Whenever I present a seminar to a group of salon operators, nearly a third of the audience tells me they provide “shared” goggles to their tanners. They say that they feel it is the key to eliminating excuses for not wearing eye protection.
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Then I ask them, “Okay, you are loaning your guests goggles at no charge – but how many do you sincerely believe are wearing them during their sessions?”
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The answer: “Half. Half of my tanners wear eye protection.”
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Why would only half of your guests use eyewear that you provide at no cost? The answer is simple.
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Salon tanners often express concerns about wearing provided community goggles. They see the leftover “mascara ring” in the eye cups and freak out! They see the soak-tank on your counter with a layer of makeup floating on top, and they are less than comfortable with getting those goggles anywhere near their eyes. They see the “clean” goggles lying on a towel on your counter, but that’s unappealing. Questions cross their mind:
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“Were they rinsed?”
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“Why are they sitting out in the open and picking up germs from the air?”
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“How often do they change that cleaning solution?”
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“Is the cleaner so strong it could hurt my eyes?”
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Once tanners have their own personal pair of eyewear, they take better care of it and are more comfortable wearing it; they take responsibility for protecting their own vision.
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Back to my seminar: Now, I address the operators who only sell eye protection and do not loan it to tanners but require them to have their own. Some of these salons provide disposable eyewear, some include a pair of new goggles with a membership. Some merely sell eye protection, but do not provide re-useable goggles.
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“Why do you insist that tanners have their own eyewear?” I ask this group.
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The answers: “We are worried about spreading disease by not cleaning goggles correctly.”
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“We want to portray a clean salon.”
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“Tanners will wear their own eyewear more than they will wear a standard-issue pair.”
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“Our guests like the choice of goggles with no nose-bridge, a smaller eye-cup, different colors or disposables.” Or,
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“When they own eye protection, they’re more inclined to wear it.”
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In speaking to thousands of tanners, I’d conclude that the opinions mentioned above are accurate. Once tanners have their own personal pair of eyewear, they take better care of it and are more comfortable wearing it; they take responsibility for protecting their own vision.
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By law, you must provide tanners with eyewear, but it does not have to be free. Only salons in Texas, Pennsylvania and New York are required to provide eyewear at no charge (and Pennsylvania is in the process of changing this). You may also sell eyewear in these states, but you must have free eyewear available. Many salons in these states provide disposables for free, and also sell goggles and disposables. Some salons offer free eye protection when tanners sign up for a session package, buy an expensive bottle of lotion, or as part of a special promotion.
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If you’d like to leave community goggles behind, I will email you the steps to easily make the switch to promoting goggle ownership to your guests. Email Brenda@WinkEase.com with code IST Own Eyewear.
