ETS, Inc.

ETS, Inc.
Helping Salons Find Success

by Matt Morgan

ETS, Inc. has been serving the indoor tanning industry for nearly 20 years, aiming for total customer satisfaction by giving salons the best possible products, programs and services. It's all right there in the mission statement. But the company doesn't just pay lip service to its guiding principles--it puts words into action.

The manufacturer of indoor tanning equipment and salon supplies also owns three lotion companies, offers three eyewear lines, and provides industry-specific software to truly give salon owners what they need. But the folks at ETS don't stop there. They listen to the people living the tanning business every day, and aren't afraid to change their ways based on what they hear.

"We're able to supply salons with everything--high- quality software, the best products, tanning equipment that's changing to meet their needs, lamps and eyewear," says Leslie Hartlieb, vice president of marketing at ETS. "We have all the aspects that a tanning salon would need to be successful."

But not one to be complacent with its place in the market, ETS pushes itself ever further.

"We think we have an excellent position in the marketplace, but are we satisfied? No," says John Keiffner, ETS' executive director of business development. "We'll never be satisfied. We think we do well, but we are constantly striving to improve."

Bed Beginnings

ETS was founded in 1984 on an Indiana farm by Trevor and Edna Gray, set up as a distributor of European-made tanning beds. Soon, it was manufacturing its own equipment, then moving into larger facilities fit for a growing corporation. Today, the company is based in Indianapolis, providing a wide range of tanning products to the world.

True to its equipment roots, some of ETS' best-selling products are its beds and booths. Specifically, Keiffner and Hartlieb point to the ZX32, the SunDome booth and the Sunless Express Spray Spa unit.

The ZX32 was redesigned in 2000 to add a hinged acrylic, more body-cooling fans and a pull-out ballast tray. ETS also incorporated new testing devices to maximize the bed's exposure time to the highest allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Hartlieb says.

At the same time of the ZX32 redesign, ETS went online with its equipment specifications, "which allowed salons to get updates on the different facets of the equipment that they were having problems with," Keiffner says. The site includes warranty information, electrical schematics and troubleshooting tips. "It's user-friendly for the customers, and they know exactly what they need if something would happen," Hartlieb adds.

The Sunless Express Spray Spa continues to be a best seller. The UV-free spray booth features a patent-pending voice-instruction system that provides step-by-step instructions, a full-coverage vertical-spray system for even head-to-foot tanning, and a patented gravity foot-spray system.

And who could forget the SunScape SS755? Unveiled to the public at the ITA World Expo in November, the SunScape SS755 is touted as the first in a new breed of beds. Powered by a 2,000-milliamp ballast, 55 full-length, 200-watt Wolff Speed system lamps, 10 photometrically designed shoulder tanners, and five 500-watt Ultimate Reflection facial tanning systems, it provides a comfortable tanning environment and quick results.

Beyond Equipment

Beds and booths aren't the only ways ETS serves the indoor tanning industry. Through creations, joint ventures and corporate purchases, the company is able to provide software (CIT LLC), eyewear, lamps and lotions.

ETS' most recent purchase was SunGlobes and Special-Eyez product lines. SunGlobes are ergonomically shaped for comfort and scientifically created to block UVA and UVB rays, yet still allow the user to see bed controls. Special-Eyez, which can be used for tanning beds and stand-up units, has interchangeable lenses that clip into the flexible lens housing, providing UV protection and clear vision at the same time.

Also, ETS diversified its lamp lines this year to include Bronze S Twister lamps. The unique swirl shape and proprietary Rotronic coating process helps provide a uniform, even tan, and increased arc length produces 8 percent more tanning power, the company says.

To cater to the industry's continued high demand for lotions, ETS has three powerful brands.

Australian Gold, which was introduced by ETS in 1988, has had best-sellers in Browning Fury and Iced Crme. For 2003, ETS is expecting greatness from Double Dip Iced Creme and Blazin'.

Double Dip Iced Creme has double bronzers with both immediate and delayed results, double coolant to make tanners feel refreshed and vibrant, and double antioxidants to help protect skin and extend the life of the tan. Blazin' is a combination of sizzling tingle and a blend of Natural Bronzing Extracts, with the benefits of hemp.

