It pays to be generous

[grumpy_owl]

I wanted to mention here how much throwing in a lagniappe has helped my business. I always toss in a sample soap or a lip balm or solid lotion as a thank-you to my buyers. Some are butt ends; some are perfect; some are tiny size. And most come to nothing.
But out of the extras I've tossed in a package without a second thought, I've gotten orders for:
40 Christmas soaps
16 dance team soaps
200 wedding favor soaps
10 manly man's soaps (my Boyfriend Material bars; rather proud of that one)
10 steampunk bicycle soaps
And two local girlfriends interested in learning to soap on their own.

A nice note, a little something extra,and pretty packaging are great ways to help build a business.

 

[cmzaha]

Yes it does. I always put in samples

 

[Cactuslily]

I'm so grateful to people that do that. Perhaps I've been spoiled, but my last order of FO's from a vendor I've never purchased from before didn't include anything. I kept searching the box thinking sure.y it was in there somewhere. Samples not only make loyal customers if the product is good, but I purchased something I never would have otherwise because of the sample. It's good business practice. As a customer, I thank you, and it's truly appreciated.

 

[jules92207]

That's how Lush got me hooked...it's successful marketing for sure!

 

[cmzaha]

I am making a tip jar for my booth... A customer tip jar with little mood baby soap samples, so they can get a tip!! . These days everywhere I go there seems to be a tip jar so we decided to do the reverse

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Very good ideas - Carolyn and the op!

 

[girlishcharm2004]

I typically send out samples with the orders I get. Most (bigger) soap companies that I know of got their start by just handing out free samples -- just giving away tons of product.

 

[navigator9]

And not just for customers.....I always give people like the lawn guy, plumber, etc. a soap or two to take home. After one of those occasions, I called my plumber back for another job, and he said, "How about paying me in soap?" Well, don't you know I jumped at that! Since then, he takes some or all of his payment in soap. You just never know the value of a free sample.

 

[shunt2011]

I have always put in a nice note as well as free product. I too pass out free samples at shows and to cable, mail person etc. It's appreciated and it has customers returning. I've gotten new business from my free samples at shows. They've used the product and wanted to purchase more. You just have to get your name out there and show that you appreciate/want their business.

 

[SozoArtisanSoaps]

I put a sample in with every order, too, along with a thank you note. I really do appreciate their business

 

[pamielynn]

I am a sample whore, myself. Love samples!! And look how many of those "subscription boxes" are making a killing just selling boxes of samples. Love to get them, would never stop giving them.

I think it's funny when new soap sellers actually refuse to accept the advice of sampling. I've had more of those grouchy "I'd don't like handmade soap" people come back and buy a ton of soap just because of a tiny, little sample. And mine are so SMALL - a 20th of a bar. All it takes is my time. Totally worth it.

 

[dixiedragon]

I have more than once loved an FO I got as a free sample and ordered it the next time I placed an order.

 

[not_ally]

I am a free gift lover too. They always seem more like gifts to me than samples, even though I know it is good business. I admit, that is one of the reasons I am a Mad Oils fan, although I really do like their products, their packaging and little gift bags are so beautiful and thoughtful. I always feel like I am getting a present when one of their boxes arrive.

 

[happyshopper]

I had to goggle what a lagniappe was :???: never heard that term before.

I love samples/gifts I purchase a lot of handmade items and love it when a sample/gift is included, if not then I like it to be packaged nicely. I don't like it when the item just turns up shoved in a box/envelope with no care taken - if I had wanted that I would have gone to amazon! Unless the product is extremely good/cheap I do not return to those sellers.

Its interesting the general consensus here is to include samples. I was a member of a UK craft forum (not soap, but some did sell that) and have seen this topic come up many times. The theme seems to be that the customer has paid the price why should they get extra, in fact some go as far to say that the sellers including freebies are taking business away for others, in my view that's how business works, but I have seem some heated discussions about it.

 

[cmzaha]

I am a sample whore, myself. Love samples!! And look how many of those "subscription boxes" are making a killing just selling boxes of samples. Love to get them, would never stop giving them.

I think it's funny when new soap sellers actually refuse to accept the advice of sampling. I've had more of those grouchy "I'd don't like handmade soap" people come back and buy a ton of soap just because of a tiny, little sample. And mine are so SMALL - a 20th of a bar. All it takes is my time. Totally worth it.

