Celebrating YOUR SALON’S ANNIVERSARY
by Scott Eric Barrett
While there aren’t too many holidays or other events tailor-made to entice consumers to dash to a local tanning salon, celebrating a salon’s anniversary is an angle that can net huge rewards. Salons can throw a party where they discount tanning packages or actually offer free tans on that special day. Some salons celebrate their anniversaries for an entire week or month.
Carma Fillers, owner of Glamour Tans in Greenville, Tenn., calls her anniversary celebration the “Bam— Get A Tan Weekend.”
“During this time, instead of selling points, we offer low prices for single visits on all of our tanning beds—four different levels—and give away free lotion samples,” she says. The purpose of the celebration is to generate more business and to give her regular customers a chance to experience her superbeds at an extra-low price, she adds.
“Our anniversary is in May and it is a very good time for us because we triple business that weekend,” she says. “The celebration starts on Friday and ends on Sunday at close. We extend our hours during this special as well so everyone working any shift has a chance to participate. We advertise a lot on the local popular radio station. Then we advertise in two newspapers in our area. It is a major success and pays for itself over and over.”
It’s important for small-business owners to determine their goal for the program—new customers, more business from current customers, expanded product/service line or some combination thereof—says Jon Lowder, president of Marketing Publishers, Inc., a company that publishes marketing-related newsletters and books.
“I think these types of programs are great for generating more business from current customers,” he says. “The thrust basically is, ‘We’re celebrating our nth year in business and want to thank you for helping us get here. So we’re giving all customers who visit us this month a half price session to be used in the next X weeks.’ This type of program generates extra sessions, builds goodwill with current customers and gives salon owners an opportunity to contact any customers they might have lost. Of course, this assumes that most salon operators have good databases of their customers; but if you don’t, all is not lost.”
Salons who haven’t built up a good customer database can use anniversary celebrations to do so. “Basically, salon operators can say, ‘This month we’re starting our nth year in business and to celebrate we’re starting our customer appreciation program,’” he says. “‘Anyone who visits us and registers for our Star Customer program—salon owners can call it whatever they want—gets half-price off one session. By joining the program you’ll qualify for any special customer appreciation deals we run in the future.’”
Obviously, salon owners need to think through all of the variables involved with a customer-appreciation program, but they can keep it simple and still see positive results. “Perhaps they offer to all club members 10 percent off at least one session every month or, even better, they get a freebie such as a bottle of lotion for every X number of visits,” Lowder says. That way, salon owners don’t focus on the price of each session and customers get something to take home with them.
“If you absolutely need to generate new customers, I’d recommend an anniversary program that doesn’t focus too much on price,” he says. “It’s well known that customers who shop with you based on price alone are least likely to develop into loyal customers. So I’d recommend coming up with a giveaway like the lotion idea for anyone who signs up for a certain number of sessions. That way, they’re getting a gift but you aren’t degrading the perceived value of your service.”
While Fillers was lucky enough to celebrate her salon’s anniversary in the middle of the season, other salons aren’t so lucky.
“Since our anniversary date is Jan. 1, we use it as an excuse to have an anniversary/New Year’s special,” says Cathy Pizana, owner of Tropics Tanning Salon & Boutique in Lansing, Ill.
“In the 1990s we used to do something like five visits for $19.95 in 1995, but once we hit 2001, it became kind of silly to add the pennies on,” she says. “We’re thinking about offering a different lotion special each week and offering upgrade specials for the whole month during our 2004 anniversary.”
Pizana says it’s important for salon operators to mark their anniversaries so they can let everyone know how long they have been in business.
“We run a very large ad in our local paper and we have a huge banner in the window,” she says. “We try to make people aware of how they should make time for themselves; during the holidays we all do so much for other people that we neglect ourselves.”
HavAtan in Stockton, Calif., has seen success with half-off upgrades or discounts on certain beds and booths on the store’s anniversary day. This gets a lot of tanners to use equipment they may normally not use, says Angi Orlandella, owner.
“We’ve also had success with our free Ms. Sunshine antenna balls,” she says. “It was a great success that got our clients advertising for us, especially when the antenna balls would get stolen and they needed get a new one. Anniversary celebrations are just my way of thanking my clients for their continued business. You have to keep your clients tan and happy.”
Celebrating each additional year a company has survived and thrived is great for everyone involved. Salons that proudly state their accomplishments stand out and give consumers the impression that they are here to stay.
The Cost Of A Smile
Anniversaries are happy times for a salon, but customers won’t be impressed unless the salon’s employees appear happy and enthusiastic as well. Nothing showcases happiness more than a warm smile. That’s why it’s so important for management to maintain a friendly environment in the salon.
Few actions have a greater impact on the employee-customer relationship than a smile. It doesn’t cost a penny to give but is worth a million dollars to the person who receives it. It is said it takes 72 muscles to frown and only 14 to smile. A smile says many things, among them: “Welcome,” “We’re glad you’re here—we know you have many choices,” and “I may not know everything, but if I don’t, I will try to find out for you.”
Studies have shown friendly employees are more productive than others. They pay attention to indirect meanings, work well with other cultures and are seen as trustworthy.
In his book, Secrets of Power Persuasion for Salespeople, Roger Dawson says friendly employees can sell anything to customers as long as they keep displaying a sincere, friendly smile.
Customers are more open-minded about a sales pitch if the staff is friendly. The problem in today’s selling environment, though, is that far too many salespeople are worried about being perceived by customers as overbearing or rude; instead, they give customers space and lose sight of being pleasant.
It is possible to be polite and friendly and still be an effective salesperson, Dawson says.
In an industry as competitive and vanity-driven as indoor tanning, salon operators who make it a point to hire pleasant employees who aren’t shy about showing off a friendly smile will be one step ahead of the competition.
