ETS Tanning Bed Blog

When I started at ETS Tan a year and a half ago, I didn’t know the first thing about tanning beds. I couldn’t have even told you what an acrylic is. But, what I did come in with is a strong customer service and call center background.

I was a little intimidated at first because the ETS Tan customer service team is and always has been very strong technically and so, yes, I felt a bit like a fish out of water. But, it turns out that the combination of my team’s highly defined technical skills and my customer service skills really worked out.

Why? Because most of the calls we get are from non-technical salon managers, meaning you have to be able to combine good, accessible technical support without ever losing sight of the customer and their experience.

Stop Employees From Sabotaging Your Business

Last week, I walked into a client’s tanning salon. There was a customer looking at lotions without any sales help and no sales clerk in sight. I poked my head down the hall, didn’t see anyone, waited a bit and then finally shouted “Hello? Is anyone there?”

Eventually, a begrudged saleswoman emerged from the back with an apron on, rubber gloves and a spray bottle of cleaning solution in her hand. She snapped off the gloves and huffed “Sorry, I was just trying to get some work done. What can I help you with?”

Hire Slow and Fire Fast

“Hire slow and fire fast” is an old saying that’s so applicable in a customer service industry like tanning salons. Yes, you may be short-staffed. Yes, you may have to work the counter yourself to cover that shift until a new clerk is hired and yes, it can be painful. But, finding the right staff member is worth it.

And, we all know how poisonous a bad hire can be. One wrong hire and your whole team could lose their momentum and their motivation while you lose customers. So…

Good People Make a Major Difference

The tanning salon business is highly competitive and to retain and grow your customer base, you have to provide exceptional customer service. Being the cheapest or fastest beds in town isn’t going to get you customers, but having a well-trained staff providing excellent customer service will.

One of the fastest ways to improve your profits is to improve the quality of your customer service. To do that, you need to increase your staff’s motivation and ability. So, how do you do that?

The male customer can be an elusive prize, particularly for tanning salons that combine their tanning bed salons with beauty or spa services. But, since men are such a huge source of potential new tanning bed customers , what’s the best way for a tanning salon to market to men?

1. Focus on Your People

Your staff needs to be able to respond well to male clients and understand that their needs are different to women’s. For example, men that are new to tanning may be shy and need some reassurance.

It may sound cold, but you must evaluate every employee in your tanning business as a profit center.

Look at it this way, if you hire an employee to work 40 hours a week and you give them a basic salary of $8 per hour, then you’re paying out $320 a week, not including the additional expense of taxes, insurance and paperwork.

In turn, you should be asking yourself “how much profit does this employee bring in?” The cold, hard truth of the matter is that when it comes down to it, every employee should be evaluated by how much profit and how much revenue they’re bringing in.

Often, the answers to those questions will transfer right back to your tan salon staff. If you take a look at your analytics and you see a particular block of customers that are really maxing out (in other words, they’re buying lotions and trying new tanning beds), then check if that trend is tied to any one of your sales people.