I will have to re-clarify about my giving away samples. I do not give samples to all, I sell samples. The samples I give away are to my actual customers, or to someone debating if they want to try my soap. I find if a bowl of free samples is put on the table, it will be empty by the end of the evening. People just love to pick up something "Free". Customers love to get a little gift. I even gift soap dishes, at times, when a customer buy mulitples

 

[pamielynn]

I will have to re-clarify about my giving away samples. I do not give samples to all, I sell samples. The samples I give away are to my actual customers, or to someone debating if they want to try my soap. I find if a bowl of free samples is put on the table, it will be empty by the end of the evening. People just love to pick up something "Free". Customers love to get a little gift. I even gift soap dishes, at times, when a customer buy mulitples

Oh, yeah - I don't leave a box of samples out for people to just dig through..no..no! But, I find free sampling very effective when talking with people at my table who I can tell are not going to make a purchase. Put on a sweet smile and say "Would you like to try a sample?" This alone has people coming back and saying "You gave me a sample last week and I want this, this and this." And I'm serious, these are little tiny pieces of soap, usually cut from log ends - not even as big as those "brownie bites" molds that a lot of people use. In my experience, it has worked better than I could imagine, so that's why I talk up doing it.

But it sounds like that's what you do, so I think we're on the same track. I also do the free soap dish thing. That really works well for bumping up sales.

 

[DeeAnna]

My day job is being an owner of a small home based business that doesn't have a thing to do with soap. We hand make gifts and home decor items mostly using leather and sleigh bells. We often include a sample of a regular product with every shipment to our wholesale customers. The point is to introduce them to a product they might not have considered otherwise, and it works pretty well.

Off and on, I've toyed with the idea of including a small sample bar of my soap with an order. I don't sell soap as a business, but I've thought soap samples could be fun -- something unexpected that echoes the handcrafted nature of my "real" business. And of course giving out samples would be a great way to feed my soaping addiction.

I've played around with cutting a standard bar into four mini bars (about the size of hotel soap bars) but it sounds like Pamielynn is going even smaller with her samples. We ship about 500 orders per year, so it might be good for me to think carefully about just how large the sample bars should be.

With the samples, do y'all label them as you would a regular bar of soap -- business name, contact info, soap name, ingredients list, etc.?

 

[cmzaha]

My day job is being an owner of a small home based business that doesn't have a thing to do with soap. We hand make gifts and home decor items mostly using leather and sleigh bells. We often include a sample of a regular product with every shipment to our wholesale customers. The point is to introduce them to a product they might not have considered otherwise, and it works pretty well.

Off and on, I've toyed with the idea of including a small sample bar of my soap with an order. I don't sell soap as a business, but I've thought soap samples could be fun -- something unexpected that echoes the handcrafted nature of my "real" business. And of course giving out samples would be a great way to feed my soaping addiction.

I've played around with cutting a standard bar into four mini bars (about the size of hotel soap bars) but it sounds like Pamielynn is going even smaller with her samples. We ship about 500 orders per year, so it might be good for me to think carefully about just how large the sample bars should be.

With the samples, do y'all label them as you would a regular bar of soap -- business name, contact info, soap name, ingredients list, etc.?

My soapie samples are poured in the little flower molds you can find at Joanns and Michaels, Amazon etc. The soaps weight about .5 oz each. These I shrink wrap and label with soap name and our information; The samples I am going to put in a customer tip jar are smaller called Mood Babies, I will wrap them but no label. I think it would be fun if you added in a soap in the package.

 

[grumpy_owl]

I know that in my case, I have so many butt-ends and molded spillovers and bits and pieces and things that are awesome but for some reason didn't sell that I can afford (not, like, financially, but we're not in this to be millionaires) to throw samples into every single order, whether it's a big soap, a small soap, a lip balm, a solid lotion, or a scrub. I label them as officially as the paid-for products and put "sample" on those that are clearly small.

For many customers, they are enchanted by a scent, something I understand, as dixiedragon stated, because a sample of a great scent will send me running to place a big order. But I'm not averse to sending big, gorgeous official bars of soap to people on the off-chance I'll have a customer for life. I just spent 20 minutes at a pre-wedding oyster feast listening to the father of the bride to be tell me how my soaps have healed up his dry skin and he's addicted to them. For my very small business? Worth it.

If only I'd thought of something as clever as Mad Oils' candy gift. I squeal when I open their packages.

And p.s. I, too, give bars away to my awesome mail carrier, my house cleaner, my work colleague (who now buys from me) and anyone else who deserves both a cash tip and little something something.

 

[zolveria]

I believe in samples. Even before your go live date. I use my fellow nurses and aide to try out my lipstick, gloss cream shadows, lotion , soap etc. I take a 8oz lotion and leave it on the nurse station. they LOVE the lotion and I have orders. My store has not launched yet. One month till Launch. I am exited so is everyone else at work.
I have a request for snake pep serum smh. which I am going to do. I recently got a call from a distributer for Reservitol at 249 a Kilo. wheels are turning in my head