STOP Begging for Referrals and START Generating a Constant Stream of New Customers Using Proven Referral Systems. If you're NOT getting a consistent flow of referrals every month from your clients, than you're missing out on a tremendous, tremendous spa business building tool. I'd go on to say that if you don't address the lack of referrals coming into your day spa right now, you are going to have a very difficult time achieving or sustaining any kind of successful...

The spa industry is expanding worldwide with unstoppable force. According to a recent ISPA study, one in five Americans visited a spa within a 12 month period. And, just as the day-spa boom began in America and quickly crossed both oceans to explode globally, medical spas and full-service salons, which offer facials, nailcare, and other treatments, are now successful American business models with huge international potential as well. How can you stay competitive and keep your staff performing at a...

A noteworthy trend, sometimes called "spa together," is emerging. More and more clients enjoy developing and nurturing their meaningful relationships in a spa setting. The three spas featured in this column are dazzling and beautiful. More to the point, each, though targeting a different demographic, is successfully creating opportunities for its guests to connect—with their friends, their soul mates, or their better selves. Before choosing to use a hip desert-sunrise color palette, Benu's designers consulted with fashion designers, graphic artists,...

The spa industry is expanding worldwide with unstoppable force. According to a recent ISPA study, one in five Americans visited a spa within a 12 month period. And, just as the day-spa boom began in America and quickly crossed both oceans to explode globally, medical spas and full-service salons, which offer facials, nailcare, and other treatments, are now successful American business models with huge international potential as well. How can you stay competitive and keep your staff performing at a...

A noteworthy trend, sometimes called "spa together," is emerging. More and more clients enjoy developing and nurturing their meaningful relationships in a spa setting. The three spas featured in this column are dazzling and beautiful. More to the point, each, though targeting a different demographic, is successfully creating opportunities for its guests to connect—with their friends, their soul mates, or their better selves. Before choosing to use a hip desert-sunrise color palette, Benu's designers consulted with fashion designers, graphic artists,...

A flat "treatment rate" system is the best way to make services more profitable. A treatment rate uncouples the direct link between the service prices and the rate an employee is paid. The concept is simple: For the amount of effort, skill, and knowledge required to do this specific service, the employee is paid X dollars. There may be several treatment rate levels, usually no more than four within a department. For example, deep tissue massage carries a higher rate...

By Douglas Preston, Preson Inc www.prestoninc.net With every passing year your business brings new opportunities to explore, new markets to open and, new challenges to confront. Trouble is those new challenges are too often added to the list of old ones that may do harm to your spa or, at least, weigh on your mind like unpaid taxes. You KNOW you need to do something about them but, time and again, you turn your attention to easier or more immediate...

Differentiation, niche marketing, and positioning. These and other related business buzzwords have no doubt crossed every spa owner and marketing director's ears in recent years. But what do these words really mean to you in your particular spa/facility? Usually they mean that a spa will attempt to sell a product or service that is somehow different than the competition's to a certain, specific target market. In theory, this is a great idea. If you could just reach that one segment...