Guest blog post by Melissa Fielding, Director of Leisure Services, Flamingo, Harrahs and Imperial Spa and Salon

The spa industry is constantly changing.  How do you know which new trends will be successful in your spa?  Each year there seems to be hundreds of new products and treatments developed along with a multitude of trends.

As exciting as all of these experiences are answering these 5 questions will help you decide what the right opportunity for your spa is.

1.  Why do you want to bring this treatment into your facility?
This may seem like a strange question to ask yourself but you need to figure out what you hope the end result would be.  Understand why you want to bring this new trend into your facility. Bring a new treatment in because your clients are asking for it.  Maybe the experience will create a great PR story for your spa.  Bring a new product in because the price point is great and has the results your clients expect.  Have a clear idea of what you expect from this treatment or product so you can make sure you get the end result you desire.

2.  Does this trend or treatment fit my market segment?
There are a multitude of spas all over the world servicing a wide variety of clients.  Before choosing to implement any trend you need to understand who your client is.  Make sure the trends or treatments are going to speak to your clientele.  You may own a day spa that caters to high income women between the ages of 50-65 who expect results driven treatments, focus your efforts on trends and treatments that give attention to their needs.  Most people like to share their opinion and making your clients part of the decision process.  This can lead to a more loyal clientele.  Think about holding a spa trends seminar with samples and mini services in your facility.  At the end ask those that attended what treatments they were most interested in.

3.  Does this trend fit with my spas brand and concept?
Before doing anything in your spa you need to know what your spa is all about and the promise you are making to your clientele.  Make sure the trend you are looking to bring in fits with your concept and brand.  Your brand and concept makes your spa unique and interesting.  You should hold true to your spa’s image.  If the trend doesn’t fit your brand then it may not be in your best interest to implement it.  Don’t cloud your spa’s vision by adding treatments and products that are not in line with what you are trying to be to your clients.

4.  What will it cost me?  
Think of all the costs (monetary and non monetary) that it will take to get this trend up and running.

• Start Up investment

• Research time

• Cost per treatment

• Staff training needs

• Advertising

•  Impact on your spa facility

•  The time you will need to invest to roll out the treatment

•  Length of time you want this trend/product in your facility

In order for it to be successful you need to make sure you are able to implement it the right way. No matter how much potential a new product has to be successful in your facility, if you do not have the funds or the time available to support it, then its best to look for something different. Knowing your costs up front also lets you know the amount of risk you will take in order to bring this product into the facility.  Finding out what your costs are gives you the opportunity to recreate your plan so it fits your budgets.  Maybe it is best to only bring in few skews of a line or to slightly change your protocol to bring your cost per treatment down.  Understanding this prior to implementation creates less confusion with your employees and consistency with the guest experience.

5.  Is this something my treatment providers are interested in?
Your employees are the ones that will be selling this product or treatment.  It is very important that they support what they are doing.  If they enjoy giving the treatment or talking about the product it is almost guaranteed your clients will too.  When speaking with a vendor ask to have additional samples for the therapists.  Let the therapists know you really like the product and want to get their feedback on it.  Consider having in a contest amongst the therapists to come up with a new treatment with the product. Ask your treatment providers what trends and products they are interested in.  Making your employees part of the decision process gives them a sense of ownership not only with the treatment but with your spa.  I am a firm believer that when you make your employees part of the process it increases employee morale and team work throughout your facility

Every spa has a different feel and approach to how they operate.  It’s important to know when to say yes to what’s trending.  Keep yourself in touch with your brand and the original vision you had for you spa.  In my ESI presentation I will talk about the importance of knowing and finding your brand and concept.  This will then help you find and create the trends that are right for your market.