The Tao of Spa Management

We are aiming high with this blog by trying to identify the key elements of spa management to achieve excellence, where excellence is mirrored in top reputation far beyond the spa’s location and financial success.

In the Nineteen Eighties, Peters and Waterman from Mc Kinsey wrote the bestselling book  “In Search of Excellence”, in which they point out the eight common themes they considered as vital for the success of  a great number of U.S. corporations.  I thought it would be interesting to see if and to what degree those 8 themes can be found to contribute to excellence in spas, in spite of the difference in size of the object of investigation!

The approach I am taking is to rate the relevance of those themes for good spa management, based on my experience, on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is obviously 100% relevant and 1 is irrelevant.  Each rating I comment and justify. So let’s begin.

1.  A bias for action, active decision making                                         4.5

>  An absolute must for any spa manager, because that’s what clients do expect at any time. The manager must have the necessary competence and experience to meet the client’s expectation.

2.  Close to the customer                                                                               5.0

>   Without doubt the key element for any highly successful spa. Personal care and listening to and understanding the customer needs by the owner/manager is what lets clients rave about the place and builds fame.

3.  Autonomy and entrepreneurship                                                   4.5

>  Normally is found in privately owned spas, where the leader-entrepreneurs take some risks in innovating new products and services. This can skyrocket the spa’s reputation and leave the competitors trailing behind.

4.  Productivity through people                                                               5.0

>  A spa and salon is characterized by the human senses and closeness of customer and therapist. The operation can only be successful (productive) if this human link is “functioning”. Therefore: people, not technology is key!

5.  Hands-on, value-driven management philosophy                    4.5

>    Similar to theme 1 with the addition of value-driven. Management and staff have to have a clear understanding of the vision of the owner and reflect it in words and actions to build the spa’s trademark.

6.  Stick to the knitting                                                                                   3.5

>  Although it is important never to forget the business basics, the core, I believe a spa, because of it’s much smaller size, can afford to explore  some unknown territory and innovate.  Therefore my lower rating for this point.

7.  Simple form, lean staff                                                                             4.5

>  There is no space in a spa for overheads. Everyone has a specific role to play and must contribute to the team effort. Top management knows its importance and therefore recruits staff with extreme caution.

8.  Simultaneous loose-tight properties                                             4.0

>  This is truly the art of first grade spa management: leave the freedom to responsible staff to express their personality to customers and at the same time practice Lenin’s slogan “Trust is good but control is better” in a very non-invasive manner.

Overall result: 35.5 points out of 40, which is close to 90% relevance for the management principles regarded over 25 years ago as crucial for successful companies.  Although this figure is certainly not to be taken scientifically, it somehow shows that to achieve excellence in spa management, well-known, sound management practices learned from the “big guys” are very important.

This being said, I cannot close this blog without pointing out that, from a client’s perspective, a spa should less look like a formally run, well oiled company but rather as a haven of peace and tranquility, where the staff’s personalities can sparkle. It is the spa manager’s skill to unite these seemingly opposites in a harmonious way.

Success Strategies for Spa Managers

There is no more important task for spa owners and/or managers to fulfill than building up and maintaining an excellent relationship with the visitors of your spa.  To make the guests feel truly welcome and giving them what they need and expect to get or even better, overdelivering from time to time, guarantees not only the financial success but can create the image of excellence far beyond local or even national boundaries.

So what skills and tools can make this worthwhile goal reality? I can see three key elements for success, which I list in the sequence as they are build:

• Establish trust that your spa strives for total customer satisfaction first, with financial gain trailing behind

• Ongoing personal care for each customer – as much as your time allows it! – not just for new customers or VIP clients

• Uninterrupted “soft-communication” with every customer in contrast to  hard-selling harrassment, applied whenever the spa needs a cash injection or for profit maximization

If those three elements are put in place and practised by management and staff, the fame comes by itself.

So what are the ingredients and/or tools to make fame happen?

Element 1: Trust

The trust that you put the customer first does not come with hype and agressive sales slogans. Trust comes quietly, quasi sneeking through the backdoor. It is built with the little things management says and does.

