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October 8th, 2010
 MySalary.com contributing writer Dawn Dugan posted an interesting article reminding small-business owners, like tanning salon owners, how to balance the high demands of work while enjoying a satisfying personal life. Her article, “14 Steps to Achieving Work-Life Balance,” focuses on the importance of prioritizing responsibilities on both fronts to restore the balance and harmony at work and at home.
Her 14 tips:
1. Set priorities. Dugan advises you to figure out what you want your work and life priorities to be — not what they should be.
2. Keep track of your time. Take a week, she says, to chart how much time you spend on your work and personal priorities. Is one side winning? If so, adjust.
3. Take things one step at a time. When you’re working, Dugan says, work. When you’re living life, live it. Don’t try to do both at the same time.
4. Look forward to one thing every day to live life the way you desire. Leave work out of it, she says, and set some time aside to do something you want to do, like read a book, play a round of golf or get a massage.
5. Remember your private time. Spend some time alone for you, Dugan writes.
6. Analyze your personal habits and general lifestyle. Are you getting enough sleep? Do you eat lunch at your computer? Do you work an hour longer or use that hour to exercise? Evaluate what you’re doing and adjust things to help balance your work and personal life.
7. Take a vacay. Plan and then enjoy your vacations away from work each year, Dugan advises, and leave the laptop and smart phone at home.
8. Lean on someone. Everyone needs a support system. Dugan advises you to share your new work and life goals and ask for your support group to respect your new plan.
9. You might want to hire a pro. Personal coaches can help you assess your work-life balance, she says, and can chart a course for you if you need a higher level of help.
10. Exercise. Relieve your stresses, clear your mind and you’ll be more productive, Dugan advises. Get up out of your office chair and get active to help you along your journey to balance work and life.
11. Set up some walls. Don’t let your smartphone distract you from your son’s baseball game or dinnertime with the family. When work’s over, work’s over, she advises.
12. Look up to someone. Find a mentor and follow their advice to helping you create a better work-life balance.
13. Say no when you have to. Sometimes you have to turn down requests if they don’t fit into your new balanced schedule. Don’t be afraid to say no. Overwhelming youself by taking on more, Dugan says, can destroy your new plan.
14. Periodically evaluate how you’re doing. What works? What hasn’t? Devote some time at least once a month to reflect, adjust and possibly overhaul your plan to balance work and personal life, Dugan advises.
Here’s the link to Dugan’s full article on MySalary.com.
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Tags: balanced life, Dawn Dugan, ETS, ets tan, indoor tanning, job advice, my salary, MySalary.com, personal life, tanning, tanning bed, tanning salon, work life, work life balance
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September 30th, 2010
No architect would think of constructing a building without a blueprint. Yet many tanning salon owners today are seeking new clients, introducing new services and even planning new locations without a clearly defined marketing plan.
Most companies have marketing plans, although some may be outdated and in need of revision. Your marketing plan should be comprised of small, interrelated steps that involve everything from how your signage looks and how your employees treat customers to the cleanliness of your salon and your salon’s image in your community. All these items involve marketing and all must be planned, coordinated and evaluated in an overall action-oriented and cost-effective blueprint. That blueprint is the marketing plan that outlines the path your business will follow to long-term growth.
If you do not know where to start, you may have to hire a marketing professional or team. But basically, your marketing plan can be segmented into four steps.
Define your current situation.
Situation analysis is usually the longest portion of the marketing plan. It is a statement of where your business is today and how it got there. It should include all relevant facts about the company’s history, growth, products, services, sales volume, share of market, competitive status, markets served, past advertising programs, results of marketing research studies, company capabilities, strengths and weaknesses and any other pertinent information. Marketing requires a clear understanding of what you have to offer, what you want to achieve through marketing and how you are going to communicate to your audiences.
Strategize and write the plan.
Exercise your creativity by setting meaningful goals. Vague directions result in wasted time. Ask yourself how changes will take place. Be specific so you can measure progress. Make a calendar or timetable of expected change and anticipate problems and how you will solve them. You must plan for any training that might be needed to get you or your staff ready, decide who you will target and then prepare advertising and other communication vehicles to reach those particular markets. Your plan must include a sensible time table, a realistic program budget and a back-up plan in case the market changes, the economic climate is altered or to face competition. Establish a launch date and plan backward from it.
