Oncology esthetics is a way for spas and medi spas to give back to their communities. Through the power of touch and soothing care, you help people living with cancer go through the most difficult time in their lives.
Before offering this specialty treatment in your spa, here are 3 things we learned about oncology esthetics that you might want to know:
1. Oncology clients come in for relaxation first
Surgeries are stressful for everybody but it is doubly difficult for people with cancer who are dealing with this life-or-death condition every day. Research shows that oncology clients seek help for relaxation first before skincare. Soothing massages and facials have been shown to make them need less pain medication afterward.
2. Oncology esthetics must mitigate side effects and prevent infections
The skin is the largest organ of the body and the first line of defense against diseases. For oncology clients what is normally harmless for the rest of us could leave them vulnerable. For example, moisturizers can contain alcohol that worsens such side effects like radiation burns and extremely dry, peeling skin.
3. Oncology clients need personalized treatment
What works for one guest may not work for another. For untrained spa professionals, knowing what’s effective for each client will be a matter of trial and error. You could also cause harm unwittingly.
On the Expert Interview with Dori Soukup and Morag Currin, President of Oncology Training International (OTI) and Founder of Oncology Esthetics®, spa and medi spa professionals will gain valuable information on how to tailor treatments and avoid dangerous trials and errors, among others. Morag is the acknowledged expert and trainer on Oncology Esthetics.
Join the discussion on the Ins and Outs of offering Oncology Esthetics in your spa on Monday, June 15th, at 3:00 PM Eastern, and get expert advice on how to help people living with cancer in your community while expanding your menu. Click here to register and learn more »
When was the last time you called a spa, and experienced their reception department? Too often many spa leaders overlook the impact of their reception and reservation on their bottom line. Spas are losing new guests and missing out on sales because their R&R are not delivering a great guest experience.
Here are three simple spa reception mistakes that are so easy to make:
1. Your spa menu is your best-kept secret.
One time, I decided to get a spa treatment on an extended trip. Surprise! My hotel room did not have a spa menu. Whether your spa is part of a hotel or not, your spa menu must be available where the guests are (hotel rooms, lobbies, etc.). Strike up an agreement with the hotel, and use your spa’s treatments and products as added value to their offerings. This way, you are broadening your reach.
2. Your on-hold message tells guests nothing.
When you call most companies now, you get to listen to marketing spiels when you are on hold. For a few minutes, you hear about special offers, new products or services, or other promotional items. Whether you like it or not, you are a captive audience.
The on-hold message is a simple but effective promotional tool that tells guests immediately what they can expect from you. Write a script today for your on-hold message, and when you finally speak with your guest, reinforce the offer.
3. Your reception department do not have scripts for guest interactions.
Our coaching calls always hammer on having communication scripts written out and ready for every guest interaction—from talking over the phone, to welcoming a new guest, to probing guest concerns, to starting a treatment, to recommending an upgrade, or even to asking for a review. Everything!
Scripts lend confidence to your front line people. Because they know the end they want for every guest interaction—and how to get there—your team can capitalize on every opportunity for a sale or recommendation. They do not pepper their guest dialogues with “um”, “like”, “ah”, and “you know” that make them appear clueless to your guests.
Remember that quality guest experience—and better profits—begins with the first “Hello!” Have a friend or family member call your spa. Get them to listen to your reception and reservation department. How did you do? See where you stand and make adjustments where necessary.
Have any thoughts, concerns, or spa reception success stories? Share them in the comments section below!
Join us for the upcoming Reinvent Your Business (Volume 2) teleseminar on June 2nd, at 4:00 PM Eastern. You will learn everything you need to know on how to transform your “Wow!” guest experience to glowing online reviews . Register now »
Congratulations if you do not have “Pearla* Prima Donna” in your spa team. But she is found in most teams. She is the one who does not know what “teamwork” means.
It is easy to recognize her—no one wants to work with her. Talented, yes, but also demanding and difficult.
The bad news: prima donnas harm your spa’s guest experience. Guests are in your spa to relax and de-stress, and they can easily pick up on negative behavior. Tension in your spa keeps them away. Pearla Prima Donna is actually costing you business!
Here are the five prima donna attitudes, and how to handle them:
1. “That’s not my job!”
