As we get closer to the end of 2020 (and the COVID-19 related chaos it’s caused!) I think I speak for all of us in the spa industry when I say that we are anxious to make plans for a strong, consistent financial recovery in 2021.

Now, while your intuitive priority is— rightfully!— to want to increase your spa bookings and retail sales, many in the spa industry make the mistake of putting the cart before the horse. Meaning? That even the strongest of marketing strategies to ramp up your bookings and retail sales will fall if your spa business & growth systems aren’t rock-solid.

The solution? There may be a few spa systems you need to polish up first… or even create!

Why Spa Growth Systems Should Be Your #1 Focus For a Successful Financial Recovery in 2021

One of the biggest pitfalls business owners in the spa industry face is that, when everything is a priority, nothing is. Plans become scrambled; opportunities are missed out on; marketing changes too frequently to take root. I know that when I was a spa owner myself I frequently struggled with both how to prioritize effectively and the reasoning behind why prioritizing effectively was so essential (and struggled greatly until I buckled down and turned the whole thing around!)

That sense of struggle is the last thing I want for my clients, especially during COVID-19… and the fact is that, because we’re so anxious to have a successful financial recovery in 2021, we may not be thinking clearly about what and how to prioritize in order to make it a reality.

I saw this in a recent discovery call I had with a potential client who wanted 1:1 business coaching that centered around marketing. During the call, they said that they wanted to discuss with me how I would tackle their main issue: low sales and poor re-booking stats. While I understand why her mind jumped to marketing being the solution, I couldn’t in good faith promise that we’d start her 1:1 business coaching program with revamping her spa’s marketing strategy. 

Why? Because a spa with failing systems is a leaky bucket: rather than continuing to bail water out with marketing, a faster way to ensure you’re not sinking is to patch those holes! In fact, I told her that she would be burning money on client attraction until we patched the underlying systems issues. 

Her spa’s core issue? That it didn’t have any documented processes. That meant that, while the owner knew all things client-care related (like customer service scripts, consultations, service protocols, sales, client conversations, and pre-booking protocols), her team was flying blind!

After our call ended, I knew that I had to sit down and write this blog and its accompanying Facebook Live to detail the five spa growth systems I recommended to this client— and to you!

Without Further Ado, Spa Growth System #1: The Guest Experience System

Why does the guest experience system rank as #1? While it’s equally as important as the systems I’ll be detailing later, the guest experience system is guaranteed to start showing cracks once you look at it under a proverbial microscope. 

From the moment a client books a service with your spa to the time when they leave (or log off, if your system is virtual), they’ve entered into your guest experience system. Follow-ups, reviews; they all count as a part of it.

So what should you do? 

• Analyze each step of your existing process for what can be improved… even if it’s already great!

• Write down each existing step to look at what’s there, what’s missing, and if certain members or services are struggling with specific steps.

• The most common guest experience system issue I see with clients? That staff is in need of a refresher! With COVID switching up how we do things, this is especially true.

Spa Management Systems for Teams

This one’s for you, team leaders!

A common problem I see crop up for spa team leaders in my spa owners-only Facebook group, Spa Business Mastery, is that they don’t have spa management systems in place. 

If you have a team and don’t have an existing staff handbook or operations manual, analyzing your spa’s guest experience system will help reveal why you need a spa management system to better support your staff. When it comes to teams, clarity is everything!

That means that having manuals that detail expected behavior, step-by-step processes, documentation of all your existing systems, and training guides is crucial to ensure that the basics of your spa are being followed through on. Plus, it’s much easier to implement new systems when you have the groundwork done and dusted!

If you’re a team leader in need of these staff handbooks and operations manuals, contact me for details because I have all of these templates to purchase and get you started!

Hiring and Training Systems, the Backbone of Any Spa

If you’re struggling with staff turnover, that’s a red flag that your current recruiting, hiring, and training system needs attention ASAP.

Not having a solid recruiting, hiring, and training system points to:

• Not attracting team members that are aligned with your spa business’s values and offerings

• Being consistently frustrated by team outcomes 

• Losing staff that go on to open their own spa businesses

There’s few things worse for your business and mental health than constantly training employees… only to lose them straight away! Look at where in your recruiting, hiring, and training process to ensure that you patch those holes before onboarding anyone else. (And don’t be afraid to ask existing team members if they see any flaws in the system!

Nail Down Your Sales System for a Strong Financial Recovery in 2020

In my opinion as a business coach and former spa owner, a strong sales system starts with knowing your spa’s profitability. It isn’t just selling; it’s also about ensuring that your services and products are profitable.

What do I mean by that? Well, I’ve lost track of the amount of times clients have broken their offerings down only to realize that they’ve priced their services and staff compensation in a way that doesn't even cover their expenses!

The way to fix this is by doing a profitability analysis. That means to account for your total overhead, labour costs, service costs, product costs, and any other financial bits-and-bobs related to your spa biz… and then restructure your pricing in a way that puts you back in the green. I know numbers can be scary, but the work will be 110% worth your while!

Last But Certainly Not Least: Marketing Systems

While you shouldn’t be jumping onto marketing before ironing out those “backbone” systems first, marketing is undeniably important when it comes to having a strong and consistent financial recovery in 2021. 

So what should you tackle once you’ve ensured that all those other systems are perfect? Before starting, yourself the following:

• “Do I have a marketing system that allows me to generate new leads consistently?”

• “Am I using multiple channels to reach all those different consumers?”

• “Do I know where new clients are coming from?”

• “Am I aware of aspects of marketing that I can set on repeat, like loyalty programs, website updates, or blogs?”

One of the biggest missteps I see clients make when it comes to their marketing is only using one avenue to advertise their spa business. If you’re looking to ramp up your marketing systems via social media management, blogs, email marketing, and/or website copywriting, learn how my team can help today.

That’s It! Let’s Make 2021 a Successful Year, Spa Owners

Have you used your spa’s KPI’s to figure out which systems of yours need attention? Let me know what you’ll be tackling first— or chat with me if you need help starting!