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When thinking about Spring Break, what comes to most people’s minds? Vacationing with friends, warm weather and palm trees, a great tan? What comes to mind for you as a salon owner? Perhaps the lucrative opportunity that this time of year presents to you and your business?
At this busy time of year, having a complete salon management system will prove to be an essential tool.
For those preparing for an upcoming Spring Break vacation, looking great on the beach is likely at the top of their priority list, and what better way to achieve this than by obtaining that golden glow by acquiring a nice “base” tan. These potential customers have a distinct need for which you, as a tanning salon owner, have the ability to provide an effortless solution – one that will even allow them to relax during the process. At this busy time of year, having a complete salon management system will prove to be an essential tool, enabling you to capitalize on this favorable position.
The information that you’ve collected over time via your customer database is priceless to your business. Tapping into this data is imperative when looking to market to the demographic that would be expected to engage in a Spring Break trip. Querying all of your male and female guests between the ages of 18 and 24 years old and printing mailing labels through your software program is a great start to marketing to existing customers ahead of time. Sending coupons for a buy-one-get-one free tan or the first month free on an EFT membership are excellent ways to entice people to visit your salon, especially if they haven’t been in since, say … last Spring Break!
During this time, you also want to appeal to prospective new clientele. Advertising to new clients by offering a promotion such as a complimentary first tan will surely bring some walk-ins through your doors. Providing outstanding customer service and superior products and services to follow will allow you to easily convert them into repeat customers, even if they only came in to “get their tan on” prior to embarking on a vacation. Be sure to gather as much info as possible from these walk-ins, so that you can run effective reports for any new customers who patronized your salon for the first time during the spring break season. Everything from an email address to how they heard about your salon is a vital piece of data. This will allow you to continue to further promote your business post-Spring Break.
Your software system should also allow you to configure your promotions so that they are only available for redemption during a certain time period. Once Spring Break has come and gone, be sure to analyze the promotions that were redeemed to determine just how successful they were. If necessary, determine how your promotions should be adjusted for next year.
One last thing to keep in mind during Spring Break season is that busy front counters and salon lobbies are always a good thing, but they can present some challenges for you and your staff. It is of utmost importance to provide a seamless experience for both new and existing guests. If your software vendor offers a kiosk software, be sure to take advantage of it! This will allow new customers to register themselves, decreasing wait time at the front counter, as well as allowing existing customers to check themselves in for a session.
Spring Break doesn’t have to be an exciting time just for your customers. There is unlimited potential for your business at this time of year, especially if you and your team have the advantage of a salon management software program that supports the execution of your business plan. Running some attractive promotions, doing some extra marketing and deploying methods of minimizing wait times are all great ways to keep tanners happy and coming back!
Melissa Damiani is the Sales Manager of SunLync Software, Inc. a member of the JK-North America group of companies. With the company since 2002, Melissa has served the organization in several capacities, and has extensive knowledge of all aspects required to deliver robust salon management software solutions that are designed to enable measurable growth within its users’ ever-evolving business models.
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