5 Reasons you want Bridal Parties

The Wedding industry is big, and growing. Smart spas are paying attention and learning how they can create experiences for brides that help them primp and pamper themselves for their
big day. In this blog I will explore why your company even wants to enter this industry and next month will follow up with the 5 Service Steps for Wedding Parties. I have a fresh new perspective on this subject, because I was recently a bride. In fact, that's me on the left. So, from first hand experience from both a bride and a spa owner, here are the 5 reasons you want Bridal Parties at your spa.

1. Exposure. By hosting bridal parties, you are exposing your spa to other vendors in the community that you can network with. Caterers, photographers, florists. They all have friends and families who live in your area. TIP: Treat the brides ancillary vendors to spa goody bags. Insert several menu's into the bag and include a first visit discount for them to share with friends.

2. Free Marketing. While your bride is getting ready, she is taking pictures in your salon. these show up on Facebook and Myspace among others, so make sure you have signage in your spa. Photographers will use the bride's pictures to market themselves. Inevitably, a future bride will say, "I love her hair! Where did she get it done?" You will get new clients because of your beautiful work.

3. Brides spend money. Believe me, during this very special time in a bride's life, she wants to spend money. She wants things perfect and is willing to pay whatever it takes. I was more interested in making things "right" then worrying about an extra $10, $20, or $30. Brides want education and they want to look pretty. Tell them what treatments they need to enhance their appearance...and they will get them.

4. Retail. Offer day of spa baskets for the bridal party from the bride. Include a lipstick for free with the purchase of their lip liner. Find ways to enhance the pre wedding ritual with retail. This can increase your average ticket cost and imprint the memory of your spa on your guests.

5. Power Booking. Bridal parties schedule services weeks in advance. Knowing the spa schedule this far out allows you to manipulate your schedule so that you can increase your other bookings. Most bridal parties need 2-4 hours in the spa, so ensure that you are maximizing your resources for the most revenue from your bookings.

You want to be a place that offers bridal services. You can create a life long memory and offer the perfect start to a very magical day.

make sure to visit next month when I share 5 Service Steps for Wedding Parties.

Inspiring Results - better management

Our company seeks to provide "operative excellence, optimal spa experiences." In order to achieve this lofty goal, we have to hire only the best, train smart, and manage properly. Very few people can achieve the level of excellence and expectation that we place on our employees. But, in a competitive landscape, we know that ultimately, the professionalism of our employees and their expertise is what achieves our mission.

In our employee newsletter this month, we posed the statement, "You are exactly where you want to be right now in this moment. Take a look at your life, check to see if you are happy right here and right now. Are you living the life you envisioned? Your current life is the result of the actions that you have taken and decisions that you have made." It is important that our company is honest with our employees. If someone is not happy - they need to find happiness, and it may not be with the company. But, by creating a company culture where there is authentic compassion and desire for each individual to move toward their highest potential, we are keeping the dialog open and allowing the shining stars of the future to step into the light.

As a successful entrepreneurial company, we are living proof that any hard time (read: recession) can be time for opportunity. And as our company continues to grow and develop, it is being 100% in the present while planning prudently for the future. But this planning is something that we include our teams in. Each property comes up with their own strategic marketing plan, a plan that anyone can contribute to and the manager is responsible for presenting the final. Giving people a voice and including the entire team in the planning for success builds a stronger foundation and one that is built to last.

On a more micro level - we each need to be committed to our own personal growth. What can you do this moment that can set you up better for the future? Who is your mentor? Have you taken them for coffee lately? How are you inspiring results from yourself?

We ask our managers to "inspire results" of their teams. What is your company doing right now that can help your employees gain more purpose and fulfillment in their current positions. How can you use this moment to inspire results?

Ask yourself these questions:

1. What motivates the results in my company?

2. How am I connecting to the employees?

3. Who do I turn to for guidance and support?

4. How is my company/department planning for the future now?

5. What types of support can I give to help others grow?

It is the companies that spend this time training, planning, and strategizing that will come out ahead. Are you one of those companies?

Low Cost, High Impact Marketing!

Spas are spending way too much money on marketing their spas and seeing way too few results. Every month, you submit your ad, close your eyes, and pray that someone, anyone will notice your ad and come walking through the door. In education, they call type of communication the "throw and stick" method. If you really want to market your spa and find a way to get people in the door, stop wasting your money on newspaper ads, magazine ads, radio ads, tv, and park benches. Blindly communicating to a group of people your information and hoping that something sticks to someone. Stop this madness immediately! To really communicate your brand, and bring more people in the door, you have to first understand who you are before you can understand who you are trying to reach. Here are the five steps to ensuring that you create a powerful marketing campaign:

1. Find out who you are. Look at your spa through a new set of eyes. Make a list of adjectives that describe your spa. What are the goals of the spa? Why is the spa in existence? What values does the spa have?

2. Create a color board. Cut out inspirational pictures that embrace the essence of your spa. Arrange them in a visually appealing way and hang this color board up in a place where your associates can see it. All decisions for marketing need to be congruent with the emotions that this color board evoke.

3. Describe your end consumer. Who is she/he? What are they looking for? What do they want and need? How do they make their purchasing decision? Understanding who you are targeting helps you stay so much closer to the target!

4. Analyze your current clientele. Are your current clients the ones that you are trying to get in the door? If they aren't, then what is it about your spa brand and identity that is not attracting them? If you aren't getting new people through the door, there is a disconnect from who you think you are and who your consumers think you are. In other words, they are disappointed with some expectation that they have about your spa. Find that disconnect and fix it!

5. More of the same. Once you have establish who you are and who you are trying to attract, create die hard loyalty programs for the clients that you already have. Spend your money on rewarding and incentivize your current clients to bring you their friends, family, and colleagues. Find out where your current clients exercise, eat, shop, and contribute to charity and then team up with their favorite businesses and charities to create cross promotional campaigns.

So, stop wasting your money on the radio, and start spending your money on what works. Creating an environment that rewards loyal clients for coming back and bringing their friends.