A key factor in determining an overall marketing plan for your business is determining the image you want to project to your clients and non-clients. It is helpful to consider what the local community knows about your business, what image you want in your community and how our salon’s image has changed over the years.
Also, you must know the position of your salon against the total market. The position is basically what makes your salon unique. Do you have a clearly identified position? If so, what is it? Proper positioning can make a positive difference when it is consistent and consciously built in a way the practice is operated. Good positioning will also work well against the competition.
Implement your plan.
After you have written your plan, take some time each day to implement a part of it then visualize the end result. Assign tasks to staff members and pursue your market with consistency. Implementation means follow through at all points. Identify key referral sources and target each for new business. Incentivize new customers and existing ones for coming to you. Train new staff members to develop new business.
Evaluate your progress.
As your plan takes shape, you may notice that some of your objectives have changed. Do not lock yourself into a result you no longer want. Be open to adjusting your marketing plan to a changing market. A monitoring and evaluation step should be included to track results and make changes as needed.
Conduct weekly or monthly meetings with your staff to review projects, budgets and new business. Review milestones set in the original plan to be sure you are on track.
Some problems you may run into are lack of coordination, communication or personnel commitment to your marketing plan. These three things can be the difference between a workable plan that gets results and a meaningless effort.
It is also important that those who develop the marketing plan are determined. They must be committed to seeing that the items on your list get done well and on time. When approving the plan, they must be able to consider a full range of alternatives and have the confidence to push your salon toward these alternatives, even if it means making things more challenging for themselves or others.
A completed marketing plan is one that is well thought out, using all staff input and involves senior- and middle-level employees working together to accomplish mutually agreed-upon goals. If all this is accomplished, your marketing plan can be successful in making things happen for your tanning salon.
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Tags: business development, business development ideas, commercial tanning beds, communications, customer appreciation, customer complaints, customer service, e3, ETS, ets tan, indoor tanning bed, salons, tanning bed, tanning bed lotions, tanning beds, tanning salon, tanning salons
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September 24th, 2010
Marsha Friedman, a 20-year veteran of the public relations industry and CEO of EMSI Public Relations, writes in a guest blog for Looking Fit magazine:
… “(Public relations) is not where sales are closed, but rather, it’s where sales begin. PR doesn’t directly sell your products or services because it’s not intended to sell anything. It’s intended to educate consumers about who you are and what you’re about. It alerts consumers to your expertise, your intelligence, your message and is an integral part of the consumer’s decision-making process.”
September 20th, 2010
Actions speak louder than words. As a successful tanning salon owner, you value your existing customers and are focused on bringing more customers in your doors. So let your customers know they’re important to you by doing things for them.
Customer appreciation is important to win the hearts of current and new customers. Showing customers that you appreciate them is a much more effective and powerful tool than sending them a letter, e-mail blast or direct-mail piece. A focus on face-to-face, meaningful interchanges between you, your staff and customers can create long-lasting relationships, fun times, great memories and, something important to you, customer retention and growth.
It’s easy to get stuck in the day-to-day business operations of your tanning salon and lose focus on effective customer appreciation strategies. That’s probably not too much fun for you, either. So take a look at these simple customer appreciation tactics that can help you reward your customers, show them that you care about them past the sale and bring a little fun to their lives – and yours.
Have a friends-and-family event every quarter.
Provide light refreshments and noticeable discounts of sessions and products once every quarter for your best customers and their family members and friends.
Remember your customers’ birthdays.
Everyone has a birthday once a year and everyone gets presents on their birthday. Be sure to remember your customers’ birthdays by giving them something personal that they’ll enjoy compliments of you and your staff.
Have some after-hours parties throughout the year.
Invite your customers to your tanning salon after hours to enjoy refreshments, special deals, promotions and more. Partner with nearby businesses to offer their products and services while helping promote their businesses and being a good neighbor. If you’re a member of your local chamber of commerce, connect with them about the possibility to host an after-hours chamber event at your salon.
Offer a new product promotion.
If you’ve updated your beds, selected a new lotion line or remodeled or improved your salon, show things off. Offer special discounts, incentives and rewards to the top 30 percent of your customers and invite them to experience what’s new at your salon.
