Marketing is one of those often neglected items. Many times spa owners view this as an expense rather than a revenue generating tool. You need to regularly review your current marketing efforts, and evaluate new options. However, to stay a step ahead of your competition you need to have the right marketing strategy.

The first thing you need to do is evaluate your current marketing program. Evaluate what is working and what is not. Figure out the actual cost versus the benefit of each type of marketing you are doing. Did the postcards work better than the radio ads? Did the free media attention from the grand opening get you lots of new customers? It’s easy to get sold on a particular advertising option, and one often forgets to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. If you signed a long contract for an advertising option that did not work, cancel it, if you can.

Don’t Underestimate Email Power

When you take your customers information, you should be taking not only their mailing address, but their email address as well. You may want to start a monthly email newsletter about your spa. Highlight a new procedure. Remind everyone that summer is coming, and that they need to get in for those hair removal treatments quickly. An occasional “Daily Specials” e-mail will allow you to respond to a lull in bookings by sending out a treatment special for the time slots you have available that same day.

Cross Marketing

Visit the health food store, jeweler, or the organic store and create a marketing program with them, offer discounts at each others stores. Remember, no one has too many customers, they will be happy you stopped by.

In the past many spas had a lot of success by cross marketing with hair salons. Just as long as your spa dose not offer any hair styling services, and the hair salon dose not offer any spa services, this can me a real great relationship that the two parties can really benefit from. Also make sure to give all the hair stylists in the hair salon that you are cross marketing with really good discounts on your services. This will get the hair stylists at the salon really excited and enthusiastic and your spa. Most hair stylists have a long list of clients that have been loyally coming to the hair stylist for years. These clients usually have developed a good level of trust with the hair stylist, so if the stylist makes a positive comment about your spa services to the client, you can be almost positive that this client will check out your spa the next time they are in the market for spa services.

Technology Power

When you opened your spa you most likely purchased a bookings management system. Are you using it to its full potential? These systems often allow you to run custom reports where you can see which treatment rooms are being under-utilized, and which clients haven’t been in the spa in a while. It may be time to check out the software vendors website to remind yourself of other productivity features which can help with your marketing efforts.

Network Locally

You need to be known in the community where you do business. It is important to contribute to local charities and events. If your customers are Generation X, then sponsor a little league team. If your customers are primarily baby boomers, you may want to be involved with local charities. Remember, most people do business with people they like. So networking gives you an opportunity to connect with many different people in a short period of time.

By using these tips, you should be able to grow your spa to that next level. You can’t just hang out a sign and expect people to run in, you are going to need to actively market your spa and be constantly aware of which options are working and which are not. Your marketing plan should be well documented and should always be analyzed and constantly evolving to keep you a step ahead of the competition.

by: This article is courtesy of Omlas. Omlas is committed to providing superior lasers, light-therapy medical devices and spa equipment at very competitive prices, for a wide variety of applications. The company is a global leader in the development of lasers and light-therapy medical devices.

s a practicing dentist for over thirty years I have basically seen it all. I used to practice with 14 staff, 4 lab technicians and a whole bunch of stress. Today, I practice with 7 staff, three days a week, have a 7 figure income and also face far less stress each and every day thanks to the Dental Spa Environment. Let me help you create just such an environment in your office. Here are the Steps you need to follow in order to start prospering from the benefits of Dental Spa Cosmetics and Sourire.

Before you begin your dental spa journey you need to sit down with your staff and make sure that everyone is on board. Without the support of your staff, this new and exciting adventure just will never happen. When talking with your staff you need to ask yourself the following question, “How can my staff benefit from this new practice environment?”  Just to help out a bit, dentist to dentist, here are some of the answers:

·         The dental spa environment is just a better place to work. Patients that are more comfortable and less anxious are easier to treat. The person in the office that tends to bear much of the brunt of this patient anxiety is the staff. Removing even a small amount of patient stress will make your staff’s day better and more productive.

·         The more your staff knows and learns, the more productive they become. The more productive they become, the more important they are to your practice. The more important they are to your practice, the more they can and probably should earn. Just a suggestion…..

