Posts Tagged ‘tanning bed’
Friday, October 8th, 2010
 A recent survey by Tanworld, which operates tanning salons in 11 U.S. states, reveals that tanners enjoy they way they look with a tan and that their self esteem is higher when they’re tan. Tanworld polled its customers about how tanning made them feel and learned that 75 percent knew that indoor tanning rays were not stronger than natural sunlight and that they have more control about their UV exposure inside a tanning bed than they do out in the sun.
A brief overview of the Tanworld customer poll was recently published in Looking Fit magazine.
Tags: e3, e3 tanning bed, ETS, ets tan, indoor tanning, Looking Fit, Looking Fit magazine, tanning, tanning bed, tanning salon, tanworld, tanworld salon, UV exposure Posted in tanning | Comments Off
Thursday, September 30th, 2010
No architect would think of constructing a building without a blueprint. Yet many tanning salon owners today are seeking new clients, introducing new services and even planning new locations without a clearly defined marketing plan.
Most companies have marketing plans, although some may be outdated and in need of revision. Your marketing plan should be comprised of small, interrelated steps that involve everything from how your signage looks and how your employees treat customers to the cleanliness of your salon and your salon’s image in your community. All these items involve marketing and all must be planned, coordinated and evaluated in an overall action-oriented and cost-effective blueprint. That blueprint is the marketing plan that outlines the path your business will follow to long-term growth.
If you do not know where to start, you may have to hire a marketing professional or team. But basically, your marketing plan can be segmented into four steps.
Define your current situation.
Situation analysis is usually the longest portion of the marketing plan. It is a statement of where your business is today and how it got there. It should include all relevant facts about the company’s history, growth, products, services, sales volume, share of market, competitive status, markets served, past advertising programs, results of marketing research studies, company capabilities, strengths and weaknesses and any other pertinent information. Marketing requires a clear understanding of what you have to offer, what you want to achieve through marketing and how you are going to communicate to your audiences.
Strategize and write the plan.
Exercise your creativity by setting meaningful goals. Vague directions result in wasted time. Ask yourself how changes will take place. Be specific so you can measure progress. Make a calendar or timetable of expected change and anticipate problems and how you will solve them. You must plan for any training that might be needed to get you or your staff ready, decide who you will target and then prepare advertising and other communication vehicles to reach those particular markets. Your plan must include a sensible time table, a realistic program budget and a back-up plan in case the market changes, the economic climate is altered or to face competition. Establish a launch date and plan backward from it.
A key factor in determining an overall marketing plan for your business is determining the image you want to project to your clients and non-clients. It is helpful to consider what the local community knows about your business, what image you want in your community and how our salon’s image has changed over the years.
Also, you must know the position of your salon against the total market. The position is basically what makes your salon unique. Do you have a clearly identified position? If so, what is it? Proper positioning can make a positive difference when it is consistent and consciously built in a way the practice is operated. Good positioning will also work well against the competition.
Implement your plan.
After you have written your plan, take some time each day to implement a part of it then visualize the end result. Assign tasks to staff members and pursue your market with consistency. Implementation means follow through at all points. Identify key referral sources and target each for new business. Incentivize new customers and existing ones for coming to you. Train new staff members to develop new business.
Evaluate your progress.
As your plan takes shape, you may notice that some of your objectives have changed. Do not lock yourself into a result you no longer want. Be open to adjusting your marketing plan to a changing market. A monitoring and evaluation step should be included to track results and make changes as needed.
Conduct weekly or monthly meetings with your staff to review projects, budgets and new business. Review milestones set in the original plan to be sure you are on track.
Some problems you may run into are lack of coordination, communication or personnel commitment to your marketing plan. These three things can be the difference between a workable plan that gets results and a meaningless effort.
It is also important that those who develop the marketing plan are determined. They must be committed to seeing that the items on your list get done well and on time. When approving the plan, they must be able to consider a full range of alternatives and have the confidence to push your salon toward these alternatives, even if it means making things more challenging for themselves or others.
