Back in the Black webinar audio recordingMonday, January 18th
10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern
FREE with advance registration
Give us an hour and we’ll kick start your marketing plan with our stimulating online Marketing Round Table. During this Wynne Business web conference, you’re invited to share your best ideas from 2009 and your plans for the New Year. This is a rare chance to find out from other smart, savvy spa operators from all over North America what’s working for them.
This fast, fun, peer-to-peer learning event is moderated by Peggy Wynne Borgman and Lisa Starr of Wynne Business, as well as guest panelist David Victor from Accelerator Enterprise Technologies, our resident web marketing expert.
To register, visit the Wynne Business Webex Training Center and click on the “upcoming” tab.
We all know that the two big motivators of human behavior are 1.) avoiding pain and 2.) gaining pleasure. For years, the spa industry grew on the obvious attractions of motivator #2. And life was good.
But times have changed, and the spa industry been remarkably slow to pack away its “champagne wishes and caviar dreams”. (If you’re still larding your marketing communications with words like “luxurious,” “indulgent,” and “exclusive,” please go to the back of the class.)
This year, it’s all about helping your guests overcome pain. Results-oriented services are withstanding the recession’s battering far better than those perceived as merely relaxing. Even stress relief is looked upon as a guilty pleasure. (It’s a recession–everyone’s stressed out!)
Maybe you’ve only used the word “pain” sparingly til now. Perhaps a discreet mention in the copy for a massage treatment. But many, if not most, of our clients are living with pain, and don’t even realize that their spa therapist can actually do something about it. You need to tell them.
No, we’re not recommending a return to dreary YMCA-style rubdowns with smelly liniment. Pain relief can and should be…fabulous.
Our newest offering, Thaiyurveda, is a Thai-inspired warm herbal poultice massage. The treatment, created by the inimitable healer Camille Western, is exotic, intriguing, and incredibly effective for pain relief. (I maintain that even listening to Camille describe the treatment in her melodic Puerto Rican accent is pretty good therapy.)
We introduced our new Thaiyurveda Warm Herbal Massage during a recent client spa party, with “bite size” samples administered on a table smack in the middle of our spa lobby. Guests swooned with delight…er, pain relief.
The next time a client calls your spa to inquire about treatments, make sure your staff asks, “Are you experiencing any muscle pain or discomfort?” “Sell in” with pain relief, to get them onto the table, but “sell through” with a luxurious experience, to get them to return. Offer motivating series specials (we like a summer ‘mini series’ of just three treatments.)
With a slight attitude adjustment, your spa can join the companies who know that “no pain, no gain,” is one of the great truths of marketing during a downturn.
I’m a fan of looking outside my industry for fresh ways of solving problems, and I was delighted last month at SpaExec NYC to have a chance to do just that.
Leo Renaghan, Emeritus Professor from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, delivered the keynote address, “Creating Customer Value in a Down Economy.” Providing insights into the social and emotional factors that affect economic decision-making, he encouraged the spa marketers in attendance to reframe our marketing messages to increase perceived value.
His thoughts on pricing impacted me the most. He explained that when consumers are given a choice of soft drink sizes that includes Small, Medium and Large, Medium beverages are sold the most. When Extra Large is added to the choices, Large beverages are the best sellers. Why?
Consumers perceive the Large to be the best value, but only when juxtaposed with Extra Large.
So perceived value is very much about context, and pricing has an enormous impact on perceived value. Yet the spa industry’s understanding of the price-value equation is only just evolving. What sort of pricing context do we offer our customers? As little as possible, it seems. This probably springs from a shared misapprehension that we are “above” pricing tactics, such as dropping a service price to $99 from $100. In any other industry, such practices are accepted. But the spa industry has a stubborn affection for increments of $5.
It’s not just about reducing price. Another example Renaghan provided was the improvement in sales that followed a product when its price was adjusted from $105 to $119.
How could one apply this example to services sold in the spa? At our spa, we decided to roll out a new promotion, called “Small Indulgences,” designed to appeal to consumer’s thawing desire to treat themselves well after months of sensible behavior. American consumers don’t seem to do well with privation, and thought the “I deserve it” ethos is now officially unfashionable, it is also utterly indelible.
Small Indulgences was inspired by a very similar promotion being offered by one of the spas in our Spa Leadership Round Table, a group of Bay Area spas that get together every other month to share best practices. Avant Garde, led by the irrepressibly creative marketer Blanca Caballero, has been running their “Spa Tapas” promotion with great success for over a year.
We decided we wanted to focus attention on our menu of 45 minute spa treatments, which are normally priced at $75, as well as a luxury pedicure that is 75 minutes, for $75. So our menu consisted of a facial treatment, a massage, and a pedicure, to keep things simple.
One “indulgence” can be had for just $69 (a mere $6 off its normal price, a discount that most consumers would sniff at were it described as “9% off.”) Two can be purchased for $129, and three can be had for $199. And in every case, the discount is less than 10%.
Voila! Small, medium and large. (extra large will be tested next!) The consumer suddenly has choice. They’re in the driver’s seat. The first purchase, the single Indulgence, is virtually a no-brainer, because that price point is so low. It opens what I call the “shopping door” in a consumer’s head. (I’m sure there is a real scientific term for this phenomenon: you agonize for a half hour about whether to buy the dress…yet once you decide to buy it, you add a pair of shoes and a cute shawl. What just happened???)
So, while they’re convinced that they deserve one little Indulgence…golly, that “Medium” starts looking good. Two spa treatments for $129? You can’t beat that.
