Achieving full financial “wellness” for today’s spa operations means never lying down on the job.
No other aspect of club or resort operations has felt the cold slap of recession-induced reality more than spas. In more prosperous times, the promise of plenty of indulgent pampering was pretty much all that was needed to attract a steady stream of customers to a high-end spa or salon in a club or resort setting. But when the economy went south, many spas suddenly found that promise to be quite an empty one—and that their reception lounges and treatment rooms had become quite barren as well.
Making it in the spa business today calls for innovative marketing approaches and keen management acumen—not only to stay in step with fast-changing trends, but also to ensure that products and services are provided, and priced, through razor-sharp attention to cost control and operating efficiency. This has become especially critical in resort environments, which are still suffering from the stigma that was attached to their properties in general—and their most “excessive” aspects, like spas, in particular—during the financial crisis, when companies like AIG get skewered for holding off-site sales retreats at high-end resort properties while asking for government bailouts.
SUMMING IT UP
• Marketing specifically to segments like meeting planners, brides or locals can have a positive impact on sales. |
In fact, the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort in Dana Point, Calif., where AIG held its infamous gathering, never recovered from the “guilt” of its association with that meeting, and was foreclosed upon by one of its lenders. Many other resort properties have tried to fend off a similar fate by changing their names to drop the “r-word” (the Ballantyne Resort in Charlotte, N.C., is now the Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge
; the Westin Stonebrier near Dallas, the Renaissance Orlando at Sea World, and three Loews properties all recently dropped “Resort” as part of their official names).
To support “a more consistent business flow,” the Sandava Spa (see photo, above) is run as an extension of the new Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort, and not as a stand-alone entity, says Spa Director Beverly Fox-Crismond. |
But to make it in today’s economic climate, resorts—and their spa operations—have to make much more significant changes than what’s on their signage. The pool of readily captive customers for spa services has shrunk significantly—not only because fewer corporate conferences are being held, but also because the attendees at those meetings are much less inclined to do anything while on the property that might appear to be self-indulgent and non-businesslike.
These developments have made resorts change how they approach the spa business—and widen the scope of where they look for customers. At the recently opened Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort in Florida, for example, Beverly Fox-Crismond, Spa Director at the property’s Sandava Spa, says the spa is being operated as an extension of the Hyatt resort, and not as a stand-alone entity.
“This supports a more consistent business flow, to help us reach all [potential customers on the property]—not only groups, but also guests on vacation, guests attending social events, and local, loyal customers,” Fox-Crismond explains.
Equally important, she adds, Sandava Spa is marketing itself to all of these customer groups not just as a place of luxury, but rather as one that can help to “support a lifestyle of conscious living and well living, [connecting] you to the sea, shore and the power of personal wellness.”
The resort’s leisure and business guests are expected to comprise approximately 80% of the clients for the spa, which is a Hyatt Signature Pure facility. The remaining 20%, says Fox-Crismond says, will be local clients—a market segment that’s now much more squarely in the sights of all spa operators.
To keep the local customer base around the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort returning again and again, the Sandava Spa will be offering a VIP loyalty program for repeat visits. Plus, its monthly calendar of events includes such programs as “Locals Day,” which offers 20% off all services; “Retail Day,” which offers 10% off all retail; and weekly wine and food tastings from hotel restaurants and local wineries. There are even designated spa tours to appeal to prospective clients, with the chance to enter a drawing for free service.
The core market of business guests certainly won’t be forgotten, either—but the availability of spa services will be presented to this segment in a much different context, in deference to the scrutiny, sensitivity and perception issues that now surround every meeting or conference held at a resort property.
At the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort, Fox-Crismond plans to sell the benefits of personal wellness to meeting planners as an important part of what off-site retreats can do to help boost a team’s focus and morale.
“We know meeting planners have a very full plate, so we offer an incentive program that allows them to not only accommodate their groups, but also help them renew and recharge,” she says. “And for every 10 spa treatments they book for their group, they’ll receive a one-hour service of their choice.”
Spas That Members Embrace
The same shifts in how spas are positioned and operated are now also being seen in private-club settings. The instant success of the unique approach taken by Canebrake Country Club in Hattiesburg, Miss. highlights the value of paying equal attention to both member/guest and local customer bases, and to how a full business orientation is critical when adding spas as a new amenity and operating department.
