Retention Series Part 4: Client Convenience

Client Convenience

As a business owner, if you have a fantastic reception staff and a kick-butt team of therapists, the next culprit for low client retention might be that your business is very inconvenient for your clients.

Many first time business owners have a tendency of creating business models that serve the spa better than the clients. It’s a newbie mistake and one that can easily cost you your business. Remember that at all times, clients come first! Here are a few inconveniences that will reduce the chances of your clients coming back.

Clients are forced to communicate predominantly through email and online booking. Phone calls are rarely answered.

This is a no brainer, but I still see it in day spas that have the capacity for better business. Online booking and email correspondence was not mean to replace phone calls. Making it difficult for clients to speak with you should not be used as a money saving strategy to avoid paying for a receptionist. Speaking with customers as they make appointments is a huge retention advantage. It is the very start of your relationship with the customer and an opportunity to impress them! Also, verbal confirmations of cancellation policies are priceless! Online booking was created as an ADDED convenience. You are cutting off your own legs by not having somebody available to answer the phone, no matter how well trained your clients may be.

Spa business hours change frequently or are unrealistic for customers

Owning a business is a huge commitment, and so are the business hours you offer clients. Your customers are willing to memorize your hours if they like your business, but they are not going to appreciate it if the schedule changes on them from month to month. Clients should never have to work around your schedule beyond the hours that you have created from day one. Your schedule must not be a puzzle to them and must be as reliable as clockwork.

Of course, on occasion there are times that you may need to change your hours for education, vacation, and special events. These changes must be posted on your website and noted on your voicemail. You should also neatly and professionally print out these changes and post them in the spa. I recommend an 8” X 11” frame posted in the restroom, front door, and check out area. Also remember to make these announcements in advance, the minimum being 3-4 weeks.

Consider that the most busy spa hours are from 9:00AM to1:00PM and 4:00PM to 7:00PM on weekdays, and all day Saturday. Are you open during these hours? If not, I recommend adjusting your calendar a bit.

Your doors are open by appointment only and/or you leave the spa when you aren’t booked.

Allow me to share this true life experience with you:

When I started my career in a shoebox sized room at the back of a hair salon, I came in on a Saturday even though I had no appointments on the books. My boss at the time said I could stay home, it was a beautiful day and he didn’t want to scare his new esthetician away by boring her to tears at the spa. I came in anyways. ELEVEN walk-in eyebrow appointments later, I ended up with $50 cash in gratuities and had managed to book two of those clients for facials later that month.

Sure, I had a built-in referral source with the four hair stylists working that day, and we were located in a busy shopping center, but these were walk-ins! The point is, if you aren’t available for clients, you will lose business.

Yes, it isn’t fun to sit around when you could be doing a MILLION other things, but from 9-5 (or your respective business hours) what is more important than your career??? Some of you might argue that you have kids and that they take precedence when you have “free time.” That is true, but office hours are not free time. They are work hours, meant for your clients, and you never know when that big spender will have a few free hours and happens to be driving past your business. Be there for her, and reap the benefits of your patience and dedication!

For spa owners with a staff, require that at least one therapist is available at all times if the books are wide open. A therapist being on-call is not enough. Clients may feel bad if they become aware that somebody is being called in. In addition, I have witnessed therapists refuse to come in when they are on-call. I have also seen clients grow tired of waiting after a therapist has been called in and leave. Place your bets on the safer side and require a therapist to be present for business.

You don’t have a website.

Clients like to scope out your services, location, and phone number online before coming in. Nobody uses phone books anymore and websites are available for free. Statistics show that 80% of consumers use smart phones to research businesses. Most walk-ins come from a quick search on a phone.

Your spa doesn’t accept credit cards.

Of course it’s cheaper to avoid credit card fees, but many clients no longer carry cash or a check book. This also severely reduces your ability to sell retail and add-ons to your service, since clients may only bring enough cash for the pre-planned service. Reduced retail equals reduced retention and profit, so don’t hurt your business and upgrade to credit cards.

Parking is expensive or scarce.

Remember that we are a luxury business, if your client can’t even find a spot for her car, you have a problem. Speak to your landlord or the city, and see what you can negotiate. If you only have one assigned spot, leave it open for clients. It might mean you have to walk a little ways, but it can make a world of difference for clients.

Your location is difficult to get to.

