Medspa Success = Expectations… What Are Yours?

Medspa Success=Expectations, Question Is, What Are YOUR Expectations?

by Jennifer Devlin, Marketing Goddess, Medspa Marketing Institute

Anytime I am asked about evaluating a medspa’s retail business, I first ask a series of detailed questions of the owner. I also ask the same questions of the staff in casual conversation. I do this to demonstrate that more often times than not, an owner thinks she is on the same page with her employees, but they are miles apart in terms of expectations.

Setting expectations functions like a road map to get you where you want to go. Without it, your staff is just blindly selling without a strategy in mind and their results will be mixed; some good selling days and some not-so-good selling days. Wouldn’t you like to have a flourishing retail business with consistent results?

The following is a list of the exact same questions I use during a Retail Sales Analysis to determine a retail diagnosis. I can tell immediately what is wrong with a medspa’s retail plan by analyzing this data. The answers will be revealing and will help you develop your own road map to success. If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you need to – because it can mean the difference between having a 25% sales to service ratio or a 1% sales to service ratio.

By the way, a sales to service ratio is the percentage of product you sell in comparison to services. A 25% sales to service ratio means that for every $100 you sell in services, you should be selling $25 worth of products.

The great thing about retailing, is that when it is done strategically, you can realize massive profits without having a price increase or hiring another employee. It really is like igniting a silent selling machine!

1. Do you have retail goals in place for each employee or department? If so, what are they (by month, week and day)?
2. Are these goals posted somewhere visible in your spa?
3. What are the consequences for not meeting the goals?
4. Who is in charge of reinforcing the expectations?
5. What is your current sales to service ratio for the spa? For each individual?
6. How is your patient database compiled and segmented?
7. Do you keep a log of all their purchases (both retail products and services)?
8. How are retail purchases followed up? (For example, do you send a thank you note, do you phone the patient a couple of days later to ask if she has any questions about product usage?)
9. How do you handle product returns?
10. What is your average monthly total services?
11. What is your average monthly total product sales?
12. What is the average number of patients that visit your medspa?
13. How is your retail introduced to your patients? (For example, do you use the products in your back bar? Are samples provided? Do you have a large retail display area? Are they mentioned in your newsletters or marketing campaigns?)
14. Has each and every employee received vendor training?
15. Do you provide continuing education for your employees?
16. Are your vendors present for quarterly training updates?
17. How often do you do a merchandise display change?
18. Is all of your vendor training information located in one area of the spa?
19. Do you have specific “product of the week” specials?
20. Do you take monthly inventory of your retail merchandise?
21. Do you know what your par levels should be for your retail merchandise?
22. Are you overstocked on any merchandise and if so, do you know how to quickly liquidate that merchandise?

In my future posts, I will be discussing vendor and employee training strategies, which will provide you with easy strategies and tactics to increase your retail business.