Sensible Ways to Increase Your Spa’s Bottom Line

In order to make the most of your spa business, you need to come up with creative and revenue producing ways to increase you spa’s bottom line. Adjusting and tweaking your overall plan as business ebbs and flows is the best way to stay profitable throughout the year.

The most important thing for your spa is to maintain a high level of rescheduled appointments. This can be done by creating a rewards program for returning clients. However, the rewards need to be something your clients actually want, such as free services or discounts on prepaid or bundled services.

Create programs that will bring clients back week after week rather than every other month. This can be done by offering special multi-week programs that focus on weight loss, body transformation, detoxification, or wedding day preparation where clients come in once a week for 4-8 weeks in order to reach a specific goal.

You also want to staff your spa with quality personnel in order to create an atmosphere focused on customer service and client satisfaction. Offer employee incentives to keep your turnover rates low and establish performance-based incentives to keep customer service high.

WTS International – Facility Managers

For over 35 years, WTS International, one of the world’s preeminent spa and leisure firms has provided feasibility studies, design consultation, pre-opening and daily management services for spas, fitness centers, and leisure complexes worldwide.

Our clients include hotels and resorts, private golf and country clubs, luxury hi-rise residential sites, master-planned communities, and real estate developments.

WTS has current openings for Spa Directors and Facility Managers in Dubai (UAE), Beverly Hills, California, Chicago, Illinois, and numerous other sites throughout the U.S. and Caribbean. Corporate positions are also available.

Qualified candidates should possess strong knowledge of hospitality management, outstanding customer service skills and marketing/sales experience.

Candidates should also have exceptional communication skills and a strong work ethic.

Excellent compensation packages are available with bonus potential and outstanding benefits.

These are tremendous growth opportunities.

To view all available opportunities, visit our website at www.wtsinternational.com.

For immediate consideration send your resume to hr@wtsinternational.com

Candidates must be eligible to work in the United States.

Sensible Ways to Increase Your Spa’s Bottom Line

In order to make the most of your spa business, you need to come up with creative and revenue producing ways to increase you spa’s bottom line. Adjusting and tweaking your overall plan as business ebbs and flows is the best way to stay profitable throughout the year.

The most important thing for your spa is to maintain a high level of rescheduled appointments. This can be done by creating a rewards program for returning clients. However, the rewards need to be something your clients actually want, such as free services or discounts on prepaid or bundled services.

Create programs that will bring clients back week after week rather than every other month. This can be done by offering special multi-week programs that focus on weight loss, body transformation, detoxification, or wedding day preparation where clients come in once a week for 4-8 weeks in order to reach a specific goal.

You also want to staff your spa with quality personnel in order to create an atmosphere focused on customer service and client satisfaction. Offer employee incentives to keep your turnover rates low and establish performance-based incentives to keep customer service high.

Great Ways for Your Spa to Go Green

Saving the environment doesn’t need to happen all at once. You can start out by doing little things one day at a time at home and at work, so consider incorporating some of these great ideas for starting to convert your spa into a green spa.

• Set up a recycling station for employees and clients to place their bottles or cans in and hire a recycling service to collect all of your spa’s paper products
• Use a water cooler rather than bottled water for drinking and replace plastic cups or containers with ones made of recycled materials to minimize waste
• Upgrade your spa’s technology to a paperless system by making appointments, placing orders, and running your business all on the computer
• Buy supplies in bulk at a nearby warehouse supply store to reduce emissions and gas consumption
• Use natural or biodegradable hand soaps, laundry detergents, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper
• Replace your spa’s light bulbs and appliances with energy efficient ones. Also, turn off lights and equipment when not in use
• Use towels, sheets, robes, and uniforms made of all natural fibers and without chemicals or dyes

ISM Launches Job Center for Spa Management Professionals Around the Globe

In an effort to connect spas worldwide with international ISM students who are highly educated in spa operations and business management, the Institute of Spa Management (www.spacollege.org) has launched the ISM Job & Career Center. The service is free for all employers in the spa industry to post jobs and internships for positions that relate to spa management. Within 24 hours of approval, opportunities are broadcast to current students, as well as graduates of the ISM spa management program.

