Spa Pros Intro

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Stepping into your client’s shoes

Spas and health service providers have so far faced a pretty tough business as it is. And in the current economy it might get a whole lot worse before it gets better. Where would you like your business to be?

The cost of labor has traditionally been too high since the inception of the contemporary spa-industry and costs are steadily rising without the possibility of easily raising menu prices. Market demand has created a boom but growth alone does not assure financial success. Profit margins are slim and success requires a robust business practice in all areas from marketing to human resource management. The spa business is not forgiving because of the narrow profit margins. Failure to operate all parts of the business expertly can easily jeopardize financial viability and with most spas not having a strong financial foundation or easy access to credit, even a small mistake can kill a business.

Many operators of individual spas and many spa directors come to the business from a single area of expertise and more often than not with a lot of idealism and desire to be of service. While these motives are admirable and important and instill value and merit into the activity of health and healing, we often find talented but on some level inexperienced managers and operators. Rarely can an individual cover all bases with the level of knowledge and experience needed to fill each task expertly. Challenges in certain areas can be offset by bringing in expert advice, educating oneself or outsourcing areas such as payroll to specialized providers, but this increases the cost too and makes the business vulnerable. In the current economic environment staying in business may even get tougher as guests reevaluate their spending habits and disposable income decreases making under-managed areas more visible.

Maybe you have shortfalls in certain areas and by all means you should address these immediately. But there is also a common sense approach to business that one can cultivate by leveraging an abundant resource anyone can tap into: The Client.

The tendency will often be to project problems onto external conditions. But rather than defaulting to “it’s the economy”, the current context can also provide opportunities to address problems within the system that can mean financial survival.

While it is certainly easier to assign blame to circumstances that cannot be changed rather than take responsibility for tackling issues that live on our own doorstep, there seem to be many opportunities some of which do not require a whole lot of training or experience.

I would like to invite you to take a fresh look at your own business culture or “How we do things around here”.

I would like to select one of those areas today and investigate a little deeper. How well do we see the business from the perspective of the [potential] customer as opposed to projecting our own ideas as to how clients should think, feel and behave?

I can only imagine that spa operators and health service providers rarely step back to take a client’s view at how their business is presenting itself.

How else could one explain the challenging experience we often have when visiting a spa or receiving a spa or health treatment? When we start to realize that the smallest challenges in the chain of events that lead to a successful sale can abort the process, we also see the potential embedded in closely analyzing and optimizing the client experience from the client perspective and not from what we think is right.

For example: There just cannot be any mistakes in the communication process leading up to the sale. Have you recently checked to see how difficult it is to book a treatment at your location? Have you reviewed your published materials to make sure it is obvious and self-explanatory to everyone you want to reach, what you are about, why contacts should become clients and that you have given them direct access to the goods and services?

The number of irregularities, mishaps and shortfalls in the booking, selling and client communication process at any given spa are huge. The lost opportunities are even greater. From lack of a direct phone number, comprehensive directions, hours of operation, an attractive menu, prices, online booking, great photos etc. on the website, to the front desk’s inability to sell, up-sell, upgrade or rebook, we see many easy ways to improve our business one client at a time – which is what the spa business is about.

We nearly always find a lack of clearly defined and implemented processes or standard operating procedures that describe the activities, steps and sequence of events needed to ensure that every contact has the best possible chance of becoming a client. And this is the mind set required: People are actually looking for you! If you offer an excellent product and service in an attractive environment at a competitive rate the only thing that can stand between you and your client is your ability to communicate effectively!

Especially during an economic downturn where everyone from the manager to the therapist is complaining about the loss of revenue the level of apathy is apparent.

My recommendation is to learn to be your own customer. Think like a client, act like a client, ask like a client, feel like a client, experience like a client, pay like a client and apply your highest standards. Treat your contacts and clients, as you would want to be treated.

Any perceived lack of performance, quality, value or availability is prime leverage point to create the most effective positive change to your revenue.

To achieve an improvement we are often not even talking about 100% customer satisfaction, I’m sometimes amazed that we can’t even get the basics covered. Statements from the reception instead of “we have no availability” but rather a “we’re really booked, but let me see how I can make this work ” would be a start, and then hopefully someone has thought about having some on-call contractors lined up who can show up within an hour or two. I can forgive a default on providing a service – I can’t forgive not trying.

How about some recommendations to enhance my treatment? “You can add ½ hour to your massage for just $30 – the results will be exponential, it’s certainly worth it”

Complete communication, a pleasant demeanor at the front desk, effective treatments, a clean, neat and appealing ambience should be the minimum requirements yet so often even these basic elements need to be addressed.

So with this in mind I invite you to take as much time as it takes to review your business, whether as individual provider or spa professional from a client-centric perspective and adjust every established disparity.

Good Luck.

