Pamela Hill Institute

This is Day 5 in our Week of Guest Speakers for the Benefit of all the Spa Professionals and Aestheticians that turn to us for ongoing industry education. We hope our special guest articles teach, motivate and inspire you!

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As the owner of a day spa, you’re bombarded with business decisions every day. Many of these decisions fall into two categories: staffing and operations. Intuitively, most spa owners resolve these problems quickly to everyone’s satisfaction. But, what happens when you’re faced with complicated issues such as whether to expand or relocate your business, whether to bring in a new product line or make a major purchase? At these times, a little marketing know-how goes a long way. Follow these three marketing steps to ensure the success of your next spa venture:

• Market Analysis
• Planning
• Marketing Tactics

Step One: Market Analysis (3 C’s)

The beauty industry is rapidly changing, and it’s exciting to offer new products and services to your customers. Your salon image is tied to staying abreast with beauty innovations. But, how do you determine which is right for your business? Start by focusing on the 3 C’s of Market Analysis: customers, competitors, and company. You’ll need to look at all three areas and see how they stack up to make an objective decision.

Customers

Look first to your current customers. Who are they and how do they make their purchasing decisions? Do they fall into a demographic that will utilize your new product or service? Do they have the resources to pay for it? If you’re thinking about relocating, how many of your existing customers will follow you to a new location? Are your customers excited to try the “latest and greatest”, or are they likely to stick with the “tried and true”? If your current clientele won’t use the proffered product or service, can you attract new customers who will?

Competitors

Now look at your competitors. Who are they, and what products and services do they offer? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Visit new salons in your area, and see how they’re positioning themselves. What do your top competitors do better than you? What is their strategy? How do they market themselves? Take a look at their prices, staff, and service menu. How does their ambience compare with yours? Find out as much as you can about them, and use that information to make changes that will benefit your salon.

Company

Now take a hard look at your own company. What are your core competencies? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What is your financial situation? What is the culture at your day spa? Is your staff eager to learn and adopt new technologies and treatments? Are you adequately funded for major purchases? How about money for training? If you’re contemplating a move, will your staff go with you?

Step Two: Marketing Plan

This is when you set clear objectives. Consider which customer segments to target and how you’ll draw them to your service. How will you differentiate yourself from the competition and how can you sustain your market position? Brainstorm to come up with a list of benefits that you can use in your marketing campaign. Focus on the emotional impact of your product and service. Think about what your customers (or potential customers) value. Do they attach importance to great customer service, customized treatments, and personalized, human touch? How about value and saving money? Perhaps your customers prefer small, independent professionals over large companies and retail chains. With proper analysis, you’ll come up with a list of benefits that you can use consistently in all your marketing collateral, including your website.

Step Three: Marketing Tactics (4 P’s)

This stage deals with the nitty-gritty of marketing tactics. You’ll look at product, price, promotion, and place (commonly referred to as distribution) and how they affect product positioning. By focusing on the 4 P’s, you help shape the perceived value of your products and services in the minds of your customers, thereby eliciting a positive response. That should be your primary goal. Bear in mind that many outside and inside factors contribute to the overall success of your marketing campaign.

Conclusion: By answering some broad-based questions, you’ll have a clear idea of the major problems, opportunities and threats facing your company. You’ll be able to formulate a strategy to address these areas and devise a marketing plan to execute those ideas. Good strategic thinking should be based on careful market analysis. Never make the mistake of letting tactics drive strategy. Start your marketing framework with the 3 C’s, move on to setting your objectives, and then formulate your marketing plan with the 4 P’s. Following these three simple steps will help guarantee success.

Article Compliments of: Spa Marketing, an online company that specializes in website design and Internet marketing solutions for companies in the health and beauty industry. If you need help with a marketing plan or strategy for your spa business, you may want to contact them. http://www.spamarketing.net

This is Day 4 in our Week of Guest Speakers for the Benefit of all the Spa Professionals and Aestheticians that turn to us for ongoing industry education. We hope our special guest articles teach, motivate and inspire you!

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"The obscure we see eventually, the completely obvious takes longer." – Edwin Newman

First I had an "ah-hah!" experience. Then I had a "Duh?" experience when, a few days ago, I realized that all my passion regarding customer service is nothing more than "Duh." As in "Duh, I know that," or "Duh, of course, it's so simple!"

