more important than the number of employees. Better to have five trained salespeople than fifty untrained ones.

Estée interviewed approximately 40 people to hire one salesperson. She checked with each salesperson daily to make sure she was selling as Estée would. She personally opened every store to train the sales team on how to present merchandise, create atmosphere, and relate to customers. This obsession with execution quality became her brand.

“I made it my business to check with each of them each day to make sure she was selling as I would.”

Identify unmet needs by solving your own problems first. Look for product category innovations, not just product innovations.

Lauder noticed women wouldn't buy their own perfume, only receive it as gifts. She created Youth Dew as a bath oil that doubled as a skin perfume, making it acceptable for women to buy for themselves. By changing the product category, she created a new market. By 1984, Youth Dew alone generated over 150 million dollars in sales.

“Instead of using their French perfumes by the drop behind each ear, women were using Youth Dew by the bottle in their bathwater. It doesn't take a graduate of business school to figure out what that meant. Sales. Beautiful sales.”

Learn from competitors' ideas without copying them. Innovation means finding a completely new way of looking at old things.

Lauder emphasized that studying competitors was valuable for inspiration, but the goal was to do it better, not to replicate. She looked for ways to completely reframe existing categories rather than making incremental improvements on competitor products.

“Innovation doesn't mean inventing the wheel each time. Innovation can mean a whole new way of looking at old things.”

Identify overlooked customer needs and solve them in unexpected ways. A question like 'How can I get women to buy their own perfume?' can unlock entire business lines.

Estée noticed that women did not buy perfume for themselves, only received it as gifts on special occasions. Rather than calling her new product perfume, she created Youth Dew bath oil that doubled as a skin perfume. Women felt comfortable buying their own bath oil, and by 1984, Youth Dew alone generated over $150 million in annual revenue.

“I would not call it perfume. I would call it youth do a bath oil that doubles as a skin perfume. That would be acceptable for them to buy because a woman would buy her own bath oil.”

Invest in mentorship early. Seek out people already doing what you dream of doing and learn directly from them through observation and apprenticeship.

When Estée was a teenager, her Uncle John became her mentor. He was a skin specialist who created beauty formulations. Instead of dismissing her interest, he taught her his craft in a makeshift laboratory. He validated her dreams and showed her the actual work of creating beauty products. This mentorship redirected her entire life path.

“Do you know what it means for a young girl to suddenly have someone take her dreams quite seriously to teach her secrets?”

Develop peer relationships and alliances within your industry. Other successful people in your field can introduce you to opportunities and accelerate your growth if you build genuine relationships.

Estée cultivated relationships with people who worked in beauty at other companies. One woman, Helen Blake, would casually mention buyers and magazine editors she knew to Estée. These introductions opened doors. Estée calls this networking and says it is one of the most powerful tools in business.

“Never underestimate the value of an ally. Today, they call this networking, the sharing between business colleagues. It is one of the most powerful tools in the business.”

Build a business with a partner or spouse who has complementary skills. Estée's obsession with product and sales had to be balanced by Joe's financial management and stability.

Estée was visceral, action-oriented, and singularly focused on building the business. She neglected financial details and personal relationships. When she remarried Joe, they became equal partners. He managed finances and provided stability while she drove the mission. He gave up his own business to support hers, and they had a 50-year partnership.

“We decided that Joe would give up his business and come into mine, where we would be equal partners in every sense of the word.”

Make strategic alliances and treat business contacts as friends. A network of advocates who recommend you to others amplifies your reach exponentially.

Estée cultivated relationships with beauty editors, department store buyers, and salon owners, inviting them to social events and genuinely befriending them. These alliances resulted in media coverage, store placements, and customer referrals that compounded over decades.

“Never underestimate the value of an ally. I used every second to make friends and to spread word about our products.”

Demand and expect perfection from yourself and your team. Never settle for mediocrity, as mediocrity compounds into failure over time.

Estée's obsession with perfection extended to every aspect of her business, from product formulation to packaging to customer service. She believed that if you push yourself beyond the furthest place you can go, you will achieve your heart's dream.

“You must expect and demand perfection and never settle for mediocrity. If you push yourself beyond the furthest place you can go, you'll be able to achieve your heart's dream.”

Use the gift-with-purchase model to get products into customers' hands without the barrier of purchase. Let the product's quality convince them in their own home.

Because she lacked advertising budget, Lauder gave away samples freely, sometimes even before purchase. She pioneered the gift-with-purchase model that became industry standard. Women who tried products at home with no purchase obligation were more likely to become loyal customers once they experienced the quality firsthand.

“A woman would never leave empty-handed. The idea was to convince a woman to try the product. Having tried it at her leisure in her own home and seeing how fresh and lovely it made her look, she would be a faithful customer of that, I had not one single doubt.”

When you lack advertising budget, out-teach your competition instead. Become the authority through sharing knowledge and emotional enthusiasm.

Unable to afford traditional advertising in the early years, Lauder invested in product demonstrations and personal teaching. She brought charisma and knowledge about customers' possibilities, creating emotional experiences around beauty education. This teaching approach converted customers more effectively than paid ads could have.

“For me, teaching about beauty was and is an emotional experience. I brought them charisma and knowledge about their possibilities. Pure theater.”

Word-of-mouth is your most powerful marketing tool. Invest in creating products and experiences that women will tell other women about.

Lauder called word-of-mouth her secret weapon before television and mass advertising. She knew that women telling women about her cream before they even visited her salon was worth more than any paid campaign. She built her business intentionally to create experiences and results worth talking about.

“Tell a woman was the word of mouth campaign that launched Estée Lauder cosmetics. Women were telling women they were selling my cream before they even got to my salon.”

When entering an important market, use media relationships to create demand before approaching retailers. Let customers pull the product into stores.

When breaking into Harrods in London, Lauder first visited beauty editors and gave them samples and demonstrations. The resulting magazine coverage created customer demand. When she returned to the buyer, she could point to customer requests and press coverage, making the buyer's position untenable.

Maintain a consistent brand image and never compete on price. Decide you are luxury and act accordingly in every interaction.

From the beginning, Lauder positioned herself as selling top-of-the-line products, not budget alternatives. She maintained this positioning in pricing, packaging, store selection, and customer interactions. This consistency meant her brand never confused the market about what it represented.

“We do the best skin products available today. We are not a budget market and we know it.”