Remember your beyond-the-purchase ‘thank-yous.’
Be sure that you and your staff are highly appreciative toward your customers after they purchase their session packages and products at your salon. That might mean giving them a new pair of protective goggles or a free bottle of water on their way out, a complimentary session every once in a while or a tasty treat at no charge. They’ll remember that little something extra long past leaving your salon.
Build relationships outside your salon’s walls.
Get to know your customers and what they like to do in their free time. Can you meet for lunch? Could you both work out at the gym or exercise outdoors with each other? What about a round of golf together or going to a local sports event sometime? If you’ve built that in-salon relationship with your customer, look to expand and grow that relationship outside your salon – and have some fun at the same time.
Teach your employees to do the same.
In all you do and all you feel is important in focusing on customer appreciation strategies, make sure you share your vision and what you want to accomplish with your employees. They are typically the front line in meeting, greeting and taking care of your customers in your salon. Make sure you empower them to engage your customers and reward them with customer appreciation tactics you choose to employ.
Open early or stay open late once a month to provide special deals.
Don’t forget about those early-bird and late-owl customers who would enjoy sessions and services earlier than you open and later than you close. Provide an incentive to them by opening early or staying open late and be sure to wow them with appreciation tactics while they’re there.
Go back to old-school techniques.
Hand-written thank-you letters. A free logo T-shirt with your salon’s identity on the front. Anything that’s free. Stuff We All Get has seemingly been around since the dawn of time yet continues to be great tool to reward customers and build brands. Everyone loves SWAG so give some out over the course of the year.
Tie in to a different community charity once a month, encourage your customers to get involved.
Given the state of the economy, charities are taking a hit. Financial contributions and volunteerism are down and you can help. Connect with a different community charity once a month. Volunteer your time. Let your employees volunteer. Engage your customers to support your charity of choice through volunteerism or financial support. In doing so, you become an even stronger and influential corporate citizen, a business worthy for customers to frequent and support and one that encourages others to get involved.
And remember, if you aren’t sincere in all you do to show your customers that you care about them past their business, it’ll show. They need to feel the love at all times so they’ll keep coming back for more.
September 2nd, 2010
 The phone rings. It’s another one of those calls. A complaint. And, for the sake of this example, you are unsure whether it is your firm or the client at fault. How well will your staff handle this situation? Does your staff realize that these critical moments in client service can actually be a public relations gold mine, generating free, word-of-mouth advertising for your business?
Today’s business climate is characterized by stiff competition for a narrowing client base. Reacting to this business trend, smart companies are more client-focused. Giving excellent service designed to keep clients happy is now a survival issue for every organization.
Because roughly 70 percent of lost clients leave due to their perception that an employee, manager or owner is indifferent to their needs, the way someone responds to their complaints and problems is a crucial factor in determining the quality of your client service and the likelihood of return business.
Clients feel dissatisfied when they feel dismissed or discounted. It is most important to acknowledge a client’s complaint or concern immediately. A simple sentence like, “I understand your situation. Let me see if I can help,” may calm an unhappy client and allow you to gather further information in sorting things out rationally.
Confirm your understanding of the facts as the client has stated them. What matters to the client is knowing that you fully understand the situation from his or her viewpoint.
So that a client will not feel put-off, research any problem quickly. If a lengthy investigation is necessary, give the client an idea of what your process will be and when he or she will likely have a result. At a later time, check in with the client by phone or personal note to let him or her know that you’re still working toward the resolution of the problem.
More than 90 percent of departing clients slip away without making their concerns known — and they never return. So treat each complaint as a gold mine of information and a chance to prove your business is truly committed to client service. Affirm the reasonable client by saying something like, “I’m glad you told us about this. Nothing is more important to us than your satisfaction. Your feedback gives our company a chance to improve.”
The real work begins with finding acceptable alternatives. Make the client’s problem your problem. Involve the client in brainstorming potential solutions and, when you think you have a solution, ask if the client is satisfied.
In some cases, what the client wants is beyond your power or your organization’s power to deliver. In those situations, it is recommended that you state the facts firmly but tactfully. Show that you are truly sorry that you cannot fulfill the request and explain your situation in terms that the client can understand.
