You’ve dreamed up lots of ways to get tanners through your door … anniversary parties, back-to-school week and “Pauly D” events. I particularly love those that showcase your community involvement, such as Tans for Cans, Toys for Tots, collecting pet food for a local animal shelter and helping out the military in your area. What a great idea – help someone and get some free press at the same time! Some salons add a bit of education with all the fun stuff. Summer is a great time for an event that highlights eyewear. You’ll use it to update your clients on why eye protection is critical when tanning and all the cool options available in the eye protection world.
One great aspect of eye protection is that it’s very inexpensive. You can contact your favorite tanning product distributor and get a boatload of different goggles and disposable eye protection for a ridiculously small investment. I recommend ordering many different types … the fun, designer styles in every color, the super-cheap kinds and disposables. Arrange a boutique selection! Offer tanners a free, low-end pair with a small, upgrade package or a sunless facial spray or tattoo SPF stick – something that costs around $10. They get a free “fancy” pair if they buy a high-pressure session, sunless spray or clothing item around $25. Keep with the event theme and bring in sunglasses to sell! Of course, you know your customers best and can set the pricing tiers. I suggest creating a sign showing 3-4 things they get for each purchase category; make it simple. Offer some novelty items that you’d like to feature, and thus, increase retail sales in new areas.
Send pix of your exciting event to Brenda@EyePro.net & you may be featured in a future issue of ist Magazine!
How does education tie in? I suggest your entire team take the eye protection training module in the new Sun Is Life® Training & Certification program … just $9 per person. SunIsLifeTraining.com offers the training and a downloadable, professional brochure to share with your clients. (You can print it yourself or at Kinkos.) Visit EyePro.net and take the free, 45-minute training as a group. Eye Pro sends a “Thank You” package with an informative mat for your front counter featuring “gory eye damage pics” that will shock tanners into wearing eyewear. Your team will be focused after having learned (again) why eye protection is important. Other training programs sell pre-printed brochures and you can also download free info from the eye protection companies’ websites. Don›t skip these two steps: 1) Get your team trained online, and 2) Have them tan with each protection type you’re going to offer – seriously, if your staff doesn’t know the eye protection, how can they sell it?
Next, collect some “freebies” to give attendees of your event in addition to the eyewear smorgasbord. Contact the makers of the goggles you’ll be featuring. Lucas Products, makers of Super Sunnies, sends samples of their goggles and Eye Pro, makers of disposable eye protection, sends packs of their products for salon events. New Sunshine, makers of many eyewear styles, offers lotion samples, which you can raffle as prizes along with upgrade packages and services you offer. Often, neighboring businesses will give you free manicures or pizzas in return for free tans they can offer their customers. Don’t forget to talk to your distributor reps, as they have industry contacts and can often get you some door prizes.
I suggest a 10-day event that starts on a weekend and runs through the next. Get a big fishbowl and throw in any pairs of old, crummy goggles you have lying around. When a tanner comes in and tosses their worn-out pair into the fishbowl, you can give them a big discount on a pair from your boutique display (a velvet-covered board and a mirror works well to let customers try on each pair and see if they get a tight fit). Fold a fresh, disposable eyewear sample for each customer and stick them in place for them … this will avoid the beginner mistake of folding a cone that is too shallow, or not realizing that disposables are VERY see-through. The fishbowl is a great way to show customers that goggles with cracked lenses, broken nose-bridges, missing elastics and the like are NOT acceptable and it’s time to get a fancy, new pair! I recommend you buy the snack-size plastic bags and put EVERY pair of goggles your tanners receive in a zipper bag. This ensures they don’t contaminate their eyewear with “crud” from their purse, gym bag or car cup-holder.
How do you attract tanners to your eyewear event? I’m always shocked that salons don’t use all the easy promotional methods. Post a small sign on your salon door two or three weeks prior, and place notices at your counter and in the tanning rooms. Send text messages to your text club members. Offer anyone who tans during the event a free pair of disposables (this costs you literally pennies). To those who bring a friend to tan, offer a choice of basic goggles or a free premium pair if they renew a package at the same time.
Remember, goggles are cheap and great for showering your tanners with attention and safety at the same time! Facebook and Twitter are great for promoting, too. Take pics on the first day and post on your website, emails and Facebook to urge other tanners to attend. Ask your team for ideas to get folks in and get them excited about tanning with you all summer.
Offer staff rewards for fun promotional and decorating ideas (everyone wearing disposables or giant sunglasses while they work could be fun).
Finally, send pix of your exciting event to Brenda@EyePro.net and you may be featured in a future issue of ist Magazine!
