gus_natural_tan

Oh no, we don't offer minutes. We offer single session, 5, 10, 15 sessions (used over 6 months). Also Unlimited Week or Unlimited Month deals. We dont offer minutes. We also dont require membership or contracts. The bulk of our customer base is college students and they seem to appreciate the flexibility.

delany

Take Anne up on her offer. When I had my tanning salon, she helped me tons!

SteveO

One customer may have a bad memory, but 3 customers is a pattern. They very well may have been "sold" the level 3 package and what was sold in the computer was the level 1 for a week. The difference being put in the owners pocket tax free.

delany

Or employees

sunsally

Good on the lack of minutes!

Sessions are fine, as are unlimited. You are missing out on an opportunity though not to offer memberships as well.

One "membership" that works well for students is a "Super Saver Membership". You can do a search on this, but in short:

Have a "price" for a week/semester/year for the "membership". E.g. $9.99 for a month, $19.99 for a semester and $49.99 for a year.

With this, they get to buy discounted single sessions. Usually 50 percent off the walk-in rate on bed.

For example - if your Level 2 Tropical 41UPP bed is $8 on a walk-in tan, with their membership, they can get a session in that for just $4.

When you do the math, it normally comes out to about the same price in a month as a month unlimited would have been or pretty close to your session prices. But the "small bites" works well for some students who have a hard time coming up with $50 for a package, but will spend $4-10 everyday!

This also has them getting out their wallets everyday - making it that much easier to "upsell" to a better unit ("hey, for just $2 more you can use the 450 today - you will love that bed!!) or to add in a packet of lotion! These "small purchases", may not seem like much, but in the course of a day, they can add up to hundreds and more, just like selling a few big packages or a bottle of lotion here and there can!

parrot head

It's very important to differenteniate "your" salon from the prior owners. Like was said prior, get some different pricing in place, but do honor existing packages. If 3 customers thought they had purchased higher level packages, smile, and accomodate them. Another catchy little "special", especially for a college location, would be "Home of the $3 tans". I just started this, and it's been a real success. I have it so they must purchase a 6 pak, and they must be used at least one per week. A lot of kids might not have $30 for a tanning package, but most have a twenty dollar bill in their pockets. I'm also doing the 100 days for a hundred bucks. This locks them in til the end of the semester, and when they come back from Christmas break, you hit them with another semester package. If you treat the kids with respect and a big smile, you'll get returns in more ways then one.

BuyersGroup

Did you say you r boxing up a sunless option? Sunless in my stores has been way up every year over last.

Overall the best marketing technique will always be free. Free week. Free month. Free session.

Always get good results with that new customers only. Sunsally has seldom made a bad post so definitely reach out to her. And never fall into the negative trap. Not honoring packages = negative. Customer acquisition costs v cost to honor regular customers needs easy decision. Plus the redemption percent will be very low.

Right now its picking up so grab that momentum before your competition does. This off season seemed shorter than past years could be localized.

gravesmc

I STRONGLY advise to to call SunSally, as she offered. She is increadable at helping salons take the best approach possible. Her knowledge and advise to you is priceless and she will help you with all the details for the changes you need to make.

gus_natural_tan

Awesome, our local school is on the "quarter" system, but we never considered offering packages specifically for students according to their schedule. Definitely something to look into....

sunsally

For example, your beds are:

Our Salon:
(2) Ergoline Ambition 200 beds
(2) Tropical Series 41 UPP
(2) Ergoline Ambition 450
(1) Solaris 542
(1) Ergoline Avant Garde 600 (most popular)
(1) Suncapsle Cyclone


I will assume your pricing is something like this now:

Our Salon:
Level 1 - $7 walk-in/$45 month Ergoline Ambition 200 beds and Tropical Series 41 UPP

Level 2 - $10 walk-in/$70 month Solaris 542 and Suncapsle Cyclone

Level 3 - $14 walk-in/$99 month Ergoline Ambition 450

Level 4 - $18 walk-in$125 month Ergoline Avant Garde 600 (most popular)

Most/many students may not have the $100-125 to buy a month on your better beds. So instead they buy on the lower levels.

With the super saver, they pay $9.99 for the month "membership", then buy 1/2 off single visits. So - if they came 10 times in the month, using the levels ones, that would be $3.50/visit - or by the end of the month they would have spent $45 total - same as it would have been to buy a month upfront. If they go MORE than 10 times in the month - you make even MORE money than you would have selling them a month upfront.

If they used the Level 4 bed exclusively, it would have been $9/visit plus the $9.99 - or $100 for the month.

For the LOWEST level beds - it is about the same as buying a month upfront. For the HIGHER level beds, it is actually an even better 'deal'. And you explain that to them.

For YOU - a customer that PROBABLY was going to buy the month on level 1, now buys the supersaver, and IF you are good at SELLING, on each visit as they come in, you talk to them about how "for just a few dollars more....", they can go in a much better unit. For example - if you can go in the Ambition or Trop for $3.50, but the Suncapsule is only $5 -- who wouldn't go in the Suncapsule instead?? But now you made an extra $1.50 that visit - for something that probably cost you an extra .25 to run.

To do this - your walk-in pricing and other packages MUST be set up right to begin with. The walk-in pricing can't START low. It needs to have a high value to begin with - to make this package look like an even better value!

Now - for a quarter - make it $19.99 - just slightly better than the per month price. You don't have to discount this much, because it is the half off that is really the deal. And then make a year package for $49.99. That is the best "value" - even if they will be gone all summer. And you try to sell that right upfront, when they come to campus with money! But you can sell that year round - even in January, if the student will be back the next fall, it still "works".