Do your clients have to take an elevator, climb stairs, or pass through security to find your spa? You might be surprised, but these kinds of inconveniences may prevent clients from coming to your business. Consider for a minute, in your personal life, how you react if you forget something in the car or upstairs in your home. You usually roll your eyes, and get frustrated that you have to go get that item. Your clients might perceive the same thing about the small obstacles they have to overcome just to walk in your door.

With this age of high speed technology and multitasking, it is imperative that your business conforms to the needs and demands of clients. Remember that your clients have many options, and you must make your spa, not only the best in service, but an easy place for them to do business with you!

As always, I am available for questions and comments. Feel free to email me at dianaskincare@gmail.com

Happy facialing!

 

Retention Series Part 3- The Therapist

While I believe that the receptionist is the first person to make a client a great fan, the therapist seals the deal on how your client perceives the value of the service they receive at your spa. The therapist’s ability to read the client, communicate effectively, and perform the scheduled service will dictate a huge portion of your client retention.

The top two reasons spa clients complain are payment mistakes during check out or, having a bad experience with their therapist. If only bolder clients are willing to complain to management, how many clients are talking to friends and family about a bad experience? We all know that a poor grass-roots reputation can severely hurt your efforts at growing a reputable business.

Below are a few unique challenges facing spa directors when dealing with a therapist’s performance:

Spa directors don’t always know about skin care or the spa industry.

Spa directors and spa owners come from many different walks of life. I have spa directors with back grounds ranging from owning car dealerships to having previously been stay-at-home-moms. This presents a difficult situation. How can somebody with no experience in the spa world know if their therapist is giving fantastic treatments to paying clients?

The easiest (and most fabulous) way to overcome this obstacle is to go have a few facials at highly rated spas in your area. Write off some relaxing homework and let other experts give you a ground base of what a facial should be like. Then periodically get a facial from each of your therapists. Make it a part of their employee reviews.

Another way to overcome this problem is to hire a therapist manager with years of experience in the spa industry. This person’s job is to make sure your therapists are up-to-snuff on technique, product knowledge, and skin analysis.

Spa directors can’t see what the therapist is doing during a service.

Respecting the privacy and relaxing atmosphere of the treatment room during a service is important. This makes monitoring therapist performance impossible during the most important part of their job!

Worry not, there is a very effective solution! Bring in a secret shopper. Here’s a step by step guide to utilizing a secret shopper:

1)     Recruit a colleague or friend who has at least a basic understanding of the spa world and has never been to your spa. Choose somebody who you know will be honest and understands the importance of what you are trying to accomplish. Beware of those who will take the free facial but not offer useful feedback.

2)     Create an objective checklist as a set of guidelines to help your secret shopper evaluate the therapist in question.

3)     Meet with your secret shopper away from the spa and prior to her appointment. Be careful to not create a bias or discuss past issues with a specific therapist. You can always chat about this in the post treatment discussion. Instruct your secret shopper to review the checklist right before the appointment, but leave the actual list in the car. She can fill it out immediately after her experience.

4)     Give her a gift certificate or reimburse her for the facial so that you are the only one who knows about your plan.

5)     Meet up with your secret shopper within a few hours after the appointment so as to capture details while they are fresh in her mind. This meeting is crucial to the entire process! If you have any doubt about the follow through, choose another shopper!

6)     Review the checklist with your secret shopper with a grain of salt. Remember that if you accidentally hinted any behavior to look out for, your shopper may report a biased analysis. The idea here is to accurately evaluate a valuable member of your staff for improvement, not to persecute the therapist.

7)     If the secret shopper ended up being a good asset, use her again in six months and don’t tell anybody!

So now let’s talk about the therapist. Here are a few warning signs that low retention is coming from your therapist’s performance.

1)     The therapist has low retail product sales. There is a direct correlation between high sales and high retention. Statistical analysis has proven that clients who buy more are more likely to come back for more services. If your therapist is afraid to recommend product, or if the clients aren’t buying what she is recommending, you may be losing precious customers. Not only are you losing customers, but you are losing important retail revenue.

2)     Clients look tense or don’t give interactive feedback after a service.  No news is terrible news in the service industry. Watch your client’s body language after a treatment. Do they look relaxed? Are they glowing? Are they happily chatting with the therapist as they are walked out of the room? Ask your clients how the service was with specific, open-ended questions such as, “How did you like our signature face lift massage?” Avoid asking how the treatment was. You need to get a better answer than, “Fine.”