Filed under: Marketing

Expanding Services as a Massage Therapist by offering Spa Treatments

As the spa industry continues in a double-digit growth pattern spa treatments are becoming more and more popular and offer an interesting option for massage therapists who need to expand their service menu.

Scrubs, masks, cocoons, wraps, fango packs, glows and polishes, to name a few, are all services that are typically offered at day and resort spas in addition to and in conjunction with massage therapy.

All spa treatments have therapeutic qualities, address issues and concerns from sunburn to stress. Many utilize natural ingredients and an application that focuses more on the therapeutic qualities of the product(s) used, rather than the physical aspect of massage modalities. Two main components of spa treatments are exfoliating (scrubs) and moisturizing to maintain a healthy skin. In between there are a myriad of possibilities ranging from invigorating to relaxing and from detoxifying to nourishing.

As a massage therapist faced with the reality of injury and burnout related to the physical challenges of doing deep-tissue like massages or manipulations, the question arises what other forms of revenue can be generated using licensure, training and equipment.

Developing a menu of spa treatments is one great way to not only distinguish oneself from the competition, but also to perform additional sessions without taxing the body.

Many spa treatments can be performed without needing to have a shower available. They can utilize products that can stay on the body or the therapist can use moist towels to remove the product before proceeding to the next step of the treatment. In fact I even have a selection of spa treatments I offer for outcall massages.

If a shower is available, there are virtually no limitations to the kinds of treatments one can offer. For some clients who receive treatments at home and have a shower, I offer full spa treatment experiences that include a massage.

Many spa treatments can be offered as an upgrade to a massage or be specifically designed for a body part such as a moisturizing foot and hand masque or a calming décolleté treatment.

Full spa treatments can take the usual 60 minutes and include foot, hand and scalp massage while the client is taken through a number of steps that feature resting times during which a specific product unfolds its therapeutic qualities.

A simple wrap for a sunburned client, who comes in wanting a massage, could be using propolis and aloe vera to heal, lavender lotion to cool and calm and coconut milk to seal in the effects and moisturize the skin. Apply the products, wrap the clients in a sheet and proceed with a gentle scalp massage. Half an hour later, the products will have been absorbed and the client can take home a bottle of lavender lotion (and some sunscreen).

You can charge a premium for product use and as you see, retailing products will become a natural extension of your care for your client.

The products needed for spa treatments can be purchased from a vendor who wholesales to the spa industry or even more fun, put together from natural, organic ingredients you can often buy at the local health food store. Salt and sugar scrubs are a great example, honey. A little study and you can assemble simple treatments on your own.

There are also other options such as Spa College.They have designed classes specifically for therapists to learn all they need to know about putting together a spa treatment menu

Filed under: Marketing

SPA COLLEGE LAUNCHES WORKSHOP SERIES ON SPA TREATMENTS

Continuing education workshops for spa services providers and spa managers.
www.spa-college.com

Spa College was founded by Liz Galloway and Nicolay Kreidler, both consultants to the spa industry, as well as licensed therapists, to address the significant need they encounter in their business for practitioner education.

Spa facilities as well as independent practitioners (whether massage therapists, estheticians or other spa service providers) need to be more than ever capable of offering a wide variety of treatments beyond the standard formulas in order to acquire new and retain existing clients as well as keep their service menu items fresh and attractive.

For massage therapists this can even become existential because of the physical limitations of the number of massages they can perform while spa treatments are much less taxing on the body giving them the opportunity to sustain their income.

Spa facilities and independent practitioners also need to be able to introduce and market additional services to the public in an attractive, economical and purposeful manner.

Liz and Nicolay have designed a series of educations workshops to introduce and refine the options practitioners have, when offering spa services as well as a component that addresses the challenges of marketing these specific services.

The Spa College approach is to primarily to teach underlying techniques and principles as well as to share necessary resources rather than focusing on specific treatment protocols. The goal is to ensure that each participant understands the foundation of the different types of spa treatments and to empower the individual to be creative in designing their own exclusive treatment that embraces the elements of their specific situation such as: location, ecology, resources and clientele.

The curriculum therefore includes ingredient knowledge, sourcing ingredients and application procedures as well as equipment requirements, standards of cutting edge spa service, presentation, and last but not least communication skills and marketing.

The series launches in Costa Rica, known for its ecotourism and nature adventures in November in Punta Quepos, only minutes from the Manuel Antonio National Park.

Spa College offers CE credits through the NCBTMB

Element I . (Nov. 4 – 8) introduces the Secrets of Spa Treatments. This is a foundational workshop introducing the 3 Key Spa Treatment Protocols.

Element II (Nov. 10 -14.) goes deeper into advanced Spa Treatments and introduces 5 Advanced Spa Treatment Protocols.

Spa Manager Seminar (Nov 14 -15)
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If you would like more information about Spa College or these events or to schedule an interview please contact one of the facilitators above.

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