Future Industries
Expanding Customer Options
by Wendy Craft
In 2005, the company expands its lamp selection along with its sales force. Future Industries’ Ez-Pay program also now will be available on a grander scale, making its high-performance tanning equipment— including the signature Elixir 40/3—more accessible to tanning salon owners.
Future Industries features six highperformance tanning bed models from its selection of top-quality equipment. The highlight is the Elixir 40/3. The design incorporates 40 160-watt reflector lamps and three facial lamps, with one 800-watt lamp and two interchangeable 650-watt lamps on the sides. Other characteristics include a built-in T-Max timer, air conditioning, aromatherapy and an air ionizer. Clients can choose from Adventurous Red, Cosmic Blue and Splendid Orange.
For their investment, tanning salon owners receive a fully loaded unit that has tremendous performance in 10 minutes, says Twan Bentlage, owner and CEO of Future Industries.
Ez-Pay
“It’s a painless way to own a new highperformance bed,” says Robert Klem, vice president of operations.
The plan consists of a 10-percent deposit and covers installation, shipping and marketing materials. The size of the payments adjust with the season; during the off-season, payments decrease.
“It’s quite simple: If the unit gets used, they pay; if the unit doesn’t get used, they obviously don’t pay,” Bentlage says.
The two-year program actually has minimum payments built in to ensure that salon owners get closer to finishing the program within the time frame, Bentlage says. “Once they have fulfilled their commitment of hours on the units, the unit is theirs for a buyout of $1,” he says.
The equipment and lamps are covered under warranty for the length of the program. Future Industries also will send out lamp changes to its clients at specific times during the program.
Enlightenment
Clients now have twice as many lamp varieties to choose from than last year. In 2005, 22 different AUVL X-treme tanning lamps will be on hand. The newest of the crop is the vertical lamps, which now are available in three different wattages: 160, 200 and 220.
More X-treme high-pressure lamps also are included in the 2005 mix. “This year we have 16 different high-pressure lamps available, which covers literally 99 percent of the high-pressure lamps in the marketplace,” Klem says. “If you have a unit, we have a high-pressure lamp for it.”
Future Support
Training and helping salon owners to grow their businesses is just as important to Future Industries as selling tanning equipment and lamps.
“We’ve always focused on finding ways to improve the profitability of our clients,” Bentlage says.
Clients receive support for every facet of their businesses. Each account has two people who know their business inside and out, Klem says. “We assign one for the equipment end, and one for the lamps and lotions,” he says.
This year, six additional sales consultants will join the Future Industries staff. Four people will join the operation in Stratford, while two each will be added to the company’s offices in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Loyal clientele also benefit from the company’s successful Thank You Rewards Program. The three-level program is based strictly on clients’ volume of lamp and lotion sales. “It’s based on the incremental amounts they purchase with us,” says Michele Katz, chief operating officer. “It’s a thank-you to our customers who have been loyal to us, and in return we are going to be loyal to them.”
Future Industries’ vast stock and solid relationships it has formed with clients makes it thrive. The company’s support, rewards and consultancy features help clients maintain and expand their businesses with ease.
“We can only grow through the growth of our clients,” Bentlage says.
