Should 60-minute Spa Treatments become 75 minutes?

 

A question submitted to Spas2b:

We are just doing our menu of services and have always thought we should book on the hour and complete the service in 50 minutes to still allow for clean up, etc. within the hour. I have heard that some spas are adding 15 minutes to their service booking times to be able to give a full 1 hour service and still allow for clean up and sales. Is this a good idea?

Our Response:

If you are going to add 15 minutes to each treatment, for each spa professional, you have to really understand the math; how this decision will impact revenue; and what you will do to compensate for possible lost revenue due to this increased time slot.

Those additional 15 minutes must supplement revenue that day and/or solidify business opportunities for the future…but ideally; both.

 

Let’s just take a quick glance at what the math might look like:

Stats we used for this calculation:

·       1 Staff member works 8 hours per day, minus 1 hour lunch

·       7 hours = 420 available minutes per day for treatments

·       $90 Average Service Price

Math for a 60 minute treatment:

·       420 minutes ÷ 60 minute treatment = 7 potential treatments/day

·       7 x $90 Average Service Price = $630 potential revenue/day

Math for a 75 minute treatment:

·       420 minutes ÷ 75 minutes = 5.6 potential treatments per day

·       5.6 x $90 Average Service Price = $504 potential revenue/day

Lost Revenue from 60 minute to 75 minute treatment:

·       $630 – $504 = $126 lost revenue/day

·       $126 x 5 days/week = $630lost revenue/week

·       $630 x 4.33 weeks/month = $2,728lost revenue/month

·       $2,728 x 12 months/year = $32,736lost revenue/year

·       $32,736 x 10 staff = $327,360total potential lost revenue/year.

*If each of your staff sold the equivalent of lost revenue each day, week, month and year, this extra 15 minutes may be viable

Example: If your 75 minute treatment program is working, you should see your 10 staff members generating an additional $327,360 in retail/year…is that a realistic expectation for your business?

AND / OR

Significant increases in not only retail sales, but also client retention rates; staff productivity; and gateway treatment sales.

Also consider that your gross profit is further eroded by the fact that you are still paying wages for those 15 minutes of lost revenue.

**Keep in mind these numbers are hypothetical and do not take into account the numerous business variables you will need to consider to produce the most realistic projections for your situation.

So, you can see that if you are going to add 15 minutes per service, per spa professional, per day, every day, it is essential that every one of the following boxes is ticked:

1.     Staff must reinforce the outstanding results from the treatment the guest just had

2.     Discuss goal setting to solidify an ongoing relationship

3.     Introduce and educate guest on new product & service considerations for the future

4.     Satisfy business needs by making a sale equivalent to lost revenue

5.     Satisfy guest’s needs by sending them home with a solid maintenance plan

6.     Suggest their next appointment booking

7.     Bid them a fond farewell

8.     Staff to do guest service paperwork

9.     Ensure the room is turned over on schedule

10.   Be ready for their next guest.

If your staff can accomplish these 10 things in the 15 extra minutes being allotted, it may be worthwhile for both your guest and the business.

Remember: With anything in life, when there’s give, there must also be take.

In closing, I must share with you a question that Guy Kawasaki posed at a Spa conference a few years ago, that I thought was quite profound. He said:

‘If spas really want to provide exemplary service, why do they advertise 1 hour treatments and only give the client 50 minutes on the table?’

Is it time to analyze if your services really are satisfying both your guests and your bottom line?

Our Spa Finances Bundle is your solution to better profitability and business sustainability