3)     The therapist doesn’t engage the customer in small talk or with familiarity. A quiet smile doesn’t cut it in the spa industry. Your therapist must be able to speak comfortably with a client. Remember that we are a people industry. Your therapist should take an effort to get to know your guest and make her feel welcome.

4)     The therapist has low tips or gratuities after each service. This is self-explanatory.

5)     Clients tend to rush out after a service. A very good sign that your clients are invested in your business is that they tend to linger and browse the spa after a service. Of course, there are instances when they are in a hurry due to outside obligations, but more often than not, your clients should be interested in lingering for a short time and even chatting it up with your staff. If most of your clients bee-line it out the front door, they did not have a fantastic experience with your therapist. They may be embarrassed or feel awkward to remain in the spa, or worse, they may be burning to get away to tell somebody about their horror-story experience.

6)     Your client’s don’t know their therapists name. In my small spa, my clients ask for Adriana over the phone. I love this!!! It means that she made it a point to create a professional relationship and a memorable experience. There are always people that are forgetful of names, but if most of your clients don’t remember who spent an hour working on their face, your therapist is not engaging them appropriately.

If you think that the therapist is the problem, or you would like a few tips to increase your retention as a therapist, here are some places to start!

Take a sales class and make an effort to get more product in the clients’ hands.

Regardless of personal feelings about sales, it is the therapist’s job to make sure clients know how to take care of their skin after a treatment. The more they use your products, the more they come to respect the opinion and expertise of the therapist. Results come from good home care, no matter how good a therapist is in the treatment room. Clients like to be educated and empowered, but if they don’t have the right tools to get results, they aren’t coming back for another treatment.

Remember that the client is paying for 100% of the therapist’s time and attention.

Respect the time the client shares with the therapist.  Don’t allow therapists to leave the room during a treatment unless absolutely necessary. If a masque needs time to set, have the esthetician perform a hand, scalp, or foot massage. Cells phones must be left outside the treatment room. No matter how stealthy the therapist thinks she is, clients can sense when the attention they are paying for has been diverted to a phone. Imagine how insulting it may be for a client paying over $100 for a treatment to realize the esthetician is texting the service! Nothing on a phone is more important than the human being who is lying on the treatment table.

Have an esthetician friend honestly evaluate the therapist’s technique.

Invite another esthetician to a free facial with the condition that she/he has to gives perfectly honest feedback on the therapists’ facial techniques. Ask for honest evaluations about pressure, extraction techniques, personal odor/breath, and overall skills. Get down and dirty about how things could be better and remember that this kind of criticism can save your business.

Remind the therapist to shake off the ego.

Remember that the therapist is not the center of the spa, the clients are. Be appreciative of their time and money. Make sure the esthetician acknowledges that the client is choosing your spa out of hundreds of other spas. Encourage therapists to show gratitude and humility. High-brow attitudes only work in very specific environments and cultures.  Snooty, know-it-all therapists turn off a lot of clients. Require that your therapist verbally thanks each and every client for trusting them with their skin.

Require that therapists get to know clients through exploratory questions.

Teach your service staff to ask questions about skin concerns and acknowledge what the client may feel and/or fear. Have the esthetician educate and recommend only after having a full understanding of the client’s perspective. Also, make sure your therapists are asking about personal interests. Encourage your staff to take notes of intimate details about clients, such as if they have children, where they are from, and other pleasant tidbits of information.  Remember these simple facts make clients feel more welcome and special in your business.

Make sure the treatment room is tailored to the clients’ comfort.

With the exceptions of ergonomic needs, the treatment room should be designed for a client-centered experience. If the client is freezing during a service, your therapist is going to have to adapt to a warmer room. If the bed squeaks every time the therapist touches the client, get a new bed. Avoid allowing the esthetician to get used to an annoying distraction in the room. Clients are only there a short time, and they don’t have the opportunity to get used to a dripping faucet, nor should they have to.

