Helping Salons Learn The Sun Business
by Scott Eric Barrett
Everybody associated with the indoor tanning industry knows that
Sun Ergoline manufactures quality tanning equipment. However,
the company also possesses an innovative marketing program that
it now is sharing with salon owners at several National Tanning
Training Institute (NTTI) educational seminars throughout the country.
Jerry Deveney, Sun Ergoline's executive vice president of marketing and the mastermind
behind one of the industry's "business bibles," Sun Business, says one of Sun Ergoline's
principle goals is to teach salon owners the sun business.
"One of the major things we talk about during our marketing seminars is why owners
need to diversify to bring in new people," Deveney says. "You don't want to run ads that
focus simply on your new hot lamps if your goal is to attract people to your business who
never have set foot in a tanning salon. Hot lamps appeal only to people who already tan
so the key is to offer something besides tanning. If you offer swimwear or SPF lotions or
nails or cosmetics you can bring in people who never have set foot in your salon before."
He says 50 percent of Sun Ergoline's business is repeat business from customers opening
their second, third or fourth salon.
"We achieved this level of success by explaining to people the realities of the sun
business," he says. "We do a lot of groundwork for the salon owner before they even sign
a lease."
Get With The Program
In Sun Ergoline's marketing strategy, the process begins when the company puts together
a custom break-even and return-on-investment analysis.
"Basically it tells salon owners how many people they must tan per day to break even
financially," Deveney says. "Once the salon owner knows that, he or she can project how
much profit will be made. If you can't break even--why continue?"
The break-even and return-on-investment analysis is based on the same formula used by
the hotel industry. Executives in that industry know exactly how many rooms they will
need to book every night--before they lay the first cinder block.
"We do the same with tanning salons," Deveney says. "We estimate that given a certain
amount of fixed overhead, you need to tan so many people per day just to break even.
1
From that you project profitability. We even give them a seasonality study to show them
how busy they should be each month."
Developing Effective Session And Package Pricing
The best part of this service is that Sun Ergoline does it this free-of-charge. Deveney says
one of the byproducts of the breakeven analysis is that it helps salon owners determine
session pricing.
Sun Ergoline also helps salon owners determine what their lamp cost is per session.
Every time a salon tans somebody--whether it's a 26-lamp bed or a 59-lamp bed--the
salon owner needs to know what the lamp cost and electrical cost is per session. Sun
Ergoline provides this information as well. Next, the company does free demographic
research. Deveney says they paint a profile of the customers that live within a three- to
five-mile radius of a prospective salon owner's business.
"Why do you want to do this?" he asks. "Well, the typical salon is 65 percent to 70
percent female between the ages of 18 and 49, so wouldn't it be a good idea to know how
many potential customers live within your target market area before you open a salon
there? It also helps you determine where to advertise, how to advertise, and even the
décor layout motif of your salon. If your demographic is females age 30 to 39 you would
run an entirely different advertising campaign than if your biggest demographic was
females age 18 to 24."
The next topic is financing, specifically, different ways of obtaining financing and how to
use other people's money. Deveney says Sun Ergoline plausibly demonstrates that the
difference between a $6,000 tanning bed and $10,000 tanning bed can be about 20 cents a
session when it is broken out over the lifetime of the bed. This helps steer people into
putting in good quality equipment.
The More The Merrier
Deveney says everything the company teaches at training seminars is geared toward
increasing salon sales because Sun Ergoline believes in growth from within.
"We believe that if you are successful you will open your second, third or fourth salon,"
he says. "We also teach salon owners how to use the big beds to sell the little beds and
how to use tanning to sell everything in the salon."
He adds that the company suggests salon owners adapt a strategy similar to that of the
airlines. The airlines have coach, business and first-class seating. Salon owners can do the
same thing with their tanning salon if they want to achieve true cross-market penetration.
"You need to offer units that appeal to everybody," he says. "So you have your entrylevel beds--which you should always refer to as your premium beds--then you have your
mid-range beds and super beds."
2
The idea is that if a customer buys a package on the regular bed, then they get a free
session on the super bed. It's very similar to when the airlines offer a free flight or a free
upgrade to first class after a passenger takes 10 trips.
"Once you fly first class it is very difficult to go back to coach," Deveney says.
The seminars also explain the need for salon owners not to be dismayed by negative
advertising. For every negative ad about tanning there are 1,000 positive ads about
tanning that help influence people to tan indoors.
"They may not be direct ads but things like cruise line ads, golf ads, weekend getaway
ads--they always show people out in the sun," he says. "The most popular song titles
always mention the sun; the most popular companies use the word sun in their marketing-these are all subliminal messages to millions of people everyday about the sun."
Relaxing Results
Every year the number of people tanning indoors increases because people realize that
once a person tans indoors, outdoor tanning is hard work. According to Deveney, if you
look at the tanning industry, salons are showing a 6-percent to 8-percent growth every
year--while at the same time other businesses are on a decline. Health clubs are not
attracting the members like they used to because it's hard work. When you go to a health
club they always show you the end results.
"Tanning business is increasing because indoor tanning is the only form of recreation that
allows you to change your appearance by doing virtually nothing," he says. "When a
person tans they begin to see a change in their appearance within the first week. What
diet or exercise program shows results in the first week?"
Very few, but Deveney adds that if you get people tanning, that may encourage them to
stay on a diet or stay on the exercise program. Tanning and exercise can be a wonderful
combination when looked at from that vantage point.
If You Market Smart, Tanners Will Come
"When you spell things out in black and white, you begin to appreciate why tanning is
booming and why there are 24 million people in the United States tanning indoors,"
Deveney says. "This business is growing every year because we are teaching people
better marketing strategies."
Sun Ergoline suggests that salons model their strategies on what other businesses have
done in the past, but that they should realize they have a tremendous advantage being in
tanning because it has a low operating cost versus such a high-perceived value.
"Whether it's lotion, swimwear, jewelry or whatever you sell, if you use tanning to sell it,
you will increase your business strategy," he says. "This is what we teach at our seminars.
3
We show people how to do this. We get into the nuts and bolts, the guts of it. We show
them the formulas and we do it for free."
Apparently, last December's Ohio seminar was just a start. "We did three seminars in
three days in Ohio to more than 400 salon owners," Deveney says. "We want to take the
show on the road and go more places because we feel it's great to have certification--but
it's not going to do you as much good if you don't know how to market your business as
well."
Deveney will be presenting his seminar in Las Vegas in June. He can be contacted
directly at (800) 643-0086 ext. 2200 or jerryd@sunergoline.com.
4