Why the Reception Area of the Spa is so Important to Customer Loyalty
It is a common situation: a paying customer enters the spa area and looks forward to her pre-agreed appointment. But then she realises that she is alone – a sobering thought! Instead of personal greetings and a friendly atmosphere, a formal sign points to the apparently unoccupied spa reception desk. If you want to know why a poorly run reception area always leads to a tangible decline in profit and why spa training is always worthwhile, read on.
The business card before the actual event
Whether a day spa, a hotel spa, or a wellness centre, the area around the spa reception is the first personal point of contact between the customer and spa staff. Guests want their arrival to be acknowledged – this is important so they can arrive emotionally as well as physically and consciously leave behind their everyday lives. It should be a top priority for every operator to offer visitors an instant feel-good atmosphere. By entering the spa, guests must distance themselves from the outside world – after all, they are paying for exactly that.
A yawning emptiness instead of a “warm welcome”
This is why it is such a problem when the visitor is left unattended, which can have several causes. In most cases, a poorly attended reception area happens because of inadequate staff management. If appointments were spontaneously accepted, employees who had previously been assigned as spa receptionists could still be working in the treatment area. Many spa managers overlook the actual benefits of a spa receptionist and don’t employ anyone for this specific role alone. The fact that booking appointments, welcoming and bidding farewell to the guests, coordinating the visitors’ wishes and performing many small customer service opportunities are important components, is often overlooked by some managers. The reception area is essential to prepare the guest for the pampering experience. If the customer is left unattended, it feels as wrong as if they were to check into a high-priced luxury hotel alone.
What gaps exist in numbers of employees and skill levels
Another common issue is the fact that the important interface between the spa or wellness centre and the guest is often filled with interns, student assistants or trainees from other fields. These employees tend to cost less money, are often available in the short-term and can be dismissed quickly if found unsuitable. It might seem sensible, but this flexible deployment of employees is actually an enormous underestimation of the actual importance of this position. If the welcome desk is not occupied or only by untrained staff, this impression will be carried through to the entire establishment into the eyes of the guest.
The consequences of a deserted spa reception area
The first negative effect of an abandoned reception desk is missing out on business opportunities. If the opportunity is missed to sell an appointment simply because the reception area is not occupied, both management and therapists are equally affected. Even worse than an unprofitable appointment is a missed booking. Even regular customers show disappointment when they turn up unexpectedly and can’t speak to anyone. Their migration to a competitor is almost preprogrammed. As a rule, new customers leave the venue after such an incident, without ever planning to return.
Awkward employees instead of trained professionals
But, even if the front desk is staffed, customer contact can be less than ideal. If visitors have a question about the spa area or would like to find details about a high-class treatment, they expect a comprehensive response. Finally, the high prices of some treatments are justified by the absolute professionalism of the spa.
If friendly, but otherwise only vaguely helpful assistants, fail to communicate effectively, a long shadow will be cast over the integrity of the wellness facility.
In the worst case scenario, if semi-medical information (for example, allergens, pre-existing diseases, etc.) is incorrectly answered or not passed onto the practitioner, there might be serious consequences for guests and the reputation of the centre. It is very withering if guests find that they have more knowledge about wellness than the designated specialist of the spa reception. In addition, it simply irritates some regular customers, if there is a new assistant at the reception at each visit. High staff turnover is always interpreted as an error in management style.
Lost sales
In fact, unskilled spa receptionists can result in far more than leaving guests with a negative impression. The loss of sales in product lines is a much greater predicament. The vast majority of facilities use product sales as a profitable stand-in alongside the treatments. Guests will already have been convinced during the spa treatment about the benefit of the products. The sale should then easily take place in the spa reception area. An experienced spa receptionist will quickly find the best products for guests and guests can even get to know the serums, creams and masks in detail. With untrained staff, however, the customer’s interest is in vain – the products remain on the shelf, and potential sales are lost*. Only with expert spa training can such sales-promoting measures be effectively communicated to employees.
Lack of integrity damages customer loyalty
Freelancers and temporary staff are also less likely to drive after-sale business. Thus, up-selling of further treatments is done only half-hearted and possible follow-up appointments might not even be addressed or pursued further. Employees such as these, mostly due to ignorance or superficial training, do not carry a customer profile or reliably respond to specific wishes of the guests. At this point, too, money will be lost. After all, the customer will only feel encouraged to return if the overall experience has been perfect and inimitable on all levels.