Spa Industry Lemonade

I remember when my twin sister, Katrine, first got engaged. The guy proposed, promising that a ring would follow.

Well, when weeks turned into months and there was one excuse after another and no ring, she sensed he was waffling and decided to call it off. What followed were many tears and a lot of anger. We tried to comfort her, saying such things as “It’s for the best,” “Something good will come out of this,” etc.

Well, at the time she didn’t want to hear it, and wasn’t believing it anyway; however, here we are 30 years later laughing about what turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to her! Luckily she didn’t marry that guy and instead, some years later, she met Bill who swept her off her feet, proposed (with a lovely ring by the way), and they have been happily married for close to 25 years.

We all know stories like this from our own lives or others. In these days of economic turmoil, it’s probably a great time to dig some of them out and dust them off. It’s the old “lemons to lemonade” adage.

So I am proposing that those of us in the spa industry give ourselves a good pep talk and spend some time looking for opportunities in this challenging economic climate. How can the spa industry emerge stronger? What changes can we embrace during these times that will make our business better?

Well, I have a few ideas to get the lemons to lemonade conversation going. I look forward to hearing yours!

1. Change Messaging: Move from words like pampering to wellness, prevention and stress reduction. Line up with the Obama Stimulus Package with terms such as integrative health, behavioral changes, and health coaches.
2. Change Pay Structures: Move your practitioners to fixed pay per service and add benefits.
3. Downsize: Cut at the top, and move people down one rung on the ladder. You save money and have people performing in places where they excel. (It’s a way of undoing “The Peter Principle.”)
4. Practice What You Preach: Put all you know about stress reduction into action. Later you will be an even greater expert.
5. Create Community: Come up with ways to get your clients to bond with each other – that bonds them with your brand. Introduce group walks, group lectures, group parties, etc.