A completed marketing plan is one that is well thought out, using all staff input and involves senior- and middle-level employees working together to accomplish mutually agreed-upon goals. If all this is accomplished, your marketing plan can be successful in making things happen for your tanning salon.
Tags: blogging, business development, business development tips, customer appreciation, customer service, ETS, ets tan, indoor tanning, indoor tanning bed, indoor tanning beds, indoor tanning salon, tanning, tanning bed, tanning beds, tanning salon Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Friday, September 24th, 2010
Two months after taking effect, the 10 percent federal luxury tax on tanning, one way or another, has hurt tanning sales according to a SmartTan.com poll of tanning facility owners conducted in late August. Three-quarters of tanning business owners say the tax has hurt sales, according to the poll. Almost one-quarter said the tax has had no impact on their sales. Less than 1 percent felt the tax actually helped tanning sales. That result is identical to a SmartTan.com poll conducted in mid-July.
… “The 10 percent federal luxury tax on tanning has created uncertainty more than anything else,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said. “We’re hearing mixed reports from owners on whether or not the tax itself has actually affected consumer habits. At this point, in most markets, I am more inclined to say that it has not affected consumer interest in tanning as much as it has just created uncertainty.”
Tags: ETS, ets tan, indoor tanning, Joseph Levy, Smart Tan. SmartTan.com, tan tax, tanning bed, tanning beds, tanning salon, tanning salons, tanning tax Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Monday, September 20th, 2010
Actions speak louder than words. As a successful tanning salon owner, you value your existing customers and are focused on bringing more customers in your doors. So let your customers know they’re important to you by doing things for them.
Customer appreciation is important to win the hearts of current and new customers. Showing customers that you appreciate them is a much more effective and powerful tool than sending them a letter, e-mail blast or direct-mail piece. A focus on face-to-face, meaningful interchanges between you, your staff and customers can create long-lasting relationships, fun times, great memories and, something important to you, customer retention and growth.
It’s easy to get stuck in the day-to-day business operations of your tanning salon and lose focus on effective customer appreciation strategies. That’s probably not too much fun for you, either. So take a look at these simple customer appreciation tactics that can help you reward your customers, show them that you care about them past the sale and bring a little fun to their lives – and yours.
Have a friends-and-family event every quarter.
Provide light refreshments and noticeable discounts of sessions and products once every quarter for your best customers and their family members and friends.
Remember your customers’ birthdays.
Everyone has a birthday once a year and everyone gets presents on their birthday. Be sure to remember your customers’ birthdays by giving them something personal that they’ll enjoy compliments of you and your staff.
Have some after-hours parties throughout the year.
Invite your customers to your tanning salon after hours to enjoy refreshments, special deals, promotions and more. Partner with nearby businesses to offer their products and services while helping promote their businesses and being a good neighbor. If you’re a member of your local chamber of commerce, connect with them about the possibility to host an after-hours chamber event at your salon.
Offer a new product promotion.
If you’ve updated your beds, selected a new lotion line or remodeled or improved your salon, show things off. Offer special discounts, incentives and rewards to the top 30 percent of your customers and invite them to experience what’s new at your salon.
Remember your beyond-the-purchase ‘thank-yous.’
Be sure that you and your staff are highly appreciative toward your customers after they purchase their session packages and products at your salon. That might mean giving them a new pair of protective goggles or a free bottle of water on their way out, a complimentary session every once in a while or a tasty treat at no charge. They’ll remember that little something extra long past leaving your salon.
Build relationships outside your salon’s walls.
Get to know your customers and what they like to do in their free time. Can you meet for lunch? Could you both work out at the gym or exercise outdoors with each other? What about a round of golf together or going to a local sports event sometime? If you’ve built that in-salon relationship with your customer, look to expand and grow that relationship outside your salon – and have some fun at the same time.
Teach your employees to do the same.
