spa management Archives - Wynne Business | Spa Consulting and Education

Now what? Spa management resources and thoughts

Greetings, and I wish it was under different circumstances.

I hope you will take 2 minutes to read this, and reap the benefits of some nuggets provided below…

To say these are unprecedented times would be an understatement.

After 35 years in this industry, I have never experienced this kind of situation, and I am sure the same is true for most of us, especially in respect to becoming familiar with terms like “social distancing” and “corona-lockdown.” However, as I walked through the grocery store Sunday (my only outing of the weekend, wearing rubber gloves) I considered that the half-full aisles are a common occurrence in many parts of the world, nothing new. Here in America, our norm is an abundance of goods and services, and access to those goods and services, at all times. We live in a country that is built to support speed and commerce; as someone who travels a lot, I am always struck by how easy and efficient it is to transact almost anything here, whether making copies and presentation materials in an hour, renting a car, getting a pedicure at 10pm, or even withdrawing cash from an ATM that is on every corner. Change is difficult for most humans, and as leaders we need to be prepared to be strong for our families and colleagues.

I suspect that in the next few weeks/months, we are going to learn a new appreciation for many of the advantages we have taken for granted. I am hopeful that our spa/salon/wellness/fitness clients will feel the same, and will have a renewed focus on maintaining their personal wellness which will lead them back in droves to our temporarily shuttered businesses. This is such a massively difficult time for our hands-on small businesses, and I am so sad for all of those who are losing so much.

Obviously, we cannot give facials virtually, but we can stay connected with our clients and should attempt to do so. We are so extremely fortunate to have the internet and all of the social media channels at our fingertips to aide in this. Personally, I am finding myself on Instagram and Facebook much more than usual, and there is a lot of optimism and support to be found there between your fellow humans and business professionals. In the last week, I have taken online yoga and fitness classes, listened to guided meditations, and even taken a bread-baking class! Many businesses are reaching out in new and creative ways.

Particularly for spa and wellness business managers, I wanted to share just a few of the recent and upcoming online resources I have come across in the last week, and which you may find relevant and helpful:

You’re not in this alone: register and join myself and several other industry veterans for a FREE webinar discussion sponsored by Mindbody Online on Thursday March 26,12:30 EDT. Additionally, MBO has created an impressive collection of articles and advice for beauty/wellness/fitness businesses, accessible to anyone.
The Green Spa Network is offering a free wellness business community webinar TODAY March 24 at 3pm EDT
The SBA page on COVID-19 business guidance and loan resources
The Global Wellness Institute’s new Positively Well page, with links to global health resources as well as articles on optimism and living well, including this article from leadership expert and GWI board member Renee Moorefield of Wisdom Works
Salon consultant Steven Gomez has this group of helpful COVID-19-related business support tools
Medical spas should read this article posted on LinkedIn by attorney Sara Shikhman
CNBC shared this story of how small business owners are helping their employees
For our crucial resource partners, this article from Global Cosmetic Industry outlines the results of an ICMAD membership survey on what they, and in turn, their spa clients, can expect in the next weeks

Remember also that our online academy is ready and waiting for you; if you or a member of your team has been hoping to sharpen your management skills, we are putting our industry-leading Spa Directors Management Intensive on sale for the next four weeks.

Regularly priced at $995, we will offer it at $495 until April 15, 2020. While it takes most students eight to twelve weeks to complete the curriculum, with additional time on your hands that can be greatly shortened!

Yesterday I took a long walk through my town, and many other people were out doing the same (just not passing too close to one another!) Spring clean-up in yards, and the cheerful flowering trees and daffodils, give one hope. Thank goodness at least we have that.

Stay well and stay strong!

Lisa & Michelle

Why Staff Engagement Is Key To Spa Success

Ever look around the spa and feel like your staff is just going through the motions? They’re showing up at work, they’re servicing clients, but there is not a lot of energy or enthusiasm?

