Blood Testing Helps Tailor Supplement Programs © VR By Mark Williams What Exactly IS Nutritional/ Preventative Blood Testing? In its entirety, your blood reflects the current (and future) condition of your body, virtually every aspect of it. If you've got a cold, your blood analysis will reflect it. There is literally nothing about your biological condition that your blood does not reflect. Your blood chemistry reflects pending diseases well in advance of any symptoms. So regular, comprehensive blood testing allows emerging medical problems to be dealt with in the earliest, most treatable stages. When the parameters of your blood results aren't optimal, you can improve them through diet, and supplements­­that is, through nutrition. A nutritional program customized to each person's unique biochemistry is the most effective way to optimize blood chemistry, and when blood parameters are within optimum ranges the body is able to heal itself quite effectively. The YFH program covers 56 specific blood tests. The Logistics The first step is filling out the registration form available in the store and returning it along with payment of $320 for a new client via mail, phone or fax. The customer then receives a blood testing kit in the mail with several days later. The customer then arranges to have her blood drawn at one of the hundreds of collection sites listed in the kit. After the blood is drawn the collection site ships the samples to YFH's lab for analysis. The client gets a 200 page report in the mail about two weeks later. The report, called HealthPrint, contains dietary and lifestyle recommendations based on the blood results that will raise or lower blood chemistry scores to more optimum levels. The Healthprint scorecard and guide lists specific supplements that should be taken to improve specific blood parameters. YFH recommends having your blood tested at least once per year to spot trends and monitor the impact of the improvements being made to diet. Customers who make large initial dietary supplement purchases and then dramatically taper off are a common phenomenon in this Industry. Therefore, the ability to clearly demonstrate the value of a customer's (often substantial) ongoing supplement investment is a primary strategic imperative for retailers looking to maximize nutritional assistance and ongoing average sale levels. An independent nutritional blood testing and education company, Your Future Health (YFH), Tavares, FL, believes it has developed a solution to the problem of tapering supplement sales, and recently began offering this program to health food stores. While YFH has done blood analysis for 23 years, it just began offering its program to retailers last year. "In a nutshell," said marketing director Brian Cullen, "we provide our customers with comprehensive blood analysis and an interpretive guide, called a HealthPrint, that specifies exactly the supplements that would be optimum for each customer's individual biochemistry. The customer knows what supplements she needs, based on an analysis of her blood—and of equal importance, what supplements she doesn't need, so she's not wasting money. We don't, however, recommend brands. "With ongoing testing, customers are able to see the blood test results of their nutritional choices and therefore see the return on their supplement investments," Cullen continued. "We work pretty closely with our retail partners, and have a national network of blood collection sites. We also offer seminars to educate staff and clients on the benefits of targeting nutrition to individual biochemistry." Initial HealthPrint partner-retailers appeared enthusiastic about the program's bottom line and benefit to clients. Successful Results Jack Konold, owner of Sunspot Natural Foods, a two-store retailer in Kokomo, IN, said he's been using the HealthPrint program for nearly two years. "I'd say this is one of the easiest programs we've ever done, since it's taken no money and very little time on our part," he commented. "The main benefit is that clients get so much more involved with the specifics of their health, and it gets people away from just blindly taking supplements." Konold said that his customers who have done the HealthPrint program are more likely to keep taking supplements long term because they see and feel the benefits of what they're taking. "We've used HealthPrint to turn a number of average, low-volume customers into high-volume customers, and to increase their shopping frequency," he said. "The idea of being able to directly quantify supplement benefits to customers looked phenomenal when YFH first presented it to us," said Diana Rhoads, manager of Mustard Seed Market & Cafe in Akron, OH. "We haven't yet tabulated hard numbers, but the people who are doing HealthPrints with us are our key supplement shoppers, and they are definitely buying more product post-HealthPrint than pre-HealthPrint. The HealthPrint gives them a road map that dovetails perfectly with our product lines," she added. Mustard Seed is among the stores that have sponsored seminars