ETS purchased the rights to Swedish Beauty products in 1998, and received best-sellers in Seduction and Browning Syrup. Two new products, Frosted Hemp and Safire, have ETS buzzing for the new season. Frosted Hemp contains hydrating orchid and the moisturization of hemp seed extract and Milk Peptide Complex to lengthen the life of a tan. Safire Tingle Power T25 is a high-end product with bronzing coolant extreme Tingleplex formula.

Instead of stepping on each other's toes, Australian Gold and Swedish Beauty seem to complement one another, Hartlieb says. "It gives people an alternative, it gives people another option. We have the sporty line and the more elegant line."

And now ETS has what could be called a "young" line in Caribbean Gold, which was first introduced in 1992 and relaunched last year. The new look has a new name--Caribbean Gold: It's All About Attitude--and it comes complete with tie-died swirls as well as names and fragrances that appeal to a new generation of tanners.

"It's specifically targeted toward a certain demographic group," Keiffner says. Hartlieb adds, "Salons have the kids coming in, they have their parents coming in, and they want to have different levels for each."

Through equipment, supplies, and Australian Gold, Swedish Beauty and Caribbean Gold lotions, ETS, Inc. has stayed on top. "We've been very fortunate that each year we have had either the No. 1- or close to the No. 1-selling new product in the indoor tanning industry for the last five years," Keiffner says. How is this possible? ETS listens to its customers to find out what they want.

ETS Hears You

"We try to talk to our customers as much as possible and listen to them," Hartlieb says. "We try to incorporate their ideas into everything that we do--our programs, our products, our promotions. We get feedback from them first, to make it something that this industry wants. We don't live it day by day. They do. We need to be able to supply them with what they need to be successful."

ETS is attuned to its field representatives who work closely with salons, and keep in touch with distributors and salons. The company has a distributor council and now three salon councils to advise on what's hot and what's not in the industry's trenches. "We meet once a year to twice a year to get their input on what is taking place in the marketplace and give them our thoughts on the future," Keiffner says.

Indoor tanning is a trendy business, with hot-selling lotions and other innovations coming and going--any company that can't keep up is left behind. Not ETS. The company stops and turns on a dime, Hartlieb says, which is one way it is unique to the industry.

"Caribbean Gold is the perfect example of how we change," she says. "When the salons told us they needed a different look, a different feel, we canceled the whole line and came out with something new to meet their needs."

Keiffner agrees. "One of our strengths is that we can adapt to change very quickly. It comes from the top down. Our owners adapt to change. They are probably the leaders of change within our organization, and they encourage us to change to meet the industry's needs and give us all of the tools that we need to make those changes in a very quick manner."

Preparing Salons

One tool ETS gives salon owners is the training and education necessary to survive and run a business in a volatile economy.

"We provide both training for our distributors in understanding our programs and training to the salons in understanding our products and programs," Keiffner says. ETS has teamed up with the National Tanning Training Institute to sponsor salon training days, but also conducts salon training on its own, focusing on products and programs specific to ETS.

With the economy being as it has been, ETS wants to focus more closely in the future on training salons to be more efficient and profitable. "We want to help them make the right decision," Hartlieb says. "That's why we're starting our increased training with NTTI, with more management-style training, helping salons more with their financial aspects, and in customer and employee retention. We have to help them be better managers and better owners."

Part of making salons more profitable is rewarding them for doing business with ETS. With the company's Cash Back reward card--the first pure cash-back program in the industry, they say--users are able to get cash back and have access to ATMs around the world or anywhere MasterCard is accepted. Salons participating in Australian Gold, Swedish Beauty and Caribbean Gold cash-back programs receive instant access to earned dollars.

It's this beyond-the-call-of-duty mentality that put ETS where it is today. Ever listening and changing, the company plans to increase research and development, as well as advocacy through industry organizations that work to combat the negativism often surrounding the tanning lifestyle.

"Our mission statement doesn't say, 'Do what's easiest,'" Hartlieb says. "It says to do what our customers need to be successful. That's where we have to go."