As some states begin to allow tanning businesses to reopen and you grapple with how to implement safety precautions and make people feel as comfortable as possible visiting your salon, the next highest priority should be maintaining as many memberships as possible. While many people will be desperate to get back in and rebuild those base tans or get a quick sunless tan, plenty of others will unfortunately feel that tanning season has already passed.

If there’s any saving grace, it’s that while you weren’t able to bill EFT clients while you were closed, many people that might have already stopped tanning by this point in normal circumstances haven’t had the chance to cancel. Many will also still have some additional time left that they paid for before you were forced to closed, so they will be back for face-to-face visits, and you will have a chance to convince them to sustain their memberships.

How aggressive you get to keep people locked in depends on your specific circumstances, but at this point for many tanning businesses, keeping that EFT revenue coming is well worth extending some very significant offers. Here are some strong offers that some salons are considering to combat cancellations:

• Offer tanning at the next level up for free for the remainder of the year
• Add a substantial product credit for each month of membership for the rest of the year (i.e. $50 toward products each month for high-level memberships).
• Cut price for membership for the rest of the year by 25 to 50 percent.
• Offer a one-time free gift card for staying on

Some of these options you might want to promote to potential new customers, while some of the more aggressive measures might be reserved for last grasp efforts to retain people who try to cancel. But, keep in mind that the benefits of sustaining memberships go beyond receiving a monthly payment – the longer someone keeps visiting your salon, the more opportunities you have to sell them additional products and services, and the more likely they are to remain a customers for years to come. So, being more aggressive than you might think is reasonable at first glance might actually be beneficial.

You’ll also want to develop a script for your staff to use when someone comes in or calls to cancel. Make sure to include affirmation of your new protocol and dedication to cleanliness, as well as a specific order for deals that can be offered to save the membership.