By this time, I am sure you are in the full swing of fall prep! The weather is getting cooler, the pumpkin spice is flowing and you and your salon guests are getting ready for the upcoming holidays. This month, we are going to talk about making the most (and by most, I mean MONEY!) during this holiday season.
Holiday Scents
Many product manufacturers have limited-release body care and tanning items with holiday scents (i.e. Pumpkin Spice!) Now is the perfect time to create cute fall displays and bring in these items as impulse buys. Just putting them on your shelves, though, won’t do the trick. Placing a sample bottle for guests to try next to some cute fall decorations will boost sales.
BOGO Gift Cards
Get ahead of the holiday sales by offering incentives for gift card purchases. My favorite is one I call “Treat yourself!” Your guest buys a gift card for someone and they get half of the value credited back to their account. EXAMPLE: Your customer buys a $50 gift card for their friend and gets $25 “tan credit” on their account! It’s a win-win because you are gaining new customers, increasing revenue and creating added value for your existing clientele to spread the word (and gift) of your business.
Prepaid Upgrades
We all have those customers with base-level memberships who upgrade their sessions on a regular basis, but for whatever reason, do not want to upgrade their EFT membership. Fall is the perfect time to offer prepaid upgrades so your tanners can get “holiday bronzed” on a budget. Let’s say your upgrade to the next level bed is $10 – why not offer a promotion that upgrades sessions in the next level bed for the rest of the month for $25? (Obviously, the earlier in the month they buy it, the more bang they get for their buck.) This won’t affect their EFT and as soon as the month changes, they go back to their original membership. I find it is a good way to get tanners to try beds they have not used before, and gets those who “sometimes” upgrade to commit to a higher membership. Because once they have only tanned in the upgrade beds for the month, it will be hard to go back to that base level membership.
Lotion Rebate
I am sure you have used this before or some variation of it – but I think this promotion is still successful. Some salons offer 100% lotion rebate; if you are not comfortable with that, the 50% promotion also works well. The 50% rebate is in upgrade credit. EXAMPLE: With the purchase of a $60 bottle, the guest receives $30 in upgrade credit (only to be used toward upgrades and sunless sessions). This allows tanners to try equipment they wouldn’t usually use. I like this promotion right before a holiday like Halloween or Thanksgiving, because people are far less likely to cancel a membership if they have credit on their account. If they want to cancel, you have two options: 1. If they cancel their EFT, they lose any unused upgrade credit, which gives them incentive to stay. 2. If they cancel, the upgrade credit becomes “single session” credit they can use to purchase single sessions. I like option 2, because knowing they have a free tan(s) on their account will bring your customer back faster.
I hope some of these ideas help you increase your Fall Funds! Every market and everyone’s clientele are different; what works for some might not work for you. But, creating ways to incentivize your clientele will go a long way toward boosting your bottom line.