Service is based on foundations that are so basic it's almost ridiculous, and yet even though it's simple, when it comes to consistently providing high levels of hospitality, it's easier said than done. It requires that we go inside ourselves to discover some very important — and necessary — information. Most importantly, what are the things that customers do to push our buttons and cause us to react in a way we're not proud of? Is there a way we can notice we've become reactive, and can we move into the higher and, yes, the "duh!" level where true hospitality occurs?

Living in and operating out of a high level of hospitality requires an in-depth understanding of "Duh." But what is "Duh?" Here are some of its principles…

Caring.

If you don't care about the feelings of others, if you are not interested in their "story," if their opinion of you has no value to you, it will simply not be possible to function at a high level of hospitality. Duh!

Empathy.

Apathy is not the path to empathy. One of the basic principles of dealing with difficult situations requires first that you must care.Duh!

Willingness.

You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. You have to open your heart and connect with someone else beyond the perfunctory performance of a job. You have to be willing to go beyond your ego. You have to be willing to stay present and open, not protective or vindictive. Without the willingness to do such things, it is not possible to function at a high level of hospitality. Duh!

Patience.

This is a simple but difficult quality to demonstrate, especially consistently. People try our patience, and many service encounters can be described as "the irritable interacting with the irritated." Patience requires that we know how to listen, it requires caring empathy, and willingness, and it requires that we don't take everything personally. Duh!

Love.

Yes, love! There, I've said it. Everyone tells you never to mention love when you're talking about business, but I say … Duh! It's the truth! If we would just remember to act more lovingly toward each other, we would be able to operate at the highest level of hospitality. The truth is to reach the minds of our customers, servers must operate from the heart. Duh!

Understanding.

It is each of our responsibilities to know our products and services. It is simply not enough to be nice. We must also be knowledgeable. A sincere service person who doesn't have information is still unacceptable. It is important to understand that just because we do things correctly, it doesn't mean we're delivering good service. It isn't enough if we don't actually connect with the person we're serving. The only way service magic can be created is through connection; we must stay with people without the myriad distractions that cause customers to feel rushed and unimportant. Making customers feel good, letting them know you appreciate their business, and being able to understand and answer their needs: these are the fundamentals that make them return. Duh!

Attentiveness.

In order to serve, we have to pay attention to our own feelings as well as to the feelings of our customers. We have to pay attention and heed that little word: "think." So many people don't think before they act. They simply react, setting up a negative experience for everyone. If we paid attention and took the split second to notice our customers in a deeper way, we could fill our time with rich relationships instead of rote activities. Duh!

Follow-Through.

If you say you are going to do something, do it! If you promise something, deliver it, and don't promise what you can't deliver. Following through means acting on something right away. It involves handling situations before they become huge nightmares. It means we have to see a job through to completion, and not pass it off to the next person and then forget about it. Follow-through requires accepting personal responsibility for every phone call we answer and every request we receive. Duh!

Organization.

We must first be organized if we have the intention to be of service. Most businesses are not set up to serve. Information is not readily available, and often times peopleare scrambling to find the answers. Downsizing has put
tremendous pressure on existing employees to have all the answers, and a common problem is blamed on inefficient staffing. While this is oftentimes true, it is also true that most places are not set up to serve properly in the first place. A good place to start to understand what is needed is to ask the people who actually do the serving. Duh!

Laughter.

Find humor in your work. Without a well-developed sense of humor it is entirely impossible to maintain the attitude needed to work with the public. But first you have to recognize and believe that humor is a choice. A sense of humor is your most powerful tool. It will get you through the most difficult situations. It is all in how you look at it. Duh!

Appreciativeness.

Four simple little words — "Thank You Very Much" — combine all the principles of "Duh." We don't say these words enough as customers, and we don't hear them enough as service providers. If we were jazzed when we heard those words as service providers, and we were generous in our appreciation as customers, the entire service process would flow from its original and proper source. Duh!

"Duh!" is just that. Duh! So then, why should something that's so obvious remain so elusive? After 20+ years of customer service indoctrination in the U.S.A., we're still having difficulty putting these simple values into action. When all we have to do is . . .

D eliver service with
U nderstanding and
H eart.

Reprinted from of Spa Trade (http:///www.spatrade.com) serves the unique needs of a large audience of spa professionals with cutting-edge web site and multimedia content. With a focus on providing resources and facilitating member-to-member interaction, SpaTrade provides breaking news, expert moderated discussion forums, a comprehensive product and service guide, and the Knowledge Base, an extensive, searchable database of spa-related information.

About the Author:

Holly Stiel, M.A. is a pioneer in the field of customer service. Twenty five years ago, she walked into the international convention of Les Clefs d’Or in Vienna as the first American woman admitted to the exclusive international concierges’ association. In 2004 Stiel was presented an honorary membership for her lifetime of service to the profession.

