Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Most float centers divide on floats offered between 60 or 90 minute floats, but some split the difference right down the middle and offer 75 minutes. Graham and Ashkahn share their thoughts on this tactic, what they see as the pros, cons, and things to consider when implementing it.
Show Resources
FTS Product – State of the Industry Report
(In this last year, 7 float centers reported offering 75 minute floats)
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: All right.
Ashkahn: Welcome everybody.
Graham: Hello.
Ashkahn: This is Ashkahn.
Graham: And I’m Graham over here.
Ashkahn: And boy, we’ve got a big one. We’ve got a big one today.
Graham: It’s not …
Ashkahn: It’s a normal sized one. I was just trying to make them feel excited, you know? Try and pump people up.
Graham: That’s great. It’s gonna be a great episode.
Ashkahn: It’s gonna be a really good one.
Graham: And you did a great job pumping people up too, I think.
Ashkahn: Thanks. Yeah. And you did a really complimenting me just now.
Graham: Oh, thanks. Anyway, our question for today is, “What do you think about 75 minute floats?”
Ashkahn: 75 minute floats.
Graham: The old 75-er.
Ashkahn: Yeah. The old siete cinco.
Graham: Yeah, I think they’re good.
Ashkahn: I kind of like them. So here’s the deal.
Graham: Your deal. Not the deal.
Ashkahn: Here’s my deal.
Graham: Yeah.
Ashkahn: I think it has to do with how many float tanks you have and how many tanks you’re trying to turn over in a transition. ‘Cause there’s definitely situations like what we’re in, where we’re doing 90 minute floats and we put 30 minutes of time in addition to that to turn all the rooms over and get the next people in. And we have six float tanks. And that’s kind of intense. It’s intense to turn over six rooms in 30 minutes.
Graham: Well, and we also do all of our floats at the exact same time.
Ashkahn: Yes.
Graham: So they don’t stagger at all. It’s not, like, three on one hour and three on another hour or so. Every two hours there’s six people getting out and six people getting in.
Ashkahn: Yeah. And we’ve thought about changing our transition times to something like 35 or 40 minutes, but then everything just gets on this, like, really weird time of day, you know? Your appointments start at like 6:25, and then the next one’s, like, 7:40, and …
Graham: Yup.
Ashkahn: So there’s just something that’s been slightly unappealing about that.
Graham: But-
Ashkahn: But if you were to want that kind of cushy transition time, a 75 minute float is a nice-
Graham: With a 45 minute transition because it keeps things on the hour.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: So it would be every other hour there would be a float. And you’d have a little nicer transition then. I actually know some centers that have been transitioning, huh. I didn’t actually mean to say that. But they themselves have been transitioning their transition time length to be longer.
Ashkahn: To be longer. Right.
Graham: I know one that went up to 60 minutes in between floats.
Ashkahn: Wow.
Graham: But they’re a single person running their center and they just wanted to actually have time to sit down with clients afterwards and get back to that homey kind of feel, you know?
Ashkahn: Right. Sure.
Graham: But yeah, I know more than one that’s also switched to 45 minute transitions.
Ashkahn: Yeah. And I know somebody else who does 60 minutes too. So yeah, it’s definitely, like-
Graham: I wonder if it’s the same person.
Ashkahn: We can talk about it after this.
Graham: Yeah, yeah. Thanks for that. So I was gonna say, the thing that I don’t like about 75 minute floats is related to the exact same thing, which is if you’re doing 75 minute floats to try and fit more in a day, all of a sudden you can’t actually start on the same times. Like uneven times. So if you’re running a 75 minute float but want a half an hour transition, now your whole time slots are getting into 15 minutes.
Ashkahn: It’s getting all crazy.
Graham: You can’t just say it’s every other hour. You lose a little bit of simplicity in it.
Ashkahn: Yeah. I do feel like 75 is, in my mind, a decent improvement over 60. I feel like 75 is starting at the range where I feel like I’d feel comfortable with someone going in there and getting a nice … And we’re big fans of 90 minute floats.
Graham: Yes, full disclaimer here.
Ashkahn: That’s my kind of hard-core opinion here, so I always think, you know, a 60 minute first time experience is not as ideal and that people will kind of sink into it and get that deeper experience with 90 minutes. But I feel like 75 is something that can get people a nice experience too.
Graham: Yeah, and it’s also the level where you’d stop worrying as much about 5 minutes here and there, which is really nice, you know?
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: Like, the thing about 60 minute floats is if someone gets in and you didn’t quite get them in on time, it just impinges so much, it’s such a high percentage of their overall float time. So I like 90 minutes, and even two and a half hour late night floats are better, you know? Like, you get one of our two and a half hour floaters in 10 minutes late because you’re the only one there and people were coming out slow and they’re like, “Whatever. I’ll chill and have tea.” You know? “Still got two hours and 20 minutes to hop in the float tank.” So I like that 75 minutes is edging on there. If you do get someone in five minutes late, it’s not as big a deal as with the 60 minute float.
Ashkahn: Yeah. I almost like 80 minutes. Like, and 80 minute float with a 40 minute transition.
Graham: Like 77?
Ashkahn: 77 and a half minutes.
Graham: Just in between.
Ashkahn: Just that nice time, you know?
