Dear Readers,
Tis the season … to vote for your favorites in our Industry Choice Awards! It’s our 13th year – the only awards for excellence in serving all sectors of the tanning business. Cast your votes now through the end of September. As always, the top five nominees in every category will be announced in our November issue and the winners in December. Voting is easy: just go to istmagazine.com/ica (see p.10). Don’t miss this chance to voice your choice and recognize dedicated members of the indoor tanning community.
Our “community” has always been a small one; now, considerably smaller. Like many people, I’ve been involved in this industry for a very long time. Fellow veteran, Joe Schuster, wrote a piece this month entitled “Executive Coexistence” that profiles two sales execs at PC Tan – Paul Manke and Eric Haynes – who have a combined 69 years in the tan biz! Wow, we’re all gettin’ old, guys. Really illustrates the “small” community concept, with Paul starting out as a salon owner, Eric working with Sun Industries back in the early days and later with Four Seasons, and Joe having worked at SCA Wolff with PC Tan Founder, Susan Miller. Get the whole story on p.52.
A list of industry veterans isn’t complete without Jerry Deveney – he’s offering another great business feature this month, “Comfort Zone” (p.48). A great example of how even seasoned salon operators can learn something from an article in IST … myself included! I don’t even know how many combined decades of experience our contributing writers have … but, they rock it every month and offer expertise on endless topics.
What good is a trade magazine with no quality content? In addition to industry professionals, we’ve connected with writers from the business world who address everyday issues to which we all can relate … like Millennials on your staff. The article (p.68) states that 60% of Millennials feel that opportunities to learn and grow on the job are extremely important. You must offer them training! And, NOW is a great time to do it. Training and certification are mandatory at my salons, and they are all experiencing an increase in both sales and customer satisfaction. Our Sun is Life® Training & Certification is online and ready when you are – you can train your entire staff for $99 and head into the next busy season with a confident, knowledgeable team.
If you’ve been experiencing slow months, I hope you’ve used the time to plan for a kick-as* busy season! Catch up with your IST for all the tips you need to MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Thanks for reading.
