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The un-motivating, out-of-date tanning salon sales counter – I’ve seen too many turned into nothing more than a place where a disinterested salon worker clicks loudly on a computer keyboard behind the counter and mindlessly utters, “All set with lotion? Eyewear? Bed 3 is ready,” and on special days, one lucky guest may get told loudly “your card was declined ” in front of a lobby full of judgmental onlookers. “We have a declined card on register one! Bad card on register one!” the 19-year-old exclaims.
And this impersonal, uninspiring Counter of Doom is the first place your guest is programmed to come to in your facility? Nothing says “we’re glad you’re here” more than a good ol’ fingerprint scan and obnoxious keyboard clicking as the staff tries to act like the guest is more important than the Snap that just popped up on their cell phone!
Many of us are guilty of creating unproductive guest interaction routines in our salons. These routines are the norm – they are safe, and they are easy to repeat over and over again to the point that they have become acceptable. Even worse: we’ve trained our guests to perform the same routines … and they feel safe with it, too; which makes it even more difficult to implement a “new way” because everybody is comfortable in their routine.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: It starts with the very first word and the spirit in which it’s spoken. It’s more than just “hello” – it’s whatever you need to say to show guests you’re glad to see them. I know salon teams that practice “greetings.” They work on it with the goal being to start a conversation with the guest.
David is a National Educator for Sun Evolutions, offering brands including Supre Tan, ProTan, Fiesta Sun and Hempz. He is a face-to-face sales and beauty product fanatic who gauges his success solely on his effectiveness at selling real product to real, live salon guests.
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