Let me tell you about a few recent experiences I had that have me going on about Spa Menus, what is included in them and why Spa owners and Managers should do due diligence and consider some of my guidelines for writing their menus. First I want to share with you a few scenarios from the last two months:
Client # 1 - The full menu revolves around a fabulous Manicure Bar and Pedicure Lounge, with most of the signature treatments in these categories and private label product line to support the concept. Menu is posted on the web, the facility will be opening in one month. Not one single Nail Technician candidate can be found. Lesson learned; before you finalize your concept and your services make sure there are enough candidates in that discipline to staff your facility or you might find yourself with empty space and having to tell your potential customers that you can not perform that service yet.
Client # 2 - Medical Spa, difficult licensing and business permits guidelines, very strict, full section in the Menu with Massage therapies. No candidates that meet the city's new licensing requirements to perform massages. Lesson learned: sometimes researching the city or state licensing requirements is not enough, in some County's the licensing requirements change based on the zip code of your Spa address. Every government agency and/or employee will give you a different interpretation of the ordinance and/or law, ask for the printed copy of the requirements and follow it to the most accurate interpretation. Change your menu to eliminate what you can not offer until you find the staff needed. Consider not adding those services at all if you are more of a Medical Spa concept.
Visit to a Spa - I was really looking forward to visiting this particular Spa while I was visiting my daughter. It was listed in a website I trust for their great recommendations. Their Menu was extensive but specific and simple enough in its descriptions that I felt we had found a place we could enjoy without feeling like we were working. We decided to go in person so I could see the facilities, get a tour and book the appointments we had chosen then and there. It all started really good, staff is friendly, the place is gorgeous. The Spa is set in an estate surrounded by seven wooded acres. We were greeted nicely but no eye contact, we asked for a tour and with a blank look the Front Desk receptionist says "we don't do that here, but you can wander around and see the facility." OK, my daughter had already been there so she gives me a tour. We checked everything out, and I can write a whole other post about what we saw but let me try and stick to the subject here, the Menu. We get back to the Front desk and ask to book our services, I wanted a 90 minute hot stone massage, and my daughter wanted a 60 minute pregnancy massage preferably for the next day Sunday anytime. Not available, so being understanding and flexible we tell her, "OK any evening from Monday to Wed this week after 3pm and or Thursday anytime." She pulls out a document, that I figure out was the "cheat sheet" of which therapists did what, she starts looking at the computer screen intently, pushes buttons, and I could tell this was going to take some time. I wander away to the Retail area, spend 10 minutes there, come back to the desk and she is still trying to figure it out. After 15 minutes she looks up and says to us "Sorry, the problem is that the pregnancy massage and the hot stone are ONLY performed by one person on those days, so I can not book you both together" AHA! Another problem when deciding what to include in your menu, please do not offer it if you only have one technician that can perform it. I figured I could be the generous and flexible one since I did not have any restrictions, so I tell her, "OK, book my daughter for the pregnancy massage and tell me what I can get at the same time and let's start with Sunday again." Another 15 minutes later I find out that I could get a 90 minute Swedish. Under any other circumstances that would have been my choice and I would have been very happy. But because I had my heart set on the stone massage, I was already feeling the warm stones on my back, I felt let down and disappointed. My daughter felt as if I was making a sacrifice. If the Menu only had listed what they could book at any time we would have made our choices according to that. The booking process would have been efficient and effective and we would have felt as if we had made the right choice. Instead we walked out feeling short handed. Think about it, would you keep going to your favorite Restaurant if 2 out of 3 times when you asked for their specialty or your favorite dish you were told, "sorry we don't have it today!"
Lesson learned and what I am constantly preaching to my clients: More is really not better when it comes to deciding and writing your Spa Menu of Services. Less is best! Trying to be everything for everybody will result in a complicated menu, hard to recruit and train for and harder for your customer to decide what service to purchase.
The statistical data provided by ISPA and the Day Spa Association shows that the most sold services are Swedish Massage and the Classic Facial. Yes, customers will buy Hot Stone, Scrubs, Wraps, Reiki, Shiatsu, you name it but not offering these services at the beginning of your Spa life will not hurt you. The complaints I hear the most from Spa Consumers are that "the menu is too complicated, too cumbersome, takes too long to figure out what to book, the explanations or service name don't tell me what the treatment is really about" so in the end they don't book any services. The complaints I hear the most from Spa owners are that "the staff takes too long in explaining services, they don't know our menu, the staff explains but are not successful at closing the sale, I can not afford to have every spa member experience all my services, etc."
Well the solution is to streamline your Menus, stop using so many platitudes to describe things, be basic, be straight forward, be specific enough. I recommend to divide the menu in sections and give prominent place to your signature treatments. Pick what you want to be known for and make sure you have multiple staff members that are available and qualified to perform these services at any time and stop trying to be everything for everyone. Your customers will thank you and will keep coming back for more!
Written by Zahira J Coll, all rights reserved, the content of this article, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author.
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