Canebrake’s General Manager, Chris Ortego, admits to some initial worry about how club members would react to part of their facility becoming open to the public, after he convinced the club’s owner to fill unused space in the clubhouse by relocating Elements, the spa and salon he and his wife operated in town, and renaming it Shoots Spa and Salon.
The Allison Inn & Spa is seeing brisk sales of everything from lavender milk to llama blankets through its emphasis on local sourcing, says Spa Director Tara Calton. |
“There was a bit of initial grumbling before [Shoots] opened [in the clubhouse],” he reports, “but it was all over anticipation that there would be a chemical smell, or that the place would become too crowded.” Those fears were quickly allayed because the products used at Shoots don’t put any odors into the facility, and because members saw that even at maximum capacity—six haircut clients, two manicure clients, two tanning clients and two massage clients, plus employees—there was still plenty of parking available for those using the club for other purposes.
“Usually, my strategy is to communicate, communicate, communicate,” Ortego adds. “But over the six-month period where we transitioned from Elements to Shoots, I kept pretty quiet to club members about what we were doing. I felt the membership had to see it in place to see it work.”
As someone with knowledge of what it takes to succeed in the spa business, Ortego wasn’t worried that existing local clientele would hesitate to come to a new location in a country club. “Customers are loyal,” he notes. “They’ll change doctors before they change their stylist.” (As an added benefit, he notes that while Shoots’ local clients don’t have full access to the entire club, walking up to the salon area has given them a sense of Canebrake’s ambience, and that’s already helped to convert at least one local salon client to a full membership.)
Ortego also knew that not having to staff up for a new spa operation would have immediate value. “A busy stylist can generate $4,000 to $5,000 a week, with about a $2,500 profit margin,” he says. “But it takes them years to get to that point.”
Shoots is set up separately on paper from the rest of the club, Ortego notes, but the operation, and its people, are always treated as one of the club’s departments. “It was important to make sure the [spa] staff felt like they were a part of the facility from the start,” he stresses.
The stylists and spa therapists brought over from Elements still work on a 60/40 commission basis, which Ortego thinks enhances their motivation to provide the service needed to get everyone talking about what makes Shoots special.
“We’re in a 100,000-person town, so word of mouth can be the best thing or the worst thing for a spa business,” he says. Canebrake’s spa business has been profitable from the first day it opened in October, he adds, because of how it was set up to appeal, from the start, to as much of the populace as possible.
“You can’t just expect a stylist to serve members only, nor should you bring on a new stylist who has no built-in clientele and brings nothing to the table,” Ortego notes.
Widening the Reach
Two other techniques that spas continue to expand their use of—both in how they’re marketed, and to whom—are gift certificates and retail sales of spa-related products.
To help meet demand for products and services that now often extend beyond spas’ traditional realm, spa operations must be integrated more closely with other aspects of club and resort activity. |
Gift certificates have always been a popular revenue stream for spas, as a popular gift item that is easy to market for the holiday season or anniversaries, to brides, and many other occasions or recipients. At the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort, Fox-Crismond is finding that discount certificates, offering savings such as $25 off for each $100 spent, can also be a popular way to encourage more use than originally planned.
At the club level, Ortego found that many members took advantage of buying gift certificates as holiday presents for employees and friends. “Letting them experience a manicure and pedicure here fits their budget,” he explains.
Tara Calton, Spa Director of The Allison Inn & Spa, which recently opened in Newberg, Ore., reports that a variety of locally created products that are being incorporated into that property’s spa services—such as lemon-lavender essence spray, shea butter, mud mask, soy wax, and lavender milk bath—are also selling well in the property’s retail boutique. The emphasis on local connections has even made items such as handmade jewelry, llama blankets, umbrellas and writing journals, all from local sources, also popular among guests.
In addition, on-site gardens provide the ingredients for several spa and therapy services. “We incorporate our own mint, calendula, lavender and rosehips into our infused hot towels,” says Calton, who notes that different herbs are used throughout their respective growing seasons. “Our signature spa beverages are also garnished with ingredients from our gardens,” she adds, “and by next year, we’ll be adding our own crushed grape seeds into our scrubs.”
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