Despite your best efforts, some clients will not take no for an answer and will remain upset. At all costs, avoid expressing irritation. When possible, allow the client recourse to speak to someone in higher authority. End the discussion firmly but politely, expressing your sincere regret for their difficulty.
In many instances, the proof of a corporation isn’t that mistakes never happen — that’s fiction and almost everyone knows it. Good business is proven by how much the client can trust that dealings with that corporation will always be pleasant and fair. From a client viewpoint, finding such an establishment is worth talking about.
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Tags: business development, business development ideas, communications, customer complaints, customer service, ETS, ets tan, indoor tanning bed, marketing, public relations, salon, salons, tanning, tanning bed, tanning salon, tanning salons, word of mouth, word of mouth marketing
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April 26th, 2010
No architect would think of constructing a building without a blueprint, yet many salon owners today are seeking new clients, introducing new services and planning acquisitions without a clear and defined marketing plan.
Your marketing plan should be comprised of small, interrelated steps that involve everything from the courtesy of your staff and your letterhead design to your company’s image as a storefront, online and in your community. All these items involve marketing and all must be planned, coordinated and evaluated in an overall action-oriented and cost-effective road map.
That road map is the marketing plan that outlines the path your salon will follow to long- term growth and success.
Basically, developing an initial marketing plan can be divided into four steps:
Define your current situation.
Situation analysis is usually the longest portion of the marketing plan. It is a statement of where your business is today and how it got there. It should include all relevant facts about the company’s history, growth, products and services services, sales volume, share of market, competitive status, markets served, past advertising programs, results of marketing research studies, company capabilities, strengths and weaknesses and any other pertinent information.
Marketing requires a clear understanding of what you have to offer, what you want to achieve through marketing and how you are going to communicate to your audiences.
Strategize and write the plan.
Exercise your creativity by setting meaningful goals. Vague directions result in wasted time. Ask yourself how changes will take place. Be specific so you can measure progress. Your plan must include a sensible time table, a realistic program budget and a back-up plan in case the market changes, the economic climate is altered or you find yourself facing new competition. Establish key dates and work backward from them.
A key factor in determining an overall marketing plan for your business is determining the image you want to project to your clients and non-clients. It is helpful to consider:
* What does the local community know about your salon?
* What image do you want to portray in your local community?
* How has your salon’s image changed in the last few years?
Additionally, you must know the position of your salon against the total market. The position is basically what makes your salon unique. Proper positioning can make a positive difference when it is consistent and consciously built in a way the practice is operated. Good positioning will also work well against your competition.
Implement your plan.
After you’ve written your plan, take some time each day to implement a part of it. Assign tasks to staff members and pursue the market with consistency. Implementation means follow through at all points. Here are some ideas on programs that can be put into place with a professionally designed marketing plan:
* Identify key referral sources and target each for new business.
* Publish a periodic newsletter or e-newsletter that includes incentives, discounts and rewards for your clients.
* Create a brochure outlining what your business does and the services offered.
* Establish a permanent public relations presence.
* Design and implement a program for client retention.
* Train new staff members to develop new business.
We all know someone who constantly talks about plans but nothing happens. If you find yourself making a habit of procrastinating, go back to step No. 1 and make sure you’ve written down the right goals. Then go forward and do not give up.
Evaluate your progress.
As your plan takes shape, you may notice that some of your objectives have changed. Do not lock yourself into a result you no longer want. Be open to adjusting your marketing plan to a changing market. A monitoring and evaluation step should be included to track results and make changes as needed.
Conduct monthly or weekly meetings with your staff to review projects, budgets and new business. At the end of each month or quarter, review milestones set in the original plan to be sure you are on track.
Some problems you may run into are lack of coordination, communication, personnel commitment in the business – and time. But remember, these things can be the difference between a workable effort that gets results and a meaningless, unsuccessful plan.
A complete marketing plan is one that is well thought out, uses all staff input and involves upper management and all employees working together to accomplish mutual goals. If all this is accomplished, the plan can be successful in making things happen for your salon.
Article by Coles Marketing Communications.
March 25th, 2010
It’s a fact that customer service-committed businesses are more profitable, have lower marketing costs, suffer
fewer customer complaints and enjoy more repeat business than those
with little or no commitment to customer satisfaction.
