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by Douglas Preston
 During a recent visit to several Hawaiian hotel spas I noted a striking constant among them: customer bare “retail centers” that appeared to be little more than a decorative afterthought than an actual place to buy anything. Nowhere were spa technicians seen recommending products to spa customers and, worse, there wasn’t even the faintest suggestion of after-service products during my spa appointments.
While a scattering of predictable products were available in the moribund retail centers at each of these spas, a peculiar “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy seemed to be in force. In other words, if I don’t ask about spa products no one is going to tell me about them. I didn’t ask and nothing was volunteered. So uniform was the sales silence as these several spas that one might conclude that mentioning home care to a guest would break company protocol—maybe even state law.
The result: a spa sales receipt limited to service fees, which come complete with a deep bite for labor. No high profit retail. Is this any way to run a for-profit business?
 There is a better way. To fully appreciate the problem of anemic retail sales at resort spas, one needn’t look further than the common assumptions regarding the mindset of the resort spa guest. Many outmoded and erroneous beliefs about their buying habits and preferences are permitted to shape company sales culture—an expensive and needless management error. Many resort spas report less than 6% of total spa revenue from product sales and accessories, with some weighing in well below that. Even more disturbing is that in the rare instance when resort spas calculate the percentage of retail sales that is directly attributable to employee initiation, that woeful number will sag below 2%! So what’s keeping the numbers so low?
I’ve identified the following list of assumptions about the resort spa customer, and their sales-squelching consequences:
1. Resort spa customers are just into relaxation, not real spa therapy.
Is that so? I can only recall one spa therapist at the resorts I’ve visited ever asking me anything about my self care routine, and that person was not carrying out the company protocol but acting on their own. That remains the most thorough and impressive experience I’ve had in a resort facility to date, and it was 13 years ago! Most resort therapists ask little beyond, “Have you ever had a treatment before?” or “How much pressure do you like in your massage?” Where is the study that has determined that the resort spa client isn’t interested in more than just the bodily contact part of their appointment? Given the prices resort spas charge for “relaxation” treatments one wonders if their customers are indeed not serious about self care. The resort spa visitor today is much more likely to be a regular consumer of spa services and products. They find themselves subjected to an often cursory or anonymous spa treatment experience, when they would be delighted to be educated as well.
Resort spa guests are often experiencing conditions that they don’t at home: intense dryness in the desert or high mountains, sun exposure, and acne flare-ups from humid, warm climates. The opportunity presented by solving these climate and activity induced problems is terrific. Guests who are not accustomed to spa treatments may not realize that these problems can be successfully addressed; it’s up to the therapists to make sure they know what is possible.
2. Since resort spa clients won’t really be regulars they wouldn’t consider buying skin or body products from us.
And, therefore, no one at the spa is going to recommend them to anyone! But this is “resort time”, a time when people are indulging themselves, spending money, and are open to suggestion. While it’s nice when they buy logo wear, we want them to buy consumables that they will need to replenish. The truth is that these consumers shop everywhere: spas, drug stores, grocery stores, department stores, on line, and from friends who do multi level marketing. In fact the vast majority of personal care products are sold to women who have never set foot in a resort or day spa. So why is it that we ignore these consumers at the moment they are most receptive to our message? Bliss established a nationally successful line of skin and body care products—all inspired by the renowned Manhattan spa but largely sold to consumers who’ve never visited it. Now that’s the way to retail your resort spa line!
Expensive and erroneous assumptions about your clients’ buying habits not only kill revenue opportunities but actually reduce the value of their spa experience.
 The resale opportunity at resort spas has increased tremendously with the advent of e commerce. But even if you just offer mail order to start, you’ll find plenty of clients who are loyal to your products both for their beneficial effects and their souvenir value. The products remind them of a wonderful experience, and the fact that they were introduced to them at your spa increases their cachet. Your staff can use downtime in the spa to contact inactive clients and stimulate replenishment. Clients appreciate being remembered, and such activities will keep retail sales growing, helping especially if your resort experiences an off season.
3. Selling to the resort spa client is offensive and unprofessional.
This is a dangerous misconception, but surprisingly common. Some spas have adopted the wrongheaded policy of forbidding the discussion of home care with spa guests by therapists. Instead, retail (a slightly unsavory practice not compatible with the purity of the spa experience) is relegated to the aforementioned “boutique”…and mere chance. The specter of the predatory spa therapist pressuring reluctant clients into unwanted purchases while performing a service is too much to bear.
 When your guests visit a restaurant at the resort, do you instruct the sommelier not to suggest a wine to enjoy with their meal unless the guest first asks, out of fear that you’ll offend them? Do you stock their mini-bar only on request, out of concern that it will appear you’re “pushing” refreshments? Does your golf pro refrain from mentioning the fact that the guest is playing with the wrong size clubs when it is obvious that they would benefit from buying the proper equipment?