·         Dental Spa Cosmetics has a very generous Affiliate’s Program that can be shared with staff. By distributing some of the commissions to staff you can obtain their support for this new program almost instantly.

·         Applying makeup is just fun.

·         Doing something different is just fun.
Let’s Start the Sourire Experience!
Step 1.  An Attitude Change
Whenever you start something new there will be naysayers who will look at you as if you are bit nuts. Why does a dentist need to have a spa? Things have been going pretty good so far, why do we need to change? (So says your staff). Well, the answer is pretty simple. If things have been going so great that you don’t need to change, you won’t. But I’m guessing, with over thirty years of experience, that things can always be better. More pleasant days, more appreciative patients, more relaxed treatment visits, more engaged staff and maybe even more money and increased referrals. So, if you are looking to make a change you need to have an attitude adjustment.

Start thinking that this is the start of a new and exciting adventure. That today is the start of a new practice; a new Dr. (put your name in here). Start being a leader and get your staff involved in the planning. Ask for their help but make them understand that there is gold at the end of the dental spa rainbow and that they will participate in that financially and emotionally every single day.

Step 2: An Environment Change
Now this may be a bit tougher. You and your staff need to sit down and take a look at your office. Every nook and cranny; every chair, wall, floor and ceiling. You are what you look like! You do tell a book by its cover!

A whole bunch of clichés but they are clichés for a reason, they’re true! You never see a spa that looks run down, depressing and, well, like a typical dental office. They are always places to come to in order to relax and get rid of the day’s stresses. Your office needs to represent your new philosophy and appeal to your patient’s senses. It needs to look beautiful, smell good, sound relaxing, feel smooth and silky (this is a tough one) and taste, yes that’s right, taste great. We’ll get to that later on but suffice it to say that if you have a place to put out coffee and teas, you can also provide some nice tasting cookies, cakes and muffins or even better, fruit.

The first place to start making a change in your patient’s dental experience is in your reception area. First impressions do count. Spend a couple of bucks to make your office a pleasant and inviting place to visit. Normally this only involves minor changes but whatever changes are necessary will pay you back multiple times over the coming years.

Start with your reception area.

Does it look and smell like a typical dental office or is it more like a spa reception area or your very own living room at home?

Do your patients have to sit and wait in a depressing “waiting room” or are they welcomed into your home with only a minimal time waiting for their appointment?

Dental Spa Cosmetics can help make a change almost immediately, with very little cost, with our Aromatherapy products, Air Fresheners and Essential Oils.

Wonderful DVDs of the Great Barrier Reef (Coral Sea Dreaming) are also a cost effective way to spice up a boring treatment room. If you have a TV in your reception room why show depressing scenes from CNN when you can run a beautiful, calming video. You can also add baked goods from The Sourire Bakery as well. They smell and taste great and will be a wonderful addition to your new spa practice.

 

Treatment Room Decor

Once they leave your reception room do you have a comfortable place for the patient to sit prior to the start of treatment? Is the room private? Can you recreate a spa type feel while maintaining the true treatment requirements? This can even be a treatment room but some minor changes may be required to make it look more like a spa room that an “operatory”.

Start using Spa Music throughout your office space to appeal to your patient’s sense of hearing. We’ll talk later about introducing Souriretm Stress Management but for now replace the elevator music with simple spa music. Of course, you can get the kind of CDs were talking about online at our website, http://www.dentalspacosmetics.com.

Step 3: Introduction of Spa Services
Ok, you’ve had an attitude change, your office is looking and feeling like a spa and you’ve started to appeal to your patient’s five senses. That’s right. It’s now time to think about the actual treatment process. The Spa Concept will only work if you can work as you normally would….sounds simple but introducing this kind of practice change needs to fit into the daily functioning of your office. You need to continue to practice in an efficient manner while at the same time making your patient’s feel like they are in a totally different world…the spa world.