Whether in the smallest town or the largest city,
you are your practice. Everything you say and do impacts your image
positively or negatively. Therefore, everything about you – from
your personal appearance to the way you deal with your customers –
is a billboard that advertises you. Here are some customer
satisfaction tips to help you attain or polish a positive image and
retain valued customers:
Knowledge of the customer
Go straight to the source. Ask your customers what
they want and expect from your business. Learn which details have the
most positive or negative impact on your customers’ satisfaction.
Once you inquire, you’ll find that your
customers will generally evaluate your service quality on the
following factors:
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Reliability: The ability to provide as
promised, dependably and accurately.
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Responsiveness: Helping customers eagerly and
in a timely manner.
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Assurance: The competence, trustworthiness
and courtesy that is shown.
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Follow-through: Paying attention to details
often ignored.
Reliability
Good customer service does not mean doing the
impossible. The tendency is to promise the customer the moon to cut
off the competition. There’s one problem with this approach: It’s
impossible to deliver the moon. Attempting to achieve the impossible
too often may ultimately result in a service failure. You may wind up
with a customer who doesn’t return or, worse yet, tells others
about their unhappy experience.
Conversely, being reliable puts you in a position
to shape your clients’ expectations to match what you can provide.
It’s in your best interest to educate your customers regarding your
work requirements, timetables and processes. There will be occasions
when circumstances will not allow you to meet a customer’s needs.
If you have dealt reliably with that customer in the past and explain
your situation, along with your unwillingness to disappoint them,
then your customer will know that you have been honest and concerned
about his or her satisfaction.
Responsiveness
Timely response is always important. If your
customer leaves you a message asking for a call back, attempt to
gauge your customer’s urgency so that you can respond to his or her
message appropriately. Dissatisfaction is usually a byproduct of
uncertainty. Be specific on your voice mail as to when you will be
returning calls and give customers an option to reach an assistant or
peer who can help them if you are unavailable.
Assurance
There’s no substitute for competence. Good
customer service is built on attention to detail and customer needs
and knowledge, confidence and know how-how. Good reputations are
built on assurance, the substance that makes your customers believe
you will deliver marketing and industry knowledge, listening skills
and sales and negotiation skills.
Follow through
Send a service evaluation form to your customers.
The information you get from the form will help you gauge your
successes and it will leave your customer feeling as if his or her
future satisfaction is truly your goal. Similarly, a sincere and
timely thank-you note to clients can create a positive impression and
boost your image and to help earn repeat business.
In a world long on hype and short on quality, most
people are willing and eager to share their discovery of good
customer service. Maintaining good customer service is maintaining
your good reputation – the most effective and least costly form of
advertising available.
Indianapolis-based Coles Marketing Communications is a full-service public relations, marketing, communications, Word of Mouth and creative agency. Visit Coles Marketing Communications online at www.colesmarketing.com and www.colesmarketing.com/blog.
Coles Marketing Communications is on Facebook and Twitter: @colesmarketing.
March 15th, 2010
 A Wilmington News-Journal report published last week best-expressed the weakness of the data used by a World Health Organization working group last summer in a controversial report used to suggest that tanning is on par with cigarettes as a risk. The data suggests that this just isn’t the case.
Click here to read the rest of the article from Smart Tan and The News Journal.
Neither ETS, LLC nor its parent or affiliated companies operate or control, in any respect, any information, claims, representations, endorsements, recommendations, testimonials, products or services that third parties may provide on or through the website or on websites linked to by us. The inclusion of any link on this website does not, and shall not be construed, to imply any recommendation, approval, endorsement or testimonial of that third-party website by ETS, LLC. The views and opinions of authors expressed in any third-party website do not necessarily state or reflect those of ETS, LLC. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by ETS, LLC.
February 25th, 2010
 Think of some commercials you’ve recently seen that promote destinations, like hotels, casinos, theme parks and vacation sites.
They look great, don’t they? High production value and multiple camera angles. Paid models and spokespeople saying carefully crafted marketing messages. They’re all blue skies and green grass, with smiling, active people full of excitement and energy. Their messages scream, “You have to come here.”
The corporations buying and placing these commercials strive to promote their destinations and all of the services, amenities and activities available by visually enticing viewers in hopes of landing their business.