People are given a task because they are the best at it, so let them know about this when you assign the task. Get into the habit of letting your team members know when they have done a good job—a little praise goes a long way to building up team morale.
2. “It’s not my fault.”
Making mistakes is part of success, but the knee-jerk reaction when something fails is for everyone to distance themselves. Start implementing the “It’s not my fault, but it’s still my problem” philosophy, if you have not done it already. Regardless of who is to blame, it is still everyone’s responsibility to fix it.
3. “It’s not my problem.”
People stay away from problems because of fear—no one wants to absorb it. Nobody is taking action to solve it either. Show your team you are on their side, that you want them to win. With this show of support, problem-solving becomes a team effort, not an individual burden.
4. “It won’t work.”
You do not want a close-minded person in your team. Over time, you will see your whole team shutting down ideas, resisting change, and your spa missing out on opportunities. Probe for reasons behind any resistance. Welcome and discuss opinions. Get your team involved in making things work to get that buy-in.
5. “I am way overqualified for this job.”
You know they are super qualified, but they still agreed to take on the job. Give them more responsibilities—assign challenging tasks, use them as mentors, ask them for ideas and inputs, get them to implement things, and allow a little more autonomy so they can be more productive.
How do you handle negative team behavior? Share your thoughts and success stories in the comments below!
Want to learn more about how to build a high-performing team? Arm your spa team today with the tools to become more successful, and grow your spa business exponentially. Register for the Spa Management Essentials series today ?
* Our apologies if your name is Pearla. The name is just for illustration purposes. 😉
In the last business blog, we talked about the first three best practices to turn your spa website into a revenue-generating website.
On this post, we will discuss the next three strategies so your spa website is a powerful tool to bring in new guests, increase your capacity and retention rates, and get to that level of success you will enjoy!
1. Focused on benefits
Are the words on your website solving problems for your visitors? Is the web copy suggesting ways for them to look and feel better? People go online to find information—about spa treatments and spa products. What you can do, and how you solve problems. Are you answering their questions and offering solutions? This allows you to show credibility and position you as an expert, as well as builds trust in your consumer’s mind.
2. Generates revenues
Is your website generating revenue? Your copy may be compelling, but if it is not asking people to take action, then your website is nothing but an online brochure. Get them to sign up for offers, download free reports, buy gift cards and products, make reservations, share feedback and testimonials, or ask a question, to name a few. There are many ways have them take action and to “buy” from you!
3. Targets the right audience
How will you know if you are reaching your target market? Google Analytics can help you measure how many visits you get on your site, how long they stayed, what pages they viewed, how they arrived at your site, and many more. Best of all, it is is free. It will show you where you need to improve, and what you are doing well, so you can leverage this in making more money.
So, is your website generating income for your spa? At the end of the day, your spa website should be a profit center, not a costly burden to your bottom line.
Have any thoughts about this topic? Share with us your comments!
Learn more about how to use landing pages on your spa website to attract more prospects and increase spa capacity levels. Join us today in the teleseminar on “How to Quickly and Easily Create Landing Pages” in the CoachMe Gold series, Make Your Spa Social Media Work For You on April 28, 2015 at 4:00 PM Eastern »
Have you ever wondered what kind of impression your spa is making when a new guest enters your doors? Consider this: your spa reception is a major profit center, and the receptionist is going to be the first person that a guest will encounter. Is that person going to help increase your revenue or harm your bottom line?
Trust is a critical aspect of every spa business. If you have been delivering results through your treatments and therapists, your guests should be lapping up the recommendations you make for products and treatment upgrades. You do not need a hard sell; all you need is recommend, and the sale follows.
This is why, as a spa leader, you always have to check how your front line team is doing. How effective are they at projecting a competent, professional image? Do not be like an experienced I’ve had. The receptionist had bright pink hair, a plunging neckline showing lip-shaped tattoos, and an unapproachable demeanor. She did not even bother to greet me! I hightailed it out of there.
You will never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Follow these image-enhancing tips to put your best foot forward:
Adopt a uniform or professional attire for your front liners and therapists.
Create your own communication script, from meeting first-time guests to talking with them on the phone to every possible guest interaction there is, using carefully selected words that convey your image, values and culture.