Staff engagement is a key component of your spa success, but how do you get it?

And how do you know when you have it?

Happy employees are not the same as engaged employees. Staff members can be personally happy, but still not engaged in their work.

A recent State of the American Workplace report found that while 32% of employees are committed to doing a good job, 50% of employees are just putting in time, and 17% are actively disengaged; they are disrupting their coworkers and driving away clients through poor communications and bad service. Imagine how much more productive, and profitable, your spa could be if you could make some inroads in engaging that other 70%!

But it’s easier said than done.

Why aren’t your spa employees engaged in their work?

There are multiple reasons, and it can be a combination of more than one of these:

You may not be selecting the applicants who are the best fit for your business and culture.
Your compensation plan may not reward high-performers or provide a career advancement path, causing people to stagnate.
There is not a clear vision and leadership driving the business forward.
The spa is not well-marketed and is not attracting a diverse clientele to keep your “artists” motivated.
There are too many cliques operating in your business, and those on the outside tend to disconnect.

We Are Not Human Resource Professionals

Part of the challenge facing spa management is that we are not human resource professionals. Our creative orientation sometimes causes us to believe that if we hire someone who is technically good at massage or esthetics, the rest will take care of itself. But all too often, that’s not what happens. Engagement in our work doesn’t just happen. It requires the creation of behind-the-scenes processes and structure to select the right people, and ongoing training, compensation and career development to keep them mentally tuned in. Certainly, spa staff members are interested in their earnings potential, but they’re also interested in opportunities to train and grow as professionals; in fact, their artistic backgrounds often mean that these factors can outweigh financial compensation. That explains the importance of creating annual budgets that allow the business to provide regular high-quality training for all staff members.

Human Resource consultant Josh Bersin of Deloitte explores tactics business leaders can follow in this post titled “Five Elements of a Simply Irresistible™ Organization;” while these are targeted to large employers, the basics he espouses are exactly the same for spas and small businesses. Put a little energy into considering the environment and culture you are providing, and it will come back to you in multiples.

In many cases, as spa leaders, we just need a refresh.

We need to step outside of our spa and refresh our skills and our minds. If you need a refresh, consider registering for the Wynne Business online Spa Director’s Management Intensive. Our online course is available on-demand to fit into your schedule. Learn more about this valuable resource here.

What’s Your Biggest Spa Organizational Issue?

What’s your biggest organizational issue?

At first glance, your response might be, “Simple, I need to clean off my desk.”

But we’re talking bigger, deeper, wider organization.

We’re talking processes, procedures, protocols, etc., all of those words that “organized” people use. If you’re someone whose ears slam shut when you hear those terms, we’re probably talking to you!

Because really, you want your business to run smoothly, right? You want your staff to know the “rules,” and not have to stop to ask you questions all day. You want your clients treated with the utmost in care and respect at all times. You want to have a good reputation in your marketplace, so you can continue to attract new staff, as well as customers. And those things don’t happen by accident. They happen for businesses who have systems and structure, businesses that are, in a word, organized.

I know it’s challenging to feel organized in the spa environment. Some of the common spa work environment factors that challenge organizations are:

Operating Hours

In an office that’s open from 9-5, M-F, it’s easier to set aside some time for “busy work” such as end-of-the-year cleanouts and reorganization of supplies. You can stay an hour later one night, or come in an hour early one morning. We can do that in the spa also, but it’s a lot more difficult, especially as spas are often open six and even seven days a week, and the days are long. Some spas are open as many as 70 hours per week, and when the spa is open, there are hopefully clients there, making it difficult to tackle behind the scenes tasks.

Software

These days, most every spa has it. But many still don’t use it to its full advantage or are not even aware of many of the built-in capabilities of their systems. There may be existing solutions to some of your pressing problems, like tracking staff vacation requests, or professional inventory supplies, and certainly client files and marketing efforts. Yes, there is no time to take tutorials and learn, but really, are you getting your money’s worth from your system?