Souriretm Cosmetics and Stress Management was designed to be used efficiently during a typical patient’s visit. I would, therefore, like to break this introduction of Souriretm Spa Services into three separate steps. You can start by introducing Spa Services into just one of these aspects of dental treatment and then, when you and your staff are comfortable and patients are begging for more, introduce the remainder.

1.    Avant Traitment (Before Treatment)

a.      The spa feeling started in your reception room with fresh coffee and tea, homemade cookies and cakes from the Sourire Bakery, comfortable seating, wonderful sounds from Sourire Music Selections and beautiful visions from Coral Sea Dreaming each appealing to one of the five senses. Or something like that to start. Remember to start slow and don’t burden yourself or your staff with too much at one time. All good things will come in time so be patient and start slow. It’s real easy to make small changes such as adding fresh coffee and tea and then progressing to fresh flowers, homemade (don’t really have to be homemade, just look homemade) cookies and cakes, fresh fruit and the like.

b.      Think like a patient. They are sitting drinking their coffee or trying to read a magazine and they hear their name. The adrenalin starts to flow and the hair on the back of their neck rises. They envision some bizarre kind of dental torture akin to the vivid scenes in Marathon Man or The Dentist. Let’s change their minds once and for all! Start thinking like a patient and they will respond by treating you as a person and not just another dentist or dental office. Be concerned about their fears and concerns and make every effort to divert their attention away from the things they fear and towards things they want and need. Remember, to your patient the actual dentistry is probably the least important part of the visit…..

c.       Instead of seating your patient on time, take them in 15 minutes early and seat them in a treatment room (or another Spa room if available) and begin the Souriretm Experience. This unique process involves as much or as little as you feel comfortable delivering. Let’s give you an idea of what we mean:

                                                              i.      As your patient is seated make sure that the room doesn’t smell like a dental office. Use Sourire Aromatherapy or Essential Oils to mask the odor and set the stage for a more spa like experience.

                                                            ii.      Give your patient the option of either a Stress Reducing Biofeedback Experience with our Stress Eraser or Sourire Meditation.

1.      Biofeedback has been used for years to assist people in learning how to relax, fall asleep more easily or just provide a moment of reduced anxiety. It is a learned experience and a technique that can be taught and learned by almost anyone. The benefits are enormous and go way beyond the dental visit. At this time, if your patient has chosen biofeedback, instruct them on the use of the Stress Eraser provided by Dental Spa Cosmetics. (Another shameless plug I know) and watch relaxation occur before your eyes. You can even provide a take home device (either on loan or as a sale item) to your patient to extend the treatment at home.

2.      If your patient prefers a meditation experience you can instruct them that you will be providing a calming meditation experience that will relax them and remove any anxiety that may be present. Place a headset on their ears (hopefully acoustic in nature to block out all extraneous noise) and insert the Sourire Serena’s Garden CD provided by Dental Spa Cosmetics. This CD starts with 10 minutes of meditation instruction and then provides an additional 50 minutes of pleasing and relaxing music.

3.      Last but not all least is the application of soothing, good smelling and skin appealing cosmetics to both women and even men. There is nothing more calming that the application of moisturizers and masks such as Sourire’s Spearmint Energizing Mask or our Mandarin Balancing Toner while sitting and listening to soothing, calming music. Is this a dental visit or am I sitting at a spa? Get the idea….

                                                          iii.      All of the above should be applied by staff and definitely not take away from treatment time. This is a Before Treatment experience designed to de-program your patient from the events that transpired prior to their arrival at your office (traffic, kids screaming, boss ranting and raving) and their preconceived notions of what they believe to be a normal dental experience and instead create a new paradigm, one of comfort and relaxation. The patient should enter the treatment part of the visit with a different attitude and a different level of expectation. It’s now time for you and your staff to meet those expectations by providing the next Step in the Sourire Experience.

2.    Traitment - During Treatment

a.      During treatment the Sourire Experience continues. Your patient can still listen to the music they were enjoying during their Before Treatment Experience and additionally have other types of Sourire Cosmetics applied to make this part of the visit more appealing sensually. Possibly Sourire’s Shiitake Green Tea Eye Gel or Gotu Kola Calming Gel, both designed to enhance the dental experience. You can also place our Gourmet Lip Balm instead of that yucky Vaseline used so often in most offices. After all, you’re not just one of those offices anymore!

