The Human Factor- Spa Business

I think we should start with getting one thing clear: It is not all about the hair, the hands, the face, or the feet. It is about the experience people have when they come to your business that determines if they return. I’m talking about the human factor in your spa business.

Yes you need to be skilled and get results. I made that sound trivial and I know that is far from the truth. But for the purposes of this conversation I am going to assume you, and your team, know that. Everyone, you included, stay current with your chosen service and treatment techniques. The results you deliver are important BUT I find most people/customers find it hard to separate good from great treatments. What clients want most is to FEEL special in that heartfelt way. They want to be heard, appreciated and understood. That everyone in your business “gets” them and know how to make them feel like they are the one and only most important client. I describe it as the experience you get when an exceptional person you know, and we all know at least one, who makes you feel “happy” after talking with them. They look you in the eye and they don’t look away, get distracted by their phone, look for someone or something more interesting during your conversation. They make you feel like the most important person in the world! You know that feeling don’t you?

So it really does boil down to the human factor. How you make your fellow humans feel after doing business with you.

So my question for you is what steps are you taking to assure a quality experience each and every time between your customer and your team?

Are you relying on your team to have your same standards you have? Do they know what they are? Are they in writing? Do you manage them to this standard?

Simple things like greetings and departures. Simple to say, no so simple to detail, write out, train, and manage to, improve and do it all over again. Getting into the details like how to shake someone’s hand. How long is good eye contact? What is the tone and volume of the voice? What to say, precisely. I am not a fan of creating robots but rather highly skilled professionals that I would be comfortable and proud to leave alone with my highest spending customer.

So just start by doing it step by step today. Keep it simple:

Review all moments of truth in a client arrival.

– where they enter

– how long it takes to greet them

– what is said by a staff member

– what does a customer see and hear and smell?

– etc. etc. etc.

Just keep going though the client experience. If you want consistently excellent experiences you will invest the time and training needed to make sure everyone who does business with you is thrilled with the outcome and the feeling they leave with.

Be well and Be Excellent!

Rob

 

 

 

 

Spa Training – Love the Learnin’

People always are asking me what are the traits of the most successful people I work with. What do they do? How do they think? How do they know what to do? For those of you who are wondering. Sorry, there is no magic bullet. In my experience, there is no one singular trait that makes a successful business owner. Some are real hard asses, some are warm and fuzzy. Some are number crunchers, some just know there’s money in the bank.  Some are passionate leaders and others one of the herd.  Spa Training – Love the Learnin’.

That said, the one consistent activity I see that successful spa and salon owners take on is training and education. They are constantly looking for betters ways to do things. They are not stuck on yesterday but looking forward to tomorrow. They will go anywhere and pay anything to get what they need. When I ask them why the answer is inevitably something like, “Whatever I learn I can use to be more profitable and whatever I pay is a drop in the bucket in comparison”.  To me, that also speaks to their understanding of not always fixating on being the smartest person in the room and being able to learn from others.

So my question for you is, what are you doing to be better, smarter, inspired or more profitable today? When is the last time you took time away from your business to work ON the spa business rather than IN the spa business. Is it time to get some spa training for your team?

Take time each week and set it aside. It may be reading an article online, or watching a video and maybe getting out of your office and somewhere else where knowledge is being shared. Start with a little time on a consistent basis and it will build to something meaningful. I read a great example the other day in the world of fitness. The man was speaking about the wonders of doing pushups. He said make your goal 100 pushups a day. That can be 20 sets of 5 or 10 sets of 10 or 5 sets of 20. Whatever it is, get it done throughout the course of a day. That makes it sound pretty doable right? At the end of the year, it would mean you did 36,500 pushups. Do you think that would make a difference to your fitness?

Take the same approach to your learning. be a ravenous learner and bask in the results.

Do you want spa training for your business? Contact me here.

Be well,

Rob

Spa Business Staff Training

Staff education and training is the way to achieve this. Individual and group training must be continuous. Practicing mock situations can be helpful in training staff to deal with unusual situation and unhappy customers. Practice, practice and more practice. Staff training is essential in your spa business. 

Setting clear expectation for staff is key to achieving a happy, efficient work environment. Detailed job descriptions covering all aspects of a job help staff feel secure in what they are doing. Providing detailed information for procedures from answering the phone to re-booking, will help your staff to improve the guest experience.

A positive, friendly workplace environment is essential to having your staff feel like they’re part of a great team. Celebrate your staff’s successes, communicate with them, and empower them. Happy staff generate positive guest interaction. 

Staff training—both group and individual—should be mandatory and be done on a regular basis. There should be opportunity for the sharing of ideas, and for feedback—both positive and negative. 

For this and other coaching in your Spa business contact us here.