Resources and Development

While doing some research I came across a promotional video from a spa company that sells franchises. The information they provided was solid and in alignment with what I had read in other materials. They stated that 17% of Americans received massages in 2004, which means the industry performed 117 million massages in 2004, and the day spa segment generated approximately $6 billion in sales. They also stated that Spa goers want: the ability to make appointments in the spur of the moment, Spa locations to be in high traffic central areas (preferably near other stores), and reasonable prices. This got me thinking about Spa customers and what it is that they really, really want from a Spa visit.

According to the most recent statistics published by the International Spa Association (ISPA) in 2006 we had; 13,757 Spas throughout the USA, with 131 million spa visits in 2005, and $9.7 billion in revenue generated by the Spa industry. These numbers simply continue to prove that the Day Spa Industry is growing and that we will continue to see new day spas opening near us. It also made me wonder about the level of services that is being provided. In a recent article published by The New York Times, what most consumers complained about was the inconsistency of the level of service in the treatment room.

As consumers we are bombarded by email promotions, fliers, newspaper ads, magazine ads, and local TV ads to entice us to try the newest Day Spa or the existing Day Spa in our community. Unless you are still in an area where you do not have any competition in a 40 mile radius, we are all competing for the same client; the one that is shopping in the same mall we are located at, or the one that resides only a few miles away from our business. We think we know what they want; we have extensive menus of services, we create excellent seasonal promotions, we cater to their needs, we keep their birthday dates and anniversary dates on file and we want to make sure they stay as our client for ever and ever. Yet, sometimes we forget the most important aspect of what we are supposed to be offering; I hear about expectations not being met, appointment times not being available, service not being equal to the last visit, etc. etc.

When we think of promotional practices we tend to think of specials, treatment series, gift certificates and discounts, which are typical sales strategies for all kinds of businesses. I submit to you, that in addition to the above you also have to consider the experience that all these customers will be receiving. Don't over promise and under deliver, because you will never see them again, and they will tell ten more people about their negative experience.

Everyone has competitors and just implementing something that is working at the Spa a block away will not insure increased sales or customer satisfaction. Service is the number ONE factor that contributes to a customer's overall satisfaction; it is the total experience what will have them coming back to you time after time. We all want to provide excellent customer service; we want 100% customer satisfaction. Then every action, every word, every gesture, every day, plays a part in the overall service experience. This includes any telephone interaction your client has with your spa; it includes the state of the facilities when they visit, was the changing area clean, were there enough towels, was Suzy at the Reception area efficient, pleasant and effective?

EVERYTHING counts! The promotion, advertisement, or special service might bring them in once, but it will NOT keep them coming if they do not leave feeling 100% satisfied. Marketing research data tells us that if a customer has a complaint, 54-70% of those customers will do business with you again. However if the complaint is resolved then 94% will give you another chance if it is resolved quickly, immediately on the spot. Complaints could happen daily and if not dealt with correctly, empathetically and with true care it will cause you to lose business.

I repeat: there is a lot of competition out there, it is not about offering the latest service, the latest product, the most advanced, and it is not about having the most expensively decorated facility with all the amenities imaginable. It is about offering the highest quality service for the best price. To meet these expectations and to rise above competition, it is up to you to ensure that every single team member at your location provides that 100% excellent customer service all day, every day, without fail. Our job as owners and/or managers is a never ending story, we have to want to do this every single day to be successful, it will not happen on its own. If we don't take the time to set up the foundation in our business, with the right employee selection, recruitment, training and follow-up, we will not be able to provide this level of service in a way that will have our clients coming back for more.

Let's continuously put ourselves in our customers' shoes and look at our services, our facility and our staff interactions from their perspective. If we do this every day and make the necessary adjustments to how we do business, we will be a step ahead of our competition. Here at Resources & Development we believe in excellence in customer service. Helping you to achieve greater customer service is part of who we are and why we exist. Let's roll up our sleeves and work together.