For that matter, make sure your receptionists and therapists have superior communication skills. Clean up language, even when talking to each other.
Train your team in effective listening, helping them to understand sub-text and zeroing in on guest concerns. That’s where opportunities for retail sales and upgrades are found.
The telephone is also a major part of your leads generation—craft scripts for responding to inquiries, customer complaints, etc., that will project a helpful, supportive image over the wire. (Make sure your team answers calls with a smile, which shows over the line.)
Create a problem-solving and guest satisfaction culture, training your team to be swift in anticipating and addressing guest problems.
Make sure that your team has exceptional knowledge of every product and treatment that you have, so they can recommend at-home maintenance and upgrades where needed.
Stay organized, including all work space.
Your spa cannot afford to turn away guests with a bad first impression. You’ll fight an uphill battle getting more new clients that way. As you continually improve on your image, watch your guest number and revenue climb up. To do: assess what new guests see when they first call you or come in, and update accordingly.
Any thoughts or advice you want to add? Share it in the comments below. Thanks!
Trust is an important aspect of spa-guest relations. Join us to learn more about trust-based selling in the Reinvent Your Business teleseminar on April 7th, 4:00 PM Eastern ?
(Contributed by Walter Bergeron)
As a spa owner, your plan from the very inception of your business is likely to someday use it as your retirement nest egg. To accomplish that goal, it may mean selling your spa to an employee, a venture capital firm, or a capable and deserving family member. However, if you want to maximize the number of zeroes on that check you will receive on closing day, then your best bet is to sell your business to a strategic buyer.
A strategic buyer is another company that will use your business to expand their business. The acquisition will serve to solve one of their problems instantly, thus exponentially growing their spa business instantly. Their problems may include a need for a larger client base, a need for another location to handle more production, or a need for trained and experienced personnel. Whatever the reason, they are willing to buy your business so they can solve their problem and grow strategically versus growing organically.
The problem is, right now your business is built to solve your problems, not theirs. You are currently building your business to provide you with a comfortable income, vacation money, security, prominence in your community, or any number of valid personal reasons. But none of these are real solutions that a strategic buyer would need, or more importantly, would willingly pay for top dollar.
No worries. You can still grow your spa business for a strategic buyer, and build it to suit your personal needs at the same time. That is, if you do it correctly, and if you act now.
Stay light years ahead of all other businesses on the market by listing the top 3 solutions that your spa can provide another. Say, if you have a healthy and responsive client base, list this as one of the solutions you can give. If you have well documented and proven operating systems, then list this as another solution. Go through the details of your business and figure out what makes it stand out from others like yours, then position your spa into a market of one.
The time and effort you put into this preparation today will pay off with more zeroes on the check you get when you sell your business in the future.
What solution does your business provide to another business’s problem today? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Are you building your spa for the perfect buyer? If you want to learn more on how to position your business into an attractive market of one, join Dori and Walter for the complimentary seminar on Financial Freedom: How to Plan Your Exit Strategy and Sell Your Spa Business for Top Dollar on April 14th, 2:00 PM Eastern. ?About the Author:
Walter Bergeron began his entrepreneurial journey when he was just 12 years old, detailing cars in his parents’ driveway. Over the last three decades, he has built and sold multiple businesses, with his latest deal topping $10 million. He is a best-selling author as well as a Marketer of the Year awardee. His newest best-selling book is called “The 8 Figure Exit Formula” where he shows other driven entrepreneurs how to achieve their own eight-figure payday.
When your spa team thinks of sales, something terrible comes to mind. Let’s face it: No one really likes to sell. Your team would rather provide a great spa experience. Selling is for the brave.
If you want stellar spa growth rates year after year, you need to focus on sales. No sales means no profits, and no profits means you might as well close your spa now.
Seasoned salespeople have plans—dollar goals and strategies on how to acquire leads and how to turn them into buying clients. They have a sales model.
1. Spa professionals must have a Spa Sales Model—the blueprint of your sales efforts. Without it you’re operating your spa business with the Hit-and-Miss Sales Model—if you hit at something often enough, you may not miss your revenue goals this time. (Good luck with that!)