led by Brian Cullen or Ellie Cullen, founder and president of YFH. Brian Cullen said that he finds that those stores that do offer seminars have a much better response than those that do not. "About 50 percent of those who come to our seminars say they will get a HealthPrint and about 20 to 25 percent of attendees sign up for one within the first three weeks following a seminar," he said. "Those retailers who do well, are those who do follow-up and talk to their customers about the program." Rhoads noted that the Mustard Seed's YFH seminars have been popular and well-attended. "We've had a spurt in sales immediately after each seminar we held." One of YFH's first and most stalwart retail accounts is Schlarman's Health Center in Fort Recovery, OH. Owner Marge Vehorn said that Cullen has given three lectures at the store, which is located in a renovated barn where her father sold milk for 45 years. Vehorn estimated that about 65 to 70 customers have done the program since she began offering it about 18 months ago. "I only suggest it if I think it's what a customer really needs. If a customer tells me about multiple problems or thinks he is deficient in this or that, I'll recommend it." She said that all who have taken the test were satisfied with it. "The information YFH supplies is easy to understand and Tracey Wietholter (assistant manager) or I will go over it with the customer." Vehorn, along with her entire staff, has taken the HealthPrint test and said she believes it's very beneficial. "It indicated that I was high in calcium but low in magnesium," she related. Cullen said that a common deficiency among most of those tested are zinc and magnesium. "Ninety percent of those tested are deficient in zinc and 80 percent are deficient in magnesium. The average number of nutrients needed is between eight and 10 supplements. Plus we often get people off stuff they don't need." He noted that "a lot of people taking calcium don't need it because so many things are fortified with calcium, but they don't have adequate levels of phosphorus and magnesium." (See Selling Supplements on page 10). Lori Murphy, owner of Murphy's Health Foods and Juice Bar, Libertyville, IL, also was enthusiastic about the program. "HealthPrint allows us to offer a superior service that builds loyalty among our customers. The test is the best of both worlds—it helps customers improve their health, and it gives them the information they need to justify a heavier investment in supplements and natural foods. For us, the program has translated into better sales, not only of supplements, but of foods as well. Murphy noted that the average sale for a customer who participates in the YFH program is approximately 50 percent higher than the average sale for a non-participating customer. Chad Beyer, owner of the two-store Heathy Horizons in DePere, WI, stated, "We've had good feedback, and most of our clients seem to buy the argument that the cost of HealthPrint is easily amortized against the unnecessary supplements they were buying before they had a blood test." Cullen estimates that there are 70 stores signed up for the HealthPrint program. "The health food stores have been a receptive market for this program because the owners often want to help their customers but have to walk a fine line to avoid practicing medicine. In our test pilot program retailers really liked the fact that we were able to show through blood testing which vitamins their customers were deficient in." He also pointed out the the program requires no monetary investment from retailers. YFH provides brochures, brochure holder, large posters, a master registration form that is already filled in with the store's name and address, and a video of a seminar held at Mustard Seed Market. The company can be reached at (877)468-6934 or customerservice@yourfuturehealth.com A recent customer satisfaction survey by YFH showed that 42 percent of its clients indicate that they have shared their HealthPrint results with their doctors and 83 percent said they feel more in control of their health. "We are a complement to doctor's testing and in no way are we a substitute," Cullen stressed. "We encourage our clients to share their HealthPrints with their doctors." As more and more supplements are introduced into the market, confusion can certainly become more amplified among your customers. A service such as that offered by YFH allows you to provide custom health solutions and can further set your store apart from others selling supplements. VR Mark Williams is a former editor of Playboy Magazine, and has been published in The Chicago Tribune, Outside Magazine, Bicycle Guide, Puerto Rico Today and elsewhere. He wrote the screenplay for "Modern Love", a made-for-television movie, which has been broadcast in the United States and 27 other countries. From 1986 until 2000, Williams served as CEO and President of West Indies Partners, Inc., a management-consulting group with emphasis on international business development and new media.
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