Pay Attention to Your Existing Clients Customer service experts agree that your existing clients hold the key to your success . Porter Gale , former vice president of marketing at Virgin America says , “ Keeping existing clients happy is a more cost-effective route to success than just going after new clients .”
Tanya Chernova , founder of Courageous Living and vice president of Time Reverse Inc . echoes Gale ’ s statement by explaining , “ It ’ s a marketing fact that it costs five times more to create a new client than to keep an existing one .”
That ’ s not to say that building your client base isn ’ t important , but you might find that your best recruiters are your loyal customers . Dr . Bryan K . Williams , chief service officer of B . Williams Enterprise , LLC agrees . “ Existing clients are often times a business ’ s best source of marketing . Positive word-ofmouth and advocacy on your business ’ s behalf , by existing clients , can be more potent than a company-generated ad campaign ,” he says .
Creating Incentives for Loyalty Developing incentives to maintain repeat customers has been a trend in the spa industry since the economic recession . According to Gale , some ideas to implement in your spa include : Frequency programs , refer-a-friend discounts , birthday rewards , bridal packages and special events that can help boost loyalty and repeat business .
To introduce and help promote new or lagging treatments , Chernova suggests creating loyalty programs that reward customers with untried services when they book their usual preferred services . Another incentive idea is to “ consolidate purchases on a card and provide cash back towards a guest ’ s favorite service . Add-ons and upgrades like a free scalp massage or an extra 15-minute massage are other nice ways to show gratitude .
According to ISPA ’ s research , spas are actively implementing referral incentive programs , free gift-with-purchase specials , membership programs and special offers for local members of the community . While some of these programs will prove to be very successful for your business , Gale looks beyond incentive programs and recommends taking advantage of social media to help build a dialogue about your business , donating to high-value auctions to get your name out and keeping a close eye on your reviews through Web sites like Yelp . com .
Building a Relationship The single most important thing you can do to create loyalty is to work on building your relationship with the guest . Williams says , “ Looking for general incentives for the spa ’ s client base is good , but finding out , then acting on individualized preferences is a very powerful incentive to retain customers . Spas can start by finding out what is most important to their customers . Through feedback , a spa operator may learn that one of their loyal guests prefers to receive his / her massage in a certain room , with a certain therapist , at a certain time of day . Savvy spa operators would use that information to proactively tailor their guest ’ s experience every time .”
The relationship you ’ re building with your guest is reflected in everything you do . “ The best relationship is built based on the experience and maintained via personalized or segmented communications ( for example , don ’ t send a male guest a female-oriented offer ),” Gale points out . “ It ’ s in how the receptionist greets [ guests ], the attitude of the spa staff and all the little details along the way [ that make the most impact ]. In the spa space , you have a very emotion-driven environment . Think about the lighting , the aromas — those are the items that will make a difference .”
PHOTO © HYATT REGENCY KEY WEST RESORT AND SPA
November 2011 ■ PULSE 27