Hi I'm new here

[megatanman]

Originally Posted by tanstar

megatanman, you still have not told me where in Ohio your at?

Im not Electric Beach if thats what your wondering,but if you are the Tanstar wedged between the 2....All I can say is good luck to you.

[EFT Master]

I agree with missmojorising. Start an EFT program, but market it as a VIP program. Considering that you are in a college town, you may want to develop your VIP programs around the college or university. This will work in your favor, if you do it correctly. You are going to want to artificially inflate your regular rates to make your EFT packages look more appealing. You may also want to give incentives to your staff for selling EFT's. Give them incentives based on the level of EFT he/she sells. If you motivate your staff to sell a certain plan by providing incentives...they WILL sell it.
EFT's don't necessarily have to be drafted on a monthly basis; however, you can draft a customer on a weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, semi-monthly, or quarterly automatic payment schedule if you have tanning packages that would warrant that frequency of a debit.
Also, if you have a set-up fee for the EFT, when you get your students on the plan.... avoid them canceling the EFT by freezing their package for $5.00 a month. If they choose the 'freeze' option they will avoid paying another sign up fee when they want to tan on the VIP program again.
I hope this helps. If you or anyone would like more information about EFT and ideas to market VIP programs please don’t hesitate to contact me.

[paradisebeach]

How many of you freeze peoples accounts? If you do is there a limit or do you charge them?

[ekc123]

paradise, you asked what my online job was, I do medical transcription. I dont recommend what I do, because its boring as ****. But during the slow season, it makes the day go by faster and I still make some dough.

we do freeze accounts, but not on EFT's, only monthly packages. 5 dollars for one week or 10 dollars for two weeks. mostly for vacations, and illnesses (medications).

why is it that people know when they are taking a trip and they never time it right. they always come in a week or two before their trip and then ***** cause they will lose the time they are gone (ugh) It has worked well by charging for the freeze, most people appreciate it.

we also sell six days in a row in the base bed for 18.50, that works well for those procrastinators that want to tan before a trip. that is almost half the month price and most of the time they are not even tan and usually want to burn themselves and cannot even come but 3-4 of the six days. $$$

[nibor]

IN A COLLEGE TOWN, DO A EFT PROGRAM THAT STARTS AT THE START OF SCHOOL AND ENDS AT THE END OF SCHOOL MAYBE $9.95 TO JOIN AND ONLY $19.95 PER MONTH WORKED FOR A SALON WE USE TO HAVE IN A COLLEGE TOWN WITH THE RIGHT TANNING TECHNICIAN ANYTHING CAN BE SOLD KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT AND IT WILL SELL

[nibor]

FREEZING An eft customer we allow them to freeze 2 months per year with a $5.00 charge per month

[EFT Master]

Mystme - I would take NIBOR'S suggestion very seriously. You should always have your customers in mind when creating VIP plans. Since your salon is mostly college students, then go with NIBOR's suggestion and make your plans/packages correspond with the University's academic calendar. In fact, I read an article in Tanning Trends about a salon that is next to Michigan State. The school has its own "cash". Anyways, the salon participates in Spartan Cash, which is a Michigan State University program that allows students to use their student ID like a debit card after the funds are deposited in the account.

You may want to inquire with the University to see if they have something like what Michigan State has. You can also create VIP packages for sporting seasons, spring break specials, or homecoming activities. You have lots to work with.... its just finding the right chemistry combination.

As for you paradisebeach - many of my customers do freeze accounts. Some charge for it and some do not. The salon owners who do charge for freezing accounts the rates range from $2.01 to $15.00 per month for freezing. Is there a limit? Not really, but some owners mandate a three month minimum and a six month maximum. I have a customer in VA that uses the FREEZE option to save customers from canceling. He has a sign up fee for his VIP/EFT packages. He advises his customers that for only 5 bucks a month they can freeze his/her plan and avoid the 30 or 40 bucks, whatever he charges, for the set up fee at sign up. According to him, 9 times out of 10, the customers freeze their packages when you put it to them like that.

[mystme]

Thanks for the talk Mojo and everyone with great suggestions. I spent a day reworking our EFt programs to make people wanting to do it for the 5 upgrades a month if they do EFT. I got rid of selling sessions as suggested so that they will have to buy what i want to sell and to make it easier to make a choice. Offering incentives to have them renew their memberships to keep them coming back. Got alot of advice on this forum and i thank all of you. I would love to just run this salon everyday by myself however since i can make more money outside and still pay for the help here i will next month be doing both jobs. yes i thought our salon would take off from the get go but since it hasn't i need the money. However just a few changes I've made from the suggestions for you all I can say i see a difference and today has been one of our better days. So I am going to keep it going as long as i can. I love my salon and if it means working outside of it and in it for the next couple years , i gotta give the best shot i can. hope everyone has a very Happy Holiday and thanks again for a the help. I really appriciate all the input.

[PatParadise]

Oh yes we have seen five tanning salons open since we purchased and remodeled our business five years ago. Eventually some competitors will go bankrupt. We have seen one salon go broke three times but someone keeps buying the equipment. Eventually some salons will close as there is not enough business to support four or five salons in a small area. The most persistant and best managed salons will remain. Tanning is not going to provide for much of an income until the market equalizes. You either have to have a mega-salon with 20 - 30 beds and high end equipment or be a highly efficient organization. An 8 bed salon is not likely to generate more than $100,00 in sales and that leaves you with $10,000 - $15,000 a year in wages unless you work all the hours yourself. Good luck, be patient, and outlast your competition, PatParadise, (IMWW)

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