2. Your spa sales blueprint must include a plan on creating new sales streams. It is true that you should do more of what works, and throw away those that failed. It is equally true that you should always have new ways to make more money.
3. So, revisit your programs—new members, loyalty programs, referrals, joint ventures—and revitalize them. Add offers to existing programs, or introduce new ones if you do not have them yet.
4. Link compensation to performance. Reward your team MVP—the top producer—for contributing to increased sales through higher product or treatment upgrade recommendations. Learn about the VPG Volume Per Guest compensation model and boost your profits.
There are many ways to invigorate your sales efforts and achieve phenomenal growth. Discover how you can train your team to become better at generating revenue through recommendations. Join the Reinvent Your Business (Volume II) seminar on Tuesday, April 7th, at 4:00 PM Eastern ?
Do It Yourself PR Secrets!
Have you tried hiring a PR firm, but the investment amount stopped you from doing so?
It’s a fact…getting the media to cover your stories, publish your articles, quote you, invite you for a radio segment, or interview you on a TV show is worth a lot more than any paid marketing efforts.
So how can you be in the news and generate buzz about your company? By doing PR! PR is one of the best marketing tools you can utilize for your business! So how can you do your own PR?
We are here to help!
You can now learn and implement Effective PR Techniques on a shoestring budget!
We had so many requests from the InSPAration Management community to offer a PR course that I decided to invite Nancy Trent from Trent and Company, a PR expert, to join me on a five-hour teleseminar series to offer strategies and techniques to help you implement Easy Steps To Do It Yourself PR!
Do it Yourself PR Secrets is designed to help you plan, implement, and gain spa exposure that will lead new traffic into your spa and help increase your revenue! Visit www.inspa.biz/pr
This is the second post of a 4 part series on InSPAration Management’s blog to learn strategies on gaining financial health. In the last post, we discussed having a spa budget and knowing the breakdown of where all of your money is being distributed. Included was a financial assessment useful in determining your financial status and where you needed improvements. After understanding this portion, focus on step 2 to get closer to financial health.
2. Your P & L Statement
The Profit and Loss Statement is your monthly report card. This allows you to see your financial ratios and ensure they are aligned. There are 4 important financial ratios to measure:
a. Operating Expenses
b. Product Cost
c. Compensation Cost
d. Profits
Operating spa expenses and compensation are the biggest two expenses for a business. In most cases, we find that the compensation ratio is too high. To be profitable, your compensation ratio cannot exceed 40% of your overall budget. For example, for each dollar that comes into your business, you can afford to pay $.40 towards compensation. If your compensation cost is more than that, then you are at risk of having an unhealthy business.
If your spa compensation costs are high and your profits are low, check out the InSPAration Management VPG ComPlan Overview below to address these challenges and restructure a model that will help regain your financial foundation!
Still having financial issues at your spa? Please leave a comment or question below so we can help you!
When business owners first go into business they are excited, eager, motivated and can’t wait to get started. Then reality sits in and the bills start piling up, followed by pressure, tension anxiety. If you are like most owners you are always looking for ways to cut expenses and generate more revenue so it’s worth it to be in business.
The main reason entrepreneurs go into business for themselves is to be their own boss, have more freedom, and make more money. But here is the sad fact: in most cases business owners don’t pay themselves, they end up working harder and make less money. According to US census statistic an average business makes about 7% net profit. Yes there are some businesses that make more, some less, and some make none. Where do you stand? Are your overhead expenses diminishing your bottom line? If so, read the first of this 4 part series to learn strategies on gaining financial health.
1. Have a Budget
Most spa and salon owners who call our office seeking business help don’t have a budget. Without a spa budget, you are allowing your business to manage you instead of you managing it. Whether you have a large, medium, small spa or are even a solo-preneur, you must have a budget. Your budget should include a monthly breakdown of all your finances, such as:
Number of spa clients you expect to see monthly
Forecasted service revenue
Forecasted retail revenue
Spa product cost
Compensation cost
Spa Operating cost
Spa Marketing expenses
Budgeted profit
The key is to detail the budget as much as possible so your revenue goals are clear and to be disciplined enough to not over spend.
Want to see how healthy your business is? Take a financial assessment to see where your business stands.
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