Dear Readers,
October is such a great time to be in Michigan – the autumn leaves, football in full swing, and the sweet smell of busy season will soon fill the air … are you prepared? Well, if you’ve been reading the indoor tanning industry’s No. 1 magazine, your time’s been well spent.
At this writing, the ballots for our 9th Annual Industry Choice Awards are pouring in – the auditing firm says this may be our biggest year yet! Many tanning product providers have reached out to their customers and encouraged them to vote, including Devoted Creations, Eye Pro, New Sunshine, Performance Brands and Supra Technologies. This is your industry’s ONLY award campaign – every product manufacturer, distributor and supplier works very hard to provide what you need to succeed in your business. I hope you found the time to cast your ballot – look for the list of nominees in our December issue and the winners in our January 2013 (Buyers Guide) issue.
One product provider well known by nearly every salon operator is Lucas Products Corp., the subject of this month’s Company Profile. Talk about history! I was one of their first salon customers, way back in 1979. In the Industry Close-up spot is industry go-getter and Text Ripple co-founder/CEO Hans Hegge – John Ribner has a way of getting people to tell their interesting stories, and you only find them here in ist Magazine.
I just returned from a visit to Four Seasons Sales & Service with Sun is Life® Executive Director, Joe Schuster, who presented our classroom-style salon operator certification program to 40 percent of their team (the rest soon to follow!) Four Seasons’ Executive Chairman, Ed Jerger, is a BIG proponent of standardized industry education and certification. “At Four Seasons, education and training is on the agenda every week,” Ed said. “In a fast paced, ever changing business environment, successful companies understand the need for a well-informed staff. In our continuous efforts to help every one of our customers succeed, we are now requiring everyone on our team to be Sun is Life certified. It is a fantastic program!” My congrats to all the Four Seasons staff who earned their certification.
Along those lines, our Cover Story – “Wake-up Call! Industry Responds to ‘Good Morning America’ Coverage” – illustrates the desperate need for standardized training. This type of investigative reporting will continue to plague us, and continue to harm our businesses. Be an industry leader! Make sure you’re ready to be part of our industry’s future success; don’t be part of the problem with a staff that makes medical claims to the public, or are unprepared to answer patrons’ questions with factual info. Again, education is key.
You can take Sun is Life’s online salon operator certification program TODAY at sunislifecertification.com . Now, salon staff in North Carolina can be certified online – no traveling out of town to take an eight-hour class with little content retention. With Sun is Life Training and Certification, the difference is very clear. And, now is a perfect time to provide your team with affordable education that will elevate their level of professionalism. Leading salons and product providers are jumping onboard to educate their teams. What are you waiting for?
Thanks for reading.
