Mirror, Mirror

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It is very tough to see your business from the eyes of your prospective and current customers.

The person who …
  • loves your salon and staffers.
  • loves sun bed tanning as much for the relaxation as the tan.
  • left another salon because they were treated poorly and came to your salon hoping for better. 
  • knows little to nothing about tanning.
  • who has a fear of spray tanning.
  • with a very tight budget.
  • who just wants to try spray tanning to see if they like it.
  • asks for a 1 week extension on the 3 tan package they purchased.
  • gets intimidated and/or turned off by the ‘hard sell’.

The secret shopper concept is valuable, and can identify what is going very right and what needs to change. See how a company used secret shopper to win a new client.

Years ago, there was an ad agency called ABM.
They were a smaller agency, competing against the big guys.
They were pitching to win the British Railway account.
On the day of the pitch the top management of British Rail visited ABM.
They walked into the reception area and it was deserted.
The Chairman checked his watch, they were on time.
He looked around, no one.
Just a very scruffy reception area.
Crumpled newspapers, litter, cushions with holes.
This looked like there like the worst ad agency they had visited.
Eventually a scruffy woman appeared and sat behind the desk.
She ignored them and started rummaging in a drawer.
The Chairman coughed.
She ignored him.
He coughed again.
Nothing.
He said, “Excuse me, we’re here to see …”
The woman said, “Be with you in a minute love.”
He said, “But we have an appointment …”
She said, “Can’t you see I’m busy?”
The chairman said, “This is outrageous. We been waiting 15 minutes.”
The woman said “Can’t help that love.”
The chairman said “Right that’s it, we’re leaving.”
And the top management of British Rail started to walk out.
At that moment a door opened and the ad agency’s Creative Director stepped out. 
He’d been watching everything.
He shook the chairman’s hand warmly.
He said, “Gentlemen, you’ve just experienced what the public’s impression of British Rail is.”
By Dave Trott

Self-Tan Colors That Enhance Your Skin Tone

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Think every self-tanner is one-size-fits-all? Think again.

Self-tanning has evolved, and the changes include a range of products and colors. Lotions, sprays, bronzers, and more! It’s exciting—and a bit overwhelming. So we’ve broken it down with this step-by-step guide to picking the right self-tan color for you.

No matter the event, season or skin tone, there’s a self-tanning product made to deliver.

Instant or Gradual?

Are you planning ahead for a big event next weekend, or do you need an instant glow for your date tomorrow night? Self-tanners can help either way.

Use an instant self-tanner for a tan with immediate color, reaching peak color 24 hours later. You can apply and be out the door in a matter of minutes.

If you prefer to build color gradually and control the depth of your tan, choose a gradual tanning product like Mystic Tan Gradual Tan Lotion. When used daily, it will slowly tan your skin, reaching max color in about one week.

Keep your timing and preferred shade in mind when prepping for your big event or that girl’s trip. To speed tan depth, apply twice daily—in the morning and evening. For a more subtle glow, apply every-other day.


Bronzer or No Bronzer?

Want faster than fast with self-tan colors? Sometimes even a few hours is too long to wait. In this case, make sure you choose a self-tanner with a bronzer, and apply the same day you need that pop of color.

Bronzer is a temporary cosmetic color, much like make-up foundation. It gives you immediate color while your extended tan develops underneath. The bronzer will wash off the next time you shower, leaving behind the extended tan.


Lotion or Spray?

Self-tanning products come in a variety of application options. Whether you choose lotion or a self-tan spray, Mystic Tan delivers the same deep, lasting color you crave. Application depends on your personal preference.

The Self-Tan Spray with Bronzer provides a quick, easy, full-body tan. We recommend applying in the bathroom or shower, where surfaces can be easily wiped down afterward.

Lotion, like our Self-Tan Lotion with Bronzer, can be applied anywhere, with no overspray. Either way, consider using a Self-Tanning Applicator Mitt for even application and streak-free results.



Want a Boost?

For color that develops even faster and deeper, try the Mystic Tan Booster. It hydrates skin and balances pH levels, which accelerates color development, deepens color intensity, prevents streaks and actively counters orange undertones. You win all around.

Pair it with any Mystic Tan self-tanning product for the deepest, most even color.


A Perfect Tan, Custom-Made for You

Don’t settle for unnatural-looking color. In the summer and all year round, find the self-tanning products that are right for your skin tone and lifestyle.

And remember: Not all sunless self tanners are created equal. Choose a solution that offers a variety of shades and products, made with premium ingredients, and backed by millions of beautiful sunless tans.