Isolated Environments

In the spa, strangely, when the business is at its most busy, no employees can be seen. Customer service, yes, but everyone else is tucked away in their treatment area working on-on-one with a client. This doesn’t make it easy to work together; you can’t lean into your fellow employee’s cubicle and share information, or work collaboratively. So this slows things down.

Physical Space

Since revenue-producing space is at a premium in the spa environment, there is not typically a lot of back-of-house space available. Some front desks don’t even have the luxury of a back counter for storage of retail supplies or pending sales, and many spa owners share their office space with the laundry. While this makes it very difficult to get organized, it also makes it even more imperative that we do so; with lack of resources, everything should have an assigned place.

Here is some useful advice from professional organizer and author Debbie Lillard, owner of Space to Spare. Lillard advises on her website that “You may never have a perfectly neat office, but you can be functionally organized by following my method of C.P.R.”

Categorize

Whether you are talking about your desk, a closet or the whole office, start to put things in categories. If one pile is too big, break it into sub-categories.

Purge

Toss whatever is outdated, no longer useful information, duplicate material or broken electronics. Keep the basics: a work table, filing drawers, a cabinet or closet for supplies, bookshelves, and maybe one whiteboard or bulletin board.

Re-arrange

When you are left with what you use, start to arrange the workspace into functional areas: equipment & supplies, filing, Action items (to do, to read, to call, to send), and put things where you naturally use them. Use bins or containers that you already have or purchase ones that are the right size for what you need.

Lillard website and books share a wealth of advice, and you can follow her on Twitter at @DebbieLillard.

So don’t be shy, wade in and get started. The new year is 10 days old already!

Mastering Complaint Resolution and Service Recovery

This training was offered as a webinar and is currently available online as Part 4 of the Spa Concierge Finishing School and also accessed on our Learning Academy page.

Below are the topics which are covered.

Join us for this employee training session, co-presented by Lisa Starr and Peggy Wynne Borgman. We include time for your questions at the end of the presentation.

Are you confident in your employees’ ability to resolve guest complaints?
Do they know how to handle the inevitable issues that arise in a busy spa operation?
Are you certain that guests leave your spa satisfied?
When was the last time they received training in complaint resolution?

A great reputation has always been the best way to market a spa. But the internet has made superior customer service a crucial survival skill.

Web search is one of your top marketing modalities, and negative reviews can cost you thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

Our employee training webinar, “Moments of Truth: Mastering Complaint Resolution and Service Recovery” can give you a chance to economically and quickly get your team up to speed.

Don’t let another month pass without inoculating your front-line team against mediocre customer service, and common errors.

“The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled,” said the founder of Neiman Marcus. This webinar is designed to enable your front desk team to manage the inevitable mistakes and mishaps of a busy spa operation, while strengthening customer relationships and improving customer service. The adrenaline-charged moment when an upset customer complains is a make-or-break event for your business. Make sure your team doesn’t hide their heads in the sand–ensure that they will ride to the rescue of your reputation!
Download for unlimited use within your business.

Agenda:
• Why your team must treat complaints as an opportunity
• 96% of your guests won’t complain; how to treat the 4% who do
• Using complaint resolution to improve relationships
• How online review sites have magnified the power of unhappy guests, and what to do about it
• Managing the “fight or flight” response when confronted by an upset customer
• The five steps to masterful complaint resolution
• Cultivating awareness: the ounce of prevention
• How to ask questions that get real answers from your guests
• Making it easy to complain
• How and when to apologize
• Helping the guest realize you’re “on their side”
• Avoiding the common mistakes of complaint resolution, including explaining, blame and scapegoating
• How to effectively manage a “venting” guest
• Techniques to improve your listening skills
• How to tell the difference between an upset and an abusive customer–and what to do about it
• Restoring a guest’s faith
• Making amends without giving away the store
• What most clients really want from “amends”
• The hidden danger in giving refunds too quickly
• What to do when your offer of amends is rejected by an upset guest
• How to prevent problems from recurring

Please check the Events and Learning Academy pages for our offered trainings.

