Personalized guest experience is one of the biggest factors that sets the best spas apart from the rest. Here’s why personalization matters so much.

A personalized guest experience is one of the best ways to grow customer loyalty and turn new customers into returning ones.

People have come to want and expect personalized experiences all across sectors and from all kinds of businesses. Research has found that:

• 75% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a company that knows their name and purchase history and recommends products based on their preferences.
• 33% of consumers who ended their relationship with a company in 2018 did so because the experience wasn’t personalized enough.
• 72% of customers expect companies to know their purchase history regardless of what method of communication they used.
• More than two in five (42%) consumers say that if a company doesn’t offer a personalized experience, they’re likely to switch brands.
• Even if a product or service disappoints, 72% of consumers say they’ll give the company a second chance if it provides a “hyper-personal” customer experience.
• More than half (63%) of consumers expect personalization as a standard of service.
• 49% of buyers have made impulse purchases after a more personalized experience.

Personalization is especially important in spa and hospitality, where the guest is truly expecting to feel that they are heard and that their needs are being taken seriously. It’s nice when someone at a retail shoe store remembers you. It’s downright insulting when a spa service provider doesn’t.

What is a personalized guest experience?

A personalized guest experience is exactly what it sounds like: applying personalization to the customer experience.  

Personalization is providing products and services to meet customer’s  individual requirements. It’s often thought of as a marketing tactic that involves retargeting customers with items related to those they have already purchased or into which they have shown interest, but that is a dated and unsophisticated idea of personalization. McKinsey states:

“Personalization, once limited mainly to targeted offers, now extends to the entire customer experience. This means that customers want personalization throughout their interactions with a retailer – with multiple, personalized touchpoints that enable them to allocate their time and money according to their preferences. In the best personalized experiences, retailers make the customer part of the dialogue and leverage data to create one-to-one personalization. Customers receive offers that are targeted not just at customers like them, with brands targeting at the segment level with broad-based offers, but at them as individuals, with products, offers, and communications that are uniquely relevant to them.”

The reality is that anyone who says they don’t want a personalized customer experience might not know what we’re talking about. A lot of people still think it just means spamming inboxes and bombarding us with ads for items we’ve already purchased or aren’t interested in (we’re looking at you Google). When properly applied to the customer experience, however, personalization makes people feel recognized, remembered, and valued. And everyone ­wants to feel those things.

How do you do that? It begins with collecting data from your customers and storing it, followed by finding ways to leverage that data in ways that are exciting and impactful, and that make your customers say “Wow. These people really get me.”

It’s what separates a five-star spa from the others. In an interview with Spa Executive about how spas can achieve a five-star rating, Amanda Frasier, Forbes Travel Guide’s Senior VP of Ratings, said, “We look to see what each spa is doing to not only set itself apart from the competition, but how they create unique, personalized service moments for each guest based on their specific needs or guest profile.”

Centrally managed notes, guest profiling, a comprehensive reporting dashboard, and automatic alerts are among the keys to building customer profiles that make this process easy. As soon as an appointment is made, a spa should be using existing information to prepare the ultimate, personalized, guest experience. And this should continue throughout the entire customer journey. It’s not just about purchase history, but about past conversations and individual customer preferences.

Every customer is unique. Showing genuine interest in your guests is what will really impress them.

Is finding and retaining talent a challenge at your spa? Get insights from industry leaders, including Nigel Franklyn, Lynne McNees, Verena Lasvigne-Fox, and Daisy Tepper when you download our report: What will it take to fix the spa industry’s staffing shortage? .

Spa Executive is published by Book4Time, the leader in guest management, revenue and mobile solutions for the most exclusive spas, hotels, and resorts around the globe. Learn more at book4time.com.

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Times are changing but your spa guest experience should always be superior. Here are three strategies for maintaining an excellent guest experience while businesses recover after lockdown.

Spa and wellness have gone through a lot of changes lately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suddenly, a high touch industry is less high touch, and this will likely be the case for a long time, if not forever. So, the sector is having to rethink the way things are done, and reinvent the guest experience. Meeting customer needs is key, now more than ever. How a person feels about their interactions with your business will make all the difference. Your guest experience remains the one thing that will set your spa apart from the competition, drive customer loyalty, and motivate guests to bring their friends.

How can spas meet customer needs and still offer the highest-level guest experience while putting space between themselves and their customers, following enhanced sanitation protocols, and, in many cases, limiting occupancy? It will take effort. Here are three things to focus on to maintain an excellent guest experience while spa and wellness recovers. 

Focus on relationships

Reach out to your guests through social media, text messages, and emails — but avoid marketing and selling! Build relationships that feel sincere. People can see through thinly veiled marketing tactics disguised as friendly overtures, and will not appreciate them. But they will appreciate communication that feels genuine. Take the time to say “Hello. How are you?” and “How can we help?” while resisting the urge to follow up with “Buy something!” If you focus on creating connections and lasting relationships, revenue will follow. In a Book4Time webinar on the changing landscape of hospitality, held during the COVID-19 shutdown, Deirdre Strunk of Canyon Ranch said, “Money is always important — we have to keep our doors open — but it’s the last thing that’s on our minds right now. I want to really focus on taking care of my guests and my team, and then I know that the money will come.” This thinking doesn’t just apply during a pandemic – you should always be focusing on your authentic customer relationships. Think of your guest experience as something that happens seven days a week and 365 days a year, rather than only when the guest is in your space. And be ready to answer questions. Guests may be asking for a lot of information. Be ready to give satisfying answers.

Meet guests wherever they are

Management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, recommends you “meet guests where they are.” This can mean several things, both metaphorical and literal. It means being mindful of the fact that some people may have less disposable income for a while, and creating treatment and product packages that meet their needs. It means maintaining contact with guests who aren’t coming to the spa because they are too nervous or have a health issue that puts them at risk. It can mean creating videos and tutorials related to your products and services, and hosting meetings on platforms like Zoom or Facetime to give classes or product advice. It also means literally meeting guests where they are, for example, by meeting them curbside with a retail purchase so they don’t have to come inside. The Houstonian’s Christine Whitnel told us in a chat last month, “People will still want the option of the curbside experience even as businesses reopen. They’ve gotten used to the convenience. I think those who don’t offer it will have a harder time selling retail.” It means going above and beyond to be where your guests need you to be, whenever possible. 

Anticipate needs

What are your guests going to need to make them feel comfortable and valued? Keeping real-time track of guest needs and leaping to redesign your experience to meet them is key. For example, in a conversation with Spa Executive last month, Amanda Frasier, Senior VP of Ratings for Forbes Travel Guide, said, “While we have to take all these new precautionary measures, we have to think about how we’re doing that to enhance the guest’s sense of comfort.” For example, she added, “If you’re going to remove items that the guests might need from the locker room in order to have a more sanitary service, make sure that your staff are extra vigilant about offering these items to the individual guests as they are needed.” If there are no snacks or beverages available for taking, make sure to offer them to individual guests. Be sure to have clean towels, hand wipes, masks, and whatever the guest might need on hand. Offer before you are asked. Guests may be too shy to ask for something they want, and that will dampen the experience for them. To create an excellent guest experience, be ready to anticipate needs, meet them, and exceed them.  

Spa Executive is published by Book4Time, the leader in guest management, revenue and mobile solutions for the most exclusive spas, hotels, and resorts around the globe. Learn more at book4time.com

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