Sampling Drives Sales. Period.

Summer is the perfect time to kick up your sampling and demonstration game! Kids are out of school, tourists are in town, and there are probably multiple weekly / monthly events going on in your community – all ideal opportunities to drive trial and traffic in your location.

Before we go too far, let’s back up. Is product sampling a part of the day-to-day operations at your business? If so, awesome! If not, why not?

We know, we know. You’re busy. You’ve got new team members to train for summer. You’d rather focus on selling. You’re busy.

Well, in our experience at Starbucks, for every 5 samples handed out, we would see 1 purchase of the full-sized item.  A 20% conversion rate, just for handing out a bite-sized cookie or 3-oz latte. Pretty awesome, huh?

Sampling increases sales by initiating trial through exposure to new products, and eliminating the fear customers might feel in trying a new product. No one wants to spend $20 on a bottle of wine they might not like. They’d rather try it first, and then make a decision.

Aside from increasing sales and exposure, sampling also helps to differentiate your brand from your competitors. “What makes your French fries so good?” – “Here, try them and see!” Easy as that.

The best part is, it doesn’t take much to set up a good sampling “station.” Here’s what you’ll need:

• Sample of your product (if it’s food, make it one-bite-sized, if it’s another type of product, like hand lotion, make it single-use-size).
• Knowledgeable team member to hand out the product / talk about the product
• Tray for product
• Sign for product
• Full-size products nearby
• Curious customers

So, get your employees excited about sampling, set a schedule for when you’ll sample (in-store and out-of-store), and let us know how sampling helps your business this summer!

For even more tips and techniques on how to effectively sample your products and demonstrate your services, join LSMGuide.com today, where you’ll gain access to our NEW Sampling & Demonstration Guide, plus over 100 marketing activities.

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