Two years ago, one loyal reader said that was what she wanted to see in the pages of her monthly ist Magazine. With our Tips of the Trade compendium 2014, we’ve delivered for the second year in a row!
When it comes to giving advice about salon operations, proven success is the only thing that matters. Whether it’s sales, marketing or promotions, or even employee motivation, our readers say that they need tips and advice that will work in their salons, and our Tips of the Trade series has addressed this need. Launched in February 2013, these monthly articles highlight a wide variety of topics – radio and Groupon sales techniques, community involvement, spa service promotions, etc. – that are relevant to operating a successful salon in today’s market. Near the end of the year, we have several stories filled with solid business-building advice from folks on the frontlines – hardworking tanning salon owners and industry professionals just like you. Now, in November, we’re presenting this important information one more time to help you plan to make the most of your 2015 peak season. (These tips are so good, we suggest you include this section in your handbook/training manual!)
As always, we thank all of the hardworking tanning pros who made this series possible by sharing their valuable business-building advice. ■
Whether for your staff, yourself, or both, everyone can use a little motivation. We all get caught up in the nine-to-five, after all, and this becomes a habit… a monotonous, day-in, day-out habit where we’re just going through the motions. Two tanning industry veterans shared their secrets on motivating both yourself and your staff, and their tips are perfect for salon owners who might feel stuck in the daily grind and are looking to pull themselves out of it.
Even the most successful entrepreneurs have had setbacks. The key to overcoming them and achieving ultimate success is how much time you give a failure, says Bobby Wagner, JK-Light Sales Manager. Although he’s faced some adversity on his road to making his RedNeck Lipstick barbecue sauce a household name, Bobby has developed ten important lessons about success from which any tanning salon owner can benefit. Here is his downhome wisdom distilled into ten, easy-to-understand guidelines:
1. Never let success go to your head,or failure go to your heart.
2. If the plan doesn’t work, then change the plan, not the goal.
3. Confidence is overrated.
4. Make a list of things you love and things you don’t.
5. Don’t surround yourself with people like you.
6. Create a sense of demand; don’t wait until you have a demand.
7. Create the image of success whether you have it or not.
8. Motivation is not the key to success?
9. Turn your motivation into a habit.
10.The key to ultimate success is how much time you give a failure.
Every salon owners wants a happy, motivated and loyal workforce, but how many of them know the secret to developing this kind of rapport? Bill Niesciur of Sundazzlers in Edwardsville, IL believes he’s cracked the code, and his formula comes straight out of the heart of good human resources management training. Bill separated himself from his former “boss” mentality to transform himself into a leader his team could respect, and such an investment has resulted in every member of the Sundazzlers staff giving 110 percent. Here’s Bill’s method for talking the talk and walking the walk:
• Spend more time on the frontlines of your salon business.
• Think and speak less “I/me” and be more “we/us” with your team.
• Lead by example – don’t be afraid to get in there and get your hands dirty.
• Get to know your staff on a deeper level to make them feel more connected and vested.
• Encourage your staff to share their ideas for improving the business. You might be surprised! ■
When it comes to marketing your salon, there are many media from which to choose. As a salon owner, your choice to utilize social media, radio, Groupon, or any other marketing medium should depend upon one thing: whether or not you know how to use the medium properly. This, more than any other factor, determines how successful you’ll be with any advertising campaign. Two tanning industry veterans shared their proven approaches to Groupon and radio advertising, and these tips are designed to turn any salon owner into a marketing master.
Groupon is one of the most effective ways to generate new business… when you follow Tim Winfrey’s four simple steps. Winfrey, Global Sales Manager at Synergy Tan, used his Groupon formula to much success when he operated a successful salon chain in Florida. The key, he says, is understanding what Groupon truly is: a new customer generator. Understanding this and incorporating Winfrey’s advice will help make your Groupon promotions fun and profitable. Here’s his key to Groupon success in four easy steps:
• Create an irresistible offer that practically gives your services away.
• Create an even better deal when clients redeem their Groupon. Give them until the end of their Groupon special to take advantage of it.
• Train your staff to up-sell every Groupon client.
• Don’t forget your customer service. Groupon redeemers are potential long-term clients, so treat them well.
