Recently I was flipping through a major spa magazine and came across the Burger/Stone Massage theme from a hotel that was advertising their restaurant and spa. 

Okay, what was the advertising agency really thinking? And, what was the client thinking?  Was anyone thinking?  Let’s see, first I’ll have the stone massage and then the hamburger.   Or, I’ll have the stone massage and then the juicy burger.  Let’s see, does the hotel have the drive-in experience for the spa?  I’ll have cheeseburger with extra mustard, hold the pickle, and yes, a deep aromatherapy massage with the burger. 

Please, no burgers in spa paradise.  And get rid of the stones on the back.

You go to the most famous shoe store in the world, you only need one pair of shoes and you end up with 3 (three) pairs of shoes.  How does that happen?  It’s easy and you could do this in your spa too.

Somewhere many years ago, I read in a book, probably Seth Godin’s, that Nordstorm’s sales clerks were trained to bring out 3 pairs of shoes instead of one.   The sales clerk that made the most money actually made it a personal goal to bring out 5 pairs of shoes.  When you think about this, it is really very simple.

So at our monthly meeting, we walked through the step by step 2 part form for recommending the next appointment and home care.  Each department has their own form.  So I called on each department to recommend to each client 3 home care products–now this wasn’t a check the box routine, they were responsible for analyzing each client and recommending appropriate products, whether nails, massage, skin or hair.  We want to be Nordstorm’s 3-shoes for a month.

Well, you would be shocked, retail increased 22% that month from a 3 shoe spa retail promotion.  What was really nice, is that the therapists and the front desk took the promotion seriously.  Warning: The 3-shoe habit is very addicting. Not only for shoes, but also in the spa.  We have therapists now that live by the 3-shoe rule– we even introduced a 3 Shoe Aromatherapy massage that had 3 retail items with the Aromatherapy Massage and that month the massage department had retail sales of $5,700.   Need to run out for some shoes!

When you don’t have the fountains, the water walls, the steam rooms or the ocean view, how can you compete?  Create exceptional, no create legendary service.  Today, we are so caught up in the hype of creating these massive spa structures with amenities that are beyond the grasp of the spa consumer, that we forget about just giving down-to-earth, basic, hospitable, honest service.

So when you need to compete with the big boys, here’s a couple of ideas:

1. Customer service will always topple the competition.  It does not matter how big the building or the water wall, customer service will win.
2. Knowledge is power–it seems so cliche, but the more you know–it is power.
3. Understand verbal and non-verbal behavior and teach your staff the importance of verbal and nonverbal behaviors.
4. Expect the best.  Do you have in your head an expectation for the best?  Your customers do, why not ask them and give them something extra.
5. Shop your spa.  Find out how they really treat clients.  Find out how they answer the phone.  What happens from start to finish with the spa?

Creating over the top service is a full time job, but you will forever beat the big boys.