HOW DO YOU COMPETE WITH THIS?

I won't mention any names here, but I recently talked to a client that was really angry.  She said she just got off the phone with her manufacturer.  She told me that she had recently met three people that were very impressed with her work and the look of her clients.  This was a social gathering and she spent some time talking about her salon and told her that the product they use on their hair is very important.  She bragged about the "salon only" product that she sold.  Big mistake. 

When these three new clients came into the salon, they said that they had went to the manufacturers website and purchased the product on line.  Not only that, they had purchased the product for the same price that she had to pay.  In other words, no markup for her.  If she tried to sell the product, it would be twice as expensive. 

Now I know that not all manufacturers sell on line or at cost, but you can see the potential problem.  First there was diversion then "just like and as good as salon only product," now this.  No wonder retail sales are falling off.