The spa ’ s solution to this challenge was two-pronged . The first change was the introduction of a “ guest product card ” that allowed service providers to use their knowledge of both guests and products to make tailored recommendations , but shared the sales responsibility with other team members .“ The esthetician , while the client is getting off the table , she will go ahead and check a few products that she feels will be perfect for her client to take home , and then she puts that in the concierge box [ rather than ] giving it to the client ,” says Krems . From there , the service provider notifies the guest that she has made some product recommendations and instructs them to connect with a member of the front desk staff , who assists the guest in selecting items from the recommendation list . The second aspect of the spa ’ s adjusted approach involved the hiring of a dedicated staff member to help tackle a few important tasks , including assisting desk staff with closing retails sales
The addition of a dedicated sales associate has boosted retails sales at The Spa at the Elms . opportunities .“ We hired her to be our lead reservationist , so she assists with guest phone calls and booking treatments , but a big part of her job is to really focus on the retail space , making it shoppable , making our guests feel comfortable in our shop and then really closing those sales as those cards were coming up to the front desk . We ’ ve seen tremendous success with just a few of those changes ,” says Krems .
Specifically , Krems notes that retail sales have jumped from less than five percent of total revenue in the period immediately following their 2020 reopening to more than 11 percent , and the average retail sale at the spa is now over $ 100 .
A LOT TO LEARN Because AWANA Spa & Wellness opened in late August 2021 , the spa had to contend not only with the
OCTOBER 2021 � PULSE 15