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The Tanning Room in Ripley reopened its doors on June 25, 2003 with Monica Jackson at the helm. Running a business for the first time she chose this tanning salon because she had been a particularly enthusiastic customer: “I love the product, I’ll buy it”, “It’s classy, it has fantastic sunbeds.” With plenty of management experience for other companies Monica however had never thought she would set up her own tanning business. She financed the purchase by remortgaging her house and invested heavily in researching other salons; what was on offer, how the service compared, any points of difference. “We visited so many salons and none looked like mine,” she confides. “There was nothing inviting. I’m so proud of how my salon looks.” The reception area has settees and chairs to evoke a calm, comfortable environment in which customers can enjoy fresh water, juice, magazines and tv before and after a tanning session.
Sunshowers are housed in the reception; there are only four tanning units in the salon, three verticals from Sunvision using 48 high pressures 180w 2m tubes, and a Lumina Hapro sunbed with 160w canopy and base tubes and three 500w facial tubes but Monica has plans to expand if business continues in the same vein.
One of the keys she identifies to her fast growth in customers is the membership scheme which managed to draw a membership list of 130 in the first four weeks. She has deliberately kept the joining fee cheap to encourage sign up, believing that once a customer sees the benefits, and gets good customer service, she or he will be a customer for years. There are three to four hundred people who will be targeted for this on the database, and with the addition of a newly purchased SolarTrac system Monica plans to utilise the database extensively to further customer service, and in so doing, increase her clientele. “People are already talking about the salon,” she admits. “At the moment I’m so enthusiastic but I do have to see how the business works over the winter,” she says realistically. Another salon in the town, plus tanning units in leisure centres provide The Tanning Room with its competition. But The Tanning Room is central, and friendly, and geared up for snappy lunchtime, pre and post-work sessions. She has instigated After Eight parties for members that provide opportunities for clients to see demonstrations given by beauty therapists brought in for the occasion. Although this is a path she is keen to follow, she is determinedly not going down the tanning and nails track. This is not to say that she wants to focus the salon solely on UV tanning; her thoughts for expanding the portfolio include a spray tanning booth. She already stocks a full selection of tanning lotions and retails Trimmers for summers, a natural ingredient slimming product.
“I’m looking at broadening the menu to keep customers coming back. I want my customers to be happy.” And when she talks of her customers she is not thinking solely of the women clients. Men visit the salon regularly and she aims to reach a 50/50 profile. “Years ago men wouldn’t do it but why shouldn’t they pamper themselves,” she asks, adding “a lot of women like a man who looks after himself.” Monica is a signed up member of The Sunbed Association (TSA). As a newcomer to the tanning industry she regards it as a bonus to her business, a link that has allowed her to learn quickly. She also views it as a favourable mark for clients who she believes understand participating salons represent high standards and offer tanning guidelines. Although her salon is talked about now, she made sure she kept her new business in the eyes of potential customers with an advertisement in five different newspapers. She is offering a 10% discount to readers booking a session and is monitoring the results. The ad stressed the enjoyable side of tanning. It’s a luxury, she says, hut focused on girls just wanting to have fun. “Add a little colour to your life” was the tag line to draw in the reader. She is planning to use the results from the ad to her boost her research material and help her further define her core customer. “I think about what the customer wants. I’ve gone from the top end to the middle range,” she explains about moving the salon into the mainstream market, “and I’m offering choice.” Her aim is to keep her customers motivated. Having a tanning session is like a social event, she says. “I’m very much a people person, I want people to know who I am, and I want to know my customers. Your business is only as good as you.” |
