You take care of everything that needs your attention at work, pack just the right wardrobe, wait inline at the airport and board a packed flight to your destination. By the time you arrive, your need for an escape will be overwhelming — getting ready for a vacation can be stressful! But in one swift moment, a switch flips, and you know just how good your vacation is going to be: It’s the moment you open the door to your hotel room.

Maybe crisp luxurious white linens make you want to slip into the best sleep you’ve had in ages. Maybe you just can’t resist smelling those cute little aromatherapy toiletries on the counter. If you’re lucky, you’ll open the curtains and find the perfect view of white sandy beaches and be close enough to hear the soft crashing of waves on the shore. Instantly, your energy changes, and you know that this trip is going to be incredible.

But what if you open that door and find something unappealing? All it takes is a smudge on one glass to make you wonder if the room has been cleaned at all. In that moment, your anticipation turns to worry: Should I sleep in these sheets? How often do they even wash these outdated comforters? And even if you’ll only be in your hotel room for a little while, these questions can tint your rose colored glasses a dingy grey for the entire vacation.

Your environment changes how you feel about what you do. That doesn’t just go for exotic getaways; it also applies to every one of your customers. Our industry talks a lot about the role of good customer service in creating memorable experiences, but if you want to make tanners feel good about what they do, it takes so much more than a kind word. These customer experiences are truly created using their five senses. Just like when you open the door to your hotel room, your customers know what their experience will amount to based on how your salon looks, smells, feels and even tastes.

The sense experiences are key to influencing indoor tanning customers. Instead of merely appealing to their logic or wallet, salons need to appeal to customers’ emotions, desires and memories by immersing them in a stimulating brand environment.

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.