Zahira J. Coll is a Human Resources Executive, Executive Spa Director and business owner with over fourteen years (14) of experience in the hospitality industry. Ms. Coll has a unique combination of talents, expertise and experience. She began her career in Human Resources Management, and for the past eight years she has been involved in Hotel-Spa operations at an Executive level. She has participated in numerous projects as a Consultant, designing and implementing all the aspects of opening and operating a Spa, Hotel, Casino and Retail center. Ms. Coll is also Founder & CEO of Resources and Development.

Posted in Resources and Development, Spa Business Management, Spa Marketing • 2 Comments »

The famous words of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" often ring through my head. No, not "The Time Warp", but the words never better sung "Don't Dream It BE IT".

Throughout my life I've only wanted one thing, "To be different", not rich, not beautiful, not normal, not average, but DIFFERENT, and have used that as my measuring stick of success. (Maybe that explains why I like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", but I'll save that thought for my next therapy session.)

Nonetheless, at an early age I read "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it CAN achieve", written by famous author W. Clement Stone, and this is where I learned the value of "dreaming", because I knew that if I could believe in my dreams I could achieve my goals.

The problem however was that my friends and relatives didn't always think that my dreams, goals, and ideas were good ones? The reason I found was a simple one – It's not their job to believe in my dreams, that's my job, because they are MY aspirations. It is their job to shine the light of doubt on everything we dream, to show us the flaws in our logic, to throw road blocks in our way, if only to test our resolve. Through this process our dream becomes more powerful or it fades away.

Criticism is a good thing, not a bad thing. While our natural reaction is to take it personally, if someone has a good reason that my dream won't work, it may take a day or two to digest the criticism, but in the end I have either stronger desire to accomplish something and have solved some problems or accept the fact that they saved me from a lot of wasted time and grief.

So now when I decide to take my idea further, I will then step the process up a notch by subjecting it to an expert's opinion through reading books and research, speaking to an expert or consultant in the related field, or analyzing how others are doing similar things. I seek criticism that doesn't just tear down my idea, but instead helps me refine it into something even better.

Resources become important in such endeavors and shining the light of cold reality builds confidence and helps to insure greater success. We have all seen people with more money than brains, who think they have a great idea and march right down the path to destruction without getting the expert help they should have sought. We also see the person who refuses to give up, but also refuses to get the help they need to successfully take the idea from the dream stage to a sound successful reality.

The point to writing about all this is to help us all to understand that sometimes it is our job to dream and sometimes it is our job to doubt, and that it takes both to make a successful business relationship. Also that finding those resources are critical to refining your dream and that is what we do a lot here at Resources & Development is help the Dreamer refine that dream into a sound workable business and sometimes in that process we are asked to dream along with our clients.

So I say to you, "Don't Dream It BE IT!" and if Resources & Development can help you in refining that dream and bring it to life, then give us a call.

Skip Williams, the author of "The Reluctant Spa Director and the Mission Dream", is a recognized speaker and author in the spa arena, recently voted "Spa Person of the Year", with over thirteen (13) years of experience in the Management, Financial Development & Operational fields, in the Spa and Hospitality Industry as Spa Director, Controller and Business project Consultant. He brings his previous years of analytical business experience in a broad variety of manufacturing, retail and service businesses to studying Resort Spas, Day Spas, Medical Spas, Wellness Centers, and Salons: their profitability, how they operate, and what makes them successful. Skip is also Vice President of Resources and Development.

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Are you? Will you admit to your obsession with all things SpaBoom, just like we'll admit that we're crazy about having you on board?

If you're one of our amazing businesses that have jumped up your sales by using Instant Gift Certificates and you're looking for ways to enhance what you provide to your customers, you probably read this very blog for tips and updates.

Whether you check in a few times a week or daily, you should know about a quick and easy way to make sure you never miss a new post – the RSS reader.

