Nergish Wadia-Austin, PHAB Standard
permitting low productivity levels to continue without dealing with the heart of the matter. Experienced therapists know that when a guest decides to book a visit to the spa it is because they have an underlying need that they are hoping their therapist will identify, understand and solve with further treatments, advice, products or spa tools, so that when they leave the spa, their issues are completely dealt with. A competent therapist fulfi ls the guest’s needs and makes further sales in doing so, but this is always driven by the needs of the client and not by the sales.
Get behind closed doors
The fact that most spa treatments take place behind closed doors does not help a manager keep track of performance; the spa manager cannot ever be certain exactly why one therapist out-performs another. However, until a manager has worked out exactly what type of conversation takes place between the under-performing therapist and the guest, the problem is never really addressed. To make matters worse, as each guest is seen by a linear
team of spa staff, from the telephone booking to the treatment to payment, it can be diffi cult to identify exactly who in the chain is missing these sales opportunities. Managers who are worried about performance often resort to re-testing therapists’ ability to carry out the treatment, which of course is not the gap in the knowledge that requires fi xing, and so nothing is ever resolved.
Diagnosing under-performance In order to fi nd out where the problem lies, a manager must look at each therapist’s daily performance results. If a therapist is bringing in the exact same revenues as are booked into their column at the start of the day, then you know that little or no discussion of the guests’ needs is taking place behind that particular closed door. The manager needs to assess the therapist to fi nd out where they are going wrong. There are several ways of doing this. Role-play is an effective method of assessing therapists’ ‘couch-side’ sentences. Managers need to ascertain whether staff are covering three main points: how long the guest has had their concern; how quickly it can be dealt with; and what form the solution will take. Employing a mystery shopper is another way to identify missed sales opportunities. It is a better option than questioning guests, because a guest will focus more on customer service than on the commercial angle. The most recent industry development for testing consultation knowledge in detail is via on-line exams, which test therapists, nail technicians and spa receptionists on their ability to professionally communicate with customers on topics including how to up- and cross-sell, how to re-book customers, and how to ensure customers recommend to friends, colleagues and family.
In the next issue: Nergish will deliver the fi xes and follow-ups to ensure that your therapists productivity is at an all time high.
www.europeanspamagazine.com | european spa
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