Lotion sales advice?

[Island Breezin']

Is there a good resource available for selling tips/advice for lotions? Someone on here mentioned " Dins trick " but I was unable to find it. I don't want to come off as selling snake oil to clients. A trusted resource for the best tanning product for the individual is the goal. I really want to get past the "how are you doing on lotion?"and get the basics down.
Thanks

[caribbean.tan]

Dins trick is as follows: Buy a bottle of lotion and receive the amount spent back as a credit to be used for single session priced tanning.

As your distributor for help. Four Seasons helped me alot.

[Esglow]

I was always told to sell the lotion to sell the tanning. There is a higher profit in selling the lotion and giving tanning as a added value. I rarely do discounting instead I do added value. Ex: Buy a bottle of tanning lotion and receive a free next level upgrade.

As far as tips for selling more lotion. Education is key. Hold staff training sessions...Yes it will cost you more payroll, but you and your staff will be able to sell more. I use the Training On Demand videos from New Sunshine http://www.trainwithnewsunshine.com/. I also use their flash cards for product education.

Check with you distributor to see if they have any helpful Retail Selling guides this will help you figure out how to approach a customer to start the conversation.

Lastly,
Do you have goals? Like the saying "what isn't measured, can't be managed" is very true or "what gets measured, gets managed" however you wish to look at it! I have PTA, PPTA & PTA goals for my staff and they are rewarded and held accountable on their performance.

[Michelle N]

Please make sure to be asking open ended questions. Anything that can be answered yes, no or fine is not a good question. Things like - Are you getting the desired results out of your lotion and so on.

[bls8195]

Does the DINS trick typically work well for yall? I am thinking about giving this a try.

[earthangels]

Both Smart Tan and Heartland have training available to salon owners and employees that covers just about everything you will want to know. I bought my beds through Heartland and also get all my lotions through them so I get a little bit bigger discount that those who don't purchase their beds through them. The sales girls have a wealth of information to help you out. My lotions sales are FANTASTIC!!

[JOHN @ URI]

There is a higher profit in selling the lotion and giving tanning as a added value

Depends on how you look at that.....

Nothing in your salon will make you more money than a set of lamps.

Even on a 32 lamp base bed.
32 Lamps X $10 each + Shipping = $380
Lamps will last a minimum of 600 hours & lets be cheap and sell tans for $3.
On this set of lamps you will get the following:
@ 20min = 1800 session X $3 = $5400 less the $380 it cost you = $5020 gross
@ 15min = 2400 session X $3 = $7200 less the $380 it cost you = $6820 gross

Now lets say you buy a lotion for $25 & sell it $100, that is $75 profit, you need to sell 67 bottles at $100 to = your 20 min entry level bed. & 91 bottles @ $100 to = your 15 min entry level bed.

Granted there are cost involved to run the bed & sell the lotion, but you get the idea.

Now look at a HP machine
Lamp cost $1500, 12 minute session & lets be cheap & sell them @ $12 a session.
Lamp life 450 hours.
2250 sessions @ 12 minutes X $12 each = $27,000 less cost of lamps = $25,500 gross.

If we use the same cost of lotion $25, retail for $100, you need to sell 340 bottles with a cost of $8500 to you.

You need to be creative to sell lotions, but don't be so fast to devalue the tanning session itself.

And for training there are a bunch of online trainings on demand from New Sunshine, Devoted Creations has webinars each month.

[peach]

We run specials all the time where we give the lotion away for free with an upgrade. (I never would pay $25 for a bottle of lotion) But you can get closeouts for $5 and give them away to get a $20 upgrade (month), then you still net $15 on the sale. Lets face it, it will continue to get harder and harder to retail lotions at MSRP. and compete with the internet. So use tanning with the lotion to create value that the internet cannot offer.

[DakotaFL]

Island- PM me your e-mail....I have a ton of stuff you would find helpful!

[Black Sun]

John's mind is always thinking, 'Lamps'.

LOVE IT!