To the owner / leader personnel are resources / investments/ ambassadors and the mindset is to become more intelligent about how to make them the most effective in the spa, thus increasing the effectiveness of the spa itself.

More often than not, a consultant (an independent business person) looks at personnel as labor, part of a profit and loss statement,…Ironically, consultants are looked upon in much the same way by spa owners – part of the profit & loss statement in economically challenging times.

Good debate!

On the other hand, the few that demand to be “independent business people” within the walls of your business are not helping your business to attain its goals and therefore are NOT an asset to your business rather a liability that we should encourage to leave our employment.

Or so it seems to me…

Best Wishes & Healthy Profits
Skip Williams

As businesses attempt to cut costs to make their profit margins there is always risk; will I lose employees?, will the guest receive lower quality products and services?, will lower morale affect the guest experience thus resulting in decreased customer loyalty and lower spend?

To add on to your thoughts around decreasing provider costs, I’ve learned through experience and research that to negatively impact the employee usually negatively impacts the guest’s experience resulting in decreased revenues. Fortunately, there are ways to work with team members to ensure they are more committed to the business and understand the need to make adjustments.

Often employees do not understand what the “real” cost of a service is. They only know what the customer is paying and what they are receiving. Managers should not be afraid to educate front-line staff on the cost to run the business and how this looks at the service level. Managers can also share the life time value of a guest to demonstrate the importance of every guest’s experience and the importance of return behavior. Instill in employees the important role they play in the long term success of the spa.

To alleviate cost cutting pain, spas can become creative in building programs that support employees but are inexpensive. For example;
- Create incentive programs that have input from the recipients.
- Offer on-site training to advance practitioner skill levels and build team synergy.
- Train how to properly rebook and then create incentive to do so.
- Provide ways in which team members can contribute to spa sustainability through treatment planning, low pressure product sales, superior guest service and cost reduction.
- Front desk staff can attend service training provided by the technicians. This helps them fully understand the offered services improving booking success.
- Most importantly when having hard discussions, find ways to ensure that employees know how important their role is to the success of the business. Too often cutbacks are made with little information and the employee is left feeling resentful and afraid.

When employees feel safe, educated and important they are more likely to stick around during tough times.

A couple of thoughts:
- Work on upgrading and upselling services – have your front desk staff and service providers promote your specialty facials, spa pedicures or 90 minute massages instead of the old fall backs of a basic facial, standard pedicure or hour long massage. It really helps too if the staff is able to give a luscious description about why they love the treatment and prefer it over other services.

- Ask every client to rebook – Don’t let clients slip out the door without asking them to schedule their next appointment. Not everyone will do it but a good number of clients will be happy to plan another hour or two of stress management into their schedule and budget, especially when they’re still in the land of bliss.

- Use the Internet. Send clients updates about new products, open appointment times or last minute specials through email, e-newsletters, your web site and blog. It is practically cost free (aside from your standard hosting costs or subscriptions) and can get an instant result in your check book and bank account.