Holly Stiel's company Stiel Media, LLC developed the customer service training program for 1500 Hampton Inns and Hilton Garden Inns delivered on state of the art, interactive DVD. Other clients include: Bellagio Hotel & Resort, Bank of America, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Disneyland, Nordstrom, Loews Hotels, Marriott Hotels, MGM- Las Vegas, Nortel, Premier Resorts, Advanced Micro Devices, Sheraton Hotels, Sonesta Int. Hotels & Westin Hotels & Resorts. For more information, visit www.stielmedia.com.

This is Day 3 in our Week of Guest Speakers for the Benefit of all the Spa Professionals and Aestheticians that turn to us for ongoing industry education. We hope our special guest articles teach, motivate and inspire you!

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According to a poll taken at the Global Spa Summit held this past May in New York, recruiting and retaining good people to work for you is the biggest problem spa owners and managers face today. Given the extreme shortage of readily accessible, high-level business training for spa managers and personnel that exists worldwide, this hardly came as a surprise, given that the more than $40 billion global spa industry has experienced double-digit growth over the past 20 years.

A growth rate that impressive in any channel always escalates the demand for educated, experienced spa managers and personnel. If the spa industry is to continue expanding and building on past success, it must somehow find educated business leaders who understand the importance not only of running a successful spa but of maintaining the integrity and feel of the “spa environment” as well.

Though labor shortages are the most serious problem the spa industry faces today, a lack of industry-wide standards that define and set quantifiable standards for best practices in the various categories in which spas currently provide service is a close second. Without such standards, industry leaders say that consumers have no means of knowing what to expect when they arrive at a spa. Industry standards are necessary for devising quality training programs as well, and without them spa managers and owners will continue to have a difficult time finding qualified spa personnel to staff spa businesses.

Sensitive to industry concerns, keynote speakers for the Global Spa Summit concurred on the dual importance of enhancing spa clients’ health and sense of well being and educating consumers that spas are for increasing wellness and taking preventative measures against disease by adhering to healthful practices that include the spa environment.

In addition to the keynote speeches, conference attendees also had the opportunity to hear presentations and participate in breakout sessions about the latest spa industry data and statistics from around the world, spas as investment opportunities, ownership and management cooperative arrangements for hotel-based spas, and presentations on sustainability issues for spas—all challenges the industry must conquer to if it is to remain viable and continue to grow in a healthy manner.

Though spas have been prevalent in Europe and Asia for centuries, Americans have only recently begun to understand that spas are active contributors to an ethic of physical and mental wellness rather than places used simply for sybaritic self-indulgence. American consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the overall health benefits and improved life balance spas can help to provide.

Furthermore, while Wall Street’s increasing interest in the spa industry is beneficial in many ways, spa owners and managers must exercise vigilant care in order to maintain the authentic spa experience for clients and the soulfulness of the spa industry as a whole.

Today’s spa manager must be a well-rounded business person, knowledgeable about how operational functions such as human resources, finances, client services, marketing, public relations, facility management, staff training and education, customer loyalty, business branding and retail sales all affect the bottom line. Chief among these responsibilities is establishing and maintaining good employee relations, which in turn depend upon creating and sustaining a safe and respectful working environment for employees. Implementing a good employee relations program boosts productivity and helps businesses to comply with the host of employment laws and regulations mandated by state and federal laws.

To minimize employer liability, spa business owners and managers must identify, communicate and reinforce a slate of values and beliefs that support positive employee relations. Additionally, there is a need for spa managers to learn more about how to create and maintain the positive employee relations essential to the survival of all businesses. U.S employees spend more hours at work than any other employees in the Western World.

Successful business people recognize that teamwork is essential to reaching productivity goals will provide a workplace free of discrimination, harassment, substance abuse and violence. Management must realize that the company's teamwork value isn't being expressed as it should be when any one of the above behaviors is ignored, excused or simply overlooked.

Most spa owners and managers earnestly want their employees to be actively engaged in building their business, but many fail to communicate on a continual basis and meaningful level with their workers in three critical ways necessary for such engagement – explanation, feedback and consideration.

Spa owners and managers who want their businesses to succeed in the long term must learn how to engage their employees in building their businesses by making sure they explain not only the work they want employees to perform, but also why and how the work that they do is important to accomplishing the company’s mission and goals. People who appreciate the connection between what they do and the desired result feel included in the overall mission of any company,