It takes thousands – sometimes hundreds of thousands – of dollars to create some of these commercials. But in a world that’s watching less and less TV but craves more online video content than ever, are these commercials necessary or the most effective way to showcase these destinations?
The answer is, maybe – for them. Corporations with deep pockets can afford to do it all – advertise across a wide spectrum of media, market to every section of consumers, push for earned media through public relations activities and stage a multitude of special events and promotions to build excitement and exposure. So a six-figure expense for a commercial is nothing to them.
But for salon owners looking to advertise as a local destination to look good and feel great, placing a commercial that costs even a couple thousand dollars isn’t practical.
It’s a good thing the top social networking sites are free.
Small businesses are capitalizing more and more on consumer appetite for video content and free social networking sites by posting video clips online, including testimonials, product highlights, consumer news and more.
A very effective way to introduce your salon and its services, amenities and staff is to create a video tour of your salon.
With a simple mouse click, people in your area can listen to what you have to say about your salon while seeing what you have to offer. They can experience your salon without even setting foot in your door. They can make a decision based on your video tour about whether to select your salon as their tanning destination. And they can spread the word about your salon with their comments, sharing links and more.
Creating a video tour is easy – even for people who’ve never been in front of a camera talking or who’ve never filmed such a project. Video tours do take some thought and planning so here are some basing things to keep in mind before filming a video tour of your salon:
Clean and organize your salon. Make things look great. Straighten rugs on the floor, pictures on the walls and lotions on the shelves. Tidy up your front counter. Make sure magazines are picked up and organized on table tops and racks and take down any dated posters or promotional items.
Light things up. Turn on all of your salon’s lighting – and a few colorful tanning beds in the background – to give your salon a vibrant look.
Film when closed. A good video tour will probably have to be filmed when your salon is closed so interruptions are avoided.
Practice. You shouldn’t “script” your video tour but you should practice it. Know what you’re going to say, how you’re going to say it and where you’ll be saying it.
Perform to a crowd. When practicing, let your salon staff hear what you have to say and watch how and where you’re saying things. Let them have input as well.
Find a steady hand. Identify someone on staff or a friend who can adequately operate a video recorder and make sure they also practice what they’ll be filming beforehand.
Be entertaining on film. No one will watch your video tour if it’s not entertaining. Be vibrant and energetic when speaking. Use gestures and expressions. Act and talk just like you would if you had a potential customer walk in and want a tour. Don’t be dry during your video tour.
Show angles. People want to watch video that shows multiple angles, different angles and scenes shot in ways they’re not generally seen. Shoot your video tour from multiple angles – from atop a step ladder or from floor level; from behind the front counter; from inside a tanning bed looking out. Anything you can do to spice up angles in your video tour will definitely catch more eyes.
Think, “No editing.” By practicing and making sure you have a good person on the other side of the video camera, you should be able to film your salon video tour from beginning to end, thus eliminating the need for any type of editing. The key to creating a successful social video is to be real; editing puts a polish on social video that people don’t want. From “record” to “stop,” highlight your salon and talk to your potential customers. That’s what they want.
Be short and sweet. A video tour of your salon shouldn’t take more than two minutes tops. If you have more than that to say and show, create more video clips and post them.
Cater to what your consumers want to see. Face it, you’re in the tanning business and people who will watch your video tour want to see youth, energy – and skin. Consider having someone on staff or a loyal customer apply lotions and tan during your video tour. Your videographer can capture images of this while you’re talking.
Most of all, have fun creating a video tour of your salon. If you’re into it and excited about meeting new people and gaining new customers, that will come across in your video.
February 19th, 2010
 Customers rely on you, as a tanning salon owner, and your staff to provide them with the most accurate information regarding their tanning experience. Here a just few a ideas that can help you keep your clients happy and your employees informed.
1. Never allow the client to dictate tanning exposure times and always advise new tanners on the appropriate exposure schedules.
2. Stay current on industry news and regulations.
3. Know how to handle the media and combat anti-tanning press with positive information.
4. Establish a proactive relationship with the media.
5. Have product and equipment brochures available for your customers and be able to advise them on the best products and equipment choices for their tanning needs.
6. Give your staff regular pop quizzes and samples of products so they can better explain the benefits to customers with first-hand knowledge.
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