Let me give you an example: if a client buys a gift voucher for a special day for a loved one or friend but wants it returned for whatever reason (you will never find out the real reason, so no use to ask for it!), refund him or her with a smile. It will not take long until this person will buy again or send a friend to you.  Such gesture will have multiplied your income and won you a customer, possibly for life.

It is very easy to think of dozens of similar cases.   Generosity creates trust, greed and short term thinking is a distroyer of relationships – in business as in private matters.

Element 2:  Personal care

If you are able to make the customer feel that you really do all you can to make every of her or his visits a complete success story, you are winning the game for fame.  But be warned: to want to deliver such care is one thing, to make it happen is another.  You will not only experience that some clients suck your energy and goodwill beyond belief but have to fight a seemingly endless battle with your staff.  There will be days, where you will feel completely empty, having no clue how you can do the same again the next day.

It is no secret that not everybody does have the genes of a personal care provider. I am convinced, it cannot be learned in the interest of the business like a mathematical formula.  Better be realistic and inspect your psyche or ask your friends: do you have what it takes to deliver personal care?

Element 3:  Ongoing soft-communication

You got to stay in touch with your clients, even if they have not visited your spa for days, weeks or even months. There can be many reasons for their absence and you will never find out, if you eliminate the link with them.  Your customers are your most valuable assets. It was hard work to get them on board, don’t let them go!

Linking with them is made very easy nowadays via internet, where semi- or fully automatic software sends out news and invitations regularly (you determine when and how often) to your client base. Those broadcasts can be organised according to the clients interests and status. The software is known as so-called auto-responder software or is part of a complete spa software package, which can be tailored to your needs.

Wrapping it up, it becomes very obvious that in spite of living in a society, where technology can and often does dominate our life and actions, the human element in a spa is still the number one success factor. It may come as surprise for some but many of us will consider this to be good news in our high-tech world!

I often were told by people that spa management must be truly a dream job, incomparable with all the other management jobs in companies and corporations.

I guess such statements must have something to do with the in general relaxing and beautiful environment of a spa, where spherical sounds are only interrupted by whispering, angel-like smiling staff members and in thankfulness drowning clients because of the elusive pampering they just happened to experience.

In case you should fully agree with those people, it will come to you as a harsh shock, when I tell you now that exactly the opposite was my reality as  a health spa manager, dealing with fifty employees and casual staff on a 4 acres destination spa.  You probably won’t believe me when saying that I was more than once longing for the times, when I was the director of an IT company,  being in charge of more than ten times of subordinates.  That said, I feel that I now owe you a proper explanation to dissolve the confusion, which I may have just caused!

Let me start by listing the essential elements of the job description of a spa manager, which apply to a holistic destination spa as well as a day spa:

• human resources management
• guest relations
• budgetary/financial control
• spa treatments/packages supervision
• spa management software
• quality control
  
• maintenance
• marketing/PR
• media relations

This list of tasks as such is not unusual in the hospitality industry. Every hotel manager is well familiar with most of it’s elements.  Yet, there are two particular challenges a spa manager has to deal with, which are irrelevant to hotel managers or any other manager in whatever industry.

Challenge number one is linked to the highly sensitive, intimate interaction between therapist and client, which lies in the nature of a spa. Although the rules of engagement in a cubicle are pretty well established and known to all staff, mishaps, misunderstandings and transgressions occur, and then it will be the managers job to provide damage control.  This can be sometimes quite a tricky task as staff and client present their own version of truth to the manager.  Obviously, in general the client will officially be granted absolution in spite of murky circumstances, with often negative financial consequences for the spa owner, in a worst case scenario resulting in a loss of client.

The second challenge a spa manager has to face is the fact that some therapists like to take advantage from the provided free of charge training opportunities and at the same time start building up their own, future spa or salon business with selected spa’s clients, a process known in the industry as “moonlighting”.  The manager may realize the “client transfer”, when formerly happy customers suddenly stay away and when the product consumption of a therapist excedes the average significantly.  Understandably, the ex-client  likes to be spoiled with the same skin care range as before, even if the environment is slightly less posh now and can’t afford the expense of a top skin care brand!

Anybody volunteering for a dream job, e.g. in spa management?