Kansas City, here I come!”
Recognize those song lyrics? They were sung by Wilbert Harrison in his 1959 hit song,“Kansas City.” It was a big record for him and a reminder to all of you that one of the New Year’s premiere trade events is in Kansas City on January 3-4 at the Westin Crown Center. Produced by Heartland Tan, it should be a great show with gobs of vendors, gobs of tanning salon owners and managers and gobs of information-sharing and education. One of the gob-sharers will be me, as I’m pleased and privileged to be a presenter at Heartland’s Winter Fair Expo. I look forward to helping everyone who will listen to me and bring me their problems and challenges.
After working with more than 600 salons and their staffs to address their marketing challenges over the last 24 years, I think I’m ready for any show and for any situation a trade show attendee can throw at me. But my ego is in check, because all that I’ve learned over the years about indoor tanning has come from YOU, the salon owners and managers. Working with so many tanning companies, I get the “best of the best of the best” practices.
For instance, at the Winter Fair I will demonstrate how your salon profits need to be planned, not just collided with. Setting goals that are logical but aggressive will help you and your team to focus on some higher aspirations than just “getting by in the peak season.” There are other components to be mastered, such as getting everyone to learn basic selling strategies and not just how to sell a specific lotion or package of tanning sessions. And of course, all of this depends on the quality and training of the best staff you can find.
For 2014, let’s not plan on getting a few good people to handle our most important business asset (happy loyal tanners), but assemble a team of GREAT employees who we can rely on not just to show up for their shift, but to show up ready to sell with appropriate dress, makeup, hair and most importantly, attitude. I’ll be talking about all of that at the Heartland Tan Winter Fair and much more, such as marketing – using everything from traditional media (radio/TV/outdoor) to social media and email to reach tanning consumers. I also have extensive experience in constructing Groupon deals – over 250 in the last three years. The ad media can bring bodies into your store, but your staff has to get them into your memberships and into your upgrade tanning systems. So in KC, I’ll talk about the power of EFT, how you close those deals with your salon guests and inspire your team to do so, as well.
So, lots to do at the Heartland Tan Winter Fair in Kansas City and I hope to help anyone willing to listen to a guy who’s old enough to remember Wilbert Harrison.