quite literally @ WAR with other salon! haha

[adam.sand]

This will be a touch of a story, but it might give you a laugh! theres a salon in my city that was voted #1 salon in edmonton. I have since always modelled my salon in their image trying to surpass them in every way. (www.europeantanspa.com) and its slowly developed into a war. 1. before I opened I went to all the salons in my city pretending to be a student doing a business study on tanning. and got all the salons, including euro. to give me every bit of information about salon numbers. (i mean really...how smart are our staff?) They told me everything! they recognized me after I opened!2. when thy recognized me it was because I was tanning there to watch who the sellers were and recruit them.2. when I bought my equipment I bought the same equipment as them...but better. same brand of ld's...but better bulbs and added face tanners. same standups but more elegant looking and comfortable.3. they are the only high pressure game in town with 20 year old sunsport. So I bought the matrix to upstage them. and they charge 45 so I cute them down by 5 dollars. 4. one week before the arrival of the matrix I had 5000 postcards printed. one side said 'welcome to the tanning museum' with a picture of the sunsport. the other side...the matrix. posing the question 'what makes sense?' and a spec by spec comparison showing the blatant superiority to the sunsport AND the lower price. then I flyered (among other places) the cars in their parking lot with these flyers...and made a deal with the curves and restaurant to display the flyers within the restaurant. slowly their staff caught on and started to go out the saon after me and collect the flyers off the cars. so I walked around with a stack of about 500 of them and resumed flyering.Then, after a few days of playing the game of sneaking up to cars flyering, I almost envied their dedication to their salon. knowing that they do not get commissions on sales, I began to post notes on their door twice a day inviting them all to come work for me, for a 1000 dollar signing bonus. telling them of my commission structure and my ability to get them into any concert venues or into all the mall attractions free. and continued to flyer their cars.A few more days went on and we continued to get a few european tan clients here and there. then one day when I was flyering the girls came out and waved at me figuring they'd talk to me. so we began to talk and they were laughing and giggling, then we started talking more about the job and my comparison of equipment. halfway through I put my pda on the counter and recorded on the camera our conversation..but when I looked at the camera footage there was no faces. and the video included my giving them 50% of passes to the matrix (check out the video on facebook...my names adam sand from edmonton) so I posted it on our salons group.. for a good laugh. well now one of those employees found the video and came on flaming us LARGE picking on the one and only thing they have on us...cleanliness. because their salon is WAY nicer and WAY cleaner. its the one challenge I have getting my staff to CLEAN. so now I'm fired right up. because I know that's the reputation I have....and european tan is feeding that reputation. so now its time to push that reputation in the other direction. we are running a 3 month contest where anyone who signs a 1 year mbrshp gets entry into our contest to give away a trip to mexico. I have made flyers up with this offer, and on the back of this flyer is our new customer challenge. come try our salon, and if your able to find enough dust on the floor to make a dust bunny and bring it to the staff counter. you will receive a free designer skin lotion packet. we have now bought a swiffer for each room, and after each tan the staff are to swiffer the floors and all beds are do be cleaned thoroughly each time and way more strict bathroom cleaning processes. and all those flyers will be on european tans cars until it snows! anyone else have wars like this with other salons? any other stories? anyone ever think of something they'd do to another salon but didn't wanna do it? tell me...i'll do it...and see how it goes.... fun fun! sorry for the long post.....

	Superior UV

[mr belvedere]

Dude, I have just two things to say: 1. Paragraphs are GOOD! 2. I like your style and 3. I said before I only had two things to say

Keep on "keepin' on"! -Belv E

[Sarge]

Long story and I think you have some terrible business practices. Come on, putting flyers in your competitors parking lot. I don't know. You sound real eager and committed but I don't like your practices. In the long run, one of you two business will get hurt. There's being competitive but there is also going over board. Pretty soon sounds like you will have someone tanning in your salon taking a crap in your rooms instead of trying to find dust bunnies. Good luck though......... I would spend my time educating your employee's and customers on tanning and try to keep them.

[dcjjp2]

I'd bring in dust to collect on the free packette thing and make you look like a tool. I agree with Sarge, it is a short time until you have their workers and friends who you don't recognize deucing on your "cleaner beds with facials."

Business practices like these don't win clients. Just keep the clients you have and give them incentive to tan with you, and never badmouth the competition, it makes you look weak.

[tnannie]

What Jeff said^

[eileen]

I don't know about in Canada but here it's illegal to solicit cars in parking lots where you don't have a business. It's called trespassing and loitering. For the record I'm a big spender and if I found one of your flyers on my car I would never walk through your front door. I don't even like finger prints on my car let alone someone leaning against it possibly with zippers etc. to scratch it...and even grabbing the windshield wiper and maybe setting off the alarm. It's one of my pet peeves....it's my car keep your dirty hands off of it! I ALWAYS toss the flyer onto the ground to show that your company litters (save the flyers for the porn on the streets of vegas!)! If your salon is doing so great maybe you should just buy your competition instead of wasting all that time, money and energy battling them.

You're a smart guy adam think this one through :)

[centerfold]

If I ever find flyers on the cars in our lots, I call the police & make a report because it is also illegal here. The shopping center I am in prosecutes this sort of thing because the center spends lots of cash having the lots swept and cleaned and does not want paper flying around all over the lot. Personally, I can't stand if someone papers my car either - it belongs to me and I don't want anyone touching it.

[Nigelappler]

WOW....i have nothing nice to say..

[Nigelappler]

ok one word... KARMA

[rgm824]

dang - that's a war that you started - what have they done back to you if anything?
i would never do this to my comp. - competition can be good - but dang...