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SUNLESS necessary unless you are losing business because of your old equipment. "The old equipment still sprays great, but it takes so long. If you have people waiting or if you don't have enough time to fit someone in, it's time to upgrade. The new equipment does it faster, and you don't have to compro- mise the quality of the results," says Norvell. To determine how valuable new products or equipment could be, try some differ- ent options for yourself. Evaluate if any other options could help you save on time, energy or produce superior results. Sell the Process One of the biggest mistakes salons make is not explaining the entire process of spray tanning to clients. Taking the time to educate them and set proper expecta- tions can make or break their experience. "Be more successful by taking [sunless] seriously and focusing on providing the best possible experience. If you're not doing things right, customers won't come back," says Carrasco. Your customers need to know that there is so much more to sunless tanning than get- ting sprayed: Proper exfoliation and skin prep, professional application and tailored products all play into getting the optimal results. By setting the tone before a session, you can make it easier to sell that client on the add-ons that are available. "Have a dialogue with clients," says Cardinal. "You really have to know what you're doing and how you're going to take care of that client." Pushing the skincare aspect of sunless tanning is also a great way to tap into two underutilized sources of profit: retail products and cross promoting. The salons who have achieved the most success with sunless offer a full range of retail products that complement their session: exfoliants, take-home bronzers, moisturizers and intensifiers. The tanners who want to make sunless a regular part of their routine should be using these products the same way that UV tanners use lotions. 79 SMART TAN MAGAZINE [ SmartTan.com "Prepare your clients for what's going to happen. They don't realize that a lot of the products they use may ruin their sun- less results. They need to know that they may not get perfect results if they don't do it right," says Staffa. If you do not offer retail products, you cannot ensure the best results for your cli- ents. Let them know there are professional products that are expertly made for their session. Your retail products also give you an opportunity to noticeably increase per- person and per-session averages. Cross promote the other services in your salon by suggesting they check out red light therapy if they like the anti-aging ben- efits of the sunless solutions. Recommend a "cocktail" of UV and sunless for the best color results. Offer a quick teeth-whitening session to complement their fast tan. "We make sunless part of a skincare service that starts with the hydration station," says Austin. Once you get a client to come in and try sunless, give them more ways to enhance their visit. Operations Sometimes, the logistics of starting and maintaining your sunless business can be scary, daunting or just overwhelming. But these foundational elements are like the gift-wrap for your sunless services: Having a large menu and great packages can make sunless seem even more appealing to potential clients. EFT is one way to increase sessions and make it affordable for clients. Do a little research: Find out how many times the average sunless EFT client visits in a month; see if it's worth it to add certain upgrades built into the EFT price. This can help you find the perfect compromise of price and value for your customer. "EFT is more affordable for more people. If you set it up the right way, your sessions increase and you have more opportuni- ties to sell them on other things as well," says Thomason. "Make EFT as easy as possible," says Staffa. "If they have to think too much about cautions and clauses and fees, you're not going to capture that client." Another way to increase sales is to incen- tivize your current UV tanners to enjoy sunless services, too. "Double dipping" is very popular with UV tanners, so adding special sunless prices onto UV packages can be a great way to entice your cur- rent customers. You can also expand your menu to appeal to different needs: "To upsell sunless you have to add to your menu. Widen your services to include a full body spray, three-spray packages, faces, and legs. If you don't have it on your menu, they aren't going to know it's available," says Cardinal. Let your employees be an example of how sunless or double dipping can yield desir- able results – let them try spray tanning for free. As your staff gets more experi- ence with sunless, their enthusiasm will resonate with clients. Excitement is conta- gious, and customers love to feel like they are part of something fun and new! Finally, a great salon ensures that their cli- ents receive the best care, even after they leave the salon. Call your clients some- time after their tan is fully developed to check on the results, offer advice and try to book another session. Impress your sun- less customers by reassuring them that you stand behind your work. "We do follow- up calls to see how their airbrushing went and pre-book them into their next appoint- ment," says Staffa. "It's important to find out how the experiences was, which is why we go the extra mile." To boil it down, sunless can do so much good for any salon. By taking the time to figure out the right strategy, packages and offerings for your situation, you can see a significant jump in your salon's sunless num- bers – even if you're not new to the market. "Salons that don't want to offer sunless are the ones looking to sell their business. It's really to that point," says Norvell. "Salons, like every business, need to evolve; they are all looking for ways to change and offer additional services. Sunless goes so well with tanning salons that it's almost a mistake if you don't get on board."