Excerpt from Spa Management Training Program at ISM: In the Spa Industry, Customer Satisfaction is a Continual Shell Game

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Excerpts taken from: ISM Module 1 Textbook (Chapter 2, Subsection 2: Client Satisfaction)

Customer satisfaction is a moving target. Luckily, as a spa manager, there are three basic rules you can apply to ensure the highest levels of customer satisfaction and retention:

1. Customers are always looking for value, both in price and quality
2. All things being the same, customers prefer to stay with “who they know”
3. The key to growing is to gain new customers, but more importantly, to upgrade your existing customers

All of us appreciate value. That is why we clip coupons, watch weekly flyers ardently for sales, and jump at 2-for-1 sales. It is also why millions of people visit time share resorts every year, and sit through a 3-hour high pressure sales seminar, just for the ‘privilege’ of staying free for the weekend. You see, for each of us, value is different which is what makes customer services, especially in the highly client focused spa industry so tricky.

We like value and will judge value over almost every quality of a product or service. Customer’s whose “value quotient” is met will remain loyal customers. Customers who do not have that expectation met will look elsewhere.

The key to meeting that value quotient is to constantly monitor feedback, whether it is direct comments from customers or through sales and marketing data (which incidentally never lies). When you see trends, like customers opting for one service over another or one package over another, ask yourself why that is the case. Adapting your actions, promotions, products and services to what the majority of your customers enjoy and value will ensure that your customers are loyal and remain with you for years to come.

We all like the familiar as well. It is much easier to stay with a spa if we are familiar with the staff, services and environment than it is to go and find a new comfortable fit. This is critical to remember when you are contemplating changes in services, staff or policies. Given the option, customers will stay with what they know almost all the time if their value quotient is being met or exceeded.

That means that you have to develop a stable slate of services with prices that are fair and constant. When you make a change, you have to test it in a controlled manner in order to not drive valued clientele away. Even price increases have to be introduced gradually and explained to regular/loyal clients or customers will become uneasy.

While it is easier to keep customers, it is difficult to retain them if you are in a constant state of flux. After you have tested an initiative, introduce it through specials and get your customers used to it before you launch it company-wide. When you make any major changes, make sure that you communicate to staff and customers the new change as well as the reasoning around it. While customers do not like change, they will usually stay with what they know if the change is managed correctly.

To that end, always give customers notice of any changes in written form (which in the spa industry is generally via brochures and websites) and be willing to entertain feedback and field questions, even if they are less than enthusiastic. Be willing to reconsider if enough customers complain. Sometimes just proving that you are willing to listen is as important as any changes you were thinking of making.

If the change is inevitable, make sure you implement it gradually. Large-scale changes require plenty of notice, patience and smooth implementation. Usually, when spas lose customers it is during periods of flux and chaos.

Upgrading existing customers is as important as gaining new ones. Customers that you have in your pocket is money in the bank, and you have already earned their trust and loyalty. Searching and securing new customers takes a lot of time and effort as well as money. Focusing on upgrading and retaining existing clientele while you are attempting to get new customers is key to making sure your spa thrives.

To that end, you have to do everything you can to build customer loyalty and then gradually encourage them to upgrade. Offer existing customers any specials that you run to attract new customers. The money you lose in the existing customer selecting a deal will be made up in customer loyalty. The next time, when you recommend an upgrade in service, they will be inclined to listen to you as you have proven that you will recommend something that increases the value they derive from frequenting your spa.

Allow existing customers to try out other services for free or at a reduced rate to give them a taste of what they are missing. Whenever they give you feedback on a service, introduce them to other services that they might appreciate. Always be looking for new ways to upgrade and retain the customers you have, as it will save you time and money in the long run.

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Interested in learning more about the spa industry or furthering your career in spa management? Visit the Institute of Spa Management at www.spacollege.org today and learn how our industry focused, self paced and affordable training programs are “educating the spa industry: one professional at a time“.

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