How can you make your salon even better and edge out your competition? There are A LOT of things you can do with virtually no money and just a few changes. We asked some tanners what they would like to see you do differently, and here are their responses:
Let’s walk through your door…
Meghan P. of Wichita, KS hates walking into a salon that is already hot. “Ugh! Who wants to get even hotter in a tanning bed?” Betsy K. of Fort Wayne, IN really hates a salon that smells like burnt skin. “Sweat and the after-tan odor are the most unappealing smells on earth!” Lindsey H. is most disappointed when salons don’t change lamps on a regular basis. “Some salons care more about selling snacks and drinks than they do about keeping customers who will go elsewhere for results from fresh lamps!” says the Maryland tanner. “Old lamps/poor results” is the number one tanner complaint.
Now, let’s go into your tanning room…
Lindsey H. also hates all the radios blaring and the fans all running on “high” when she gets in a bed. She’s joined in the Complaint Department by Marsha A., from Lexington, SC who hates to see fingerprints on the sunbed’s top acrylic.
Marsha doesn’t feel the bed is clean if the staff doesn’t care enough to get all the fingerprints off the bed. Shannon M. from Long Island, NY hates sticky floors and I have to agree! When you’re barefoot, a gritty floor doesn’t make you feel like you want to be naked in the tanning bed. Crystal L. mentions sticky door handles and radio knobs. “If the handles are sticky, what else in the room didn’t they clean?” asks this Mesa, AZ tanner. Natalie M. from Toledo, OH dislikes borrowing a pair of the salon’s goggles and finding a mascara ring inside. If I can jump in here with my salon pet peeve: I hate a wastebasket that hasn’t been emptied before my session!
How about your team?
John L. of Lexington, KY had a lot to say about tanning salon staff. “I’m annoyed when a staff person stays seated when a tanner walks in, or rushes through taking care of them. Says Kimberly S. from Pleasantville, NY, “I wish salon staff gave 150 percent like we did when I was growing up.” Chloe R. shares this, “I hate it when salon staff don’t understand what they are selling or give false information. If I’m looking at lotions, they either try to sell me the highest priced one or the oldest junk they have on clearance. Or, I look at lotions and they don’t offer to help. When I first started tanning, they sold me a tingle product and I had a terribly painful tanning experience!”
This Missoula, MT tanner also shared that she has had to ask how to operate an unfamiliar tanning bed because the staff didn’t offer to show her.
What changes would make your salon and staff more inviting? Share them with me at Brenda@EyePro.net and they may be published in a future column.
