How Well Do You Know Your Spa’s Guest Experience?

Did you know? About eight in 10 American adults read online reviews before they buy anything. This is true for all age groups surveyed by YouGov in 2014. Consumers read online reviews to make sure

What they’re buying is good (79%)
The product or service works (61%)
They don’t get ripped off (53%)

For your spa guests, this means a search on Yelp and similar review sites to see what other people are saying about you, and what they will buy from you (especially if a treatment costs $100 or more). Someone who does not know anything about you will check out your guests’ spa experience first before calling you or visiting your spa/salon. The question is, do you know how excellent (or, heaven forbid, how bad) your guest experience is? Here are top 3 ways to discover how well you are treating your guests: 1. Capture guest experience stories through a feedback form. The best way to measure your guest’s spa experience is still to ask them about

making a reservation
your team, their skills, and the quality of service
the spa—overall ambiance, décor, music, cleanliness, etc.
the product offerings—quality, results, etc.
how likely they will recommend your spa
what other enhancements they want

Make sure the form is easily accessible: printed, at the front desk; on your website; and in email format, for your email marketing. Reward your guests with complimentary treatments—for example, a massage—just for sharing their feedback. 2. Initiate a secret shopper program. Send a secret shopper—friends and family or a professional mystery shopper—to your spa for the full experience. This regular, anonymous audit of what a guest goes through from entry to exit will highlight the areas where you can improve your guest’s spa experience. 3. Gather a group of loyal clients and ask their feedback. Turn your loyal clients or spa members into a focus group and let them talk about how your spa is doing in several areas: menu, reservations, ambiance, team skills, and experience, to name a few. What will you do with all this feedback? Talk with your team about the weaknesses you have discovered. Discuss what adjustments and improvements to make. Retrain and coach where necessary. Good online reviews or not, you cannot afford subpar guest experience because most of the time, the dissatisfied guest will tell 9 out of 10 acquaintances about it. Have any thoughts or success stories to share with us? Tell us in the comment section below!