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As the weather warms up, we tend to see tanner counts dwindle as people are trading their time tanning indoors for more time outside enjoying the sun. Avoiding the drop in customer traffic is something we discussed last month; this month, I want to dive a little deeper into other ideas to help ease that slowdown phase.
I see this all too often – salons will run crazy promotions during their slower months just to make sales. Instead of slashing prices, how about adding value to the packages and products you offer? Instead of deeply discounting a lotion, what about offering a tan extender with it for $5? Or, with select packages, offer extra upgrade credits? When you dramatically decrease the price of your products or services, you devalue them. Instead, offer extra incentives for salon guests to purchase them at regular prices.
Email marketing, text marketing, etc. are all extremely effective ways to communicate with your customers. Just because it’s summer and your business is slower doesn’t mean you should stop these efforts; if anything, you want to make the communications more appealing. Invite people in for a free session, or offer a one-day-only promotion. Anything that catches someone’s attention and drives foot traffic will also drive sales – the extra effort is always worth it.
Why not host a free tan weekend or a customer appreciation event? Getting people through the door during slow times is the ultimate goal. More Guests = More Sales! Have a cookout at the salon that includes free tanning and some great promotions on your products and services. Make it fun and something everyone will want to be a part of. People are much more likely to commit to packages if they have already tried the service, so let everyone coming to your salon try any bed they would like. You will notice a big difference in the number of people who purchase a membership in your higher-level equipment.
I’ve always been a fan of cross-promotion! Not only are you supporting other local businesses in your community, but you also target people who may have never heard of your brand. Something that I think is great is doing a weekly prize drawing – this works by partnering each week with a different business in your area and each business has a contest to give away a gift card for the other business. Example: if you partner with a nail salon, all the nail salon customers can enter to win a tanning gift card, and all your tanners can enter to win a nail salon gift card. I would suggest that after the drawing is done, you email each person who entered and offer them a free tan – that way, you get more new people through the door.
They say “positivity radiates,” so if you are not positive about the change of season, not only will your staff feel it, but so will your guests. A positive outlook can go a long way toward keeping your entire team motivated. As we all know, motivated and happy staff always outperform our expectations!
Anything that catches someone’s attention and drives foot traffic will also drive sales – the extra effort is always worth it.
As Director of Brand Development for Devoted Creations’ family of brands, Lisa brings 17 years of industry experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to all aspects of the business, including social media, product development, training, customer relations, public speaking and marketing strategies. Lisa worked at the salon level managing a large chain of salons, which infuses her sales training and brand concepts with real world experience. Lisa has been chosen IST Magazine’s “Person of the Year” four times.
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