Tag retail

Tag retail

You Can’t Put Lipstick On Declining Spa Sales

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Almost half of spa owners see no increase in their sales in the foreseeable future. Yes, according to the Professional Beauty Association (PBA) “60 percent of spa and salon owners are positive on growth, expecting to have higher retail sales in the next six months.” As for the other 40 percent — flat to declining.

What’s shocking to me is that 0.5% growth is now being called success. “Overall indicators and feedback from beauty professionals across the country continue to be positive and we remain optimistic that the beauty industry will continue this growth into 2015” says Steve Sleeper, Executive Director of the PBA.

Is retail sales a force of nature that can’t be controlled by man (or woman)?
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The Zen of Spa Retail Training

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The first time that I had to give a public speech  I began to cry hysterically. I also wet my pants.

I was four years old and in kindergarten.

Since that time I’ve had many jobs where public speaking came with the territory. It’s never been fun but I’ve gotten considerably better at it. When I worked for Verizon as a training manager, I attended a two day workshop on public speaking. I had an instructor who was able to create a safe emotional space for the attendees. He built such an atmosphere of support that it was almost painless to stand in front of the other 11 trainees and give a five minute presentation. People performed brilliantly during those two days. I wish I could remember his name, he was wonderful. Read More

Customer Service Just Died; and Your Training Budget Killed It!

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Once a month the CEO of a certain Five-Star resort company would return to the home office. A status meeting was always held. All vice presidents and middle management would attend either in person or via Skype.

On this particular day as we were waiting for the meeting to begin, he regaled us with a story of his visit to one of the company’s more remote locations. He said 18 hours on a plane had earned him an extremely stiff neck. Immediately upon arrival he’d booked a massage. In a luxurious hut with the ocean as a backdrop, he’d explained his problem to a therapist in detail. He opted for an add-on treatment of Thai herbal balls; heated poultices which are rhythmically applied to sore or stiff body points to promote blood flow. He’d also requested that a heated towel be placed around his neck for the first 10 minutes prior to treatment. >>>To read more click here>>huff.to/1GEycWV

Why your New Spa Product Will Probably Fail

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My friend Cheryl developed a beautiful line of organic body products. She sent me samples and I was thrilled to discover that her creations where some of the best I’d ever used.

When it won a best new product of the year award in New York City, she and I celebrated with a champagne lunch. I remember screaming in delight when it was later selected as one of the swag bag items for the Emmy Awards.  A Five-Star hospitality group  in Asia began carrying her line at their chain of spas. Her product was unstoppable. Read More

The Culture of Spa Called and It’s Mad!

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As a spa professional I am often highly disappointed in the level of service delivered at Five-Star spas and resorts. I’m an American living in Bangkok, so I’m particularly sensitive to respecting the local culture.

However, it seems as though a trade-off has taken place which has allowed the universal “culture of spa” to be compromised. It seems to me that it’s been replaced by a lazy, non-caring apathy masquerading as customer service.

Read the rest of my article on Huffington Post>>http://huff.to/1S4gaTc

How to Spot a Spa Trend like a Kardashian

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Recently the Global Wellness Institute projected a 42% employment growth in the spa industry by 2018. I don’t know about you but I find this absolutely mind-blowing. They reported;

In 2013 the spa industry employed about 1.1 million spa therapists and 200,000 spa managers and directors. So it looks like it will need at least an additional 500,000 trained spa therapists and 80,000 experienced spa managers/directors (above those levels) by 2018.”-GWS Read More

Spa Industry Jobs to More than Double by 2018

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Education never goes to waste. This is particularly true if you are currently working in the spa industry. The Global Spa and Wellness Summit has released staggering information about the growth of employment in our industry.   Retail selling, customer engagement and social media training for therapists and management should be top agenda items to maximize revenue earnings.  Whether delivered online or in house, spa training is a critical need .

Spa Industry Jobs to More Than Double from 2007-2018: from 1.22 Million to 2.72 Million
Asia-Pacific will add most spa jobs, at 250,000, from 2013-2018
Sub-Saharan Africa will see highest job percentage growth at 215 percent in those five years

Want more information? Click the link to Beth McGroarty’s article>>>http://bit.ly/1Ih8RTn

Spa Training Mistakes – One-Sided Sales Training

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It is really amazing how often training is conducted at spas without first seeking input from therapists on what they actually need.  For many spas, training is delivered  yearly (if that) without variation or assessment of the areas where the therapists fail to deliver.

Also training is often thought of as a  disruption so the attitude of “lets just get through it”  prevails. To get the best ROI, perform a needs analysis before investing time and money on training. 

 This article from enterpriseref.com speaks to this issue.  Read More

What 7-11 Teaches Us About Spa Selling

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Anyone who is passionate about their work knows that it can be difficult to turn off sometimes. This is particularly true with customer service because good or bad, it’s always around us.

As a spa sales trainer I look everywhere for inspiration and the elusive key that will unlock the door to perfect service delivery.  It’s doesn’t matter if I’m having dinner at a sky bar restaurant or buying a bag of freshly sliced fruit from a street cart vendor. I always notice how they deliver their service.   Read More

Ten Favorite 90’s Movies Every Fashion Girl Should Watch

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robin 2Harper’s Bazaar just released their list of THE ’90S FILMS THAT EVERY FASHION GIRL SHOULD WATCH.

Now, I’ll admit that I’m not a “fashion person” per se, most of my free time is devoted to creating on-line training workshops for the spa industry. But as a beauty professional I’ve been influenced for my entire life by the cinema . Also because American cinema is not as readily available to me in Asia, I find that I now  appreciate it more. Read More