Jacksonvillefl1

Has anyone tried telemarketing tanning packages? I am looking for the most effective and COST EFFECTIVE way of marketing. I have tried mail outs, discount coupons on grocery store cash register tapes, coupon magazines and have had very little success.

Since business is so slow for us I had considered calling past customers and offering a great deal over the phone. And offering an even better deal if they bought NOW over the phone by credit card.

Offers I have thought about are.

Buy one month get the second month for 1/2 off. Buy NOW and get a third month for $10.00

or

Buy one month @ 25% off and get the second month for $10.00

Has anyone tried telemarketing like this?

Maybe I'm stabbing at straws but I can't just sit here and do nothing while the business goes down.

Jacksonvillefl1

Moderator, sorry I posted in the wrong category. I understand you will have to move it.

no prob moved to salon management
Caribbean Tan Man

sunsally

The title "Telemarketing" threw me a little but you have a decent idea.

During slow times and around the holidays, it isn't a bad idea at all to call your data base with an offer.

The key is that it should be SHORT, to-the-point --- and do NOT ask for a Credit Card over the phone.

Prepare a Script that is less than 15 seconds long, that you could leave on a VM or say in a quick call to a customer. For example:


"This is Sue at Jacksonville Tan calling our customers to tell you about our best sale of the season! Buy a $50 gift card, get a $10 gift card free. Buy $100 and get $25 free. Also with the purchase of any gift card, you get 40% off any bottle of lotion! Give the gift of a great tan this season - to someone you love or for yourself!!"


If you have more things you want to offer, have one "main" offer like that and then say "For additional offers and specials, check out our website at www. jacksonvilletans .com "


Start at "A" in your data base or start with your best spenders or start with those you haven't seen in awhile. But systematically go through and call while you are in the salon and slow - it's FREE!

Be prepared to get VM, but if you get a "live" person, try to stick pretty much to your script unless they ask you questions or want to know more. Just give them the script spiel and then say "well, I wanted to make sure you knew so please feel free to tell your friends as well and we look forward to seeing you!" and then get off the phone.

And make sure when you are making the calls, you have a very upbeat, high energy, presentation. Lots of "pop" to your enthusiasm, smiling while you talk so that comes through on the calls.

There are also "services" that you can use to do this for you, where you record your message and they do the dialing. I'll try to find that reference again. But that way you will pay a little money, and this way you just use your time (or your staff).


Great time to start is NOW. Don't delay. Put together a quick offer/script and start dialing. Guarantee you'll see SOME results from it - and it'll cost you nothing!

caribbean tan man

Great advice if you like this sort of marketing. I personally wouldnt want to be contacted and wouldnt feel comfortable doing this.

But if i was interested in this....the way sunsally just outlined it is how i would do it.

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engfant

Sorry but I can't buy into this (surprise surprise) and think it'd turn people off. You are begging! These are the same people we hang up on all day long.

But if you are to do it then the sun sally has it pretty much spelled out and in jacksonville people might actually enjoy getting a phone call.

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My nose is big. I'm not ashamed. Big like a pickle and I'm still get'n paid.

unity

There is a local gym here that hired a firm to do it. They offered two weeks free to try them out. Then when you go in they say well two weeks free OR you can get membership for $20 a month - but you must decide and sign the papers before you leave.

They gym is not on the verge of closing - sued for high pressure sale tactics.

Does not sounds exactly like what you are doing, but some people may go for it and some others not.

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OMG! I made a post! :)

Jacksonvillefl1

I appreciate the feedback form everyone especially sunsally. I put together a short script and made some calls today, for the most part just leaving messages on machines and ocassionally someone would answer.

I eliminated the part about trying to sell on the spot as something that wouldn't go over well.

It's not difficult, just time consuming and you never know how effective it is or is not.

sunsally

For this to work well, I think the key is this:

1. Calling existing customers - not random dialing. People who you KNOW tan and you KNOW have been to your salon before. So the "offer" you are presenting should have a pretty strong probability of being of interest to them.

2. It is infrequent. Maybe 1-2x per year, for a big "special". Holidays and/or customer appreciation/FTW type stuff.

3. Short, upbeat, great value message. NOT "high pressure sales", NOT "bait and switch" when they get to the salon, NOT 'begging', NOT trying to get a credit card over the phone, etc etc etc


In terms of how to "measure" if it did anything -- can either have an offer that you ONLY give to people over the phone and/or if someone buys the offer, ask them how they heard about it (e.g. saw flier in the room, got a phone call, friend told me...)

It works best when you:

a. Have time to kill (e.g. slow anyway)

b. Know your customers and they know you (e.g. a salon where the owner does a majority of the hours)

c. may not have email addresses (which is less labor intensive, but similarly inexpensive)


Keep us posted how it goes!

kookyguy

Call and yell PEACHFISH! then hang up, it works great!

Island Sun Nola

We have done automated dialout's to our customer database and have received a great response! Least expensive and most effective.

We leave our outgoing message less than 30 seconds and give the caller the option to press 1 for additional information or to be removed from our calling list. If the system gets an answering machine or VM the systems knows and leaves a different message.

We call about 1800 customers.....if you do a dialout to your customer database make SURE you have atleast 2 employees at the salon the day you do your dialout, because your phones will go CRAZY for a few hours.....but all worth it!