Think of all of the magazines, catalogs, and newspapers that you love to read, and the mailman that delivers them to your mailbox every day, saving you the hassle of going to stores to buy them in person. The blogs you read online are like those print publications and the RSS reader is both the mailman and the mailbox rolled into one – no need to bounce around on the web to get caught up on your reading.

If you already use a reader, just point it to our RSS Feed (also linked on the left side of the screen) and you're good to go.

If you are new to RSS, there are many web-based services available, from Bloglines to Google Reader, and they are as easy to use as web-based email. Dive in and enjoy your SpaBoom Blog addiction!

Posted in Resources and Development, The Company, Tutorials • 1 Comment »

When I explain the math on profitability of spas to potential owners, I am often asked, "If Spas are not as profitable as others businesses, why would someone go into the spa business? And why are there so many spas popping up around the country? And why are YOU in this business?"

All great questions, and they deserve a more detailed answer than I am able to give you in this short column, but let me answer why I am in this business and how I suspect that many of you are in it for the same or similar reasons.

The short answer is "to help others" and "some driving force tells me that this is my life’s work!" For many of us, it is not about the money, even though we all need to turn a profit, it is an "OBSESSION", an obsession that is fed by the positive feedback that we receive on a regular basis. Although I never touch a client with my hands nor feel the flow of energy that passes between client and practitioner, it is responses that I get from readers or clients everyday, such as the two below, that touch my heart and inspire me to press on feeding my obsession:

Kerstin Bestmann from Cologne, Germany wondered if buying the book entitled, "The Reluctant Spa Director and the Mission Dream" would be worth the investment. She wrote to me: "During the first 38 pages I thought 'well, not too much about business, but what a nice chance to read a human story after all the professional reading.' But then I really got my money’s worth, extremely important information about 'what it's all about'. It sure is a sensitive, sensual, caring and pleasure business book with a lot of philosophy, history and meaning behind it. I figured out what you described as 'Business in general' is not for the faint of heart, and the spa business is even more difficult than most.' Great help, great book."

I met Tim Vergel de Dios from Orange County California at the recent Spa & Resort Expo in Los Angeles and sold him a book, he writes: "I wanted to compliment you on a very well written work. After reading many 'learn about a business' books, it was truly refreshing to finally find one that brings the reader through a real world scenario with all the trials that business and life brings. I found many parallels in the book and to my own situation. I feel you have succeeded in this work on many levels including, teaching, consulting, and entertaining. My hats off to you!"

Man, I LOVE my job! I may not touch people with my hands, but letters like these let me know that I have "helped others" and perhaps touched them in a different way. I am obsessed, I am obsessed with every aspect of this crazy spa business, I am obsessed with perfecting my craft and obsessed with helping others to create the most perfect Spa they are capable of.

I think Annette Bening said it best when recently asked how she balanced her home life and her career, she said "I think balance is over rated, in order to accomplish anything great in life it takes having an OBSESSION!"

Why don't you call me or write to me about your obsession, perhaps we can create something truly great together, or maybe we will go to group therapy together, either way we could call it a "Magnificent Obsession Session!"

Skip Williams, the author of “The Reluctant Spa Director and the Mission Dream”, is a recognized speaker and author in the spa arena, recently voted “Spa Person of the Year”, with over thirteen (13) years of experience in the Management, Financial Development & Operational fields, in the Spa and Hospitality Industry as Spa Director, Controller and Business project Consultant. He brings his previous years of analytical business experience in a broad variety of manufacturing, retail and service businesses to studying Resort Spas, Day Spas, Medical Spas, Wellness Centers, and Salons: their profitability, how they operate, and what makes them successful. Skip is also Vice President of Resources and Development.

Posted in General, Resources and Development • Comment »

I once had a girlfriend that I could not commit to. It seems she wanted a long term, stable relationship. Because I was not able to commit to this type of relationship she decided she had to date others. Soon I found myself competing for her affections, and difficult to get a date with. Eventually I found myself alone and looking for another girlfriend!

