How Spas Skyrocket from Bronze to Gold
Day Spa Association cited an interesting statistic in their latest Snapshot Report;
Spas that generated 20% or higher in retail could potentially improved their sales by as much as 14%.
This is not surprising as success tends to breed more success. But if you’re in that lower 20% group and desperately want to make a giant leap into the elite 30% plus club, how do you make it happen?
Imagine your team as Olympic athletes. Everyone knows their routines inside and out; more training is not what’s needed. At this point it’s coaching that will make the difference in quality of execution.
Bob Bowman, the coach for Olympian Michael Phelps explains the benefits of coaching;
“For a swimmer, I’m their eyes out of the water. They can’t see what they’re doing. A lot of times what you think you’re feeling isn’t exactly what you’re supposed to be doing.
The most important thing a coach does is give feedback. Also, I think we give guidance and motivation and some other things. The coach really is a partner in your activity, and I think it’s so much better when you have one.”
Spa teams are no different. Most spa managers of the highest performing spa teams would never reveal that for them, coaching is an ongoing process. They may have dedicated third party experts or assistant managers who focus on performance excellence. The investment in time and money is justified by stellar revenue earnings and customer retention. It the difference between bronze, silver and gold winners!
High performance spa coaching includes the following;
- Identifying and working through areas of discomfort during in-room customer interactions.
- Role play exercises which incorporate communication with a variety of personality types.
- Ensuring that therapists are using product descriptions that feel comfortable and authentic to them.
- Exercises which build on listening skills to maximize engagement and up sell opportunities.
- Status meetings to discuss the features of “hard to sell” products.
- Consistent positive feedback that catches staff doing something right.
- Role play on customer objections and close of sale.
Empathetic skill building delivered in a manner which respects the sensitivity of therapists is the key to top performance.
Linda Harding-Bond
