Sounds like a cliché, for sure.
Okay, so how many of you actually consult with your salon guests so that they “tan with a plan?” How many read from a pick list? Do you recite, “How’d you like to try our Gold package?” Or, do you still leave the door open with, “How many minutes would you like to tan for today”? I sure hope not!
A few years back (okay, quite a few years back), when I was selling sunlamps, I had a conversation one day with a competitor. During our dialogue, I responded to a question with the phrase, “I consulted with our salon client to assist her in selecting the right lamp for her particular equipment.” My gosh! You’d have thought I had just told him the most hilarious joke, ever! “Joe, you ‘consulted with your client’? Are you kidding me? Your client?”
“Hey, I have always looked upon my business and our industry as having clients as opposed to customers,” I told him. That right there was a huge advantage that I had over him and his company. If he viewed the people he sold his product to as simply customers, I knew I could outsell him. Why? You go to the grocery store, you’re a customer. You go to the drug store, you’re a customer. You walk around and pick out whatever you want, or whatever is on sale. You work with a client. You consult with a client. You contour your product selections to a fit your clients like a glove (apologies there, to O.J.). So, maybe call them “customers,” but treat them like “clients!”
In order to make the right choices, your guests absolutely need accurate and clear information.
Do you have people wandering aimlessly throughout your salon? There’s another peccadillo of mine: salon vs. store. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel that again, the word “store” implies that you just pick a location and drop in and grab what you may (or may not) want. Salon. Ahh, come to our “salon.” Let me contour a package from our product offerings that fits your exact needs. A subtle difference? Well, that’s for you to decide.
So, back to The Plan. When it comes to tanning, an informed customer (at Sun is Life, we call them “guests”) is the best. The decision to tan is a personal and important one. With so much misinformation about our industry flying around, you need to help your guests realize that there’s a wealth of solid information available about tanning. Perhaps it’s something like whether to use UV sessions, a spray-tan or a combination of both. You need to be the guide that they can trust and rely on to make the tanning choice that is right for them. It has to be factual, easy for you and your staff to remember and relay to your guests without sounding like a repetitive sound bite.
Responding to a guest’s question with, “Just Google it,” is not acceptable! In order to make the right choices, your guests absolutely need accurate and clear information. Perhaps consider adding a Q&A session to your staff or team meetings, when they can ask difficult questions about tanning and see how the others (or you) answer them. At salons, questions frequently asked by guests typically revolve around skin cancer or health claims about indoor tanning. Can you factually and professionally answer either of those? If you can, well done. If you can’t, fret not. I will be covering each of those topics in a future piece here in IST.
In the meantime, here’s the interactive part of this column. Scenario: A mother comes into your salon with her 18-year-old daughter. It so happens that in your state, those 18 and under are banned from tanning indoors. Now, the mom knows this and tells you that her daughter will turn 19 tomorrow. The question: Why is my daughter banned from tanning indoors today and not tomorrow?
Game on! Send your replies to joe1resource@gmail.com. I will glean some of the best responses to share with our readers in a future column.
In the meantime, visit sunislife.com and take the training module called, “Tan with a Plan.” After completing this module, you will be able to:
- Discuss best practices to communicate moderate, responsible tanning.
- Explain the physiological effects of UV exposure.
- Locate important info and research on the biological effects of tanning.
- Apply the Guest Experience Principle: Just Script It.
Remember, it’s important to supply your guests with factual information! Reading IST Magazine and utilizing the knowledge from Sun is Life is a great start!
