I talked with two salon operators in different parts of the country about their eye protection policies.
Sonya Lovell
Owner Awesome Tans Cedar Springs, MI
Do you sell or share eye protection at your salon? We sell it.
How do you address “raccoon eyes?” We express to our guests how today’s eyewear designs eliminate tan lines. Disposables and various other styles sit close to the lash line, still providing protection without creating raccoon eyes. If they’re still concerned, we recommend a facial tanning lotion with a DHA bronzer to blend the tan around the eye area.
If your staff doesn’t believe in eye protection, they won’t push it. How do you get them to wear it? I explain that it’s part of their job! And I lead by example – when they see how seriously I take it, they respond in kind. We’ve taken the free online training at Eyepro.net and have their free info pack, which has really helped to keep my staff protecting their eyes.
What is your eye protection policy? When we check guests in for a UV session, we ask to see their eye protection. If they have none, we stress the importance of wearing it and the damage that can occur from tanning without it. We explain the features and pricing of each style we sell to determine which is the best fit for them (sleeper, texter, reader, strictly stand-up tanner). If they still refuse to buy, we give them a disposable pair. We explain that at Awesome Tan, we believe it’s so important that we’d rather take a loss on the disposables than risk their vision.
Want to share any promo ideas? We named January, “Eyewear Awareness Month.” We quizzed guests about why it’s important and if they answered correctly, they were entered to win a bottle of lotion. Every tanner received free disposables all month long. In February, our Valentine’s Specials and packages included free goggles.
Keith Klemow-Gurley
Owner Tan United – Phoenix, AZ
Do you sell or share eye protection at your salon? We sell, never share. If tanners knew what can jump eye to eye they would never share!
What is your store policy on eye protection? A new pair of goggles is automatically added to the sale of every new membership. Every new guest hears our spiel about why eye protection is critical. We show them the mat on our counter that has gory photos of eye damage from unprotected tanning, and that’s very effective. [Author’s note: If you’d like the counter mat that Keith mentions, email your address to Brenda@EyePro.net with code word IST, and I’ll send you one.]
When tanners buy goggles, do you offer a re-sealable plastic bag to keep them in? We label their goggles in re-sealable bags and store them in a drawer, or we put them in a plastic bag and rubber band them to the guests’ bottle of lotion and store that. We’re very big on using re-sealable bags to keep goggles from getting contaminated. And being in Phoenix, we don’t want their lotion ruined in their hot car during the summer.
Do you offer any eye protection promos? We haven’t, but we treat it as a safety issue and part of our daily regime. It’s mandatory, no matter what!
