Many veteran tanning salon owners share one singular fear:
The 4-month slowdown tanning salons experience in the months of July through October. Every owner that has been in the industry for awhile knows that tanning is a seasonal business. Still, there are several measures tanning salons can take to increase late-summer and fall revenues. While you’ll still want to rest your hopes on the busy season, the slower months shouldn’t be so painful. The main thing you want to do is make sure you get all of your ducks in a row before July comes.
Many salon and spa owners think a high customer retention rate is pure fantasy.
And we don’t blame them. Obviously, it would be ideal if everyone who stepped through your doors became a lifetime client. But in this industry, that is simply impossible. What is possible however, is for owners who run their business the right way to develop a steady stream of recurring income based on merit and proper systems. But it’s vital that you start with the first one. Why Running a Solid Business Is Essential for Customer Loyalty
For many, this is self explanatory.
However, many business owners choose to blame their customers, the economy, or even the weather for their lack of business instead of taking a look at the way they run things. Smiles go a long way. A welcoming atmosphere is essential if you want return clients. Cleanliness of facilities and staff kemptness are vital to the success of any spa or salon. Fair pricing is the only way to stay competitive in your market and have sustainable success. Somethings—like location or the economy—are largely out of your control, but you business owners and managers have to focus on what they can control. Only when you provide high value and a great customer experience will your attempts at increasing customer loyalty have any effect. When the salon management software doesn't work because the internet is down, or the computer using the software to book appointments crashes, what do you do?
When someone is waiting and gets upset, annoyed and starts yelling at you, what do you want to do? Yell back? Start arguing? Run away? While these may be things that you WANT to do, if you plan on keeping your business AND clients, the answer is none of the above. What can you do? Here are seven practical steps you can use the next time you find yourself in a situation with an irate client. Did you know that there is a way for you to increase revenue WITHOUT getting new customers?
Did you know that? It doesn’t call for you to start any new marketing campaigns, pay for unnecessary advertising or pay anything extra but your time. And it sure doesn’t call for the latest spa software either. It’ll take good old human interactions. In fact, if you do things the right way you will actually get MORE customers as a by‐product. What is this magical method? It’s not magic, it’s simply paying attention to the customers you currently have and working on serving them as best as possible, as doing so will increase customer loyalty. Now, before you shrug this off and say “The only way for us to make more money is to get more customers,” then think about this: Statistics show that loyal customers will spend more, come back more, and will tell other people about your business. SO, if you read that closely, stats show: If you recently had some competition move into your local area, or know someone who is, then don’t panic.
Now, before you start thinking about plan B, there are some things you need to keep in mind. Competition isn’t always a bad thing. In fact there are some things you can learn from having competition in your area. Here are 10 steps you need to follow if your competition is setting up shop down the street from you. #1 Get Your Emotions In Check As mentioned earlier – DO NOT PANIC. Nothing good ever comes from worrying. When something happens that gets us anxious, nervous or worried, we have a tendency to make decisions based off of these emotions. Here’s a word of advice – DO NOT. Take the time to see who is moving in and what they have to offer, and formulate a plan. Don’t just sell your business because you think it’s for the best. A lot of salon and spa owners are skeptical of whether social media marketing will be a good investment for their business. Given the seemingly indirect effects this kind of online marketing can have on your bottom line, this makes good sense. However, in the Information Age, there really is no excuse for any legitimate business owner to avoid social media. Even if you don’t understand the potential benefits, conventional wisdom says you’d be a fool to avoid it. To help clear things up, allow us to highlight 5 ways that social media can help drive revenue in your salon, spa, or tanning salon. #1 Discounts & Promotions We chose to start here because it is the easiest to understand and has the most obvious potential to increase revenue. When used appropriately, social media can be a tremendous tool to get people in the door. There are all sorts of creative promotion ideas floating around on the Internet. Just be sure that whatever you do fits both you and your target market. #2 Brand Recognition It might not be flashy, but brand recognition is a huge deal on the local level for salon and spa brands. Social media is one of the easiest places to start introducing people to your brand. It usually takes buyers many exposures to your brand before they trust you enough to give you their hard earned money. That’s why you should take every opportunity to imprint them with your name and logo.
Most salon and spa owners aren’t necessarily privy to all of the best social media marketing strategies.
But at SalonTouch Studio, we do constant research and stay current on the latest trends online. For those that don’t know, every social media marketing guide begins with the same first step: Identify the social media platforms you should be on in the first place. Otherwise, you’re likely to burn your marketing dollars for nothing. There is nothing more important that customizing your message to fit your market. Each of our picks in the top five is strategic. Read on to see why they are so important and get a heads up about how to properly leverage them to build your brand and bring in more sales over time.
At SalonTouch Studio, we’ve noticed something:
There is a common element missing from the social media marketing campaigns of many tanning salons. That element is time. Namely, not putting in enough. It’s actually quite understandable. After all, the most valuable asset of any entrepreneur is time. So you’ll find many locally owned tanning salons attempting to use social media to engage their audience with different content and using tanning salon software, hoping beyond hope to motivate people into becoming new or return customers. This is a great practice. But if it isn’t putting a dent in your profit margins, there is a reason why. Again, it goes back to time spent. Usually it’s just that your man hours are being spent the wrong way. We’ll look to iron that out right now by illustrating how tanning salons should allot their time to run effective social campaigns. In the modern world, email marketing is one of the most powerful ways to connect to your target demographic.
As far as contact information goes, email addresses are probably the easiest to get. Still, most people check their email regularly. This offers spas, salons, and tanning salons tremendous opportunity to both increase brand recognition and get more customers in the door. If only they knew how to get them and how to use them to drive revenue. Well, the first step is... Regardless of what kind of business you run, if you don’t cater to your market, you’ll have a hard time finding the type of success you’re looking for. This is no less true for spas, salons, and tanning salons. In order to get people in the door and keep them coming back, you have to make a real connection. Strive to meet your market where it is and then track engagement with your brand over time. The first step is to make sure you understand who your potential clients are. Identifying Your Target Market |
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