While relationships with employees are not intimate, the dynamics of the relationship are very similar. If we hire them and do not provide training, then force them to build their own clientèle, and do not offer them a stable form of compensation, then why are we surprised when they end up working for our competition?

It is not about money. My ex-girlfriend ended up marrying someone that made far less money than I did. It is about commitment. People, at least the good ones, will not build relationships with employers (or friends) without a commitment. While money is certainly a component of any employment relationship, commitment on the part of the employer is a much greater component. Sometimes however, there are “gold digger” girlfriends; the same is true in employment situations. In both circumstances, neither makes a good candidate for a relationship!

If you have employees that have an “it’s never enough money” attitude, there is a chance that they may be a bad fit for your employment situation, but a far greater chance that you as an employer have “a fear of commitment”.

Our industry is famous for this phobia. The other industries learned long ago that employees must be nurtured, they must be provided with a stable form of compensation, and that praise, discipline, and benefits are essential parts of any employment relationship. The Spa Industry continues to think of itself as the carefree boyfriend that can attract quality companionship without commitment.

When will it learn that it will be an unfulfilled industry with a long road of disappointments ahead until it decides to change its attitude and GROW UP?

Skip Williams, the author of “The Reluctant Spa Director and the Mission Dream”, is a recognized speaker and author in the spa arena, recently voted “Spa Person of the Year”, with over thirteen (13) years of experience in the Management, Financial Development & Operational fields, in the Spa and Hospitality Industry as Spa Director, Controller and Business project Consultant. He brings his previous years of analytical business experience in a broad variety of manufacturing, retail and service businesses to studying Resort Spas, Day Spas, Medical Spas, Wellness Centers, and Salons: their profitability, how they operate, and what makes them successful. Skip is also Vice President of Resources and Development.

Posted in General, Resources and Development, Spa Business Management • 3 Comments »

Art and Science!

I love to talk about the blend of "Art" and "Science" and how vital it is in our daily life and in our business. Almost everything starts as art but doesn't become marketable until someone turns it into a science. An example of this is writing a book, which most would agree is an art, but publishing it and making it available to the public is a science. Writing a song, creating a movie, or inventing something is an art but making them a saleable product is a science.

When we make a science out of the production of the art we also make it simpler and more efficient to reproduce that art. When writing a book, if we force ourselves to sit down at a certain time of the day, work for a specified period, and utilize tools such as computers, spell checkers, and printers to create our art, doing these things will turn our creative process into consistently reproducible results.

A Spa is full of creativity; many would say that we are artists when we perform our services; however it is the conversion of that Art into Science that will truly give us our success in the Marketplace. This is why turning all the many things that we do each day from answering the phones, to performing the services, to cleaning the facility, to closing the sale into a logical process is so important.

We do not have a true business and we can not achieve brand building without consistency in the way we deliver our products and services. This is achieved through the creation of a process and then working that process until results are achieved or adjustments become apparent.

How do we achieve this critical conversion from Art to Science? Through the creation of systems, operational procedures (see our Ready-to-Use Tools) and through the commitment to continuous daily improvement in our businesses. We should always be seeking to do it better, deliver it more efficiently today than we did yesterday, and demanding the consistency from out employees that our business and our clients depend on.

Skip Williams, the author of “The Reluctant Spa Director and the Mission Dream”, is a recognized speaker and author in the spa arena, recently voted “Spa Person of the Year”, with over thirteen (13) years of experience in the Management, Financial Development & Operational fields, in the Spa and Hospitality Industry as Spa Director, Controller and Business project Consultant. He brings his previous years of analytical business experience in a broad variety of manufacturing, retail and service businesses to studying Resort Spas, Day Spas, Medical Spas, Wellness Centers, and Salons: their profitability, how they operate, and what makes them successful. Skip is also Vice President of Resources and Development.

