When Troy Hootman introduced a brand new KBL 6800 Alpha to his tanning business, he knew it was a dazzling unit that would generate excitement and impact customer counts and revenue. Despite the fact that he was expending a very significant amount of money, Troy was confident in the value of his purchase, and he had a plan to capitalize fully.

“I’ve only had it since the middle of April, but I’ve had a 20 percent increase over two months. I raised some pricing and my traffic flow was heavier. Once they’ve been in that bed, they will only go in that bed,” he says. “By getting the 6800, I was able to move pieces I had in a higher level down to the next level, and then by doing that, I felt like I could raise it across the board, and I saw no pushback.”

Troy’s transformation is a staggering example of the impact bringing in new, flagship sunbeds can make in tanning businesses. But, it doesn’t mean it requires a total makeover for your investment pay off handsomely. Right now, the industry is full of stories of small, independent tanning businesses that have invested in game-changing equipment and are utilizing it and benefitting from it in a multitude of ways.

“A lot of our conversations with salon owners come down to a person buying a part or acrylic for an old bed, and we’re saying, ‘Hey, have you ever thought about this?’ “It’s easy when you can say, “Listen, I have this customer just like you, and they put this equipment in and it’s really paying dividends. If you want to talk to them, I’ll give you their name or number. I’m just sharing with you what they’ve shared with us,” says PC Tan Vice President of Sales Eric Haynes.

“We’ve seen customers that didn’t feel they had the money to invest, thought business was just down, and now they have a line out the door, or it’s the busiest unit in their salon. It increases traffic, revenue, creates an attraction and draw and reinvigorates the owners. It helps on a lot of different levels.”

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