The un-motivating, out-of-date tanning salon sales counter – I’ve seen too many turned into nothing more than a place where a disinterested salon worker clicks loudly on a computer keyboard behind the counter and mindlessly utters, “All set with lotion? Eyewear? Bed 3 is ready,” and on special days, one lucky guest may get told loudly “your card was declined ” in front of a lobby full of judgmental onlookers. “We have a declined card on register one! Bad card on register one!” the 19-year-old exclaims.[gap height=”15″]
And this impersonal, uninspiring Counter of Doom is the first place your guest is programmed to come to in your facility? Nothing says “we’re glad you’re here” more than a good ol’ fingerprint scan and obnoxious keyboard clicking as the staff tries to act like the guest is more important than the Snap that just popped up on their cell phone![gap height=”15″]
Has your salon’s counter game lost its fire?[gap height=”15″]
Many of us are guilty of creating unproductive guest interaction routines in our salons. These routines are the norm – they are safe, and they are easy to repeat over and over again to the point that they have become acceptable. Even worse: we’ve trained our guests to perform the same routines … and they feel safe with it, too; which makes it even more difficult to implement a “new way” because everybody is comfortable in their routine.[gap height=”15″]
Bring your salon to life with a more interactive sales counter![gap height=”15″]
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: It starts with the very first word and the spirit in which it’s spoken. It’s more than just “hello” – it’s whatever you need to say to show guests you’re glad to see them. I know salon teams that practice “greetings.” They work on it with the goal being to start a conversation with the guest.[gap height=”15″]
FUN FUN FUN: Make your counter a fun space to come to! Have two or three “lotions of the week” on the counter for guests to smell and try. A Fragrance Bar is cool: display a handful of moisturizer bottles open on the counter and tell your guest, “We’re all arguing over our favorite! What’s yours?” Demonstrate sunless products or other skincare products. Have raffles, offer candies, display pictures or anything else that your guests like to eat, smell, look at or talk about.[gap height=”15″]
IMPORTANT INFO: This is the time to give them info they can benefit from: discounts they may qualify for that day, contests you are having, upcoming tanning or product specials or salon events. [gap height=”15″]
FREE SAMPLES: Ever notice that Sephora stores give away free samples for everything you buy? It trains their customers to remember that the more they buy, the more they get for free. As a manufacturer, Sun Evolutions practically makes it free (monthly promos) for you to have a stash of FREE packettes to give away. Use them to entice guests to buy more, try something better, or experience a specialty product! Make the sales counter the place where these samples are given away, so that when a guest thinks about that counter, they think “this is where I get all the cool free stuff!” [gap height=”15″]
MAKE NOTES: You don’t always have to complete a sale to make a guest’s visit to your salon valuable. Sometimes, you won’t sell a product to every guest; but letting them see, smell and try new products gets them excited about what they will purchase next! Note their account (short and sweet) of what has been suggested or sampled: “8/5/2017 Sarah tried Sunless Micro Mist spray and loved it.” “5/2/2017 Bob said his wife’s birthday is coming up – can’t forget to buy her Hempz Tahitian Ginger Vanilla.” You should have current notes on every guest. Plus, when you have notes that everyone can read, the team member taking care of those guests has more to talk with them about – interactive![gap height=”15″]
