As we continue to adapt through a scenario that none of us have experienced in our lifetimes, it’s important that we keep up the momentum when it comes to how we’ve adjusted the practices within our business.
You’ve likely implemented new measures to ensure a safe environment for your guests and to promote social distancing. In recent months, we’ve discussed options such as encouraging appointments in order to control traffic coming into the salon for tanning sessions and even for supplemental services with specific technicians. If this is a procedure that you’ve put in place, you might contemplate ways to increase the number of appointments booked through advertising this option on your website or even rewarding your customers in some way when they attend their scheduled appointment.
Are you continuing to develop new ways to promote social distancing in your salon? Perhaps you have already implemented a “tan line” technology – when a customer’s preferred equipment type is currently in use by another customer, you process the sale, place them in a wait list where you can give them an estimated wait time, and ask them to proceed back outside the salon or to their vehicle to wait for an automatic text message letting them know when their bed or booth is ready? If you’ve got this process in place, you might consider adding seating outside the salon where customers can wait, weather pending. Another helpful option for encouraging distancing within your salon is to place directional floor decals throughout to guide them to their rooms.
Now is a great time to enhance your product lines beyond the scope of your typical tanning and beauty offerings. If you’re not already increasing your revenue through supplemental products that are useful to your customers such as masks, disposable eyewear, hand sanitizer or even UV-light sanitizing wands, you might want to look into this guaranteed win-win addition.
Continuing to stay in regular communication with your customers in ways that set you apart and keep your salon top-of-mind is now more important than ever. Communicating electronically with your customer database via text and/or email will allow you to reach out regularly in a cost-effective manner. Be sure to vary your content – advertising promotions is important to keeping customers coming back, but sending content on health and wellness will show your members how much you care about them personally.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to feel like you’ve got to come up with ongoing creative measures on your own. The product distributors and vendors you currently work with most likely can offer you valuable guidance and provide helpful resources as you continue to get back to business!
