By Joe Levy, Smart Tan Senior Vice President

Thousands of studies now point to potential benefits of vitamin D and UV exposure. I’ve been following the evolution of this science for 21 years as a big part of my job. It’s important that tanning professionals understand how this research is going to continue to unfold and impact their business.

But as an indoor tanning professional, you must be aware of the sensitive nature in which you and your staff communicate with customers about issues surrounding indoor tanning. It’s all about balance, and knowing what you can and can’t say.

In 2013, Smart Tan introduced a new training program — Customer Communications, with tracks for managers and employees — to help you better understand how to effectively communicate the nuances of the sun care message with your customers.

We’ve been teaching this for years, indifferent parts of our programs in different ways, but with so much information and misinformation floating around today, the Smart Tan family of salons told us they needed this training in a easy-to-understand format.

There’s a lot of conflicting information out there about UV light today, and many people are confused. That’s why a tanning salon’s communications and messaging must be carefully scrutinized to ensure that the salon and their representatives are balanced and not misleading customers in any way.

The key to a balanced message is to present a fair and honest representation of indoor tanning without misleading customers to believe they are free from risk or have benefits that can’t be justified. You must be sure that the information your staff is sharing with customers is factual information approved by your salon business to pass on.

There are risks with almost anything we do in life and indoor tanning is no exception. It is the responsibility of any business to inform their customers of any risks that may be associated with their product or service.

As you’re probably aware, there are certain anti-tanning groups who many believe to have blown the risk of indoor tanning out of proportion. Some groups have compared suntanning to arsenic, mustard gas and smoking. Though these claims appear to be ridiculous, as indoor tanning business representative, we can’t attempt to counter these overstated claims by downplaying the potential risks of indoor tanning.

Just as important: We can’t combat overstatements about the potential risks of UV exposure by overstating or misstating potential benefits. No matter what your clients hear from sources outside of your salon, your tanning business needs to know how to steer clear of making any therapeutic claims, and how to answer questions from clients about the therapeutic aspects of UV.

Our new training modules teach owners and managers how to manage all external messaging from your business, while teaching line-level employees exactly what they should and should not say — with short, structured answers to the 10 most common and difficult questions that convey balance and responsibility.

The cornerstone of being a Smart Tan salon as always been effective training. This simple course will help your salon promote itself correctly.

Call your Smart Tan representative at 800-652-3269 for more information.