What to do when a salon is visited by fewer clients?

This question is most often asked in mid-autumn. In this article you will find out:

• How to optimally plan the season on an annual basis to increase profits?
• How to encourage clients to use tanning salons in lower seasons?

Before answering the question, it is worth taking a look at the graphic. It shows the popularity of the phrase "tanning salon" in Google over the year. As practice shows, the blue line coincides with the attendance in salons. The exception is the holiday season, when salons experience increased interest, despite the lower interest in the phrase "tanning salon" in the search engine.

This is the case every year, as presented in the five-year phrase popularity breakdown:

How does the season work and how do you plan it?

We have divided the whole year into 6 periods. Seasonality is inherent in the tanning industry. However, remember that you can influence it, and each of the periods mentioned above is a chance to make your business even more profitable.

Resilience building season - falls in January-February and is characterised by lower traffic in salons. We suggest promoting the idea of building immunity and boosting vitamin D synthesis during this time, as well as relaxation sessions to improve your mood when it's cold and gloomy outside. Promoting wellbeing is not forbidden, and this is where our efforts in terms of social media communication or website design can go.

Conclusion:

• encourage improved resilience and wellbeing
• sunbed as a prescription for winter fatigue

The start of the season - March and April - is a time when movement slowly picks up. However, much depends on the weather. The first rays of sun and temperatures above 8-10 degrees encourage you to go out.

During this period we are mostly pale and it is easy to succumb to the tempting vision of improving our tan, if not exclusively in a sunbed as a supplement to our first walks. In this period, we rarely go outside without a jacket or warm jumper and the body is exposed to uneven tanning. It is therefore worth offering a sunbed to even out the skin tone.

The key to promoting the service may be to make you feel better with light therapy. Show customers that coloured lamps are a great way to say goodbye to winter.

Spring is also a very important time, in terms of the next period, the high season. In just a moment crowds of people longing for a pre-holiday tan will be knocking at salons and that is why it is a good time to carefully look at this year's trends and stock up on novelties, as well as secure sunbed cleaners and other accessories necessary to maintain the spot. It's also the last call to secure continuity of work with heavy traffic, i.e. make sure your staff are properly staffed and trained.

Conclusion:

• know the trends and consider buying this year's novelties, e.g. natural cosmetics, hybrid lamps
• stock up on products
• Encourage the use of cosmetics for sunbed tanning, thus promoting a service that evens out the early spring tan.
• encourage your customers to try out mood-enhancing coloured lamps

High season -time to sip the cream. June has won out over the other months every year, even during the pandemic. With the onset of warm days, traffic increases significantly. During this period, ensuring an adequate supply is key. Consider extending your salon’s open hours and let your customers know.

During this time, it is crucial to make the most of the opportunity of a large number of visitors. This is your time to win their loyalty, so that they visit you regularly, even in the off-season. Making a good impression (modern equipment, comfortable interior, friendly opening hours) and building the right relationship with the customer is worth their weight in gold. And without the right staff attitude, this will be impossible.

Interpersonal, sales and offer awareness training will make your salon employees the best ambassadors for your business. A loyal customer is happy to return to places where they have been met with something nice - from the staff's smile to a comfortable and effective tanning bed.

Bottom line:

• invest in preparing your employees
• focus on gaining the trust of your clients so that they return to your salon regularly.
• build your client base

Mid-season - by mid-August, the season is well underway, although a slightly lower number of clients may slowly hint at the approach of autumn. Maintain your service levels at all costs, while thinking about tailoring your services to your customers' needs. During this time, it will be very important to communicate messages related to keeping the tan in place. It's also worth informing your customers about newly replaced lamps, especially since ...

...in early October UV lamp manufacturers update their price lists and purchases made in September are the best investment in equipment. Take this into account when planning your stock for the coming months of business.

Bottom line:

• promote tan maintenance/extension
• the best month to replace lamps

Upgrade and Prep Season - Autumn brings less salon traffic each year. This is the best time to get down to upgrading your salon after the summer harvest and preparing for the next season. More spare booths during this period are not the only reason why you should do it right around October and November. Waiting times for a new sunbed range from a month to six months, and the current smaller number of available aftermarket sunbeds also makes the availability of second-hand equipment more difficult.

Autumn is the perfect time to look at the range of sunbeds on offer, to look at models for your new investment, to talk to Maximus advisors. Here is a little hint...during this period you can get a slightly bigger discount than in other months of the year.

The turn of October and November is also an ideal time to change the salon interior, i.e. invest in new décor. It is difficult to imagine changes without a thorough recognition of trends. You don't have to look far for inspiration. You have our blog at your disposal, where we regularly prepare for you inspirations collected from the world :)

Summary:

• consider modernising your salon
• get to know the offer of sunbeds, their availability and price

In conclusion.

Seasonality is something that can be great to plan your activities for the whole year. We know that your salon is very important to you and that you put a lot of effort and attention into running it. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your efforts in developing the tanning salon industry. We wish you good luck with your business at all times of the year.