Spa Director’s Management Intensive 2011

If you own, manage, or plan to open or acquire a spa, this program is a must!

Presented by Lisa M. Starr and Peggy Wynne Borgman of Wynne Business Spa Consulting

If you’re already involved in spa operations, you’ll find solutions for your toughest management challenges. If you’re planning a facility, you’ll leave this program with a clear-cut strategy for business success. If you’re considering a career change or advancement into spa management, the Spa Director’s Management Program will put you miles ahead of the competition. This fast-paced, information-packed program is full of original, innovative but practical concepts that are actually at work in top spas. We work hard to make sure the days you spend with us are extremely rewarding. You’ll also take home our exclusive text, an incredible reference you’ll use again and again. This includes tools you’ll be able to put to use the day you return to work. You’ll have a chance to meet other spa industry professionals, a diverse group of people, from all over the world. Participants typically represent a variety of industries and greatly enrich the program with their input. You’ll create a support network that will prove invaluable as your business or career grows. The small size of the class ensures individual attention and maximum interaction.

Financial Management

Managing by the numbers: understanding financial statements
How productive is your spa? An accurate way to measure
Compensation Design: the key to profitability
Owner compensation: what’s fair?
Plugging the profit “leaks” in your spa operation
Discounting: is it right for your facility?
Staying out of trouble: proper accounting practices for spas
The raging gift market: taming the tiger

Marketing Mastery

“One-to-one” marketing: cheaper, better, faster
Customer retention: your best marketing tool
Calculating your actual cost of customer acquisition
A formula to instantly boost your sales by 33%
The power of PR: developing your media kit
Positioning your spa to survive intense competition
Essential components of great spa brochures

Successful Programs

Developing a compelling service program
Long-term programs: the new spa package
Programming for profit: which services to emphasize
Two key trends that must guide your program design
Staging spa experiences: the perils of packages
Workflow: managing its impact on quality and morale
Scheduling for maximum productivity.and quality

Leadership

Recruitment: effective strategies for hiring the best employees
Why the customer comes “second” in a successful spa
Why you’re doing everything yourself.and how to stop it!
Managing communications issues in your spa team
Why you can’t motivate your staff and what to do about it.
How to produce great staff meetings
Managing conflict between technical and support teams
Getting your support team to “think on their feet”

Quality Management

What customers value most: it may surprise you
How to manage quality in the “closed door” spa environment
The three essential ingredients of world class service
Training = quality: building your in-house program
How to instill a “quality” mindset in your entire team
Customer relations: resolving complaints
Comps, refunds and redo’s: how to use them wisely

Retail Success

Harnessing the awesome power of retail sales
Teaching spa therapists to sell
Tools and Techniques that support retail sales
Do you need a Home Care Consultant?
Creating a profitable retail mix
Retail Trends
The Spa Store: Visual Merchandising and Display
Mail order and online stores: Are you ready?

Seminar venue: The charming Inn at Saratoga, along the banks of Saratoga Creek in the historic village of Saratoga. Nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains, the Inn at Saratoga is a peaceful Silicon Valley hideaway. Just 20 minutes from San Jose International Airport (SJC) and 50 minutes from San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

If you would like this course offered LIVE in your location, please reach out to us at seminars@wynnebusiness.com

to discuss or access our online Spa Directors Management Intensive here.

Seven Steps To Abundant Sales And Stellar Customer Service

Mastering Complaint Resolution and Service Recovery

Are you confident in your employees’ ability to resolve guest complaints?
Do they know how to handle the inevitable issues that arise in a busy spa operation?
Are you certain that guests leave your spa satisfied?
When was the last time they received training in complaint resolution?

A great reputation has always been the best way to market a spa. But the internet has made superior customer service a crucial survival skill.