The spa and its services are no different, though it may be veiled in mystery for non-spa managers. (All the more reason to patronize your spa and become an educated user of spa services and products.) There are natural enhancements to the spa guest’s enjoyment, and you will improve and enhance their experience by making him or her aware of them. Because guests are not always aware of their need for proper skin and body care, there is a greater educational component.
Returning for a moment to the restaurant, this is not unlike the education provided by the sommelier. A guest who has never tried a Grand Cru white Burgundy may not understand why it will be a superior choice to a domestic Chardonnay, or how it will complement the meal they’ve ordered and their experience. The sommelier provides education, creates excitement and ignites desire, but the guest ultimately makes the decision.
 Addressing the client’s needs is key. A pleasant, consultative conversation with the guests will enable the sommelier to determine the recommendations to make. If the dining room guest’s need is to have the most delicious and memorable experience possible for their 20th anniversary dinner, the fabulous Burgundy may be the perfect selection. If, however, they’ve just checked in and want to have a quick dinner before returning to the room, such a suggestion might be overkill. The sommelier might then direct them to a nice Chardonnay by the glass.
The same is true of home care recommendation at the spa. A personalized, conversational consultation is an essential part of every guest interaction, since the needs of the spa guest may not be immediately obvious to the spa technician or to the guests themselves. If the spa is doing its job correctly, the client with chronic muscular tension will learn about the root causes of their problem, as well as the long-term effects of leaving the problem untreated. Your spa is not doing its job if the guest is simply given a massage and sent on his way. We call this value-adding process optimizing the guest experience. When a guest is presented with unique, enjoyable and practical solutions to their problems, it adds value to the experience. If the client has the opportunity to take a bit of the spa experience home with them, and can re-experience some of the benefits of their stay, it enhances your image in their eyes, inspires brand loyalty and referrals, and makes them more likely to return to your property.
Contrast this with the guest who receives a generic relaxation massage from their “don’t ask, don’t tell” therapist, and no education or home care suggestions. They may leave thinking that massage is a nice treat, but have no idea that their chronic discomfort can and should be treated with ongoing spa therapy and self care. They do not feel compelled to return, as they would if the spa therapist had solved problems and created compelling value for them. They may conclude that all resort spa massages are pretty much the same, and have no feelings of loyalty to your property as a result of their spa visit. Upon their return home, they may decide that the massage didn’t do that much for them. When someone asks them about their spa vacation at the office the next week, they don’t so much as mention the massage—while not a poor experience, it just wasn’t a memorable one.
 The “optimized” guest, on the other hand, has brought their new aromatherapy stress relief spray to the office and is busy spritzing everyone’s cubicles. When she sits down at her keyboard, she’s wearing the heated neck pillow her therapist recommended. She has become a walking advertisement for your resort, and she’s thrilled to do it.
Spa personnel can be taught to make ethical, comfortable, educational and value-enhancing home care suggestions to guests. When fear stifles your retail program you will experience a predictably poor outcome. A spa therapist’s professional obligation is to serve and educate the client. The very thing that drew them to the work in the first place can enable them to become very effective salespeople. That is the desire to help their clients. But they have to understand how self-care and spa care are inextricably interwoven in a good spa experience.
4. We’ve already had product knowledge education but it rarely results in lasting sales increases.
No wonder: product knowledge classes don’t teach anyone to sell effectively. I have yet to challenge a team of estheticians or body therapists who can tell me much more than a few simple benefits of the products they sell, if that. It’s not really depth of product knowledge that enables therapist to sell, but their personal confidence. Enthusiasm sells spa products far more effectively than technical knowledge does—the client just isn’t interested in that much information. When you bombard guests with features, it makes the products seem too complex.
 Years ago I worked the makeup circuit for some of the major cosmetic lines. Each week I was presented as an expert in various department stores for different product lines. Yet I knew almost nothing about the particular products I represented beyond the use of them. What I did know, however, was what was important to my customer: she wanted to have fun, she required simplicity, and she longed for an enhanced self-image. And those were the benefits that I delivered, using as my tools foundation, mascara, cleanser, and cremes. My sales were by far the highest in that stable of makeup promoters—even though my specific product knowledge was probably the lowest. So while product knowledge must be included in your sales training program, sales skills—including the cultivation of authentic enthusiasm for helping the guest—are paramount.
Make sure your employees know how to make the experience enjoyable and entertaining for the guest. Spas tend to take themselves and their rituals a little too seriously. If we really want to relieve stress, there are few tools more powerful than a sense of humor!
5. It all comes down to management.
Remove the conductor from an orchestra and the music quickly lapses into discord and disorder. When management creates or buys into the fear of retailing, the employees will follow the example perfectly. Many a spa manager is faced with pressure to improve retail sales but receive no tools or support for new sales methodology. Because so many spa employees have never successfully retailed home care, there is a prevailing assumption among them—as well as their managers—that it probably can’t be done. In the worst cases, it becomes entrenched as a belief that it probably shouldn’t be done. Sales inertia is a correctible problem. But it must be recognized that the problem can be turned around by effective education, supervision, accountability, and reward. Lacking this you’ll only prove to yourself what everyone already believes: that resort spa retailing isn’t much of a revenue opportunity and therefore not worth an investment in time and training.
