SpaBoomers: How does a slowing economy affect you,
and what do you do about it?
February 26th, 2008 • Posted by Stephany Toman • Permalink
I have to admit, I've really resisted using the 'r' word when it comes to the state of our economy, but personal quirks aside, there may be something to what the markets are 'saying'. Whether or not you're willing to acquiesce to the idea of an economic downturn, consumer perception is the lynchpin–if people perceive a tight economy, they'll behave accordingly.
So, what do you do when times get a little tighter? Personally, we all tend to either think twice about or simply avoid 'indulgent' purchases in favor of meeting the day-to-day financial responsibilities. Professionally, we all assess and adjust wherever we can. Making the most of resources is a very straightforward way to ensure we're getting the most from our business dollars.
Having a way to reach the online audience while using a resource in which you've already invested, ie your website, makes absolute sense. So does making it easier to do business with you. Consumers will still buy gifts for friends and loved one regardless of the economy; it's a social necessity. If you make it super easy to purchase a gift from your spa, you save them a trip out to shop (which saves gas money, to be quite honest) while offering up a gift that will make the recipient feel absolutely pampered and relaxed AND you're further ingraining your business in their reality as the right choice, regardless.
Remember that with SpaBoom, you have the ability to not only sell Instant Gift Certificates from your website, but also to conduct email campaigns and create time-sensitive specials (in Events)–and these come built-in at no extra charge!
So, get busy already! Make the most of your SpaBoom tools and watch your business respond in a most favorable way!
Posted in Spa Marketing, Spa Business Management • Share • Trackback
February 27th, 2008 at 6:25 am
To be honest, business is actually BETTER than it's been in months (although there's room for A LOT of improvement!). We're getting more new clients each week than we have since last spring. Things were much scarier for us over the summer, at which time we did run a special. But i quickly learned why I don't like running specials — I got several of these "well if things are going so well, why are you dropping your prices?" …
So the approach we take now is not to lower prices, ours are competitive already — but we focus on WHY the clients need us, and more importantly how we can help them during a challenging economic time.
Believe it or not, the series packages are selling like crazy. Sure, it's a chunk at purchase time, but the clients see the overall value. They don't want to compromise quality, but they need a little help in the pocketbook.
We also have begun some spa packages as suggested in this blog. I don't know why I was so resistant to it for so long, but people are pleased when their choices are easier for them — and since we've picked out a few they're selling as well.
Good luck, everybody!
February 29th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Our gift certificate sales are up 10% so far this year. Our product and service sales aren't showing a similar bump so I attribute the increase entirely to the reach that SpaBoom provides for online gift certificate sales ….