As I wrap up this blog, I’d like to offer a point that may be hard to swallow for some of you. Unless you are an experienced esthetician or expert in teaching esthetics, you cannot employ an individual who is not independently competent as an esthetician. Do not continue to employ somebody who doesn’t even know how to do his or her job description with success. Entry level employees should only be hired to catch the run off clients of more established estheticians, or must be entered into a comprehensive training program offered by an expert. We all start somewhere and unless you have the extra resources to back it up, it is not a spa director’s job to give new estheticians an opportunity when they lack the qualifications. It’s management’s job to run a strong business and offer clients quality service, with qualified professionals!

Feel free to contact me with any questions or feedback!

The Skin Lady D

Retention Series Part 2: The Receptionist

So, here we go! It’s time to break down the different aspects of retaining clients. In my personal opinion, the very first person that can effectively create value in your spa, is your receptionist. On the flip side, this person can also annihilate any chance of that same client ever coming back.

When I was working in the dental industry, I took a very useful business “boot camp” seminar series. One of the central concepts that we learned, was that the front desk, was just as important as the skill of the dentist. In other words, you can have a talented and fantastic doctor, but if your reception staff is terrible, the business will suffer. Likewise, if you have an amazing front desk team, a mediocre doctor will experience success.

I am a lady who wholeheartedly believes that a receptionist is also part of the management team. This person is the gatekeeper of your business. He or she singularly speaks to each and every client that spends money. Even if you offer online booking, they are the first smiling (hopefully) face the client sees. That very first phone call and that moment when the client walks into your business, make the biggest impact on the client’s perception of your spa.

Keeping this in mind, if the goal of your spa is to increase retention or if your retention is dropping, look first to your reception department and troubleshoot with the suggestions below.

Be honest, and ask yourself these important questions:

Consider these questions:

1)      Would you trust your front desk staff to have authority over your therapists?

2)      Would you feel comfortable putting them in charge, knowing they would make smart decisive choices that increase client satisfaction and business?

3)      If you went on vacation, would you fearlessly allow your receptionist to run the day to day show, and handle any curve balls with grace and thoughtful consideration?

If you answered no to any of these questions, you might have hired the wrong kind of person to be up front.

***Whatever doubts come to the surface when you think about your reception staff and these questions, I can promise you, your clients have felt as well. If retention is down, and you can’t trust your reception staff, your clients don’t trust them either. WOW, I hope this got your attention!!!

Hire quality employees based on the concept that this should be a PERMANENT position and never hire with a priority on looks.

Who made the unspoken rule that the reception desk must be manned by youngsters with too much make-up, and no experience in interactive customer service and sales? Think about it, this person is going to close retail sales, help the client book the best service for their needs, control the schedule (a.k.a. the therapists’ paycheck), handle returns, and control the phones. Most importantly, they are the ones who actually REBOOK the client. Our focus for this blog is retention, after all.

The true problem here isn’t necessarily that spa directors are hiring young, pretty employees. The real issue is that spa directors are setting a standard within their business that these individuals are easily replaceable and short-term team members. This reduces the personal investment of your new hire in the success of your hard-won business. It also reduces the clout and respect given to this individual by more experienced employees, opening the door to another myriad of problems.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are talented young ladies out there who would be great for this position, but my point is, that most spa directors hire based on looks. They treat the receptionist as décor that can easily be replaced.  I agree that a receptionist should be well put-together, but a super-model is not needed to make a good impression on your client. The first impression they offer should be a smile from a well-dressed and well-groomed, confident individual.

Your receptionist must behave as if anybody who walks into your spa is a welcomed and familiar friend!

I’ve seen hostesses at greasy spoon diners with better customer service, than receptionists in day spas. It’s amazing what a smile can do! I don’t know how many times I’ve walked into spas for trainings, and the receptionist only acknowledges me with brief eye contact. That’s just RUDE!!!  It’s an instant let down for a client. Spas are places where people go to feel good, to rejuvenate, and to relax. Your receptionist must create that vibe from the very first moment the door opens. In fact, why can’t she open the door herself? Here are some quick solutions to a rude receptionist:

Ø  Smile- NO MATTER WHAT!!!! It is unbelievable that I even have to recommend this, but it needs to be said.

Ø  Train the receptionist to stop whatever they are doing (within reason) to greet each client with open friendliness. NOTHING else is as important as the person who just walked into your door.

Ø  Hold receptionists accountable and consistently correct passive aggressive gestures or habits. Example: Rolling their eyes or not acknowledging a request.

Ø  Prohibit cell phones and food at the front desk. No exceptions, seriously. Family can be provided with the spa’s landline for emergencies.