Three years ago, Lara Nance had a bad experience when the local radio station bungled ads for her salon, Sun Seekers Tan & Spa in Des Moines, IA. Instead of becoming discouraged with radio advertising the way so many other salon professionals do, Lara decided to pick up the phone and call her local radio station. In doing so, she discovered the key to successful radio advertising is connecting with the right sales rep. That one phone call led to a strong relationship with a new advertising rep, one who understands Sun Seekers and has helped make the salon a household name in Des Moines. Here’s how Lara says any salon owner can develop a close relationship with their radio rep:
• Don’t be afraid to reach out and talk to someone at the radio station about your business and advertising goals.
• Meet with your potential rep to see sample ads and scripts. If it’s not what you want, ask for a redo.
• Rotate two or more ads each month to keep listeners engaged.
• Sponsor popular features such as traffic and weather reports so more people hear your message.
• Advertise during the off-peak months to help increase business during that time.
• Offer your rep a free membership. They’ll develop a better understanding of your business and a closer relationship with you.
• If your radio rep isn’t doing the job, call the station and request a new one. ■
Powerful Promotions
Recognizing an opportunity and taking advantage of it are the keys to successful salon promotions. Besides the traditional sales based around holidays, salon owners such as yourself can turn just about any day into a reason to host an amazing, well-attended event at your store. Tanning pros such as the ones featured here understand this concept to creating successful promotions and they use them to boost revenue, sales and even memberships, especially during the dreaded off-peak months. A lesson can be learned from their approaches to creating successful promotions, which is why we’re pleased to be able to share their wisdom – and their spot-on tips – in this special section.
If you want to be successful offering spa services, you have to promote them just as you do your tanning services. This is what Ryan Abriel, manager of SunTouched Tanning Salon & Spa in North Ogden, UT discovered. To introduce his community to the salon’s massage services, he gave everyone a free 10-minute chair massage during his “Spa Saturday” promotion. The event turned many SunTouched tanners into massage believers, and attracted many new clients from the community. Now, nearly everyone in North Ogden knows about SunTouched’s spa services. Ryan says that any salon owner can have similar success by following these tips:
• Choose a spa service to offer free for one day.
• Advertise the event on social media and other low-cost/no-cost mediums.
• Offer each client a deal on the featured spa service immediately after their free session.
• Use the event to promote all of your salon’s services.
Why not make Friday the 13th your clients’ lucky day? Dana Blunt did this by offering amazing specials on memberships, packages and products on this day, making her Friday the 13th promotion a huge hit at her Pro Tan Tanning Center in Ottumwa, IA. The event has become so popular that she no longer needs to advertise it! More importantly, the business she acquires from this promotion keeps guests coming back to her salon during the off-peak months. Friday the 13th sales are nothing new, Dana says, and any salon owner can have success with them by following this blueprint:
• Tie the promotion to a customer appreciation/free tan weekend for maximum attraction.
• Base most of your sales around the number 13 – 13 percent off products, double any package for $13, etc. – to help people to associate the day with your special deals.
• Make creating repeat clients during the off-peak months your ultimate goal for the event.
• Promote heavily in the beginning to create long-term association with Friday the 13th and your salon.
• Have fun! The more you enjoy it, the bigger the success. ■
Community Involvement
Your salon is part of its community and you should be, too! Getting involved in what’s going on in your area will introduce you and your business to so many more people than just those who walk through your doors. The salon owners featured in this section understand the importance of community involvement and they’ve developed creative and successful ways to do it, all of which has helped to make their businesses even more popular with “the locals.” We hope that their unique approaches to reaching out to their neighbors will inspire you to do something similar. You’ll be glad you did!
Ever considered sponsoring a local race car driver? Ryan Stedem does, and it’s been a huge success for his salon, Eclipse Tanning in Marshall, MO. While his friend’s Micro-Sprint car races ’round the track displaying the Eclipse Tanning logo on its side, Ryan and his wife Becky take advantage of many additional promotional opportunities with the hundreds of fans who come to the racetrack each week. All of this amounts to more people hearing about and coming into Eclipse Tanning, many of them becoming long-term tanners. If racing isn’t big in your community, you can still follow Ryan’s tips for successfully sponsoring a local athlete or team:
• Make sure your salon’s logo is prominently displayed upon the car, team uniform, etc.