3.    Après Traitment - Post Treatment

a.      OK. The visit is about over. You’ve drilled and filled and the patient has been listening to soothing music, smelling the wonderful fragrances of Sourire Cosmetics and they are ready to leave. It’s time now to let them leave with a Smile.

b.      Take a moment to apply either a moisturizer such as Grape Leaf Liposome Moisturizer or our Licorice Root Moisturizer. Take a moment to apply Mandarin Balancing Toner to provide a soothing and rewarding end to a great dental visit.

c.       As your patient is leaving, offer them a sample of our Lip Plumper. Every woman today wants fuller lips and what better place to find that then their dentist’s office?

d.      Now for both patient and staff, and even yourself, treat your hands to Nourishing Hand Crème to reduce the abuse caused by the drying of gloves and multiple hand washing.

e.      Provide your patients with a beautiful Sourire Gift bag with samples of the cosmetics used during their visit and possibly other products you feel they would enjoy instead of a typical calendar, pen with your name or a bobble head doll with your face on it. Ask yourself, which would you prefer and how would you react to such a gift. Would you talk about it at home with your family? Would you mention it to you business associates or friends at lunch or at a meeting?

f.        As they leave allow they to “spritz” themselves with one of our Sourire Fragrances for both Men and Women or apply one of our Smile Enhancing Lipsticks which were designed to enhance the tooth whitening process.

Step 4: Practice Benefits
 I would imagine that by now you can see the amazing benefits that will accrue to you, your staff and your practice by introducing the Sourire Spa Experience to your practice. Changing the way patients think about their dentist, their dental visit and their dental treatment will:

·         Increase referrals of patients looking for something better than what they have had in the past.

·         Reduce stress in your practice and your life making each day a bit better than the last and allowing for a more effective and efficient treatment visit

·         Reduce cancellations and disappointments dues to fear and anxiety

·         Create a more pleasant environment for staff which will increase productivity

·         Incentivize staff to promote spa products which can then provide passive income to the practice.

·         Send your patient home with a Sourire Gift bag so that they can become your Missionary, telling their friends, family and business associates about their amazing Sourire Spa Experience.

by: Dr. Ganz graduated from N.Y.U. College of Dentistry in 1970 and received his Prosthodontic credentials from Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in 1973. Until recently he was Co-Chief of Implant Dentistry and the Implant Fellowship Program at North Shore University Hospital – Long Island Jewish Medical Cente

Oh, I bet you think I am writing about a Salon and Spa under one roof. No, that’s not the “blend” I am writing about. I want to review the concept of a commission and rental shop all in one place!

Well, now you really think I am crazy. I don’t think so. Some salon owners are crazy smart when it comes to making money and being successful. Some have figured out the right mix of booth rental and commission arrangements to make the shop run like a well oiled machine!

So, who are these owners?

I would like to profile one I am particularly impressed with. He is smart, talented professionally and financially savvy while having a heart and working hard to improve the lives and careers of his professional team. This is an amazing combination. I have listened, in the last 4 years, to many, many salon and spa owners. I have listened to those who work for both the commission shop owner and the booth rental owner and none have had the work and life ethic of this particular gentleman.

Mark Cottle, who owns Kaya Beauty in Henderson, Nevada, has no idea I am writing about him but that’s ok because he would just blush if I told him before I was done! Mark is a very talented Beauty Professional. He is a teacher, mentor and businessman. “I want my team to be successful” he says if you ask him why he is so comfortable when one of his professionals says they want to go rental, “any salon owner who doesn’t want to have their team “own” their own customers and do great things is scared of loss”. His confidence in his ability to groom great talent shines through in everyone in the shop.

You must remember, although I am a financial professional who created a solo beauty professional contact management software, I am also a very vain newly 50 year old women who hates any gray hair showing through and needs to be “blonde” although God gave me the good old Italian dark brown to work with! I am very loyal to some very talented professionals who credit Mark & Kaya for their success.

