In his fifth year with Norvell, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Brandon Cardinal is the epitome of passion. Brandon is a busy man who deals with everything from international accounts to questions from the salon down the road, a living hub of information who does his best to help his knowledge flow to everyone. He’s come a long way since he worked in a flower shop/tanning salon owned by his mother, but says that his transition into this industry couldn’t have felt more natural.

Q: How is the sunless tanning market changing?

A: Technology, equipment and education have really given us a platform and a format to be successful with sunless. Customers want to know if they are going to turn orange, but technicians and owners are having an easier time eliminating those concerns because of their confidence in the craft. The only way that confidence can be attained is through repetition, which is why we are seeing exponentially more success as the market matures.

It reminds me a lot of hair stylists: They don’t graduate from school and immediately start charging $200 for a haircut. It takes time and confidence to become the best and earn the trust and money of customers. And once you get those loyal customers, word of mouth keeps them coming.

Something like 60 percent of tanning salons offer sunless, and it’s taking on a whole new role. It’s not the stepchild in the salon — it’s a valuable and profitable service that’s gaining more attention. More salons are putting it in the forefront of their business.

Solutions are also changing the face of sunless. There are multiple colors available, so it’s less of a one-size-fits-all experience. Since there are all these options not only for color, but also for pre- and post-spray services, it’s changing pricing structures, too. Having a menu that is too complicated can be overwhelming, but in general we see that salons are offering more upgrade services in sunless that parallel what they can do in UV tanning.

This is great news, because customers are becoming more savvy. They want a polished, customized look. With so many skin types, it’s important that we can offer something that is right for everyone.

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