Ø  All personal conversations or inter-employee chatting must stop immediately when a customer is present.  Once a client has been helped, they should be the only person the receptionist chats with, unless answering phones or discussing practical day to day spa operations.

Ø  With the exception of high-volume resorts or spas, your receptionist should know the name of clients as they come in. The schedule is right in front of them, after all. If more than one person is due for an appointment, have the receptionist use their best judgment. It makes a nice impact and beats the tar out of “Do you have an appointment?”

Ø  Never leave the reception desk without somebody to cover it, even to use the restroom. This creates an immediate sense of insecurity for the client if they walk in. If you work alone, have a sign letting the client know when you will be available to greet them.

Ø  Have your receptionist team keep make up light and simple. Prohibit the use of glitter or trendy looks that require a messy style.

Spruce up receptionist customer service

It may come to a surprise to you, but usually the person with the best customer service is the therapist. I agree that this is important and their level of attention to the customer needs must be excellent, however, your service guru should be the receptionist. She should be just as memorable as the therapist, if not more so, because she is the last one they speak with. Here are some ways to make your receptionist a customer service rock star.

Ø  Require that the receptionist review all client notes for the day, with the purpose of knowing clients’ names and any personal information that could be used to chat with the customer.

Ø  Have your receptionist shake hands with each new client if possible and verbally welcome them to the spa.

Ø  Have the receptionist briefly walk the client through intake forms

Ø  Make sure the receptionist knows the menu and can make accurate recommendations.

Ø  Move to the client to retrieve the intake form, instead of waiting for the client to get up and walk to the desk.

Ø  Offer every client a drink and snack (if available) while they wait for their therapist

Ø  Don’t ask about personal or financial information from behind the desk. Physically get up and move to the client to privately verify information.

Ø  Remember your Ps and Qs! Always thank clients for their visit and especially thank new clients for trying your business out.

Dos and Don’ts of Receptionist Customer Communication

As always, communication is key. This is where experienced individuals really shine! I find that having a premade script that new receptionists must strictly adhere to during their first few weeks is incredibly beneficial. Remember that not everybody has learned excellent communication skills at home or school. Here are some wonderful tips to make your receptionist a communication pro!

Ø  The person physically in the spa, is ALWAYS more important that the person on the phone. If the phone rings while you are interacting with a client, don’t answer the phone. Remember that the person in the spa is the one actually paying for a service. Whoever is on the phone may never become a paying client. If you are truly concerned with lost business from not answering the phone, invest in an automated system that buys you time.

Ø  Never allow the receptionist to chew gum. It can be heard on the phone and seen by customers.

Ø  Train your receptionist to prep the client on what to expect with each service. Have your receptionist ask if this is the first time they are receiving the scheduled service. Let clients know helpful details specific to getting the most out of their service.

Ø  Any information that your receptionist captures over the phone should be written down so that the client doesn’t have to repeat the information when they arrive. For example, if you obtain address, email, and other contact information over the phone, adjust the intake form to reflect this.

Ø  Make sure your receptionist has a clear voice and confidence in her speech.

Ø  Avoid using slang when addressing clients or spa coworkers in front of clients. Learn to avoid the word “um,” and instead train your receptionist to buy time when looking something up with the phrase, “let me check on that for you.”

Ø  Always face the client and make eye contact when speaking to the client.

Ø  Instruct the receptionist to make a conscious effort to keep her tone positive and cheerful, whether on the phone or in person.

Ø  Have your receptionist practice active listening and guarantee that they acknowledge the clients requests or comments.

For those of you who consider these rules to be too strict, I say to you, as long as your retention is high, let lazy receptionists lie. However, when push comes to shove, this also means that there is a potential that you haven’t reached yet. And if you are anything like me, you’d like to see how high you can fly.

If after reading this blog, you come to consider that you have problematic front desk staff, I ask that you launch a consistent and interactive training program before terminating any employee. Let them leave if they don’t like the new law in town, and understand that in the end, you are trying to do the best for your clients. Everybody has to be on the same page.

Up next: Retention Series #3: The Therapist!

Retention Series Part 1: Understanding Retention

Retention Series Part 1: Understanding Retention

This blog series will focus on how to create a solid retention of clients in the spa. After some research I conducted, I discovered an interesting tidbit of information. Very successful spas and salons, retain 30% of new clients, and about 75% of existing customers. WOW! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if one out of every three new customers booked a follow up appointment?

