Spas and health service providers have so far faced a pretty tough business as it is. And in the current economy it might get a whole lot worse before it gets better. Where would you like your business to be? The cost of labor has traditionally been too high since the inception of the contemporary spa-industry and costs are steadily rising without the possibility of easily raising menu prices.

Market demand has created a boom but growth alone does not assure financial success. Profit margins are slim and success requires a robust business practice in all areas from marketing to human resource management. The spa business is not forgiving because of the narrow profit margins. Failure to operate all parts of the business expertly can easily jeopardize financial viability and with most spas not having a strong financial foundation or easy access to credit, even a small mistake can kill a business.

Many operators of individual spas and many spa directors come to the business from a single area of expertise and more often than not with a lot of idealism and desire to be of service. While these motives are admirable and important and instill value and merit into the activity of health and healing, we often find talented but on some level inexperienced managers and operators. Rarely can an individual cover all bases with the level of knowledge and experience needed to fill each task expertly. Challenges in certain areas can be offset by bringing in expert advice, educating oneself or outsourcing areas such as payroll to specialized providers, but this increases the cost too and makes the business vulnerable. In the current economic environment staying in business may even get tougher as guests reevaluate their spending habits and disposable income decreases making under-managed areas more visible. Maybe you have shortfalls in certain areas and by all means you should address these immediately. But there is also a common sense approach to business that one can cultivate by leveraging an abundant resource anyone can tap into: The Client. The tendency will often be to project problems onto external conditions. But rather than defaulting to "it's the economy", the current context can also provide opportunities to address problems within the system that can mean financial survival. While it is certainly easier to assign blame to circumstances that cannot be changed rather than take responsibility for tackling issues that live on our own doorstep, there seem to be many opportunities some of which do not require a whole lot of training or experience.

I would like to invite you to take a fresh look at your own business culture or "How we do things around here". I would like to select one of those areas today and investigate a little deeper. How well do we see the business from the perspective of the [potential] customer as opposed to projecting our own ideas as to how clients should think, feel and behave? I can only imagine that spa operators and health service providers rarely step back to take a client's view at how their business is presenting itself. How else could one explain the challenging experience we often have when visiting a spa or receiving a spa or health treatment?

When we start to realize that the smallest challenges in the chain of events that lead to a successful sale can abort the process, we also see the potential embedded in closely analyzing and optimizing the client experience from the client perspective and not from what we think is right. For example: There just cannot be any mistakes in the communication process leading up to the sale. Have you recently checked to see how difficult it is to book a treatment at your location? Have you reviewed your published materials to make sure it is obvious and self-explanatory to everyone you want to reach, what you are about, why contacts should become clients and that you have given them direct access to the goods and services?

The number of irregularities, mishaps and shortfalls in the booking, selling and client communication process at any given spa are huge. The lost opportunities are even greater. From lack of a direct phone number, comprehensive directions, hours of operation, an attractive menu, prices, online booking, great photos etc. on the website, to the front desk's inability to sell, up-sell, upgrade or rebook, we see many easy ways to improve our business one client at a time - which is what the spa business is about. We nearly always find a lack of clearly defined and implemented processes or standard operating procedures that describe the activities, steps and sequence of events needed to ensure that every contact has the best possible chance of becoming a client. And this is the mind set required: People are actually looking for you! If you offer an excellent product and service in an attractive environment at a competitive rate the only thing that can stand between you and your client is your ability to communicate effectively! Especially during an economic downturn where everyone from the manager to the therapist is complaining about the loss of revenue the level of apathy is apparent. My recommendation is to learn to be your own customer.

Think like a client, act like a client, ask like a client, feel like a client, experience like a client, pay like a client and apply your highest standards. Treat your contacts and clients, as you would want to be treated. Any perceived lack of performance, quality, value or availability is prime leverage point to create the most effective positive change to your revenue. To achieve an improvement we are often not even talking about 100% customer satisfaction, I'm sometimes amazed that we can't even get the basics covered. Statements from the reception instead of "we have no availability" but rather a "we're really booked, but let me see how I can make this work " would be a start, and then hopefully someone has thought about having some on-call contractors lined up who can show up within an hour or two.

I can forgive a default on providing a service - I can't forgive not trying. How about some recommendations to enhance my treatment? "You can add ½ hour to your massage for just $30 - the results will be exponential, it's certainly worth it" Complete communication, a pleasant demeanor at the front desk, effective treatments, a clean, neat and appealing ambience should be the minimum requirements yet so often even these basic elements need to be addressed. So with this in mind I invite you to take as much time as it takes to review your business, whether as individual provider or spa professional from a client-centric perspective and adjust every established disparity. Good Luck.