Tanner traffic has been slow and selling those bottles of expensive lotion has gotten a lot more difficult since the holiday rush hasn’t yet begun. There are fewer guests to whom you can pitch your upgrade beds … so what do you do?
This month, think about focusing on sales of smaller-ticket items with the goal of selling more items to more tanners for a lower PCA. Let’s try pushing the lowly eye protection! Start with a plastic baggie. Yep, go to the grocery store and spend $3 for 100 snack-sized zipper-seal plastic bags. When a guest walks in, offer her a complimentary baggie for carrying her goggles. Your guests will need to show their eyewear to you before they are allowed to tan (do they even have eyewear?) You’ll be able to explain how goggles get dirty in a woman’s purse or guy’s gym bag and how a baggie keeps them clean. I like to suggest you also offer a rubber band to attach the baggie to their lotion bottle. As they put their goggles in the baggie, you can mention your special eye protection sale, and how it’s important to replace your goggles at least once a year.
Have you seen the new goggle styles in vivid colors and animal prints? Order a few from your distributor. I’d display the fun, neon-colored styles in a bright, shallow plastic bowl from a dollar store, maybe placed near some new jewelry or sunglasses you also have on sale. This type of eyewear sale is going to be an impulse buy – and it’s quick, easy, and fun.
Now, you’ve offered the free baggies for a couple of weeks, so let’s change it up. One of my favorite salons promotes an eyewear trade-in week, when guests get 40 percent off new goggles if they trade in their old pair. It’s a great way to discuss why eyewear is important and why you need to avoid touching the parts of the goggles that will touch your eye area (think about your toothbrush: you don’t touch the bristles, right?).
Offering FREE eye protection is another fresh option. You may want to consider offering tanners a free pair of disposables when they buy an upgrade session. Perhaps they get the basic black goggle with any $20 lotion purchase and their choice of eyewear with a $40 bottle of lotion.
A salon chain I frequently visit puts a tiny note on their front door that reads, “Free Eyewear for Taking Our Eyewear Quiz.” You ask the guest one of ten questions on the Eye Pro Tanner’s Quiz. It often surprises tanners and opens the door to explaining why eyewear is NOT optional at your professional facility.
If you’d like the Tanner’s Quiz and the article on how to promote an Eyewear Week to enliven your salon’s sales, email Brenda@WinkEase.com with code: IST Boost Sales.