At the Institute of Spa Management, the organization’s primary goal is to educate the spa industry, one professional at a time through quality management education and professional training for adults. ISM has current and past students from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, China, Japan, Iceland, and all across Europe. Abby Cavanaugh, Director of Student Services: “A number of our talented graduates are looking for career opportunities abroad, others are looking for a long term position closer to home, and some current students are looking to complete an internship to gain real world work experience in spa management. All of our students emerge from the Spa Management Program as extremely analytical and well educated management professionals – highly trained in all aspects of spa operations – who are ready to hit the ground running”.

The Institute of Spa Management has always been proud to make spa management education accessible to students worldwide, and now ISM looks forward to bridging the gap between career professionals looking for spa management positions and employers looking to hire the best management talent in the spa industry. Spa related job postings can be emailed directly to jobcenter @ spamanagementschool.com (remember to remove the spaces before and after the @ sign before sending your email) or visit ISM online at www.spacollege.org for more information.

About Institute of Spa Management:

The mission of the Institute of Spa Management (ISM) is to further the spa industry by offering advanced college-level training for spa professionals that is accessible, affordable and self paced. ISM offers Spa Management and Spa Ownership programs at reasonable prices in an effective combination distance education and online learning format that enables learning and knowledge retention. ISM believes that the future of the spa industry belongs to those who treat clients with the highest level of integrity and provide innovative services in well run facilities. These necessary elements for spa success can only occur when quality education is the premise for spa managers and directors.

Safety and Health Inspections Planned for Spas

Canada’s leading spa association will introduce a national inspection program next year to ensure its members comply with quality assurance and safety standards.

“It will help consumers and raise standards in the industry across the board,” Leading Spas of Canada representative Kathryn Stolle said in an interview. “Consumers are saying: ‘Give us some assurances here’ and that’s what this will do.”

The association is working with inspection agency Canada Select to develop a program that will begin with 30 spas next year before involving all 175 member spas by 2010.

The association already has standards and practices that members are expected to meet but compliance is only based upon members saying in writing they comply. Under the new program, spas will be audited by appointment every two years.

The standards and practices cover six primary areas – hygiene and safety, operation and function, customer service, education and training, legal compliance and ethical practice.

Examples include provisions that spas ensure their instruments and tools are properly sterilized, that therapists’ certifications comply with provincial regulations, that spa staff provide respectful customer service and that businesses have up-to-date insurance.

Read the Full Story HERE.

Forget Summer Classes in the Heat, Take Spa Management Online Year Round with ISM

It’s difficult enough going to school, going to work, and dealing with the issues of your everyday life, but add a little summer heat and it can be downright impossible to get motivated about your education. So, rather than taking classes in a hot and stuffy classroom, why not advance your career by taking spa management courses online in the air-conditioned comfort of your own home?The Institute of Spa Management (ISM) offers online classes year-round, making it easier than ever to achieve your goals quickly and easily. Whether you are new to the spa industry or a seasoned spa professional, ISM has a program for you.

At ISM you can choose the all-inclusive Spa Management course that covers all areas of spa management, including finance, public relations, client services, marketing, and more. At the end of the course you will be fully qualified to fill any spa management position available.

You can also take individual courses, such as conflict management, human resources, customer service, and others. It’s up to you how you want to spend your summer months, but spending it advancing your career goals with ISM in the comfort of your own home makes it easier than ever.

Spa resorts attracting permanent residents seeking their amenities

“We’re always getting massages,” Troy Coughlin said, “or my wife is getting her nails done. We’re totally pampered by the people at the spa.”

Coughlin, a professional drag racer from Delaware, Ohio, and his wife, Julie, are among the many who in recent years have bought vacation homes at spa resorts. Spa-centered residential communities are springing up on both coasts and many points in between, giving buyers easy access to spa services and opportunities to have equity in their own houses or condominiums.