Convinced yet? Here is the Preston Wynne prescription for awesome resort spa retail sales:
• Start off on the right foot! Emphasize the importance of spa home care sales during job interviews and look for candidates with retail experience, or those who like to shop. (We often ask, “Tell me what I’d find in your bathroom drawer.” Serious shoppers are usually the best salespeople, too.) Beware of people with anti-sales beliefs or slavish devotion to one product line, as well as therapists who think that spa therapy requires an anonymous and silent treatment experience.
• Create a retail performance standard. This is extremely important if you want to get more than lip service from your employees’ participation in product sales. As they say, “you get what you inspect not what you expect.” Know what you want in advance of hiring and then never let that expectation become an option! Your program won’t be right for everyone, so hire only those who are right for it.
 • Develop role models. Classroom training is essential, but learning from their peers is often more effective. Use your most successful salespeople, or “positive deviants”, to model their successful sales techniques and scripting for their coworkers. The “trainee” shadows the “trainer” during their workday, providing special “upgraded” spa services to give them a premise to be in the treatment room. For example, the “trainee” provides a complimentary foot treatment while observing the esthetician’s techniques for communicating with and selling to clients during a facial.
• Provide recommendation tools. Most resort spas don’t even provide guests with home care suggestions in written form. This is the fastest and simplest way to boost sales. Your recommendation tool should be attractive, like your spa brochure, and provide real value in the form of education. You can publish a souvenir-quality spa “self care guide”, with home care tips and techniques, and easily referenced, tabbed pages for the therapists to write in their recommendations.
• Build the “close” into your process. If you are utilizing your spa boutique for sales, install a process for getting the guest from the service area to the sales area for a proper closing.  To ensure that a departing guest visits your sales associate in the boutique, let them know that when they take their recommendation sheet to the boutique, they’ll receive a gift. Build the cost of the gift into your services.
Another approach is to set up a small recommendation and sales area, complete with product “dispensary” within the service areas, with a dedicated staff member who can ensure that home care recommendations are offered, sales are closed, and the products are processed for checkout.
You have a unique advantage in the resort spa. Unlike a day spa, guests can simply charge items to their room. This encourages more liberal spending on spa services, and the same effect is felt on retail sales—provided someone asks for the sale!
• Train, train, and train again! Your team craves education, needs encouragement, and requires frequent coaching. A solid training program should include some customer psychology, product knowledge, product recommendation built into a pre-service consultation (yes, even at the resort spa!), and personal/team sales goals. Employees come and go, diluting the overall strength of your retail potential. Under-trained employees will quickly fall below standard, and allowing them to do so will tell coworkers that it’s okay to slip in the numbers—and they quickly will. Once you’ve lost the momentum it’s very difficult to regain it, especially in a close team. You’ll appear insincere, weak, and inconsistent. Leadership cannot ever be left to chance—it must remain a constant to be effective and believable. So expose everyone to sales training at least 3-4 times per year. The payoff is really worth the investment!
• Provide motivating retail sales compensation. Sales commission is often an afterthought in the compensation plan. Make sure retail commissions are always prominently featured in conversations about compensation. Products should have commissions that reflect their gross profit. A higher-profit product can carry a higher commission. Give bonuses for exemplary sales performance and conduct contests to stimulate and renew interest in your products. Create prizes for individual and team performance. Team prizes can be very effective with spa personnel, who sometimes feel uncomfortable about competing with their co-workers.
• Monitor the retail performance. “Inspect what you expect to get respect for the rules.” You’ve just got to do this if you want your program to work. Stop slips, slumps, and stubbornness before they lead to conflict and lost revenue. A quick feedback loop is key: everyone must be able to know their total day’s sales at the end of their shift. Post everyone’s sales numbers no less than once a week, and respond to deficiencies as soon as undesirable trends appear. Strangely enough, commission is not enough to keep your salespeople motivated! Offer help, additional training, and some time to get performance back on track. But never accept substandard performance for long—it’s all you’ll get until you replace the uncooperative or less-than-competent employee.
• Set Goals. Management must have retail goals and an employee-by-employee plan for achieving them. Standards should include the amount of sales expected for each position, each shift within that position, and each ticket within that shift. A retail sales budget is meaningless until it is broken down into your expectations for each transaction. Telling your staff to “sell more” without being able to say exactly how much more is not sales  management. Teaching your team to watch their (and your) “critical numbers” ensures that those numbers will improve. The average ticket is a good critical number to track, and easy for everyone to understand.
• Recognize and reward the jobs well done! Personal recognition is very high on a spa employee’s list of career workplace expectations and yet management often withholds this as tightly as keys to the safe. More than anything else, building the self-esteem of your team will reward you with loyalty, enthusiasm, and cooperation. This is the least expensive and most productive thing a spa manager can do for the business they run.
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