Web search is one of your top marketing modalities, and negative reviews can cost you thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

Our employee training, “Moments of Truth: Mastering Complaint Resolution and Service Recovery” can give you a chance to economically and quickly get your team up to speed.

Don’t let another month pass without inoculating your front-line team against mediocre customer service, and common errors.

“The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled,” said the founder of Neiman Marcus. This training is designed to enable your front desk team to manage the inevitable mistakes and mishaps of a busy spa operation, while strengthening customer relationships and improving customer service. The adrenaline-charged moment when an upset customer complains is a make-or-break event for your business. Make sure your team doesn’t hide their heads in the sand–ensure that they will ride to the rescue of your reputation!

Agenda:
• Why your team must treat complaints as an opportunity
• 96% of your guests won’t complain; how to treat the 4% who do
• Using complaint resolution to improve relationships
• How online review sites have magnified the power of unhappy guests, and what to do about it
• Managing the “fight or flight” response when confronted by an upset customer
• The five steps to masterful complaint resolution
• Cultivating awareness: the ounce of prevention
• How to ask questions that get real answers from your guests
• Making it easy to complain
• How and when to apologize
• Helping the guest realize you’re “on their side”
• Avoiding the common mistakes of complaint resolution, including explaining, blame and scapegoating
• How to effectively manage a “venting” guest
• Techniques to improve your listening skills
• How to tell the difference between an upset and an abusive customer–and what to do about it
• Restoring a guest’s faith
• Making amends without giving away the store
• What most clients really want from “amends”
• The hidden danger in giving refunds too quickly
• What to do when your offer of amends is rejected by an upset guest
• How to prevent problems from recurring

Visit our Learning Academy and click on “Spa Concierge Finishing School“. The 4th unit in this online class will help you tackle these challenges.

Front Desk Training: Checkout that Maximizes Rescheduling & Retail

Registration for this webinar has closed. Below are the topics which were discussed. Please check the Events and Learning Academy pages for our offered trainings.

Your biggest moment of truth in a spa or salon takes place, not in a treatment room or at an employee’s station, but when a client is checking out. This is the moment you must ascertain whether a guest is satisfied, when your guest is invited to reschedule, and when they are invited to make home care purchases. Your challenge? To do all this while checking out guests as quickly and as accurately as possible.

Because your reschedule/retention rate is the most critical metric in business success, this “moment” must consistently ensure the best possible outcome. Being friendly and efficient is important, but it’s only the beginning.

Join us for this webinar, the third in our series for front desk employees and their managers. Presenters Lisa M. Starr and Peggy Wynne Borgman of Wynne business, veteran spa consultants and educators, pack the hour of instruction full of use-it-tomorrow, down to earth content. Jessica Zike of Coyle Hospitality Group, the premier mystery shopping company for the hospitality industry, will kick off the session by providing eye opening real-world performance data from their Mystery Shoppers, as well as anecdotes about front-desk experiences that missed the mark.

Participants will learn:

– The importance of the front desk team in building the business
– The hidden opportunities of checkout
– Who is supposed to do what? Understanding roles and responsibilities in this transitional zone
– Recognizing the guest at checkout; what to do when you don’t know their name
– Creating a smooth “handoff” from a service provider to the front desk
– Creating a smooth transition from the locker room to the front desk
– How to effectively gauge guest satisfaction at checkout
– The most inspiring home care recommendation strategies
– What to do when you’re asked a question you can’t answer!
– How to respond to “objections” such as “I already have something like this at home”
– Building the sale with “bumps”
– The recipe for persuasive invitations to return
– What to say when the guest says, “I need to check my calendar”
– The most neglected step in the checkout process

The Spa Director’s Management Intensive: August 22-25

Registration for this training has closed and below are the topics which were discussed. Please check the Events and Learning Academy pages for our offered trainings. Interested in trainings in your area? Please email us.

If you own, manage, or plan to invest in a spa, this program is a must!