The Coughlins’ vacation home is at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club & Spa in Jupiter. Their four children — ranging from a kindergartner to a college freshman — “all love it,” Troy Coughlin said. There are programs for youngsters that give parents time for the golf course and the spa. “My two youngest learned to ride bikes there,” he said.

Read the Full Story HERE

Pamela Hill Advanced Skincare Products: Perhaps the Right Choice for your Spa Clients

Pamela Hill is world renowned as an expert in skin care, and the light of advanced skin care products that carry the Pamela Hill name are a safe bet for quality skin care for your clients. Pamela Hill Advanced Skincare Products include a variety of skin care products to choose from. In order to purchase the products, a clinician must first become an approved wholesaler. When this process is complete, a whole new world opens up of top flight products for your clients, including:

Papaya Cleanser with Salicylic Acid: This product is for morning and night. Apply with clean fingertips or facial cleansing sponge. Massage into the skin for sixty seconds, rinse with warm water and pat dry with clean towel. Avoid eyes.
Papaya Facial Scrub with Grains: With this product apply a small amount of scrub to fingertips. In a circular motion, gently scrub the face. Then rinse with warm water and avoid eye area. For external use only.

Daily Moisturizer with Green Tea: This is an anti-oxidant moisturizer for all skin types. Apply daily for hydration to the face and neck.

Moisturizer Plus with Vitamin E: With this product lift a small amount of product from the jar. Using fingertips apply liberally to face and neck. Do not apply to eyelids. Avoid eyes. For external use only.
12% Glycolic Gel: With this product apply two to three drops to the back of the hand. Lift a small amount with the opposite fingertips and apply evenly to the face and neck. Avoid the eye area. For external use only.

8% Lactic Acid Gel: Apply 2-3 drops to the back of the hand. Lift a small amount with the opposite fingertips and apply evenly to the face and neck. Avoid eye area. For External use only.
Enzyme Exfoliation Mask with Papaya Enzymes: This product should be applied to wet skin. Use a generous layer over the entire face and neck and let it set for 3-5 minutes. Avoid eyes. For external use only.

Hydrating Body Lotion with Lactic Acid: Apply this product to legs, arms and body to lubricate and soften the skin’ avoid the face. For external use only.

Retinol Serum with Replenishing Vitamins: apply one “pump” to the back of the hand. Using clean fingertips of the opposite hand, apply evenly to the face and neck. Rub any residual product onto the back of the hands. DO NOT use Retin A at the same application . Avoid the eyes. For external use only.
Vita Co Enzyme Complex with Antioxidants: Also apply one “pump” to the back of the hand. Using the opposite fingertip smooth the product over the entire face and neck. Give special attention to the crows, ‘ feet ‘ and lower eyelids. DO NOT use glycolic products at the same application. For external use only.

Become a wholesaler of these products and introduce your clients to them and you’ll not only be improving your bottom line, but helping your clients as well.

Support and Encourage Your Spa Staff: In Turn, They Will Deliver Exceptional Client Services

You’ve heard the old adage, treat people the way you would like to be treated.  This doesn’t just apply to your clients, it also applies to your staff.  Sometimes it’s easy to overlook your employees on a day to day basis.  While you might truly appreciate the work that they do, there is no substitute for actually showing it or saying it in some form or fashion.

If your employees don’t feel appreciated or supported they may lose interest in doing a good job.  This will only come back to hurt you because unhappy employees will create unhappy clients and this is not good for any business.  So, what you need to do is set aside a specific time every day or every week to make sure you are truly encouraging and supporting the wants and needs of your staff, just as you would for your clients.

This might mean having weekly staff meetings, creating an open door policy where employees can come to you without fear of repercussions, providing regular training, developing individual goals, or even just having a pizza party once a month to let everyone blow off some steam.  Remember, happy employees will make for happy clients.