"We encourage our staff to sell by first [selling them on the products]. We give samples and educate them on both the ingredients and benefits. The staff is able to stand behind the products and is excited to share its experiences with the guests. We also divide the staff into two teams monthly and reward the winning team with spa dollars to be used at our spa. The staff has fun, and healthy competition encourages some to sell beyond what is expected."—Tiffany Bird, spa director, Papillon the Spa at Westgate Park City (Park City, UT)
"I start off by making sure everyone—front desk staff, estheticians, therapists—have a great working knowledge of the products. Then I offer incentive programs to give them a little push. The front desk staff gets fifteen percent of everything it sells in spa bucks to use on any service. The therapists get fifteen percent in commission in their paychecks. Also, our product companies are great and let employees order items at cost, and they do their own incentive programs to reward our top sellers with free products as well. Using these methods, we have increased our retail revenue by more than three hundred percent."—Elizabeth Anderson, spa coordinator, Waves Spa at Lakeshore Athletic Club–Flatiron (Broomfield, CO)
"Education about the client's well-being is essential to building a good retail foundation. Once therapists understand the benefits of the product lines and individual items, it makes it much easier to offer these products as an extension of preventative health. Therapists are often looked to for their professional expertise with the body and how it functions. A retail product can go hand in hand with that philosophy. Vendor representatives can play a very proactive part in educating the staff. Offering products at great discounts to therapists is also very important. Using the product and coming from a place of personal integrity makes the selling process seamless."—Michelle Howard, spa director, The Spa at Hotel Park City (Park City, UT)
"We use incentives to help staff sell. We create games and offer prizes that allow the staff to compete not only as teams but also as individuals within the teams. I am interested in educating our guests as well. Today's spa guests are very savvy. I believe the more we educate them, the more apt they are to purchase products. These two formulas used in conjunction have raised our retail sales by eighteen percent."—Michael Simmons, spa director, St. Julien Hotel & Spa (Boulder, CO).