TABLE 1 Marketing methods that prompted spa treatment bookings RESEARCH
Method
Direct mail print ad with deals or coupons Direct email ad with deals or coupons
Online deal site with limited time deal (ie SpaWeek, Groupon, Living Social, etc)
Word-of-mouth recommendation
It was in the hotel/resort/location I was near and I was in need of a spa
Reputation – branded spa Read about it in a third party publication Found it on a web search (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc)
marketing method. T e respondents were then asked if they’d gone back to the same spa (see Table 2). Eighty-fi ve per cent of those who went to a spa because of a word- of-mouth recommendation, returned aſt er the initial visit – making this form of mar- keting the strongest. Also powerful were the reputation and brand of the spa, with an 80 per cent retention rate. Direct mail, email ads and online deal sites all yielded reten- tion rates between 60 to 69 per cent. T e most important element, as Coyle
points out, is delivering consistently supe- rior service to each and every guest – deal user or not – to spark loyalty. Forgetting this important factor will lead to failed marketing eff orts, resulting in an initial surge in business and trail off immediately afterwards with little retention and few word-of-mouth referrals, if any.
BEFORE AND POST-SPA VISIT In addition to off ering superior service dur- ing the treatment and at the spa, how can spa professionals improve the experience both before and aſt er the spa visit? When asked about the most important elements on a spa website, 74 per cent (up 4 per cent from 2010) of respondents said it was ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to have the cancellation
Massage
16% 18%
30% 33% 42% 20%
7% 13% Facial
3% 6%
9%
10% 7% 9%
4% 6%
Nail
service 5%
4% 7%
10% 5% 2%
2% 5%
Hair
service 3%
3% 5% 8% 2% 3%
1% 3%
Waxing /
hair removal 2%
2% 4% 6% 2% 4%
2% 2%
Makeup application
0% 0%
1% 1% 1% 0%
0% 0%
Medical treatment
0% 1%
2% 2% 0% 1%
1% 1%
N/A
70% 66%
44% 31% 41% 61%
83% 70%
policy listed. Additionally, the importance of ‘general spa information’ to consumers rose by 4 per cent to 78 per cent. Coyle added online booking capabil-
Customers who visit because of a word-of-mouth referral are most likely to return
ing, a good start would be to do so with existing customers who already know what and with whom they wish to book. As in 2010, Coyle again asked
ities to the list for 2011 and found that 51 per cent found it ‘very important’ or ‘important’. T e survey asked which treatments con-
TABLE 2 What prompted customers to visit a spa initially and did they visit again?
Method
Direct mail print ad with deals or coupons Direct email ad with deals or coupons
Online deal site with limited time deal (ie SpaWeek, Groupon, Living Social, etc)
Word-of-mouth recommendation
It was in the hotel/resort/location I was near and I was in need of a spa
Reputation – branded spa Read about it in a third party publication
Found it on a web search (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc)
Returned
65% 69%
63% 85% 45% 80%
53% 64%
sumers have booked or would book online. Interestingly, the number of respond- ents who had booked a treatment online decreased slightly in most areas. This indi- cates that availability of online booking has not increased at the rate anticipated based on the demand for the service. When asked why they would not book a cer- tain treatment online, strong responses were the inability to ask detailed questions about personal treatments such as waxing, hair colouring or medical treatments. If operators want to try online book-
Have not returned
35% 31%
37% 15% 55% 20%
47% 36%
36 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital
respondents if they would be comfortable receiving follow-up contact aſt er their visit. Compared to 2010’s response of 88 per cent, 2 per cent fewer respondents said they would be comfortable with this. Coyle then asked how they would like to receive this follow-up. Interestingly, 10 per cent fewer respondents would like to receive an email from a spa manager or concierge to check on satisfac- tion. Emails with special off ers also saw a decline of 6 per cent this year. It is possi- ble that consumers have been overloaded with email marketing over the past year. However, 73 per cent of respondents said they would continue to welcome an email from a spa manager or concierge to check on their satisfaction and 59 per cent would welcome an email with special off ers. Email still appears to be the preferred method of contact over phone and can be a continued way of improving client retention. ● To download the 2011 Global Spa Report for
free, visit Coyle Hospitality Group at http://www.
coylehospitality.com/2011-global-spa-report/
SPA BUSINESS 3 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/VILEVI
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92