The Tribune

By D’Arcy Rahming

When you go to a large food court in a mall, there sometimes seem to be enough samples there to have a meal. Of course, the food vendors have a different objective other than giving you free food. They want to convince you to buy a full meal from them. The hope is that their sample will be the taste you are looking for.

This is a brilliant strategy for several reasons. First, persons in the food court are already hungry, or otherwise they would not be there. Second, they come ready to make a purchase, which means they have the ability to pay.

Two questions jump to mind with this strategy. Can you apply this methodology to businesses other than food, and can you improve on this model? Before I answer these questions, I want to explain to you one of the ‘not so obvious’ reasons this sampling method works. It is related to the timing of the product’s consumption. The person tries the product and immediately feels its effects. There are some obvious examples of immediacy of consumption that you will see all around you.

For example, if I were selling television sets, I set them up so you can see a football game on them right away. Or if I were selling nail polish, I let you put some on a nail so that you can see how it looks. From test drives for automobiles to mirrors in dressing rooms for clothes, physical products have widely adopted this method. But how can you apply it to a service industry, like my business, which sells self-defense lessons.

My solution is to use a trial lesson followed by a trial period. When someone comes into my school, they can try a semi-private lesson where I show them a technique or two that they can use immediately. Then I give them a free month of tuition with the condition that they buy the start-up equipment, and they can practice with full membership rights. This satisfies immediate consumption as well as buying equipment, which further commits the person to continue the lessons.

There is a way the food court guys can improve their sampling methods. After the sample, they can give a coupon good for immediate consumption and/or later consumption. You reward the person simply for trying your product. For example, it may be that he or she is not in the mood for Chinese food today, but having sampled it, they will want to arrange a party with Chinese food during the week. To make this stronger, enter their name for a prize at your booth. This way you can follow up later, offering them deals and further information on your food, product or service.

• NB: D’Arcy Rahming holds an MBA from the prestigious Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, Mr Rahming has clients in general insurance, the retail, health and medical fields, sports federations and financial services. He is also treasurer of the Bahamas Olympic Committee. To receive his marketing newsletter FREE go to http://darcyrahming.com