“ Right now , our whole perspective is ‘ Spend less than we make .’ That sounds so simplified , I know , but the bottom line is that what leads us now is not the ebbs and flows ,” Duncan says . That approach has necessitated not only an unfortunate reduction in staffing , but also a totally different mode of forecasting . Where once it might have been acceptable , for example , to take a loss one month because that revenue would have been made up for in December , those kinds of assumptions are simply no longer safe to make . “ We don ’ t look at it that way anymore ,” says Duncan .“ We ’ re playing this almost week by week at this stage of the game . To actually nail down a forecast is going to be a huge shot in the dark . We ’ re looking at our numbers daily right now . This is not a forecasting for 12 months , this a daily forecasting almost . You have to be extraordinarily creative . It was a shock up front but now that we ’ ve been doing it for almost nine months , we ’ re getting the idea .”
One way that Spa Gregorie ’ s has gotten creative is with the use of their outdoor spaces , something that spa owners and operators throughout California grew accustomed to while indoor services were off the table due to the state ’ s COVID-19 restrictions . Until now , those outdoor spaces have taken the form of temporary tenting and cabanas at Spa Gregorie ’ s , but Duncan says he ’ s hoping to replace those with permanent installations so that the spa will be ready if services have to be performed outdoors in winter .“ That ’ s one thing we ’ re strongly looking at and trying to get permission from our property managers and move in that direction regardless of COVID-19 ,” he says .
Even more critical than an altered forecasting plan or the addition of outdoor treatment spaces , Duncan notes , is continuing the work of making spa staff feel heard and cared
for as the stress and anxiety brought on by the pandemic continues to last into 2021 .“ Beyond being creative or looking for options for hands-free services and all that , I think , is keeping your own spirit up and your staff ’ s spirit up , because it ’ s so easy to go inward and feel sorry and have pity for your own situation ,” says Duncan .“ But there are so many people having mental health issues because of [ the pandemic ]. I started realizing that my team around me was starting to collapse , and we decided to have meetings to pull people together and say ,‘ Look , this is creating a lot of anxiety . Let ’ s just talk about it and let ’ s come to the understanding that we ’ re all here for each other . We wanted everybody to know that we ’ re here to support [ them ].”
To call 2020 an unprecedented or challenging or difficult year is a spectacular failure of language . It ’ s not that the words aren ’ t accurate , it ’ s that no set of synonyms could ever convey what it really felt like to navigate the everchanging reality of day-to-day life for most of last year . For the spa industry , 2021 hovered in the distance for months on end , like a pillar of fire to be followed in the hope that it would lead us out of what sometimes felt like an endless march through the desert . But amid all that doom and gloom , leaders across the spa industry rejected the notion that they were powerless against the forces of nature that seemed to plot against them . Instead , they went to work . They got creative . They innovated and adapted . The individuals and spas referenced in this article are just a few out of thousands who have devoted so much of their time and effort to serving their guests more effectively than ever . And because of all they ’ ve done , the spa industry stands ready to step into 2021 with every hope of making it a year to remember for all the right reasons . n
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2021 ■ PULSE 25