Spa retail’s biggest problem is a negative mindset. Therapists don’t believe it’s their responsibility to promote products. Managers don’t understand why therapists feel this way. They also don’t believe that therapists are offering products (and they’re correct). Lack of accountability is pervasive and sales reports tell the story. Read More
For the past several months I’ve been traveling around the United States teaching spa managers and therapists how to increase their retail sales. I was thrilled and honored to conclude my U.S. visit as a speaker and instructor for Biologique Recherche’s East Coast Conference in Florida. Read More
Recently I conducted retail training for one of the best known Five-Star hotels in Bangkok. The most successful training is always at least partially attended by management, but this organization of women was outstanding in their therapist support.
On the first day of class, the Group Spa Director for Asia took time out of her busy schedule to make an appearance. The trainees were surprised and thrilled. The next day the Regional Director of Operations attended the entire morning session and also participated in the exercises. She is Thai as were the students so she was able to offer them a more culturally nuanced perspective which I appreciated.
On the final day the Hotel Manager, (one of the few females I’ve met) paid us a visit. Oh, and did I mention that the Spa Manager attended all training sessions and provided translation when necessary? The Training Manager also attended each session to lend her support.
Was this flood of management over the top?
Absolutely not! I know that time is money and these women could have been doing something else.
However their presence was impactful and needed to break the complacency. It served to reinforce the critical nature of the retail initiative.
There is no longer a doubt in the minds of the therapists of their importance and how critical their performance is to the organization’s success.
If you aren’t achieving your retail goals, just telling your therapists that they must “do better” isn’t enough. That’s never worked before – you need to do something different and it starts at the top.
If you’re not willing to invest the time to learn what your team will discover you can’t support them. So not much will change.
Alright fellas, it’s your turn.
In the past two years, I’ve noticed more Five-star hotel and spa groups investing in retail training for their therapists and front desk team. The decision makers tend to be younger or mavericks or both! Read More
There are currently 32,930 vacant positions for therapists in the US spa industry and 1,030 for managers. Inspired by these findings from its annual Spa Industry Study, the International Spa Association (ISPA) Foundation commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct a global study to get underneath the reasons for the high number of vacancies. Read More
As a retail trainer, I’ve noticed that therapists are allowed to be clueless when it comes to their earning power.
I’ll explain: Read More
One of the biggest considerations for spa managers is training. Particularly with therapist retail training they always ask , “Is it worth it?” “Will the results justify the expenditure from my budget allowance?”
Recently I completed retail training at another Five-Star resort in the Philippines. The training was completed in just four days and required 4 hours each day for 16 therapists.
After training I monitored the therapist’s product sales for three weeks.
Here are the results, pre-training and one week post-training and final week. Look at the difference. Read More
Recently, I’ve received several e-mails from spa managers who’ve expressed interest in retail training. Their retail area is well appointed and the products well chosen. They ask how would I determine the training needs of their therapists. They ask what metrics I use to measure the skill of their team. Read More