Co-taught by Peggy Wynne Borgman and Lisa M. Starr of Wynne Business Spa Consulting

Read more

Inspiration For Spa Leadership Challenges

Productivity Secrets of Busy Spa Directors

Registration for this webinar has closed and below are the topics which were discussed. Please check the Events and Learning Academy pages for our offered trainings.

You only have so many hours in a day. And in a busy spa operation, you lose lots of those to crisis management. How can you cross more items off your “to do” list while not losing sight of the bigger strategic picture, and ensuring that your team gets the “care and feeding” they need? In this era of downsizing, with many spa directors spending more time on the operations floor, can you really increase your effectiveness?

This fast, free webinar will help you get much more out of your next day at the spa, and every day to come. The session is just 35 minutes, with a 10 minute live Q & A.

Joining me will be guest panelist Tatia Davenport of DeluxeSalonSupply.com. Tatia is an amazing businesswoman who operates two successful California spas, is Business Development Executive for DeluxeSalonSupply.com, and a former executive at e*trade. Her insights into productivity, gleaned from real-world experience operating spas and from corporate America, will help you take control of your time. This is a great webinar to share with your supervisors, too.

AGENDA

How your “to-do” list is sabotaging you–and what to do about it
The common task that starts most people’s workday–and why it should never start yours
The biggest source of “rework” and how to improve it
Process improvement made simple
Are you constantly interrupted, or constantly interruptible? Managing communication with others to protect productive time
Avoiding phone tag/e mail tag with a few simple techniques
“They can’t do anything without me!” Avoiding the trap of being the Answer (wo)Man
Delegation: the three-step process you must use so that items you delegate don’t end up back in your lap
“Inspect what you expect”
Block and Tackle: “batching” tasks
Good e mail “hygiene”
Simplify the Buy: why the way you source may be all wrong
The magic of Five-Minute Meetings
Time-saving (and easy to master) technology tools
Understanding the “highest and best use” of your time and energy

First time in China: Advanced Spa Management Techniques with Lisa Starr

Registration has closed and below are the topics which were discussed.

Please check the Events and Learning Academy pages for our offered trainings.

A one day class with Lisa M. Starr of Wynne Business Spa Consulting

Sponsored in part by The Banyan Tree, Hainan

Competition is increasing! Are you ready?

The rapid growth of the spa industry in China requires managers to be at the top of their game. Attention to detail in every aspect of the spa operation is essential to its success. A beautifully designed spa is just the beginning. Making sure that your spa can attract customers, make a profit, and operate smoothly is the truly challenging part.

If you are a spa director, manager or owner, you can’t afford to miss this outstanding program, which emphasizes practical and proven methods for improving spa performance. International spa consultant Lisa Starr, a former GM of a group of spas herself, will share advanced techniques for mastering the four pillars of spa growth and success:

Advanced financial management skills
Spa Marketing Strategies and Tactics
Selecting, training and retaining the top employees
Building an efficient operating infrastructure

This outstanding professional education will be presented at the luxurious Banyan Tree Resort. Admission includes lunch and tea breaks as well as your course text. Attendees will also receive a certificate of completion.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the class begins at 9:30 a.m., ending at 5 p.m.

Tuition discounts are available for attendees of the SpaChina Summit, and members of the China Spa Association.

Questions? Contact us at seminars@wynnebusiness.com

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Wynne Business Senior Consultant Lisa M. Starr has almost 30 years of experience in the spa industry. An accomplished instructor, Lisa leads Wynne Business educational seminars for spa owners and managers. Her consulting clients throughout the U.S. and in Asia include day spa start-ups and turnarounds, medi-spas and hotel spas, hospitals, fitness clubs, and salons offering spa services. She is a popular speaker at industry events, including IECSC, ISPA, Spa & Resort Expo, and the Spa Asia Wellness Summit. Lisa is a regular columnist at American Spa Magazine and is Director of Community for SpaTrade.com, a top spa business portal.

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