The busy summer season is almost upon us so consider this a friendly reminder this is your last chance to check your customer service systems before it's too late to do anything about it. I want to make sure you are well organized and thinking ahead about the systems in your spa business before you’re in the weeds and totally overwhelmed.

3 Spa Boxes You Need to Check to Improve Your Customer Service This Summer

Facility Management - You, your manager, or team leader want to have a documented checklist of everything that needs to be maintained at your spa and specific times of the year to do a facility walk through. Choose one day every year - before the busy season - to have that checklist reviewed & tasks completed. What’s on that list? Do a physical walk from the parking lot and move through the spa as if you were a guest seeing it for the first time.

Are there planters that need replanting? Are the baseboards and walls clean? Or do they a clean or paint touch up? Is all of your equipment is in good working order? Is your front desk organized?

This is the time to make sure that everything looks great for the next few months.

Policies and Procedures - Get those commonly used policies dialed in and written down and make sure everyone on your spa team is confident with how to deal with them.

• Cancellation and Late Policies - Take time now to make sure your spa team knows the cancellation and late policies, that they know to consistently communicating them to the guest at the time of booking and how to handle situations when your policies need to be activated. Scripts and cheat sheets are an absolute necessity, especially with new staff, to support them in navigating clients when they do not agree with your policies.

• Vacation policy - Do yourself a huge favor and create a system for vacation requests. Having your spa staff submit their vacation requests before you get busy will help you avoid a big headache mid-summer when client flow is high and staffing shortages can be super frustrating.

  Vacation request should always be in writing and given in order of seniority, and you should definitely have a process for last minute time off requests. Imagine flowing through the busy season, knowing all of the spa shifts are covered and not having to juggle last minute vacation requests. *Sigh*

• Booking Policies - Do not overbook yourself to accommodate clients. I will repeat this; DO NOT OVERBOOK YOURSELF TO ACCOMMODATE CLIENTS. You must be clear about you and your spa teams boundaries and make sure you have a script for if clients get pushy with reception to squeeze them in. You and your spa team only have so much time and energy to give. Say yes instead to yourself, your sanity and to your energy so that you can keep the longevity through this busy time.

"The client's lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on your part."

Training "Touch-Ups" - If you have any spa staff that might need a touch up on their training now is the time to do this before the summer rush hits.

You want the guest experience to be phenomenal, but that means you have to have the systems in place to maintain that experience. The guest experience should never be lost just because you are in your busy season because you’ll need that retention during the slower times. You must protect your business, your team members and yourself. If you are overbooked, burned out and stressed out the guest experience is harder to maintain.

If you need any help getting yourself organized and getting spa systems in place for the summer rush, I’m here to help. Contact me, and we can chat about what you're struggling with in your spa and make a plan for your business to thrive and succeed.