Stop Offering So Many Spray Tan Specials!

I know you’re eager to market your spray tanning business but don’t make the mistake of offering too many specials. While you might think offering rock-bottom prices will help build your clientele and promote your business, but it actually does you more harm than good. In the long run, all you do is devalue your services.

When one of my clients started offering spray tanning, she told me that she only charged $25 per session. She really wanted to build her client database, and she thought this was the best way to get people’s attention. To make matters worse, she also offered a $10 discount to everyone who referred a client to her salon. This meant she was giving a $15 spray tan to her regular clients. After a year of this, she noticed that her revenue didn’t match up well with the hours she spent spray tanning her clients. She knew she needed a change.

My client realized that she was undermining herself by offering these cut-rate prices. She did what any hardworking tanning salon owner would do – she increased her spray tanning session price to something that was more realistic for her market and skill level. She counted her clients understanding that her previous low price was an “introductory special,” and they’d be fine paying the full price after a year. Here’s what she soon discovered:

1. Offering too many discounts only attracted tanners who wanted to haggle and negotiate for the lowest price.
2. She undermined her brand by becoming known as the “cheapest spray tan” in town.
3. After paying the low price for a year, nearly all of her former clients abandoned her because they didn’t want to pay the increased rate.

If you’ve already done this with your spray tanning services, it’s not too late to fix things. I have a very easy way for you to rebrand your spray tan business to repair the public relations problem you’ve created for your business. Yes, you might lose clients when you increase your per-session price, but you’ll gain more new clients who are more than willing to pay for a quality sunless tanning experience. Here are four tips to help turn your spray tan business around:

1. Get as much spray tan training, education, and certification that you can so you can be confident that you’re offering the best possible sunless tanning service.
2. Rebrand your website to include your certification and other spray tanning credentials. This helps develop trust with current and potential tanners and helps to justify your price increase. (Everyone is willing to pay a little extra for a service that’s known to be “the best.”)
3. Add an online booking option to your website if you don’t already have it. (This means no more spending hours texting back and forth with appointments.)
4. Most importantly, stop running so many specials. Stand by your new pricing structure. The clients who matter will respect you for it.

Use This Spray Tanning Promotion from Now On…

For a special to truly be special, it should be rare and only offered under very specific conditions. I don’t see anything wrong with offering regular tanners a $10 discount on their birthday spray tan. It doesn’t cost you much, and it’s a great way to make each of your tanners feel special on their special day. To further your marketing and promotional efforts, offer them an additional $5 off their birthday tans if they let you use pics of their spray tan results on social media. This is an amazing way to build a portfolio of your work that you need to recruit more clients.

Here are nine tips to help you build a spray tan portfolio that highlights your work:

1. Ask your tanners if you can photograph them once their color begins to show.
2. Let your tanners know that they don’t need to take a bikini pic. Any photo that shows off their beautiful sunless tans will work.
3. Become Facebook friends with your tanners so you can ask them to share their pics on your page.
4. The pictures you need don’t have to be professional shots. Let tanners know that you’re happy to take any pics they have that highlights their spray tans.
5. If your client is getting tanned for a wedding or formal event, network with the makeup artist and photographer. These folks usually post pics on their blog, which you might be able to share on social media.
6. Remind tanners to get you their pics.
7. Don’t use filters. These can make tanners appear orange or yellow, which could make potential clients think your spray tans will make them look orange.
8. Take pics in good lighting. Use a neutral backdrop and turn the flash off. (Flash makes tans look unnatural, which gives the right impression.)
9. Watermark your pics before you post them on social media to keep other spray tan pros from stealing your work.

Enjoy the Profits, You’ve Earned Them!

You’ll be glad that you stop offering too many discounts. First of all, you’ll be earning what you’re worth, which is the whole reason you went into business for yourself. Secondly, you’ll attract a better class of clientele who are willing to pay you what you’re worth to give them an amazing sunless tan. As for the hagglers, don’t be surprised if some of them decided to pay the full price and stay on as loyal clients. When you respect your business and yourself, other people will respect you, too!