In all you do and all you feel is important in focusing on customer appreciation strategies, make sure you share your vision and what you want to accomplish with your employees. They are typically the front line in meeting, greeting and taking care of your customers in your salon. Make sure you empower them to engage your customers and reward them with customer appreciation tactics you choose to employ.
Open early or stay open late once a month to provide special deals.
Don’t forget about those early-bird and late-owl customers who would enjoy sessions and services earlier than you open and later than you close. Provide an incentive to them by opening early or staying open late and be sure to wow them with appreciation tactics while they’re there.
Go back to old-school techniques.
Hand-written thank-you letters. A free logo T-shirt with your salon’s identity on the front. Anything that’s free. Stuff We All Get has seemingly been around since the dawn of time yet continues to be great tool to reward customers and build brands. Everyone loves SWAG so give some out over the course of the year.
Tie in to a different community charity once a month, encourage your customers to get involved.
Given the state of the economy, charities are taking a hit. Financial contributions and volunteerism are down and you can help. Connect with a different community charity once a month. Volunteer your time. Let your employees volunteer. Engage your customers to support your charity of choice through volunteerism or financial support. In doing so, you become an even stronger and influential corporate citizen, a business worthy for customers to frequent and support and one that encourages others to get involved.
And remember, if you aren’t sincere in all you do to show your customers that you care about them past their business, it’ll show. They need to feel the love at all times so they’ll keep coming back for more.
Tags: customer appreciation, customer service, customer service tips, indoor tanning salon, tanning bed, tanning salon Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
The last thing your customers want to see on your salon’s website is that you have not updated your site in quite some time. If your site isn’t interesting or useful enough for you to visit, how can you expect your customers to visit frequently? Though specific content applicable to your website depends on your preferences as a business owner, here are some tips to incorporate into your website and keep things fresh.
Provide a tip of the week. Have an employee post a weekly tip on your website talking about a new lotion, a tip for making their tan last longer or even a new song for their MP3 player. Tips will encourage customers to visit your site. Everyone loves tips about something they’re in to.
Provide interesting links. Your customers may come to rely on your site as a destination if you provide them with several interesting links to other sites. Your salon’s site not only satisfies their interest in a specific practice area but also serves as a resource for additional information.
Take a vote. Voting on certain issues can help draw visitors to your website. You could conduct an opinion poll on your site to gain input on your salon, its services and your employees. Voting and opinion polls engage visitors and encourage them to share useful information.
Post news on your site. Have you added new products or services? New employees? Changed the décor of your salon? Let your customers know on your website. Post anything and everything that may be news, including special offers and promotions, and post your news often.
Post greetings from you. Engage current and potential customers by actively posting greetings to them on your website. Talk about your business, your employees and your clients. Encourage them to drop in and chat. Share information about nearby businesses and events and activities in your community. Posting greetings to your site puts you in front of customers and hopefully will put customers in front of you.
Though still dependent on print and TV to get customers on-line, the Internet is a great way to disseminate information to and gain feedback from clients at a reasonable cost and help the client get to know you and your firm and what you have to offer. It is up to you, however, to keep the content fresh as you want visitors to come back time and again.
Tags: business development tips, ETS, ets tan, indoor tanning beds, tanning, tanning bed, tanning salon, tanning salons Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Funny Old Chicks. Girl Scott Cookies. The Lemon Juice Diet. HOUSEography. Revisioning the Victim Goddess. Any idea what all these things have in common? They are all blogs — written by women. According to PRWeek and BlogHer, today there are 55.6 million women who read and write blogs monthly. And of those women who blog, they say their top goal when blogging is to express themselves (82%), followed by giving advice (51%) and persuading others (20%).
Women trust friends first — and a blogger’s personal trust will apply directly to her recommendations on everything, including the clients and brands you represent. Eighty-five percent of BlogHer’s audience reports buying a product based on a recommendation from a blog, while 82% of women bloggers rely on blogs for information about shopping, says Lisa Stone, CEO of BlogHer. So what is the best way to get the attention of the female blogosphere?