Let’s take this a step further, wouldn’t it be awesome if the incredibly expensive marketing campaigns that brought folks to your door, weren’t in vain? This is probably the point that will get most of my spa directors/owners attention. I know that many of the spa directors I work with hold a measureable amount of resentment towards the money that has to be spent on marketing. And, although it still remains a necessary and integral part of running a successful business, wouldn’t it be nice to reduce those costs by keeping a higher percentage of those customers coming back?

Everybody likes to talk about developing grass roots marketing, so let’s take some time to look into what is keeping them coming back and even more importantly, telling their friends about their time with you.

This first part in the series is meant to help my readers understand what retention really means and to give a clear meaning of what affects the retention in a spa. My next few blogs will focus on how each topic below directly affects your success at keeping the retention up and stable.

Let’s start by defining retention as a statistic.

Retention is a measurement of just how efficiently your spa runs and how adept your business is as meeting the needs of each client that walks through your door. This is a powerful statement. I’ll ask you to take a minute to contemplate this concept. Think of each and every strength and weakness of your business, and consider how it relates to every single client’s experience. Each individual client has a very specific set of parameters that they consider making a business worth coming back to. And therein hides the secret of good retention: the client’s perception.

I want to zoom in on the idea of a client's perception. It can be a tricky and fickle thing. The great news is that clients are not afraid to offer their opinion without hesitation or fear. This is a marvelous insight, as business owners don't have to shoot in the dark. It also means that these same business owners must learn to listen and adapt to the true needs of the client. Business models must change constantly, and a spa directors ability to adjust will define their ability to create true retention. Owners must let go of what they think the client wants and embrace what the feedback suggests.

Retention is a collective success or failure. It is the sum of all parts of your spa, so for good retention, it’s important to find the weak links and strengthen the chain. For those who are struggling with retention, the following areas are crucial for you to examine and revamp:

·       The Receptionist: The behavior and language of the person who answers the phone and checks in/out clients.

·       The Therapist: The skill, confidence, and attitude of the person who performs the services.

·       The Look: The cleanliness and esthetics of your spa.

·       The Quality: The quality of your products and services, when compared to the price.

·       The Convenience: The ease in which clients can find your spa, book appointments, park their car, or are served once they arrive.

·       The Reputation: How you handle your public image and negative press.

For those of you who have steady retention, but want to boost or increase your average, here are the areas to look into:

·       Promotions: Do you offer competitive and market targeted promotions to bring in excitement?

·       Referral/Reward Programs: Do you have a comprehensive reward program for clients you help grow your business by referring others and coming back?

·       Internal Marketing: Do you promote all of your services inside the spa through print and staff word-of-mouth?

·       Staff Incentives: Is the staff rewarded for growing retention and cross-promoting?

For those of you just starting out, you can see how retention is a very multi-layered concept. My next blog will focus on the receptionist, as this person is ultimately the first person a client encounters. For my single estheticians out there, this means you too!

Stay tuned for my posting!

Customer Service and Your Vendor

My mind has been toiling over the true definition of customer service for several months now. This October, my sister and I, decided to open our own micro-day spa in Austin. It was an interesting decision, in that I have begun to learn more about the point of view of my Eminence accounts.

Now I am sitting in the spa owners’ chair, making decisions each and every day about vendors, employees, décor, menus, etc. At first, I worried that my new endeavor may take service away from my Eminence accounts as a new distraction. But instead, it has given me a fantastic insight into the day to day lives of spa owners. If anything, it has improved my understanding of the struggles and tough decisions faced by my clients.

As I filed through different vendors and purveyors of the products and supplies that my business would order on a regular basis, I started to become incredibly sensitive to the customer service offered by each company. It was amazing to learn the breadth and variety of ways each company offered me their products and created value. I also am discovering very quickly, how I like my vendors to interact with me and how Eminence, in reality, offers stellar customer service.

Now, I get complaints on occasion on our service, but as I learn more about running my day spa and am able to compare different companies, I think that the problem isn’t bad service. It’s that each owner, myself included, has a completely different definition of what service entails.

Some spa directors feel that good service is fast shipping. Some feel that the free education is more than enough. Some just like knowing my team is there to answer the phone or call them back when they need us. The range of expectations is wide and varied. The bottom line is that there is no one true answer.

