Looking Fit 02/2005: Tips To Managing Your Salon

Back To The Basics
Tips To Managing Your Salon

by Judie Bizzozero

With the tanning season in full swing, are you doing everything possible to manage your tanning salon efficiently? Hopefully the answer is a resounding yes; however, some salon operators are missing profit opportunities because they’ve forgotten a few business basics. LOOKING FIT® offers the following tips to help you avoid seasonal mistakes and stay on track to achieve higher profits.

Marketing drives sales and is a key component in overall business planning. Setting marketing goals forces salon owners to examine their company’s past sales performance to get an idea of what to expect in the coming year, determine what has or has not worked in the past, and look at what they can change to help boost sales.

Marketing goals set for the entire year can help salons prepare for the busy season and the slow season long before they arrive. If a salon owner knows in January how he or she wants to celebrate Independence Day, that salon is way ahead of its competition.

Impeccable customer service can result in loyal clientele, which increases business. How a tanning salon operator approaches and greets customers goes a long way in creating great first impressions. Proper phone etiquette and cleanliness convey an attention to detail and boosts the salon’s level of professionalism and customers’ comfort levels. Customer surveys or comment cards and client follow-ups can provide crucial information to help owners improve their businesses, by soliciting the clients’ perspective of a salon’s customer service.

Prices rise and fall often based on what other salons in the area are doing. However, there is a delicate balance. Raising the price too much causes tanners to stop buying. Discounting leads to a downward spiral—customers begin to expect the discounts, to the point that products and services lose their original value. Rather than discounting sessions and lotions to entice customers to buy, salon owners should package them together and include little extras as a bonus for buying.

Time on tanning equipment is one of the lowest costs associated with doing business. Free tans or free upgrades on premium equipment has a high perceived value with a minimum cost to the salon, and therefore make excellent incentives. To raise the dollarsper- customer average, salons need to create a reason for tanners to come to the salon. This can be accomplished through a well-constructed tanning package.

Create packages that require customers to adjust their schedules to you, as opposed to the other way around. A good package is 30 days of tanning for a certain amount of money. Never sell 30 tans for a certain amount of money. If you sell 30 tans, the customers feel like they have to use every single one of them, whereas if you sell 30 days, it requires a new purchasing decision in 30 days.

Conquering overbooking is easy if you don’t set appointments. Customers quickly learn that first come means first served and they take responsibility for their own schedule. It’s also one less thing for your staff to worry about. However, if you are committed to appointments, avoid overbooking—the business you save may be your own.

Ancillary services are a natural fit with tanning customers and health-conscious individuals who are willing to spend money to enhance their well-being. Adding sunless services or a hydrotherapy unit share some basic commonalties as add-ons. No additional licensing is needed for these services, although all require minimal employee training—from 15 minutes to a couple of hours.

Like tanning, these services can be sold in multiple-use packages that pull in higher revenue up-front, as opposed to more expensive single-visit sales. Unlike tanning, the services are not seasonal; therefore, they offer a year-round draw to even out a salon’s slower times.

The last thing you need during the busy season is an employee calling in sick or quitting. The secret to finding and keeping good help is an employee incentive program that offers commissions, rewards and other perks designed to motivate salon staff to sell.

Honor each month’s top employee with a special reward such as a cash bonus, gift certificate to nice restaurant or tickets to a local event. Nothing keeps loyal employees longer than a little respect. If you have been lax about showing appreciation, then set a new precedent. Likewise, don’t keep disgruntled employees around for long or else their negative attitude will rub off on good employees and your customers.

If you’ve been certified through an indoor tanning program such as the National Tanning Training Institute, then show it off. People take comfort that a salon staff is knowledgeable about the tanning process. Hang the certificate in your lobby so existing and potential clients know your staff is tops in the field. Add a sentence in your print advertising or a section on your Web site that reads: The staff of this salon has been trained and certified. If appropriate, send a press release to a local paper announcing that you and your employees recently were certified. Your salon just may land a profile in the local business section.

This is the time of year when the media and medical community begins the tanning-bashing season. Your local paper, radio or television station inevitably will run stories related to the evils of tanning— especially indoor tanning. Don’t wait for someone else to respond. Use all of the resources you have to provide an educated rebuttal. Call your local association (if you have one), the Indoor Tanning Association or the National Tanning Training Institute to help you in this matter.

You may be having such a busy season that you’ve forgotten about inventory. You will see a classic reduction in sales if lotions and accessories run out. Even if your distributor can overnight you a shipment, you’ve spent more money than necessary and lost a day or two worth of sales.

The most important part of a tanning salon is the equipment, and that is the main reason why clients are loyal to your salon. A tanning unit that needs repair or is not functioning is a direct loss of revenue for the salon. In fact, a salon that continues to operate with malfunctioning equipment ultimately will have to reschedule appointments, turn away clients or take a client out of a tanning unit after a session has begun. This causes a domino effect, and customers will lose confidence in the salon and take their business elsewhere.

Be sure to change out lamps per manufacturers’ recommendations. Nothing says “slacker” more than lamps that are way past their prime. If you think changing lamps every 700 hours means every 1,000, then you are going to drive customers away because they won’t achieve results.

One of the best ways to monitor equipment performance is to query tanning clients after their sessions. Customers are paying for a service and they certainly will speak up if lamps were not functioning or they heard strange noises coming from the equipment. Be sure to investigate every lead and remedy the problem before revenue is lost.

In the mad rush to get customers in and out of your salon, don’t neglect to have all consent and photosensitizing forms signed and your client records up to date. The FDA and local regulators don’t care how busy you are. In fact, they could make sure you have plenty of time to reflect on your mistake. Keep all files up to date and accurate, and have your lamp compatibility information handy.