Summer is fully upon us now, and unless you are in a resort or beach location, your spa is probably a little slower than usual. This is the perfect time of year to maximize revenue dollars by encouraging your staff to focus on their average ticket.For those unfamiliar with the term, average ticket is the measure of how much money you are getting from each client who walks in your door. To calculate it, add up your total service revenue plus total retail revenue for a particular time period, and divide by the number of clients in the same time period.
There is no right or wrong average ticket number, just one that is unique to your spa. Each of your technicians, in turn, has their own number. Technicians who sell a lot of retail and also perform higher-priced services, such as facials, will have higher average ticket numbers, while a nail technician performing a lot of manicures and not selling retail will have a lower number. So the number is largely a factor of the base service price performed by that technician, and the price ranges in your area. But within those broad averages there is room for all technicians to make incremental increases. What’s important is to get everyone focused on their own number; what is it now, and what can they increase it to? And of course, as with all goal-setting, there needs to be a deadline; by when?
I know you’ll say, what about the massage therapists? Well, if a massage therapist who performs 5 services per day can sell ONE of those clients a $10 Tiger Balm, they’ll have increased their average ticket for that day by $2. Once they understand how easy this can be, and see the increases in their paychecks, that can be a light bulb moment for them. Internal retailing contests are a great way to spark sales interest among the staff.
Certainly, retailing is a quick and easy way for technicians to grow their average ticket. But your service menu is the next place to look. I am always interested to read spa service menus with 2 facials priced at $75, and 3 priced at $85. Where did this rule that prices have to end in “0” or “5” come from? Expand your pricing so that you have an entry level service, and everything else is more. But use a range of prices; if your services are priced at $75, $78, $82, $85, and $88, there is going to be a number that is right for each client. This makes it much easier for your esthetician to upgrade a client who has booked the entry level service. “For an additional $3, I’d recommend we go with the Toning Facial today, which will provide better immediate results for your skin type.” Giving your staff a price range to work will encourage them to practice subtle sales skills with each and every client, with the inevitable result that, at least once a day, a client will say, “Sounds good!” Review average ticket numbers monthly in the beginning, and you can move it up to weekly in prime sales periods.
Please let me know what you are doing to spark summer sales.