Creating a signature treatment for your spa or salon.
Key considerations for your business.
You want the best for your spa. You want something special that people can remember when they visit your business. You know that the great service is better remembered than the most beautifully designed treatment room; therefore it is important to deliver, even over-deliver and meet the expectation of your clients. This is what brings repeat customers and 5 star reviews on TripAdvisor.
Your objectives are to make your spa stand out in an overcrowded market and the idea of offering a signature treatment just seems to be the perfect way to do it.
The most luxurious spas are embracing this trend, you may remark; so why shouldn’t your spa have a signature treatment too? Good point; except this is a bit more complex than it seems at first. I would like to invite you to ponder over a few questions that are too often overlooked.
Let’s take a step back and investigate the very meaning of the word signature.
I find this word to be slowly losing its real substance when it comes to spas and signature treatments. Too often, in fact, the focus is on the decorative side of the treatment, like colours, fragrances or gadgets with some local elements.
The substance of the treatment is therefore replaced by a complemental experience that, yes, enhances the senses, but lacks the high quality of its core. It is more form than substance and generally is missing essential healing aspects, which could easily be part of the design. Saying that I agree of course that the sensual aspect of the treatment is very important. Fragrance, colour, sound, and texture are integral parts of a great signature treatment, but a whole experience cannot be narrowed to let’s say the outer layer.
Creating and offering a unique treatment is a lot more complex than just putting a few exceptional novelties together. It is an experience as unique as the concept and passion behind it and it is closely related to the reason why we want to offer a signature treatment, what would be the core of the treatment and how it will be delivered.
When I’m asked to deliver a signature treatment, a lot of my research goes of course into finding local elements that can offer and appealing motive, but then I need to find the structure, the logic and mostly importantly a purpose to make it work so that it has an intrinsic value. After that, the training structure needs to be created in such a way that the therapists will be able to repeat over and over again, with the deep understanding of the treatment and its core values.
What I mean is that just by using a few local products and blending them into a protocol with some SOP’s for the therapists will not be enough and in my opinion will be simply waste of money and time.
Therefore understanding why you want to add this special treat to your spa offerings is fundamental, as is to find out if this is what your spa really needs.
Ask yourself what are you trying to achieve?
Keep in mind that a signature treatment is powerful, in terms of both the benefits it delivers and the message it sends out. A signature treatment is you, your spa; what unique story do you want to tell?
So, what is a signature treatment? This should always be the first question.
I believe that uniqueness only exists when a higher quality can be delivered. Not a second before
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