Time to sharpen your pencil and consider some less sexy ways to improve your bottom line.

1. Simplify! This is a great opportunity to toss out the pieces that don't work well enough. Reduce the size of your encyclopedic spa menu, edit the number of products you carry. When you overwhelm a customer with too many choices, you increase the chance that they won't choose anything.

2. Build your bottom line. If you're a spa organization, one of the most effective ways to increase your margins is with your own private brand. If you're a branded vendor, look for opportunities to co-brand with your best customers. More and more spas are searching for something beyond the "standard" 50% gross profit margin. Take a page from the Target model: create a collection of exclusive private brands (theirs are blessedly free of the big red bullseye.)

3. What if you took 20% of your current marketing budget and used it to upgrade your concierge and support team? Profit is the direct result of customers being delighted with your service, returning to your spa, and recommending it to people they know. Is there sexier stuff to do with your marketing budget? Heck, yes. Is there any better investment? Absolutely not.

By Peggy Wynne Borgman

www.wynnebusiness.com