ELECTRIC RAYS SUCCESS STORY

After having major surgery in April last year and keeping vigil on a slow-to-rebound economy, Lynn Joyce’s decision to take ownership of a tanning salon in July made for some sleepless nights.  But, she forged ahead with that nothing-less-than-110% backbone she has, and some pretty spectacular things have happened to her since.

THE APPRENTICE SALON OWNER
With the beginning of 2011, business for the fledgling salon owner of Electric Rays in the small town of Winnabow, North Carolina was fairly slow in ramping up.  The salon crew – consisting of Lynn, husband Brian, and daughter Madison - was managing to add only one new customer a month, and the monthly average of customer spending was low.    

Lynn was invited to the Four Season’s Southeastern Tanning Expo in Winston-Salem, North Carolina by her account manager, and, never having attended an expo, really wanted to go.  It just didn’t seem prudent, though, to close the salon for two days.  Destiny was calling, however, and Lynn took that leap of faith she’s known for, not knowing the big dividends that “leap” would end up paying her.  “We told our customers we were going to close the salon for just a couple of days to attend a tanning show, but that we’d have plenty of new and exciting things to show them when we returned,” Lynn said.  With a hopeful and determined mindset, she and her husband, Brian, headed off to Winston-Salem.  

AN EAGER STUDENT
At the expo, Lynn learned a lot about how to retail her lotions, attended multiple how-to workshops, and benefited from the one-on-one interaction with industry experts and veteran salon owners.  Especially intriguing to her, however, was the message of social media consultant, Steve Holt, who honed in on the specifics of using social media to increase traffic to your salon.  “We had started using Facebook when we first started in the salon to run promotions and try and drum up interest, but we hadn’t had that much success,” Lynn said.  Holt tutored her in specific ways to use social media to educate and build lasting relationships with her customers.  “He set us on fire with ideas for increasing our salon traffic,” she said.  “We couldn’t wait to get back home and start trying some of his suggestions.”    

OFF AND RUNNING BACK AT THE SALON
Sometimes, the excitement generated at a tanning expo can dwindle with the dawn of reality once back at the salon.  Not for Lynn, however.  Upon returning home, she roughed out the game plan, primed the troops, and went to work implementing some things they had learned at the Four Seasons expo.  “Our whole focus in using social media changed to educating our customers and trying to build relationships with them,” Lynn said.  The team started posting tanning tips and vitamin D information on Facebook.  They made it standard practice to spend a few minutes with each client coming into the salon in an effort to get to know their clientele better.  “We set about educating our customers, to turn their whole outlook on indoor tanning around, and we knew we needed to get to know them first in order for them to listen to us,” she said. 

THE HAPPY ENDING IS IN THE NUMBERS
The Four Seasons expo – and the Electric Ray crew’s follow-through - paid off.  Just one month later, Lynn ran the numbers and discovered the salon had grown from an average of one new customer per month to 37, and dollars-per-customer had shot up by over 300%.  “There’s so much excitement buzzing around the salon these days, and we’re getting to meet folks that have never set foot in the salon before,” Lynn says.  All the good karma even resulted in Electric Rays throwing a Customer Appreciation Party in March in conjunction with Lynn’s birthday, her third 39th birthday to be exact.  “It’s all thanks to Four Seasons and the invaluable information we received at the expo,” she says.  “And, this is just the beginning!”

As a newly successful salon owner, Lynn heartily recommends attending Four Seasons’ tanning expos each year.  “Attending the Four Seasons expo was beyond what we expected” Lynn says.  “We learned how to build our business, get and retain new customers, and how to increase the dollars spent by all of our customers, old and new.  Just an incredible, all around great experience!”

Lynn’s determined attitude and her enthusiasm for learning how to build a business has meant the difference between just another small-town tanning salon and the raving success Electric Rays has become in Winnabow, a.k.a, The Big Bow.  By converting her expo education into real world marketing for her salon, Lynn is netting a sweet ending to a venture that started with little more than the determination to try hard.   Hers is a story to inspire others, in that courage, a willingness to try new things, and good old fashioned fortitude is a sure recipe for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

SALONS SAY...

"I can't praise it enough, the one-on-one attention," said Jodi Johnson of West Side Tanning in Albemarle, North Carolina. While at the show, Johnson worked with Performance Brand owner and president, Stacy Kaufman, in selecting products for her new salon. "He sat down and helped me through the whole process…from choosing the product that will best suit my marketing niche to giving me display ideas and training material I can use with my staff."

Salons also attended small group, specialized classes with vendors from Supre, Australian Gold, Norvell and many others. "Talking to the [Norvell] guys was like having a small seminar all to yourself," said Marie Stewart of Rose's Exotic Wear in Henderson, NC, who has had the Norvell Sunless Spray Booth in her salon for a year but got to talk one-on-one with Rick Norvell and Steve about the unit and new ways to market it.

The symposium's regional venue allowed salon personnel time to visit and talk with vendors about the new 2009 products and technology. "This is very informative and helpful," said Teresa Million of Daytona Tan in Omaha, Nebraska. "I appreciate the opportunity to learn in an open and friendly atmosphere."

"This is a very well planned event," said one participant. "Lots of information…geared at making a good tanning salon a great tanning salon."

The venue was excellent. Even a crowd of 300 did not make salon owner/vendor interaction a challenge. The symposium's format allowed salon owners to talk up-close-and-personal with vendors about their new products. "It was just the right size to be able to visit with each vendor," said Jim and Cheri Edwards of Coral Reef Tanning in Pocahontas, Arkansas. "You're able to view the new products and ask questions and not feel rushed like the larger shows."

As Misty May of Vegas Tan Company in Jonesboro, Arkansas summed it up, "The show was excellent…job well done."