amperrino6

(I hope I'm posting this in the right location) So.. our salon is located not only in a college town, but the capital of our state, and in the most popular mall. Lots of potential considering the chain salons are located a bit out of the way, and we also offer cheaper prices for better beds. Our client base is pretty solid but there is definitely more "down time" as opposed to taking clients all day long at a steady rate, like I expect that we would, considering all of the benefits on our side. I believe that the problem is that they just don't know we're here. One reason being we're part of a privately-owned gym (not Planet fitness/beach/etc., dont worry;), the other being, the chain salons simply have more money to dump into commercials, and other forms of advertisement. And the downfall to not having Right now I'm handing out free tans like crazy.. and not getting nearly as many visitors as I had anticipated...Not catching the problem, we're the best "bang for your buck" in the area, and not poor quality by any means. I think people might just feel too obligated to belong to a "popular" salon these days, even if it means laying in a dirty bed. So my question (sorry for the essay, lol!) what works the best to generate traffic? I appreciate any and all comments or help, thanks :)

delany

Have you done a search on here? Lots of info. :)

Most my business when I had my tanning salon was referrals and drive by business. I wasnt the cheapest, but not the most expensive either. Ijust priced for my expenses. I rather tan a few people at a higher rate than a ton at a super low rate. Also, I rarely had a steady flow of peeps all day long. It was busy in the morning, lunch and then after work.

When did you open?

amperrino6

Haven't searched yet.. been doing a lot of scrolling through the topics though! I'm getting a bunch of ideas already. Regarding when we opened, TANNING has just opened in the gym about 2 years ago. Referrals, especially amongst students, is usually what gets most of our business. I did a bunch of talking to business owners (bridal shops, hair salons) today & gave them free tans to hand out to their clients. Hoping with summer and wedding season picking up that I'll thank myself for doing so later! It just feels like people are taking the passes and throwing them into the street. The downfall is, being in a mall, we do have our own entrance, but no sign on the exterior by our door. Even then if we managed to get one, it would be just a general company logo, nothing pertaining specificially to tanning :( My goal is to seperate the salon itself from the gym as a whole, of course not physically, but in terms of business and environment.. I don't want to be mistaken for planet fitness tanning *shudders* **edit** we are a privately owned club, just wanted to make sure this was clear before I got any negativity on being a "bigtime gym that thinks theyre a salon..etc"

sunspakelly

My studio is in a mall as well, when the mall is full we have a great foot traffic count. Your question on advertising. Here are a few tips, you may or may not already do this but..
Face book, develop a page if you have not already, pay for some ads, they run about $6.00 and up
Blog and post the blogs to your fan page and your profile page.
Networking meetings, ie, chamber of commerce, BNI, women's networking events.
Trade shows, take your fliers, rack cards, lotions, what ever will fit on your table
Do you have a local coffee shop around, contact near by and ask them to "coffee hour" you pay for their customers coffee for one hour in exchange the coffee shop says to the client, "no charge for the coffee it's on .....(name of your studio) and hand the customer your business card

Handing out free tan cards here does not seem to fly very well, we find giving lotion packets works to get them in the store.
We also have spray tanning and an infrared sauna blanket....
hope some of this helps
Cheers!
Kelly

suncitypembroke

Free , NONONO it cost you $$$ so why not get what it take to break even 5.00 10.00 Tans any bed in store with 1/2 off upgrade with a purchase of a 1 month unlimited. or buy 3 get one free, be creative in your marketing thing about it...

delany

In the two years since you have been open, have you seen an increase or decrease in business? Do you track how people hear about you? This way you know what is working. Do you have a website?

Just out of curiosity, what made you decide to open inside a gym as a separate business?

amperrino6

thanks kelly lots to think about!! delany- Business has increased, and most clients arise from referrals from their friends. we even offer a free month to whoever has reffered them. From what I know, one of the other girls has tried to set up our facebook page, but apparently the club owner did not like it and told her to take it down (it looked great to me). I even reached out to a local bridal shop, as it is wedding season, and they said they would be more than happy to form some kind of marketing relationship with us (similar to the coffee shop idea mentioned earlier)... as soon as I told the owner, he told me to back out of it as it seemed "too much time and effort". He would rather me stand near the mall entrance handing out free passes which, like I've mentioned, just doesn't work. & as far as our reason for opening.. the club owner built/financed the salon. He doesn't give two thoughts about tanning, the clients, the laws, or anything. IM the one that is always on top of all this, teaching other employees how to properly run the place when I'm not there. So technically no I am not the OWNER but everything concerning the salon that is non-financial is pretty much my responsibility (I even scrub the walls by hand with a magic eraser 1ce a week. ridiculous how much effort i dump in). Yet I get paid minimum wage and work 7 days a week to be a salon operator, bed cleaner, salesgirl, marketing girl, and everything else under the sun. I just don't know how to get around this issue it seems like its out of my hands, but I feel as though I'm being treated pretty unfairly. I don't even get a say in ordering lotions, our shelves have been almost empty for weeks!!
Sorry if that got off track I just really need some opinions! :)

delany

Gotcha....well you are making more than most salon owners ;) lol Seems you do own the place, but just can walk away whenever you want without loosing anything.

If the owner isnt behind ya, it is super hard to get anything accomplished. You can only be as successful as he allows you to be. If you cant do anything he doenst approve, all you can do is sit there and watch the ship go down, knowing at least you tried. =/

Hope he realizes how lucky he is to have an employee that cares that much about his business!

amperrino6

THANK YOU you are the first person who finally sees it my way. Today I sent him and email suggesting that I'm given an official manegerial title, that way I would be able to AT LEAST hire one girl (only responsible for bed cleaning, setting times. that way she can be paid min wg without complaint) Then she would be able to take a few days off my hands by the time she's trained, & I could also have her around at my busy peaks where I'm scrambling to put everyone in their beds. As far as myself.. thinking if he goes with the idea, that I could get another dollar per hour at least. A PT here at the gym also suggested that I request non-commision based pay, at maybe 9 or 10 an hour. Not sure which would work out better, I'll probably have to crunch some numbers. Hopefully, this will show him how dedicated I am here, but how easily he will lose me if I don't get treated right. Also dealing with lots of sexual harrassment (just myself, not my clients god forbid) as this is after all, a gym >:( so idk if its better to look for somewhere else (but get paid the same to only be a bed cleaner? i think id rather have the power i do now..) or try to work something out, here...

edit: rewording my mumbo-jumbo. also.. he had hired me WITH another girl originally. the girl worked at one of the largest chain tanning salons here in the capital reigon. she was smarttan certified, I was not, so he had planned to promote her to manager..then she no/call no/showe'd on us and hasnt returned. Since then, I've buried my head in the books and I think I know more now than that girl ever did... but he won't make me the manager? "Tanning specialist"... Not sure how to get thru to him. Id be happy at my pay as long as I had a better title, and could take on ONE employee. doesn't seem too much to ask? but then again, apparently towels for our clients, were too much to ask.

delany

From the sounds of it, you wont get anywhere with your owner. Why would he pay you more if you do everything for your current salary? A proper manager should make about 10-12 an hour depending on what your min wage is. I started my emps at $10 (min wage was 8). I wanted them to take ownership of the salon and treat it like it was theirs. They didnt even do any manager type duties.

I assume if you left, the salon would slowly become a dump where people are cleaning their own beds.

also, might want to talk to someone about the sexual harrassment....regardless if where you work, that should not happen.