The Art of Sampling

You’re at the mall performing your extreme shopping routine we will call “shop/fit.” You’re in need of some calories to replenish energy for your second pass through the mall, so you wander into the calorie danger zone – the food court – feverishly bustling with other fellow shop/fit members looking for something quick. There are ten or 20 places to eat, so how do you decide? This is why a popular chicken restaurant with a cow that urges you to eat more chicken lets you try their product for free!

Yes, the food service and beauty industries are polar opposites on the surface, but they do have a couple of things in common. My favorite is this: If you try/sample something you like, regardless of whether it’s a beauty product or a food item, it is nearly impossible for you to not purchase it right then. And if not at that exact moment, then sometime in the near future!

I call it the most powerful secret weapon we have at our disposal to increase beauty product sales. Once a guest falls in love with a fragrance or how a product feels when they try it, the question is not “if” they will buy, but “when.” It works in every beauty business in every country with almost every type of customer, yet I don’t see the method used as much as you might think!

We’ve made it easy! Here is your step-by-step guide to product sampling:

1 Establish a stock of freebies. Most tanning product manufacturers make this pretty easy and cost effective. They all offer monthly specials for you to purchase a bottle/tube of a product and receive a number of free packettes with it. Designate some of those for open stock and some for your free sample stash.

2 When do you offer the samples to your guests? As part of the actual sales process when you make product suggestions, or even with product(s) you might be featuring that day or week.

3 How do you do it? When I’m working a salon sales counter, I literally dangle these little packette gems right in front of the guest and tell them, “I have a free sample for you – do you want to try it?” Of course, they all say “yes,” but I make them work for it. You will be surprised how even a guest who is typically in a rush will slow down to get a free sample. But the point is using that extra attention to communicate with them. I also make sure to tell them about any specials going on that they may qualify for.

Bonus Tip: Make sure the MSRP is on the sample you give, so they know the value of the freebie!

4 You gave them a free sample … what’s next? After they’ve listened to a quick pitch about how great the product is, hand it to them – but, I always at that point say, “the only favor I ask is on the way out, give us a product review.” This offers even more opportunities to close the sale and more info about what the guest likes and doesn’t like for future sales!

5 Document it! Salon guests have short memories, so you have to note all of this in your database. If you don’t, it’s like it never happened! It doesn’t have to be a novel. Example: “Ann tried a sample of ABC and loved the fragrance. She wants to buy when she’s out of current.” Free sampling creates many future sales opportunities and good notes help make sure you don’t miss those opportunities.

Put the power of FREE to work in your salon and watch sales soar!

Happy sampling!