We launched the promotion through our favorite medium, the e mail blast, limiting it to weekdays. We had a strong response, stronger than we got for our “Buy a full session treatment and receive an additional 30 minutes of treatment with our compliments,” which of course is a much better value.
This is yet another cautionary tale for folks who think throwing discounts at their customers is the best way to improve sales. We call discounting the “D” bomb, but I think “D” is the grade that marketers deserve if deep discounting is all they can come up with. (Come to the front of the class and write on the chalkboard “I won’t mindlessly discount my great spa services” 100 times!)
“Small Indulgences” doesn’t tear down our brand, or create expectations that more and more free stuff will be shoveled out as time goes on. It actually enables a new guest to try our spa, or an infrequent visitor to return more often; it taps into the midmarket price point without diminishing our brand promise. Wouldn’t you rather have a bona fide spa experience than visit a storefront budget massage place? (Hint, luxury spa operators: there is a way to beat ‘em at their own game, and it doesn’t have to cost you giant chunks of margin.)
Renaghan recommended the book “Predictably Irrational,” as a great introduction into the often baffling art and science of predicting consumer behavior. I can’t wait to read it!
I love being a spa marketer, and cooking up wonderful new ways to promote spas. But more and more, I love other people’s ideas (OPI.)
This idea comes from Preston Wynne, but more precisely, from a Preston Wynne employee, one of our newest.
We had a team retreat in February and created “three commitments” for the first half of the year. One of these commitments was, “Do something you’ve NEVER done to market the spa in a new way.”
Where do the best new ideas come from? Your new people.
Our newest esthetician came to me and asked me if she could have permission to send out her own “March Madness Special.” She wanted to send an invitation to any client who had not yet rescheduled with her to come in and enjoy another facial treatment, and, as her gift, she would lavish them additional thirty minutes of upgrades.
She didn’t want or expect to be paid for this time. It was her gift to them.
Employees often forget that spas are making a contribution too, when a service is given away using time that could otherwise be sold. But Jennifer “got” that. She knew this was an equal contribution. Our mutual unsold time could be invested, at no cash expense, to bring her customers back in. She thought that was a pretty good deal. She was more interested in generating activity than in being compensated for every minute of her time. She knew that she was sowing the seeds to grow her clientele. And she was delighted that we were willing to go along with her plan.
Fussy marketing maven that I am, I had to control my impulse to refine Jennifer’s offer. “March Madness” isn’t a phrase you’ll find in my copywriting. Was it too shrill? Was it incongruent with our brand? But I controlled my impulse to control, because I didn’t want to squelch her radiant enthusiasm. This was a fantastic idea, and it was totally aligned with our team Commitment. These are moments that managers dream about.
Jennifer told a few of her co workers about her idea. Two others joined the “March Madness” promotion. Others pooh-poohed the idea of “working for free.” The Madwomen busily prepared their personal offers, and put them in the mail. Jennifer herself mailed out 70 cards. Their energy was contagious. Even the skeptics were curious about what was going on.
We ended up crafting an offer for the estheticians and for the body therapists, so we’d have a SKU in the system for each of the unpaid “Madness” treatments. Other than that, this was grassroots marketing all the way. Into the mail their cards went, and we waited for the response.
It was swift and enthusiastic. Jennifer’s book began to fill. So did Elena’s, the first massage therapist to get on board. Word traveled quickly, and the “Madness” spread.
In fact, this offer has garnered the best response of any we’ve done this year. Why?
1. It’s personal. It came from their service provider, not from the “business.”
2. It’s timely. It touched them at the moment they were ready for another treatment, and leveraged the fresh memory of their great spa experience.
2. It was sent via snail mail. Say what you will, but internet marketing fatigue has set in. A hand addressed card is a real attention grabber these days. If you’re finding that your e mail blasts are generating fewer returns than they used to, mix it up!
3. It’s a great value. Full stop.
This offer is also one of the best business builders we’ve done. Why?
1. It is focused on creating the behavior that we need most from our clients: repeat visits. It cements the relationship.
2. It showcases us at our best, in a longer-format treatment that will deliver more benefits to the client. It’s not our “base sticker price” treatment. It introduces clients to irresistible upgrades they might not otherwise have sampled, and they’ll be back for more.
3. It shows our staff that they have influence over their clients, and builds their confidence. Think the “Madwomen” will be shy about inviting these clients back? Probably not.
Time to dust off your gift card refund policy and make sure your team knows how to handle the influx of requests that will be coming your way.
Thanks to holiday promotions that we run, clients often buy gift cards for their own use. Sadly, with layoffs on the increase, they’re hoping to put the money from this purchase back in their pocket. My operations director Nandita reported to me today that she’s fielded three calls in the last few days from guests requesting refunds.
Our policy is to provide cash refunds only within the first two weeks after a purchase.
A client making this request is probably abashed, if not mortified. Make sure your team knows to handle them with kid gloves–and the right amount of empathy. Have them explain your policy gently, if in fact you don’t offer refunds.
If you do give cash refunds to gift purchasers, brace yourself!
With cash flow slowing, and operating capital in short supply, gift sales are one of the few ways that spas can raise money. That cash is essential to your health. Hang onto it for dear life!
Of course, you can make a case-by-case call, just as you would for any customer service situation. If you make the business rules, you can break them too. It’s always worth weighing the cost of being a stickler.
As my dear friend Holly Stiel tells us, “Being Right is the Booby Prize!”