Posted in General, Resources and Development, Spa Business Management • Comment »

“To Dream is Divine, to Achieve is Sublime”

The gift to dream of huge accomplishments comes from God, but the ability to turn those dreams into reality comes from many places all of which are completely human. Where does someone find the strength and the tenaciousness to invent a light bulb, build a bridge, or even open a business?

Perhaps through motivations like greed, pride, and altruism. But I believe, although I can not prove it, that inside each and every one of us is a “higher calling,” a purpose, or a flame of desire that slowly burns inside ourselves, yearning to breathe free, needing to accomplish great things.

Although we are in the “Spa Business” and we teach and preach that we must all have balance in our lives, I submit to you that nothing GREAT ever got accomplished with balance. Great love, great intelligence, great talent, great inventions, great works of art, in fact all great accomplishments come from obsession. Obsession requires, no strike that, obsession demands that other facets of your life be out of balance and so does accomplishment.

Why then does this flame burn inside each of us to be better than we are, to reach new heights, to accomplish something that our friends and family tell us is “crazy?” Should we listen to the flame, or should we suffocate it by keeping harmony and balance in our life?

Many within our industry will disagree, and opt for the perfect harmony and balance, but I for one, believe that our Maker would not haunt us with this Dream, would not plague us with this burning desire, if we were not meant to reach for those Dreams.

Now you may ask, will everyone accomplish those Dreams, of course not, then why should everyone try? To which I answer; “It is in the pursuit of accomplishment, not the accomplishment itself, that real happiness is found!” In other words, when we stretch ourselves, when we reach for that which seems unattainable, we are proud of ourselves, we are happy with ourselves, and we believe we are obsessed with our Dream and navigating toward its achievement. When the goal is reached, then new goals become necessary to continue our happiness, albeit with more confidence.

Robert Frost wrote about “The Road Not Taken:”

Two roads diverged in a wood,
And sorry I could not travel both, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I have been inspired by these words for many years, and as a boy I used to play in the woods and fields on Robert Frost’s Farm, and contemplate if these were the woods he wrote about, and on my way back to my Grandparents house I would ALWAYS take the more difficult route home. I guess not much in my life has changed. As you and I face difficulty every day, the trick, I believe, is to relish that difficulty, and be proud of facing up to it, of meeting it head on.

Now, many years later, I have the privilege of working with other fellow obsessive future Spa Business Owners, and I am in awe of the American Entrepreneurial Spirit that burns within our industry. I am honored to work with Spa Owners and Future Spa Owners that the Dream burns so brightly for, and help them to turn that Dream into a Reality.

I face each day knowing that there is someone out there who is obsessed with the idea of creating a profitable Spa Business where people would come and they would be showered with kindness, pampered with gentle hands, and smiling employees would serve them with a caretaker’s heart. If only they had the means, if only they had could solidify their ideas, if only they could convince an investor, if only they knew that their ideas would work, they would let that flame burn more brightly, they would take that Dream to the next level, they would eventually turn the Dream into a Reality.

So, I wake each day with my own obsession, my obsession is to find those of you who fit that description, my obsession is to help you achieve that Dream, my obsession is keep you from failing or making major mistakes, my obsession is to help you reach for the unattainable and I, in return, become a better man through these efforts, and my Dream is to be better at it than anyone out there. MY DREAM IS DIVINE!

Skip Williams, the author of “The Reluctant Spa Director and the Mission Dream”, is a recognized speaker and author in the spa arena, recently voted "Spa Person of the Year", with over thirteen (13) years of experience in the Management, Financial Development & Operational fields, in the Spa and Hospitality Industry as Spa Director, Controller and Business project Consultant. He brings his previous years of analytical business experience in a broad variety of manufacturing, retail and service businesses to studying Resort Spas, Day Spas, Medical Spas, Wellness Centers, and Salons: their profitability, how they operate, and what makes them successful. Skip is also Vice President of Resources and Development.

Posted in General, Resources and Development • 2 Comments »