Do you make the most of your software’s CRM functionality? Book4Time’s Sales Director, Nadia Rehman, shares her top strategies to help you build lasting relationships & increase revenue with CRM.
Knowing your customers and building relationships with them is the foundation of a great guest experience. Do you know how your CRM can help with this and are you using it to its full advantage? Let’s explore this topic.
Why CRM?
Your customer relationships are sacred and private, and are also your competitive advantage in the marketplace. How can you make the most of these relationships and take them to the next level? Having a great CRM is like having a life insurance policy on your business, you think you don’t need it until you do. CRM can help in every aspect of the business when utilized correctly.
What is CRM?
CRM is an acronym for “customer relationship management” and it can help you at every touchpoint in the guest journey at the spa. As a spa leader, you’re inundated with tasks and being pulled in a million directions, taking care of day-to-day operations while also answering phones, putting out fires, dealing with customer feedback, and more. CRM can make life easier.
Here are eight ways to use CRM to improve streamline operations, elevate guest experience, and increase revenue.
Collect customer information
Having a strong foundation will help propel you forward and give you leverage against your competition. Tracking basic customer information and leveraging this data allows businesses to increase marketing conversion, improve guest experience, and more.
Your customer profiles should include details like first and last name, email, phone number, and address, and you should also log details like someone’s preferred drink, robe and slipper size, preferences around checking in or out, and anything special that you like to remember about your customers.
So, for example, you know that when Melissa comes to your spa, she wears a medium-sized robe, her favorite therapists are Abel for massage and Kelly for facials, and she loves your signature CBD brand. Having these basic details on hand will not only make Melissa feel more comfortable and special, it will also allow you to be targeted and more effective in being consultative and less salesy when she visits.
Think beyond the basics
Your staff have many conversations with your guests during their spa journey. Encourage them to log tidbits of valuable information, like anniversaries, professional milestones, or birthdays. You can later use this in conversation and in your targeted marketing efforts. Imagine how amazing you are going to make your customer feel when you remember a large milestone in their life. Small details are what sets you apart from the rest.
Segment customers into groups
Understanding the demographics of your spa is key to building relationships. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, create segments and tailor your marketing and offers to these groups, like local guests, hotel guests, members, and corporate guests. Marketing tailored to local guests (lunchtime offers or last-minute deals) will be different from marketing aimed at hotel guests (room, meal, activity, and spa bundles), corporate guests, and so forth. Don’t generalize your guests, they will know when something was meant for them vs. something meant for everyone else.
Automate
Is there something you’re doing today that could be automated for better efficiency? Are you manually writing confirmation emails or confirming appointments one at a time on the phone? Does it take a long time for guests to manually complete intake forms when they arrive on site? Look for the areas that are slowing you down. To save time and streamline processes, send digital intake forms, automatic reminders, and offer contactless check in and check out. If you know your spa is busy and Sal comes every week with no intention of buying retail, set him up with a mobile check out and let him be on his merry way. It’s all about being targeted when it comes to your guests and how you care for them when they visit your spa.
Track referrals
Encourage existing customers who love your spa to invite friends and family by creating specific marketing offers in your system. When someone takes advantage of an offer and brings in a referral, it can be logged in that customer profile, and you can reward that person at the appropriate time with an incentive offer. Why let an incredible guest experience go to waste? The more exceptional experiences you offer, the more people they will share this with. Word of mouth will accelerate your growth, ensure your guest experience remains top of mind and the referrals will continue to roll in.
Track purchase preferences and retail activity
Even if you don’t have an e-commerce site, you can still keep tabs on favorite brands and top-spending customers so you can make tailored recommendations, surprise a guest with a small gift in the mail, or make a courtesy call to let someone know that you just got a new line in from their favorite brand. Invite loyal guests to come to the spa and enjoy a sneak peek of your new spa menu or new offerings. Create a private shopping experience. It’s about working with what you have at your disposal, you don’t need to spend tons of money to create beautiful and memorable experiences for your guests.
If you know someone loves Kiersten Florian or Farmhouse Fresh and something new came in, don’t be afraid to contact your customer and let them know. You might get an additional booking out of it and a retail sale to go with it.
Manage cancellations
It can be difficult to know whether to charge for a last minute cancellation or no show. Your software should allow you to capture a credit card guarantee at the time of booking, but should you charge it when they cancel at the last minute? To help with this, your CRM should track the lifetime value of a customer and tell you how much they spend at your spa and whether they frequently no show. One offs should be treated differently from someone who has cancelled 45 times. Be sure to list your cancellation policy on your booking engine and gently remind guests in your confirmation emails that you have a card on file and you will charge it. This is a respectful way to ensure that your staff are not missing out on revenues they deserve and safeguarding your business. It may seem small but if you have last minute cancellations/no- shows at 3 times a week, and your average service ticket is $250 that is $750 a week, over the course of the year that is $39,000 and based on some of the conversations I have had, some spas could easily double or triple these missed revenues.
Be creative
Use your CRM to create unique experiences that set you apart from the competition. One example of creative guest experience is the Carlyle Hotel in New York city, where they stitch your initials on the pillows on your bed. It’s effective and simple, nobody would ever forget it, celebrities, royalty and regular guests alike, all say this is something they just don’t forget when they visit the Carlyle. Everyone likes to feel special. How can you make your guests feel special? Easy, recall favourite brands, treatments, snacks and moments they have shared with you, where appropriate insert things like small gifts from your retail vendors, complementary add ons such as aromatherapy, add 10-15 minutes to the service if there is no others booked after it. Focus on being genuine over generic and your guests will continue to want to spend time with you at your spa.
Learn more about Guest Experience and CRM on the Book4Time website or schedule a demo today!