What I learned as a representative is basically, that anytime I can’t fulfill a spa owners’ request, they get angry and complain that we have “bad service.” This is what I refer to as negative tunnel vision. Spa directors and owners sometimes get stuck on one aspect that is unavailable. This unavailable commodity then becomes the sole focus of their opinion of our service standards. This is not only incredibly unfair, but also unprofessional.

Companies can’t fulfill each individual spa director’s request and stay in business. It’s impossible. Lines have to be drawn, but that is not to say, that another benefit isn’t there to make up for it!

The most common Eminence complaint is our shipping costs. It’s true, as I order Eminence myself, I am aware that it costs much more to get here than my other lines. But then again, my other lines make me pay for marketing materials. They also don’t offer an awesome excel sheet order form that is easy to fill out. Filling out my purse vendor’s order form is like figuring out a Rubick’s cube. Seriously, it’s ridiculous. But I love these purses and they call me after every order to say “thank  you”, so I will continue to puzzle it out. Additionally, my other lines don’t plant a tree for every product sold, they don’t offer free training, and they charge me for samples. I don’t necessarily associate high shipping with bad service, nor will I threatened Eminence to drop my account, for not changing their business model.

Now I will go a step further by saying, it’s not fair for spa owners to demand that one company meet the “service” standards of another, just because that is what they want. I am always upset when I get a call asking why Eminence can’t do what “So & So Skincare” does. Firstly, it sets me up to invariably look bad in a client’s eyes. That is always frustrating. And honestly, it’s because Eminence isn’t Skinceuticals, Obagi, Aveda, etc. Eminence is Eminence, a company that has created an incredible line of amazing products, and successfully provides these products, along with amazing education and support, within its own business model. Skinceuticals, Obagi, Aveda, and every other line out there have created their own business models, and their customers truly shouldn’t hold them to Eminence standards either. If you want an apple, eat an apple. Don’t try to cram an apple into the shape of an orange, then complain when it tastes wrong.

Take advantage of the great ways each vendor you work with offers you excellent service. Celebrate that you can benefit from each one in a different way. And if something really doesn’t work for you, look elsewhere.

I ask each spa director out there who is reading this and feels that their vendor is offering bad service, or substandard benefits to their other vendors to take a moment to troubleshoot in the following ways:

Talk to your representative right away if you’re unhappy.

This sounds like a no brainer, but sometimes things go wrong with my accounts, and I don’t find out about it for weeks! Representatives are the bridge between you and the company providing the service. They have the ability to fix things when possible, or at least provide an understanding on how things work. I have clients who never call me back or even reach out when they have a problem. How on earth can I offer excellent service if I am left in the dark?

If you don’t like something about your vendor, review what they do offer to make it up.

You’ll be surprised how many great benefits are offered by different companies to make up for their short-comings. Whether it’s an incentive program, free samples, or a cool rewards programs, most company have some sort of counter-weight to their limitations. Ask to see what fabulous benefits you may not be aware of and maybe you’ll be surprised!

Keep it in perspective

Good service doesn’t mean you get whatever you ask for, just because you are the customer. Remember that each company has an intricate system in place, designed to deliver their promised goods and service in a profitable and reasonable manner. You are always an important customer, whether small or huge, but you are not the ONLY customer. Try to avoid threatening to drop the line unless you have truly been treated poorly. Representatives are human beings who don’t appreciate working under a threat. Be realistic and work with us, it’s more fun that way and then we can be on the same team! You’d be surprised how a good representative will go the extra mile if you are respectful and realistic.

If you keep getting turned away for extras, ask why.

This one may get a little sticky, but it’s an important way to understand service. For my readers who perceive good customer service as free stuff, listen up. I had a very low volume account who, over her first year of business with us, asked for free samples and testers on a regular basis. She claimed that since she ordered so much from us, we should give her more products, free of charge. In reality, she was a very small fish in the sea, but in her perception, she was throwing a fortune in our direction. When I finally sat down with her and had a business meeting, she was shocked to discover that she was actually a very humble business. Even though she was busy seeing clients and kept her books full, her particular business model capped her profit in a variety of ways. (See my blog on 5 Ways to Drive Customers Away & Top 8 Business Practices to Grow Revenue) Since then, I’ve created incentive programs for her to grow her business and earn freebies. In the end, however, the free products she ended up receiving weren’t what constituted true customer service, it was Eminence’s and my willingness to work with her and grow her business that was. THIS is the point that is often missed by many clients, as when we don’t get what we ask for right away, it is easy to develop that negative tunnel vision.

