OPERATIONS
unintentionally increased. Design a system to receive products and process paperwork to ensure the correct totals are assigned in the chart of accounts, providing accurate cost of goods totals on your income statement. Successful spas rely on a strong network of
vendor partners to provide assistance, either with personnel who can meet educational needs, supply training in best practice or off er co-op advertising programmes. Education budgets have experienced constant downward pressure and currently range from 2 to 5 per cent of revenue. Saving even 1 per cent here through vendor support becomes attractive. Choosing a vendor to supply retail products that has a consumer marketing programme or strong in-house collateral materials can help you to reach your retail goals.
RIGHT-BRAIN FOCUS POINTS While the numbers are crucial to business operations, the argument could be made that there is something more important to consider in the success of your spa operation
– the people. A focus on numbers and opera- tions protocols is key to attracting clients, but as any spa client will say, it’s the people that brings them back. It’s easy for spa manage- ment to become enmeshed in the fi nancials and to forget about the people out on the front lines, but we are an industry of people, both external and internal clients. The external client, the customer, has a
higher expectation of their spa visit today than ever before. T anks to both the proliferation of spa facilities and the media coverage that spas receive, casual spa clients arrive with visions of grandeur and excellent customer service is a no longer a diff erentiator, it’s anticipated. From a leſt -brain perspective, your training budget has to accommodate the growing pres- sure to excel in this area; from the right-brain perspective, delivering a service-oriented environment starts with leadership and ensur-
94 spa business handbook 2011
It’s easy for spa managers to become enmeshed in the fi nancials and to forget about the people out on the front lines
ing that your entire staff understands what’s expected and what top-quality customer serv- ice looks and feels like. A culture of client care starts at the top, with management regarding the internal customer, the staff , with the same quality treatment that the staff is expected to shower upon the client. Fortunately, this takes more time than money. One of the biggest complaints among spa
staff is that “nobody ever tells us anything”. It’s diffi cult to avoid that feeling, given that the nature of spa work is, for the most part, behind closed doors. T e spa service delivery cycle is complex and includes a high number of client/staff interaction points, each fraught with the potential to disappoint the guest. A spa that off ers polished service delivery is one that regularly carves time out of the schedule for meetings and training, painting a clear pic- ture of the owner’s vision. For the right-brain leader, this involves sharing your expectations
Traditionally service providers receive salaries... but we are seeing a movement towards having at least a portion of compensation dependent on service sales generated, just as with retail commissions
about how an experience in your spa will look and feel to a client, perhaps drawing anal- ogies from other service-based businesses like restaurants and hotels. Use staff meet- ing time to act out typical scenarios between clients and staff (client arrives late for a serv- ice) with employees playing both roles. T is allows them to become comfortable with han- dling those situations when they do occur. From a leſt -brain perspective, create docu- mentation to accompany each scenario and several proposed remedies and make it part of a departmental handbook. Providing both specifi c written guidelines and role-playing opportunities will give your staff the tools to handle any situation in the manner you would desire, no matter what their learning style. Regarding ongoing team communications,
in addition to monthly team meetings, mul- tiple methods may be required to share news and updates to the staff ; from notes in pay- checks to emails, voicemail blasts, pop-up notes in operations soſt ware, log books and the still useful written memo. There’s no one perfect solution, but every eff ort must
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