I am also finally getting my nails done and for a treat had a facial and massage on my birthday as a gift from my staff. What an amazing event, all at Kaya, the top treatment with great people, all loving what they do and making their work into an enjoyable career.

All of them, when asked what is important to the salon& spa owner say “ Mark cares only about the happiness of the client”, “If the client isn’t being taken care of by one professional in the salon, we all must understand and help them to find the right professional in the salon to work with”. Wow, what a concept.

Mark bought each member of his team a copy of the Redken sponsored Michael Cole book “A Little More off the Top” to read and study and discuss at future meetings for the group. I was lucky enough to read a copy and what a great book for all beauty professionals as well as any business person who lives with customer service as a crucial part of their career. Mark gave them the book with the goal of building success for each team member which in turn builds success for the shop.

Now I can’t tell you the financial formula of booth rental to commission and what the splits are and what the monthly fees are. I can tell you that all work to sell product, not “force sell” product to the clients, the front desk calls all clients of commissioned staff the day before the appointment (I believe this is too late, but that’s another client management story), and are super friendly helping out however they can.

When Mark said to me, as I commented on how wonderful his management style was and how unique he is in the marketplace, “If a client likes a professional’s work, they will follow them anywhere. Why shouldn’t I make the professional happy to be here so the client will be happy to be here? I don’t own the client, nobody does, but client loyalty to their professional is expected”. I knew then that Mark understood the fundamentals that most salon owners ignore or suppress for the sake of “owning’ the client.

Your professionals are you best and most valuable asset. As a Salon & Spa owner treat them right and you will have the beauty professional and their clients for life.

by: Diane Dutton, CEO of CK Systemz, home of Client Keeper Client Management Software and the Cosmo Success Kit for financial success of the beauty professional. Dutton is a CPA, MBA and author of ‘A Woman’s Ladder to Success

Spa is a place where your customers come to relax but what about the owner or manager of the spa? They also need to relax but how they can if they haven’t got the time for that as they are so busy? The answer to this is by using spa management system. 

Spa management systems are the computerized systems that can handle the business management and increase your sales, enhance your customer service. These spa management systems can manage your spa from the inertia of endless paper files, hard drives to the web based integration system.

Spa management system enables you to organize the staff’s schedule, customer’s account, payroll management, appointment book and many other functions. These spa management systems are the solution for the large business. By using these spa management systems you can easily know about the clients and their details about their style and preferences. You can also view whether your employees are at the work or not. Besides that spa management system also allows you to manage inventory and stock. By using online booking feature you can get more and more customers.

Spa management system with a window based interface allows you to work more conveniently even if you are not known to computers. Due to window based interface it also allows you to open many windows at a time. In the spa management system there are different forms for different users with various privileges.

Most of the spa management system allows you to schedule appointments by status such as confirmed, arrived, and booked and others. You can also search for specific appointment to schedule by using the features in spa management system. A fine spa management system allows you to easily book multiple service packages from one screen. 

You can choose a spa management system to allow your clients to schedule their own appointments online. They can select the most appropriate appointment according to their schedule. With a spa management system you can know your clients better by listing their relationships to other clients. You can also create your own client types and assign clients to these types. It also allows you to generate sales, and analysis reports as well as client management reports.

if it has a integrated credit card processing system then you can increase client spending with quicker credit card transactions processed on the internet You can also make your clients happy with stress-free bookings and payments.

Spa pos system integrated with spa management system allows your clients to purchase products, services and gift cards all in one location. It gives you a way to easily process voids, returns, and split a payment between two methods that are cash & credit.

Being an owner of a large spa business you should choose a spa management system that helps you to manage and grow your business. You should go for the system that is industry based, user friendly and uses the latest high speed technology. Its internet ready operations make your business wide access. In other words a good spa management system can turbo-charge your business.

by: Zoltan Vargyai is the Owner of blondesoft.com that’s a provider of best spa management systems, salon management systems and salon systems.