Disclose, disclose, disclose. Say who you are, what you want and why you’re doing this. Don’t make women guess.
The technology exists, so leverage it. “I’m sure this is a terrifying thought to brands and products, but technology has enabled us to actually have a conversation. Let’s have it.”
Beware treating women with brains and wallets as the only demographic or as a niche. “Not all women are mothers or married. Reach out to single women, as well as to women without children.”
Women want to hear directly from companies and candidates. “It’s irrelevant what media think. I want to hear from the companies and products and decide for myself.”
For a list and directory of women bloggers, check out BlogsbyWomen.
Tags: blogging, business development, female bloggers, indoor tanning, tanning, tanning bed, tanning salon, tanning salons Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Remember back to the last time you walked into a new-to-you business. How did you feel? When you entered, did you notice how vivid the lighting was or how dark and dreary your surroundings were? Did things smell fresh or did you notice a particular odor? Was it loud or quiet inside? What types of things kept you busy if you found yourself waiting, such as magazines, TV programming or radio tunes?
Perception is reality. What your customers experience from the moment they enter your salon until the time they leave is critically important as you strive to retain your faithful clients and welcome new ones. Of course, the big things matter, like smiling and helpful employees, fast computers, efficient credit card approval machines and an overall comfortable, pleasing and inviting environment. But the little things matter a great deal, too.
In addition to your daily work to provide a safe, comfortable, sanitary and enjoyable experience for your clients, keep in mind this daily five-point checklist that can help you focus on some of the smaller things that can help you make a big impression on your customers and create a more satisfactory personal customer experience.
Take a look at … your floors. Throughout the day, ensure your floors are clean and dry. Make sure any area rugs or entrance mats appear straight and flat. Make sure no trash is on your floors. Straighten any chairs and tables that might get moved as your customers populate your store.
Take a look at … your windows and walls. Make sure your windows, including entry doors, are clean and smudge-free. Same for your walls. Ensure you don’t have outdated material available for view, such as a wall calendar or a poster. Make sure any public boards where flyers or business cards appear are neatly organized.
Take a look at … your showcase area. Make sure your front counter, typically the showcase area of any salon, is neat and clean. Coral your pens for credit card signatures in an attractive holder. Make sure any point of purchase items and marketing materials are organized neatly and are located away from where your customers may place their personal items while they’re signing their receipts. Ensure no one leaves food or drinks on your front counter.
Take a look at … those common areas. Make sure any magazines offered for customers are recent, in tact and neatly organized. Make sure the trash containers aren’t overflowing during the day. Ensure coffee cups, napkins and tissues left behind by customers are picked up and disposed of.
Take a look at … conditions outside. Make sure trash – especially cigarette butts – aren’t littering the entrance to your salon and adjoining businesses. During inclement weather, make sure the walkway to your salon’s entrance is safe and manageable. Make sure your signage outside appears clean and is fully functional if lighting is involved.
Tags: ETS, ets tan, indoor tanning, indoor tanning bed, tanning, tanning bed, tanning beds, tanning salon, tanning salons, tanning shop tips Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Think of some commercials you’ve recently seen that promote destinations, like hotels, casinos, theme parks and vacation sites. They look great, don’t they? High production value and multiple camera angles. Paid models and spokespeople saying carefully crafted marketing messages. They’re all blue skies and green grass, with smiling, active people full of excitement and energy. Their messages scream, “You have to come here.”
The corporations buying and placing these commercials strive to promote their destinations and all of the services, amenities and activities available by visually enticing viewers in hopes of landing their business. It takes thousands – sometimes hundreds of thousands – of dollars to create some of these commercials. But in a world that’s watching less and less TV but craves more online video content than ever, are these commercials necessary or the most effective way to showcase these destinations?
The answer is, maybe – for them. Corporations with deep pockets can afford to do it all – advertise across a wide spectrum of media, market to every section of consumers, push for earned media through public relations activities and stage a multitude of special events and promotions to build excitement and exposure. So a six-figure expense for a commercial is nothing to them.
