Spa managers need to actively court clientele, says Lindsay Madden-Nadeau, FRHI’s director of spa integration and operations, and that means last-minute flexibility and openness from the team.

In an exclusive Thought Leader column for Spa Opportunities, Madden-Nadeau reveals ideas for actively managing your spa business.

Adapting better business strategies to your market mix, by Lindsay Madden-Nadeau

Each month, I am responsible for reviewing more than 50 reports that come through our operations in all different capacities from around the world.

When I say capacities, that includes the size of operations, revenues from operations, and the experience of our spa teams responsible for the operations.

I can tell you just about every excuse in the book as to why our teams sometimes are not able to meet their figures.

These include “We had a lot of group business,” “Our leisure guests at the hotel were less than budgeted,” or even, “We had very sunny weather, which meant the guests wanted to stay outside.”

These are no longer accepted as “reasons why we couldn’t meet our budget.” Rather, what we want to know is: What strategies did you put in place to actively manage your change in demands?

For instance: How do we deal with groups? Well, there are a variety of ways: you could contact the group organisers and offer them a discount or add value to them prior to arrival; or, you could set up a portable massage chair with a small stand for the spa to create awareness; or, you could even change your promotions to better accommodate business travellers.

If you have shorter staying leisure guests, you will need to promote shorter, more compact treatment experiences.

Getting the guests in the door is the first step; keeping them there and having them rebook or buy additional retail is another benefit.

Sunny weather? Create a small spa experience at the pool to build awareness, or hand out spa menus at the pool so guests connect and start thinking of the spa.

The idea in all of these examples is to plant seeds of awareness for the guests, and also to be prepared to change your business based on the needs of the guests staying in the hotel at any given time.

This requires last-minute flexibility, openness from the team, and at the end of the day, actively managing your business.

I tell my team, “Don’t tell me why you can’t get the business – tell me what you did to manage your business.”