Midway through January, New Year’s resolutions about improving health habits and ways to rejuvenate tend to become distant memories, but don’t get swept up in this downward spiral – the New Year is an ideal time to do a wellness check of your hotel’s facilities.
Consider the spa and its tremendous revenue-earning potential. Re-examine a spa’s strengths (and weaknesses) and implement measures that can help raise the value of a property’s offerings, increase the sale of hotel room nights and boost financial success. Without question, maximizing a hotel spa’s performance leads to enhanced customer satisfaction and monetary rewards.
Massage it, body wrap it and more. Here are five ways to bolster a hotel spa’s revenue in the New Year and beyond.
#1 Harness The Power Of A Global Spa Brand
Apple. Nike. Starbucks. A brand name is a powerful influencer that propels fierce customer loyalty based on product excellence, appeal and satisfaction. When hoteliers designate their spa with an internationally recognized brand, that distinctive name tells customers the spa is more than just an add-on hotel feature. It fulfills a promise of guest “spa-tisfaction.”
Selecting a spa brand is of prime importance because loyalty to a particular wellness experience attracts guests and helps build allegiance to a hotel, and that drives room nights and revenue. Choose a spa brand that is relevant to a hotel’s core market – one that creates a characteristic impression about what guests can expect with treatments and service.
The spa brand should align with the hotel’s character and operating philosophy to ensure seamless operations so there is no differentiation in service between the hotel and spa.
#2 Bring In The Specialist
Specialists have earned their reputation for a reason – they provide exceptional business acumen, market proficiency and extraordinary value.
The experience of a third-party spa management company, such as Trilogy Spa Holdings, can make a tremendous difference in a hotel’s reputation and profitability. Think of these award-wining Trilogy-managed spas – the Guerlain Spa at the Waldorf Astoria New York and Well & Being at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, to name a few. Operating a spa – ensuring it delivers on the dream for guests and positively impacts the bottom line – requires the deep knowledge and superior insight that a specialist company brings to the table, from understanding branding and financial optimization to senior level management expertise in hiring, training and retaining best-in-class team members.
With a specialist company onboard to handle spa operations, a hotel’s management and staff can focus on selling rooms and providing unrivaled customer service. Generally, spa sales rank high in revenue earnings, often second behind room sales, so it’s vital to have a spa management team in place who understands customer behavior and demand cycles.
#3 Tap Emotions
Spas soothe the soul, recharge the spirit and help recalibrate a wellness perspective. And, it’s human nature to want to repeat the experiences that simply make us feel so good.
That desire to repeat positive emotions is compelling, and it effectively cultivates loyalty to a spa brand (and hotel), drives consumer praise among family and friends, and enhances profitability. Strike an emotional chord with hotel spa-goers by exceeding their expectations whether they are away on business or leisure.
Tap the best possible team members to deliver body treatments and therapies. Create an environment that attracts customers repeatedly. Through smart marketing strategies, remind guests of how reinvigorated they felt when last at the spa. Align with an internationally recognized spa brand and a specialist third-party company to guide the execution of unrivaled services.
#4 Leverage Spa Exposure
Stories on new treatments, body therapies that incorporate unique products, or special packages are a snapshot of the ample media coverage afforded by a quality spa. When smartly captured, that exposure can translate into important dollars on a hotel’s bottom line.
How can strategic-minded hoteliers leverage spa exposure as an important avenue for generating revenue? Build relationships with journalists and social media influencers in order to achieve coverage across multiple media platforms. Incentivize hotel guests to share positive experiences with their network via word of mouth praise or posts on Facebook and Twitter and review sites like Yelp.
A quality branded spa that secures praiseworthy public relations and social media exposure results in greater hotel awareness among consumers, which can increase overnight stays, day visits and profits. The positive buzz is also an effective marketing tool to attract meetings and group business – another bonus to making effective spa management choices.
#5 Employ Spa-Specific Revenue Management Strategies
Thanks to their depth of knowledge and experience, a specialist spa management company is skilled at instituting spa-specific revenue management strategies akin to earning tactics that maximize hotel room dollars.
Be creative to maximize revenue during peak and off-peak periods. For example, treatments may cost more on the weekends. Or, a spa can charge less if a treatment is delivered in a semi-private room. Even offering an in-room massage increases the spa’s total capacity. A specialist company, such as Trilogy Spa Holdings, can determine how much money a spa is actually earning and implement revenue management strategies during high and low periods to bolster profits.
The New Year is here, and savvy hoteliers are taking the time to re-examine ways to optimize their spa’s profit-earning potential. Let the power of a global spa brand’s name capture consumer attention, creating a vision of unrivaled wellness and rejuvenation. Partner with a third-party spa management company whose operational expertise, industry know-how and revenue management skills will elevate a spa’s reputation and profit levels. Secure coverage across influential platforms and ride the wave of positive praise. With the right massaging and therapeutic consideration, a hotel spa can deliver unparalleled guest “spa-tisfaction” that translates into huge financial rewards in 2017 and for many years to come.