Tanning Buyers Group

Salon Experience - The Core

You can walk into your local convenience store and you will immediately accept the dirt and grime associated with heavy use. You will accept the disorganized mess and the half filled racks. The bad customer service. The smell.

BUT when you walk into a salon you will expect a pristine and inviting environment. You will not tolerate clutter or mess. It is only natural. Going for a haircut or a tan puts you in a vulnerable position. If you plan to get a tan or lean back into a sink you want to be completely comfortable with your surroundings.

It is essential to keep a fresh eye. Here are a few tips for salon owners to keep things fresh

Go to work early and park across the street and look at your salon. Bring a notebook. Note anything that you would like to change or looks dirty disheveled.

Step 2

Hit the front door and reassess your observations from across the street. Are any signs faded or tattered or torn?

Step 3

Enter the front lobby and assess the waiting areas. Is the front lobby an inviting place you would be comfortable sitting in for 20 minutes? Are any of the chairs, magazines, posters, floors, paint, etc. worn-out, faded or broken or poorly positioned?

Step 4

Front counter areas. Same assessment, is your front counter uncluttered and does it nudge people to checkin at the correct spot? Is it spotless and well merchandised with plenty of products? Is any out of place, cluttered, worn-out, broken or otherwise should not be there?

Step 5

Behind the counter. Same routine. can customer see your "system"? I am sure it works great for you but is the area organized? Is private information out of reach? Is it clean? Are items there that can be removed stowed away or otherwise eliminated?

Step 6

Salon customer areas. Is each room or workstation clean neat and organized using the principals stated above? Can you remove clutter and make things neater, cleaner, easier for the customer?

Step 7

Vanity and Bathroom areas. If these areas are not spotless 100% of the time you are overlooking an essential part of a salon.

Step 8

Ceiling. Don't forget the ceiling. Is it clean? Are all the tiles in-place and clean, are all the lights working, are the HVAC vents and other things clean neat and organized? 

OK lets see how you did... Get your list of problems and issues and see how many are fixable and how many can be solved using common sense. Your business depends on your ability to satisfy the customer.

If moving things around a bit makes your life more difficult but the customers happy. TOUGH. The customer pays your salary.

If you didn't come away with a list longer than 10 items you did this wrong. Ask someone else to do this exercise for you. Ask your customers. Respond to every complaint.

The customer experience is ever so important. People that enjoy the visit will tell other people and some of those people will visit you. If your customer has a bad experience those that are told will never come to visit you. Think about it. No matter how large your town is negatives are impact-full and lasting