Southwest Tanning

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Southwest Airlines has never lost money in 45-year history, yet every other major airline has either lost money, declared bankruptcy or had major layoffs – multiple times. 

All airlines have same cost of gas, same weather, same airports, same routes, same passengers and same airplanes.

What sets Southwest apart? Why do they keep winning and growing – profitably?

In short, Southwest looked at all the things that people hate about airlines and either removed them, or did the opposite of other airlines. In turn,customers put Southwest first when they chose an airline.

  1. Super easy booking and check-in process
  2. No cost to change flights
  3. Bags fly free
  4. No blackout dates for free flights from reward program
  5. Staff is super friendly, helpful and polite
  6. Reasonable prices
  7. Transferency – no hoops, fine print or strings
  8. Priority access is easy & cheap

If Southwest ran your salon, what policies and practices would they likely change?

One tan salon owner recently said that the smartest thing he had done in years was to allow easy cancel of EFT online. He feared it would kill his EFT revenue stream. Instead, sign ups soared because customers felt respected and listened to. He took away a big obstacle to EFT sign up – customer want to know they can cancel easily – guilt-free, no complexity or uncomfortable exchange with salon staffer.

If you’d like to discuss ideas to build a bigger and more profitable spray tan business – connect with your Mystic Tan representative at 888-974-9977.

A few ideas to get more 1st time and infrequent spray tanners:
What tan salons can learn from the NFL
Compared to what?
Reasonable pricing increases sessions & dollars

Drink from the F.O.A.K.

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Mystic Tan has tons of great information and tips about spray/self-tanning in the Tanning Guide of the web site (here).

Feel free to copy and use the information in your web site, newsletters, eblasts and more.

Every topic under the sun(less) is covered here, including how-to videos — that’s why it is brazenly called the … F.O.A.K.

Fountain
Of
All
Knowledge

If you’d like to discuss ideas to build a bigger and more profitable spray tan business – connect with your Mystic Tan representative at 888-974-9977.


A few ideas to get more 1st time and infrequent spray tanners:
What tan salons can learn from the NFL
Compared to what?
Reasonable pricing increases sessions & dollars

Light Buyers, are Pretty Heavy

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Byron Sharp, best selling author of “How Brands Grow” challenged the conventional wisdom surrounding brand loyalty, purchase frequency and market share growth.

He has proven that light/infrequent buyers are really the secret to growth.

Sharp’s first law is that brands can’t get bigger on the back of loyal customers. Applying a statistical analysis to sales data, he demonstrates that the majority of any successful brand’s sales comes from “light buyers”: people who buy it relatively infrequently. Coca-Cola’s business is not built on a hardcore of Coke lovers who drink it daily, but on the millions of people who buy it once or twice a year. You, for instance, may not think of yourself as a Coke buyer, but if you’ve bought it once in the last 12 months, you’re actually a typical Coke consumer. This pattern recurs across brands, categories, countries and time. Whether it’s toothpaste or computers, cars or banks, brands depend on large numbers of people — that’s to say, the masses — who buy them only occasionally, leave long gaps between purchases and buy competing brands in between.


Therefore, what? 

Salons need to re-think the prices charged for single session spray tans – the more reasonable the price, the more likely 1st time and ‘infrequent’ buyers will spray tan – and, according to Byron, the more likely your business will grow. 



If you’d like to discuss ideas to build a bigger and more profitable spray tan business – connect with your Mystic Tan representative at 888-974-9977.


A few ideas to get more 1st time and infrequent spray tanners:
What tan salons can learn from the NFL
Compared to what?
Reasonable pricing increases sessions & dollars

Chick-fil-A-Pay

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“By 2022, the minimum wage in California will rise to $15. But the owner of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Sacramento plans to go ahead and raise the wages of his employees now, offering a huge bump to $17 to $18 from the $12 to $13 he pays now. While analysts can’t say whether a $17 to $18 hourly wage is the highest in the country for front-line fast-food workers, it certainly appears to be among the higher ones, said David Henkes, a senior principal with Technomic, a restaurant research and consulting firm.”

Eric Mason, owner of the Chick-fil-A location in Sacramento, comments: “I’m looking at it big-picture and long-term. What that does for the business is provide consistency, someone that has relationships with our guests, and it’s going to be building a long-term culture.”

Warren Solochek, senior vice president of industry relations for the food service practice at NPD Group, adds: “You can’t have that high level of service when you continually hire people and have to train people. You need people who’ve been in their job for a while. That’s Chick-fil-A’s reputation, and that’s very true across the country.”
The Washington Post