ist magazine September 2022

Notes from the Road

Generate fantastic fall funds with creative customer incentives! EXAMPLE: With the purchase of a $60 bottle, the guest receives $30 in upgrade credit (only to be used toward upgrades and sunless sessions). This allows tanners to try equipment they wouldn’t usually use. I like this promotion right before a holiday like Halloween or Thanksgiving, because people are far less likely to cancel a membership if they have credit on their account. If they want to cancel, you have two options: 1) If they cancel their EFT, they lose any remaining upgrade credit, which gives them incentive to stay, and 2) If they cancel, the upgrade credit becomes “single session” credit. I like Option Two, because knowing they have a free tan(s) on their account will bring your customer back faster. I hope some of these ideas help you increase your fall funds! Every market and salon clientele is different; what works for some might not work for you. But, creating ways to incentivize your guests will go a long way toward boosting your bottom line. ■

By Lisa Saavedra

By this time, I am sure you are in the full swing of fall prep! The weather is getting cooler, the pumpkin spice is flowing and you and your salon guests are getting ready for the upcom ing holidays. This month, we are going to talk about making the most (and by most, I mean MONEY!) during this holiday season. Holiday Scents Many product manufacturers have limited-release body care and tanning items with holiday scents (i.e. Pumpkin Spice!) Now is the perfect time to create cute fall displays and bring in these items as impulse buys. Just putting them on your shelves, though, won’t do the trick. Placing a sample bottle for guests to try next to some cute fall decorations will boost sales. BOGO Gift Cards Get ahead of the holiday sales by of fering incentives for gift card purchases. My favorite is one I call “Treat Your self!” Your guest buys a gift card for someone and they get half of the value credited back to their account. EXAM PLE: Your customer buys a $50 gift card for their friend and gets $25 “tan credit” on their account! It’s a win-win because you are gaining new customers, increas ing revenue and creating added value for your existing clientele to spread the word (and gift) of your business.

Prepaid Upgrades We all have those customers with

base-level memberships who upgrade their sessions on a regular basis, but for whatever reason, do not want to upgrade their EFT membership. Fall is the perfect time to offer prepaid upgrades so your tanners can get “holiday bronzed” on a budget. Let’s say your upgrade to the next level bed is $10 – why not offer a promotion that upgrades sessions to the next level for the rest of the month for $25? (Obviously, the earlier in the month they buy it, the more bang they get for their buck.) This won’t affect their EFT and as soon as the month changes, they go back to their original membership. I find it is a good way to get tanners to try beds they have not used before, and gets those who “some times” upgrade to commit to a higher membership level. Because once they have tanned only in the upgrade beds for the month, it will be hard to go back to that base level session. Lotion Rebate I am sure you have used this before or some variation of it – but I think this promotion is still successful. Some salons offer 100% lotion rebate; if you are not comfortable with that, the 50% promotion also works well. The 50% rebate is in upgrade credit.

About the Author: As Director of Brand Development for Devoted Creations’ family of brands, Lisa brings 18 years of industry experience, knowledge and

enthusiasm to all aspects of the business, including social media, product development, training, customer relations, public speaking and marketing strategies. Lisa worked at the salon level managing a large chain of salons, which infuses her sales training and brand concepts with real world experience.

Lisa has been chosen the IST Magazine “Person of the Year” five times.

chuhastock / stock.adobe.com

40

istmagazine.com

September 2022