But for salon owners looking to advertise as a local destination to look good and feel great, placing a commercial that costs even a couple thousand dollars isn’t practical. It’s a good thing the top social networking sites are free.
Small businesses are capitalizing more and more on consumer appetite for video content and free social networking sites by posting video clips online, including testimonials, product highlights, consumer news and more. A very effective way to introduce your salon and its services, amenities and staff is to create a video tour of your salon.
With a simple mouse click, people in your area can listen to what you have to say about your salon while seeing what you have to offer. They can experience your salon without even setting foot in your door. They can make a decision based on your video tour about whether to select your salon as their tanning destination. And they can spread the word about your salon with their comments, sharing links and more.
Creating a video tour is easy – even for people who’ve never been in front of a camera talking or who’ve never filmed such a project. Video tours do take some thought and planning so here are some basing things to keep in mind before filming a video tour of your salon:
Clean and organize your salon. Make things look great. Straighten rugs on the floor, pictures on the walls and lotions on the shelves. Tidy up your front counter. Make sure magazines are picked up and organized on table tops and racks and take down any dated posters or promotional items.
Light things up. Turn on all of your salon’s lighting – and a few colorful tanning beds in the background – to give your salon a vibrant look.
Film when closed. A good video tour will probably have to be filmed when your salon is closed so interruptions are avoided.
Practice. You shouldn’t “script” your video tour but you should practice it. Know what you’re going to say, how you’re going to say it and where you’ll be saying it.
Perform to a crowd. When practicing, let your salon staff hear what you have to say and watch how and where you’re saying things. Let them have input as well.
Find a steady hand. Identify someone on staff or a friend who can adequately operate a video recorder and make sure they also practice what they’ll be filming beforehand.
Be entertaining on film. No one will watch your video tour if it’s not entertaining. Be vibrant and energetic when speaking. Use gestures and expressions. Act and talk just like you would if you had a potential customer walk in and want a tour. Don’t be dry during your video tour.
Show angles. People want to watch video that shows multiple angles, different angles and scenes shot in ways they’re not generally seen. Shoot your video tour from multiple angles – from atop a step ladder or from floor level; from behind the front counter; from inside a tanning bed looking out. Anything you can do to spice up angles in your video tour will definitely catch more eyes.
Think, “No editing.” By practicing and making sure you have a good person on the other side of the video camera, you should be able to film your salon video tour from beginning to end, thus eliminating the need for any type of editing. The key to creating a successful social video is to be real; editing puts a polish on social video that people don’t want. From “record” to “stop,” highlight your salon and talk to your potential customers. That’s what they want.
Be short and sweet. A video tour of your salon shouldn’t take more than two minutes tops. If you have more than that to say and show, create more video clips and post them.
Cater to what your consumers want to see. Face it, you’re in the tanning business and people who will watch your video tour want to see youth, energy – and skin. Consider having someone on staff or a loyal customer apply lotions and tan during your video tour. Your videographer can capture images of this while you’re talking.
Most of all, have fun creating a video tour of your salon. If you’re into it and excited about meeting new people and gaining new customers, that will come across in your video.
Tags: indoor tanning, tanning, tanning bed Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Customer service. Here are a few ideas to keep in mind:
Don’t make promises unless you will keep them. Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship and good customer service is no exception.
Think before you give any promise – because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.
Listen to your customers. Let your customer talk and show them that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve any problem.
Deal with complaints. No one likes hearing complaints but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please one person at a time – and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service.
Take the extra step. Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not say so to you but your customers will notice when you make an extra effort. And they’ll tell others what you did.
Throw in something extra. Whether it’s a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use a product or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were going to get.
Remember, provide great customer service with a smile and hopefully the rewards will follow.
Tags: customer service, customer service tips, ETS, ets tan, tan tax, tanning, tanning bed, tanning beds, tanning lotion, tanning salon, tanning salons, tanning shop tips, tanning tax, Vitamin D Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
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