Graham: It feels nice.
Ashkahn: So that would be my recommendation.
Graham: Then you have to have 27 and a half minute transitions.
Ashkahn: Uh-huh. And that extra half minute, I think is really what adds comfort to the entire thing.
Graham: Yeah, so in general I like them. I mean, I’ve floated for as short as only being in the tank for half an hour and as long as being in there for 12 hours. So as far as length of float and being able to have a good experience, I think it’s possible at any length that you’re doing it, long or short. So kind of what you were saying about first time experience too is interesting. Like, if someone is only offering 75 minute floats versus offering 75 minute and 90, or 75 minute and 60 is also kind of an interesting question.
Ashkahn: Yeah. It feels too close together. I feel like it’d be-
Graham: Weird to do.
Ashkahn: Not worth it to offer 75 and 90 or 60. Like, just 75 and
Graham: Three hours.
Ashkahn: Yeah. Something much more significant.
Graham: Yeah.
Ashkahn: And there’s some centers out there doing, we put out this industry report every year. Float Tank Solutions. And there’s a stat in there about what length of service people offer, so you can check it out. We’ll put it in the show notes of how many people out there offer 75 minute floats.
Graham: Yeah, and you can see the bulk of people really are just 60 and 90 minutes, and that’s …
Ashkahn: Yeah, it’s just like three weirdos out there. You know who you are.
Graham: Awesome. Anything else about 75 minute floats?
Ashkahn: You three weirdos. Get in touch with … I’m kind of interested to hear what peoples’ experiences are. I guess I want to see if there’s a center that only offers 75 minutes.
Graham: We answer questions, Ashkahn. We don’t ask them.
Ashkahn: Oh, okay. Well, nevermind. I guess this will just remain a mystery forever. No, I’m good then.
Graham: All right. If you are one of those centers though, reach out. And you can reach out if you have a question or anything you want to send us at floattanksolutions.com/podcast.
Ashkahn: That’s right. And we’ll talk to you later.
Graham: Bye.
Recent Podcast Episodes
Float Centers in Hip Neighborhoods – DSP 199
Do float centers in the hip part of town do better than ones on the outskirts? Graham and Ashkahn are well versed on this in that Float On is in a fairly hip part of Portland.
The guys break down some of the benefits of being one of the “cool” businesses in town as well as some of the serious drawbacks. Naturally, things like foot traffic aren’t as important. Almost no one walks into a float center and hops in a tank off the street. So there are fringe benefits to it, like awareness, but if you decide on going to a different part of town, then you’re not automatically doing a disservice to your brand.
Can You Clean a Float Tank with Vinegar? – DSP 198
You have to change out your float tank water eventually. Is it a good idea to give your float tank a vinegar cleanse when you do? is that effective? Is it too much work for the results? Are there better solutions to keep your tank clean and fresh?
Graham and Ashkahn discuss while providing assurances like “either you’re not crazy or we’re all crazy”, so that’s nice.
Have you Experienced Challenging Floats? – DSP 197
Graham and Ashkahn share stories about their most challenging floats. Everything from extreme physical discomfort to literally staying in too long.
They also share stories of floats from friends and customers that they’ve accumulated over the years and discuss the value of experiencing these difficult moments in the tank and how you might approach them when one occurs at your center.
What’s the Best Representation of Float Tanks in TV or Movies? – DSP 196
It happens every once in a while, a tv show or a movie will feature a float tank and the entire industry gets a jolt as if to say “we made it to the big time!”
But not all float tank cameos are created equal, so which one does it the best? What is the best representation of floating in media? Graham and Ashkahn go through the list of everything from Altered States to Stranger Things to find out what it is.
Is it Bad for Float Centers to Always be Running Discounts? – DSP 195
Welcome to the last episode in Social Media Week with Derek, Ashkahn, and Graham. If you haven’t listened to the other episodes in the series, it is strongly recommended that you start at the beginning especially for this episode as it references some points brought up earlier in the week.
Derek and Graham share some more intricacies of the Float On business philosophy and share their opinions on constantly running ads for floats through Groupon or on Social Media. Admittedly, Float On doesn’t run discounts very often, and they share why that is. They also talk about how to run discounts effectively and have a tough conversation about what to do if you want to break that cycle of constant discounts for your floats.
Latest Blog Posts
Lessons for Float Centers from a Mainstream Marketing Conference
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend Copyblogger’s Authority Rainmaker Conference in Denver, Colorado. As a self proclaimed marketing nerd, this was an opportunity to mingle with my people. I believe no matter how much experience you have in...
A Quick Note on Insulation…
Insulating the roof/joists of your float center... Basically, what you're trying to do here to create an envelope around your space. You're trying to create a barrier between a conditioned environment (your float room) and an unconditioned environment (open air). This...
Encouraging Creativity After Floating
Most float tanks centers have customers. So as to have a place to put these customers where they will be able to sit, or stand, as they please and not be in the way, most float tank centers also have lobbies. So as to have something - some surface upon which these...
Float Center Education Through Internships
Why Have an Intern Program? I (Marshall) started my career in floating as an intern, coming in to the shop each Monday to learn about floating, sanitation, and better understand the intricacies of construction projects. For every four hours I worked, I was expected to...
