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(Spa Executive is published by Book4Time)
“Are you making mistakes that are costing your spa revenue, staff, and business opportunities? Check out these common mistakes managers make in spa and wellness.“
Spa managers and directors have a lot going on and sometimes things get overlooked or go wrong because you’re pulled in too many directions at once. And sometimes we make mistakes, which can be costly. Fortunately, we can learn from our mistakes and come out better for them in the end.
Are you making mistakes that are costing your spa revenue, staff, and business opportunities? Check out these common mistakes managers make in spa and wellness.
Relying on only one or two revenue streams
Having too few revenue streams puts your business in a precarious position, because if you lose them, you lose everything, as many spas discovered during the COVID-19 shutdowns. Multiple revenue streams help during these times as well as during slow seasons, and increase profits all year round. There are many ways to diversify revenue streams. Membership programs, for example, through which customers pay a monthly fee for a set number of treatments or services and/or regular use of amenities, bring in steady revenue. Subscription services are a way to stay connected with your guests and bring in extra revenue with products or packages. Partnering with experts to offer adjunct services and experiences at your spa is another option, while leveraging retail is an obvious example that some spas forget about. A spa does not have to offer only traditional services and in-store retail. Everyone can get creative with potential revenue streams and should.
Skipping over internal talent for promotions
Team members quitting is an all too common complaint in spa and hospitality and one of the main reasons for this is a lack of upward mobility. Overlooking internal talent for promotions is one of the most common mistakes managers make in spa, and in all industries, to be fair. People want (and need) opportunities for advancement and, if they don’t get them, they’ll move on to move up. If you have an excellent massage therapist who was expressed interest in growing within the brand but you’re holding them back because you think you need them in the treatment room, they’re going to leave you for a better opportunity, or at least become disengaged from their work (also known as “quiet quitting” these days), which will impact your guest experience and your revenue.
Deirdre Strunk, Vice President of Spa, Fitness and Beauty at Canyon Ranch, once told us, “Promotion from within is ideal because those leaders understand your business and have established relationships with team members.” Even if you feel that the person is missing some key skills, if they have been working with you for some time, they will be starting with a valuable foundation that is hard to find elsewhere, and those extra skills can be learned.
Slacking on training
Everyone performs better when they know what is expected of them and have been given the proper training. Your spa team should never wonder what they are supposed to be doing. From entry-level employees to senior management, everyone should get the benefit of proper training and, if they don’t, your business will struggle.
Carlos Calvo Rodriguez, now Senior Spa Director Four Seasons Toronto, once told us he thought it unfortunate that the industry puts all its focus on training therapists or spa attendants, and neglects to train managers. And Kathryn Moore, Founder and Managing Director at Spa Connectors, shared similar opinions. She said, “In some cases they’re running these huge assets, multi-million dollar spas, and they’re not making any money. It’s dead, because they don’t know how to do the sales and marketing; they don’t know how to manage the team; to manage performance, to run a training schedule; they don’t know how to make sure the inventory is looked after. So, there’s stock on the shelves that’s been there forever, or is expired, or stolen. We’re expecting these kids to run businesses without teaching them how.”