Looking Fit 03/2004: Sampling For Success

by Scott Eric Barrett

EXPERIENCED TANNERS swear by their favorite brands of lotion for one simple reason: they work. Today’s formulations are chock-full of vitamins, botanicals, essential oils and antioxidants and allow salon professionals to provide a multitude of products for every client’s needs.

Successful salons report that more than 30 percent of their overall monthly profits are a result of lotion sales. Allowing clients to sample the latest products free of charge or for a small sum gets them to see, feel, smell and touch the products before they buy. Assuming the salon operator stocks quality products, customers should be able to see results after two or three sessions. If the tanner sees results, that could lead to a full-sized bottle purchase and a long-term client.

“Sampling physically will prove why the bottle is at its pricepoint,”

says Aaron Shore, co-owner of Shore Tanning with several locations in New Jersey. “The more samples you sell, the more bottles you will sell.”

One uncertainty salon operators might face with sampling is whether to charge clients. Lotion samples can be a nice ancillary item, says Jack McCabe, vice president of sales and marketing for the consumer products division of Outsourcing Services Group in Attendale, N.J.

“Trial-size packaging no longer is used just for introducing new products,” he says. “Demand for convenience and portability is driving the development of smaller-size containers to be used as unit-dose or travel-size packages.”

Salon operators often sell packettes or sample cups for $1.50 to $2. Some even have had success by selling their samples as high as $5.

Then again, “free” still has a high value in any business.

“Giving free samples to our customers tells them that we care,” says Susie Smith, co-owner of Hawaiian Tans in Marietta, Ohio. “By caring, I mean we take the time to find out what they like and don’t like, and then we go through what we offer. From there they can decide what they want to try.”

Free may be a scary word for business-minded operators, but it’s important to remember that free samples could lead to a lot of lotion sales because quality lotions do their jobs, Smith says. “But I would advise salon operators to be careful,” she warns.

“Some people will sample a product more than once, never buying the bottle. We counter that by keeping all the information about the customers in our computer and on their chart. We know what they tried, when they tried it and what they thought of it.”

Shore discounts the price paid for the sample off of the fullsized bottle if his client decides to purchase it.

“I think it’s a great idea because clients get to try lotion before they buy,” he says. “It works as an incentive because if a client doesn’t like the product, they are only out $5 instead of $50. If they do like the product, the sample basically is free.

Since we started doing this, our private-label-lotion-line sales have increased enormously.”

Lenora Butcher, co-owner of Sisters Tanning, Inc. in Hillsboro, Ohio, has been in the tanning business for almost 12 years. For the first four years, the salon offered no form of sampling because the owners didn’t want to take revenue away from the sale of full-sized bottles.

“That was a huge mistake,” she says. “We sell a lot of packettes and cups these days. We believe using samples to help overall lotion sales is not only a moneymaker, but it’s also a service and a courtesy to our clients because there always will be single-session customers.”

Single-session customers often are tanners who want to tan for different occasions at different times of the year but don’t want to be full-time clients. “They rather would spend $4 to $8 at a time than dish out $30 to $60 for 10 tanning sessions and a bottle of lotion—even though the latter is a much better deal,” Butcher says.

Shelly Gardner, owner of Lions and Tigers and Tans in Effingham, Ill., operates her salon by herself six days a week; on Sundays, she has one employee work for her. She doesn’t have a specific sampling program.

“Sampling can be very effective for some salon, but I think knowledge and good communication skills can lead to sales as well,” she says. “We are honest and upfront with our clients.

They know they can trust our opinion on lotions and we won’t try to talk them into something they don’t want just so we can make some money.”

Gardner passionately advocates the importance of using lotion and points out the differences and advantages to using the lotions she carries vs. the lotions they might find at department stores.

“If I happen to see a new lotion I would like to try, I order a bottle to sample out at a reduced price or sometimes even free to those clients who are serious about lotion and look forward to trying something new,” she says. “I have a brochure for my salon that has many informative facts concerning tanning and lotions that I like to give to those hard-sell clients. Usually, after they take them home and read them, they come back and buy lotion.”

Implementing a sampling program is the best way for salons to increase their chances of selling full-sized bottles.

Successful sampling programs require more than just laying out a dozen sample packettes on the front desk. Besides just offering samples, salons need to have some method of tracking who samples what. Many salon software programs have some form of tracking capability.

Feedback is necessary to figure out what samples tanners like and dislike.

A feedback form could be helpful. Some salon operators give tanners an additional sample free of charge if they fill out a feedback form.

It’s also important for salon operators to make sure their employees know what the sample is— bronzer, maximizer, etc.—and how it performs.

“Your employees always should test the products you offer,” Smith says. “That way when someone asks about a lotion you can give a personal response, not one that is handed down from manufacturers or magazines.”

Gardner agrees. “Before setting any lotions out for the client to try, my employee and I try them out ourselves,”

she says. “If we find any products to be good, we sell it. I tan very easily, where my employee does not, so if she finds a lotion that tans her quickly, in our eyes it will be a winner.”

It’s a good idea to discuss products with year-round tanners. Salon operators shouldn’t be afraid to ask a long-term client to sample a new product, sometimes more than once.

Discussing the positive benefits of lotion may be necessary for new tanners who may have no idea how the tanning process works.

Most manufacturers and distributors will assist salon operators with sampling programs. Some will offer packettes. Others might offer salons discounts on large pumps for operators to squeeze portions into plastic containers.

Packettes look much more attractive and feature a list of ingredients and eyeappealing graphics than, say, a Dixie cup. They deliver an actual sample of product and virtually are indestructible, making them especially appropriate for delivery in newspapers and magazines.

“Our single-session tanners really appreciate being able to purchase a lotion in a packette,”

Butcher says. “If customers have a limit for the amount they can spend that day, they will put out more money for the tanning sessions and take the try-before-you-buy attitude on the lotion.

Customers feel it is a courtesy to offer the lotions this way, so I feel it increases customer satisfaction.”

Plastic cups may not look as professional, but tanners like the idea of being able to seal the container after an application. Salon operators can purchase plastic containers at local supermarkets and pump in enough lotion for a full-body use or a little more so tanners have the opportunity to try the product more than once.

Sampling programs may seem trivial at first glance, but they are critical to any salon operator who wants to boost his or her lotion sales. Since the road to financial glory is paved with lotion sales receipts, salon operators must do anything and everything to maximize their clients’ understanding, acceptance and desire to give lotions a chance.

“Today’s advanced formulations are incredible,” Shore says. “All we have to do is get tanners to give them a try. Samples are the smartest way to do that. A sampling program isn’t tough to set up or maintain.”