Understanding what your salon guests are looking for and then exceeding their expectations when you deliver are key ingredients for success in business. This is true not just in our industry, but pretty much in any business sector, anywhere in the world. Because we are dealing with people face-to-face all day long, there really is a great opportunity to stand out from the crowd when it comes to looking after your customers and exceeding their expectations. Flip the coin to the other side, and if you are not delivering on these fronts, it’s likely you will quickly find your customers spending their hard-earned dollars with your competitors.
Understanding what your salon guests want and then exceeding their expectations are key ingredients for success in business.
Let me give you a very good example of this exact scenario. In a relatively small town in the Midlands area of England, there are three tanning salons all of whom just happen to be customers of Ergoline Plus. I guess, knowing the different operating styles of the salon owners, I wasn’t surprised to see from the product orders that one salon in particular was significantly outperforming the other two – and I mean significantly.
Don’t get me wrong; all three are good operators with great salons and they all appear to be doing well. But from the figures in our order book, one in particular appears to be doing phenomenally well. Location-wise, they are just about on a par. Now, I have to be honest and admit that when I have seen photos on social media of people queuing out of this salon and literally down the road, the thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion that they were staged shots. But, it would appear not.
This salon has definitely found a niche operating style that appeals to its demographic from every perspective. Taking a look on social media, it’s interesting to see the interaction the salon has with its customer base which ranges across a broad spectrum of topics and issues. I use the word “customer” – although many of the exchanges are more akin to conversations one would have with a best friend; but no doubt this level of dialogue provides the staff with an effective insight into how to tailor the customer experience! Of course, this approach wouldn’t work for all salons, not least because it is undoubtedly time consuming, but it would certainly appear to be part of the successful jigsaw puzzle that gets the dollars in the cash register time and time again.
I know for a fact that staff turnover in this particular salon is so low, it’s almost non-existent and in the UK, that is almost unheard of. This in part comes down to the level of investment made in training the staff, the working conditions, pay, and incentives – but there’s no doubt the business is reaping dividends!
The salon regularly gets involved with local charitable efforts, often using the salon as a location for appropriate fundraising events. The subsequent local media coverage has surely helped establish the salon as a beacon in the community.
From the moment you approach the salon, you are enticed with welcoming graphic images and beaming smiles from the staff. Once inside, the experience continues. It’s a friendly environment, of course, but I have to say not gushingly so. Spotlessly clean, the information and advice provided about responsible tanning and the knowledge of the staff about the creams and lotions is exceptional. There’s no hard sell as such, but the staff, confident with their knowledge, are clearly great product ambassadors.
With the tanning session price point actually above the local average, this operator would appear to have struck gold. And he knows that the diamond-level experience in his salon is his jewel in the crown!