To summarize this blog, remember to communicate and enter agreements with vendors with open eyes. Ask questions about service standards, and if things go awry, speak up! Find solutions with your representatives and release the grudges of personal opinions. Business is business and everybody is chasing that buck! The nice thing about working with upstanding vendors, is that you are never chasing that buck alone!

Time is Money

As many of you may know, I travel quite a bit. I service over 100 different spas, varying in many different sizes. As my business grows, each minute of each day becomes more and more valuable. The saying that time is money, begins to form a true sense of being, and as my available time becomes scarce, I start to appreciate those who understand the true value of excellent time management.

It’s a topic I have been considering as a blog article for several months, although, until this moment, when I am stuck in an airplane between a screaming toddler and a snoring man, I haven’t had the time!

Wasted time is a resource that never comes back, it can’t be regained, and if you live from appointment to appointment, it can’t be extended. Time can be used as a negotiating tactic or a form of power. It can be abused, and it can be gifted.

So as a business owner in the spa industry, one must treat time as preciously as the clients that walk through your door.

The Early Bird Gets the Worm:

Being early to work, appointments, and any obligation in life is advantageous. From beating heavy traffic, to staying in good standing with clients and employers, being early is always the best bet. If you make it a point to be early to most appointments in your professional career you will find that accomplishing tasks and negotiating with others is much easier and your credibility stronger with colleagues.

Here are a few examples of early advantages:

Ø  People who arrive to work early exhibit a sense of organization, self-control, and professionalism

Ø  Arriving early to a class, especially one you have paid for, guarantees you a better seat, increasing your knowledge retention

Ø  Many businesses offer discounts for early hour appointments.

Ø  Having a reputation for being early or prompt will earn you preferential consideration when asking for a raise or a promotion.

Ø  If you and your client are both early, you might be able to add on an extra service to their ticket

Ø  When you have an unexpected event that causes you to be late, your reputation for being punctual will allow for more patience when things do go wrong

There Is No Such Thing As Being Fashionably Late In The Working World

In my career, I have to juggle interstate travel, rental cars, luggage, flights, hotels, and customers with their own agendas, yet I manage to stay on time or early 95% of the time.  I am always perturbed when employees whose place of work never changes, still manage to be late to (sometimes every) training. 

Nonchalantly, shrugging off being late as just another part of life, is irresponsible and very expensive. If you chronically run late, it means that certain decisions you are making are causing your tardiness. Hitting that snooze button may be costing you hundreds of dollars each year that you may not even be aware of.

As a business owner, late-comers are a drain on spa revenue and on other employees. I think of chronically late employees and colleagues as thieves, because by their own free will they are choosing an option that can cost you more than the occasional shoplifter!

Consider how much your business makes per hour. Let’s say $200 per hour divided amongst two therapists. Both therapists average 6 scheduled hours a day. Therapists #1 is punctual and arrives on time every day. Therapist #2 is chronically late 25% of the time by 15 minutes. 

Let’s do the math:

In a four day week:                 Therapist A brings in $2,400             Therapist B brings in $2375

In a four week month:             Therapist A brings in $9,600             Therapist B brings in $9,500

In other words, therapist B costs your business $100 a month when compared to Therapist A, due to her/his own personal choices.

Another way to look at it is how much is customer service worth? Late starts can push all of your appointments back, upsetting good customers who have every right to look elsewhere for esthetic services. When you lose a customer due to a service issue such as running late on appointments, it costs much more than $100 per month in referrals.

Professionals with trouble staying on time, seem less apt at their jobs. In our industry, being chronically late gives people the sense that perhaps you are irresponsible on a fundamental level and that maybe you are not 100% in control of yourself. Take a second to think about somebody you know who is consistently late, and then consider what you or other people might privately assume about that person. Would that be something you would want anybody to think about you or your employees?

The Good News

The best news about time management issues, is that they are simply habits. In the end, you can actively change any habits that might be costing you precious minutes. Thousands of books and tools are available for those who need help or advice on more effective use of their time. Just type time management into a google and there will be plenty of help at hand.