• Find additional opportunities such as contests and drawings to get more people involved with your sponsorship.
• Increase community awareness by promoting your sponsorship on your social media network.
• Tie in your sponsorship with special community events, such as homecoming parades, etc.
• Attend the events of your sponsored teams for the many networking opportunities this provides.
People in your community who lead happy, successful and active lifestyles can and should be the “face” of your tanning salon. Adam Lang and Peyton Peeples have utilized “ambassadors” from their community to help promote their Aspen Tan salons in Aspen, CO. By reaching out to their customer base, the two have been able to feature a marathon runner, professional mountain bike racer and a University of Colorado cheerleader in their print and social media ads, all of which continue to contribute to Aspen Tan’s image as an upscale, professional tanning salon chain. Somewhere out there is a tanning ambassador waiting to represent your salon, and here’s how to find them:
• Identify your needs to determine the kind of person you want to be the face of your business.
• Mine your database to find current clients who are tanned and love your salon.
• Once you find a potential ambassador, discuss your wish to feature them in your marketing.
• Have your ambassador sign a model release form, which you’ll need to publish their image, name and lifestyle info. • • • Research this online.
• Reward your ambassadors with free tanning; it’s only right!
• Make the most of it by featuring your ambassadors in as much marketing and promotions as you can and enjoy the branding benefits! ■
Tracking Success
There are many ways to market your salon, but how do you know if your efforts are successful? By tracking your campaigns, of course. This is the art and science of studying the results of your various marketing and promotional efforts on Facebook, Twitter, radio, TV, etc. to see how many people its reaching and, more importantly, how many are being inspired to act upon what they see. While there are many ways to track your marketing, we’ve included one salon owner’s method for doing so that also encourages interaction with tanners. It’s fun, easy and above all, extremely helpful so be sure to read all about it… then give it a try!
When you track your marketing through attribution, you’ll know which aspects of your marketing are working best. The idea comes from Brian DeMint, whose uses attribution to discover what’s inspiring his clients to come to Perfect Tan in Temecula, CA. He gives them a survey to fill out while they’re waiting to tan, and adds free upgrades or lotion products as an incentive for them to do it. The survey asks clients about which forms of marketing they’ve seen and also asks them to rate it, on a scale of 1-10, on how strongly these promotions encouraged them to come to the salon. Brian says salon owners who utilize attribution will easily see how all of their marketing and promotions work together to attract clients. Here’s the survey he uses:
1. Have you ever seen a Facebook post by (your salon name)?
YES / NO
a. If no, go to question 2.
b. On a scale from 1 – 10, 10 being the most signifcant, how signifcant was that Facebook post in encouraging you to come to (your salon) for the first time?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2. Have you ever seen a Tweet by (your salon)?
YES / NO
a. If no, go to question 3.
b. On a scale from 1 – 10, 10 being the most significant, how signifcant was that Tweet in encouraging you to come to (your salon) for the first time?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3. Have you ever seen an Instagram post by (your salon)?
YES / NO
a. If no, go to question 4.
b. On a scale from 1 – 10, 10 being the most signifcant, how signifcant was that Instagram post in encouraging you to come to (your salon) for the first time?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4. Have you ever seen a magazine ad by (your salon)?
YES / NO
a. If no, go to question 5.
b. On a scale from 1 – 10, 10 being the most significant, how signifcant was that ad in encouraging you to come to (your salon) for the first time?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5. Have you visited the (your salon) website before?
YES / NO
On a scale from 1 – 10, 10 being the most significant, how signifcant was that experience in encouraging you to come to (your salon) for the first time?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Give it a Try!
So there you have it, another collection of valuable tanning tips gleaned from successful salon owners and industry professionals across the country. As the tanning industry’s premiere trade publication, it’s a pleasure to continue our mission to provide news and education for tanning salon operators. We encourage you to implement any or all of them at your salons. After all, they’re called “best practices” for a reason: you have to put them into practice in order to get the best out of them. If you do decide to utilize one or more of these ideas, let us know how it worked out for you and we’ll be happy to report about it in a future issue of ist Magazine. We look forward to hearing from you and reporting your Tips of the Trade success stories! ■
