Software is a tool that, like any other tool, can be used for the most basic functions or imbued with deeper purpose. Here’s how your spa software should foster community.
By Cynthia Connelly, Vice President of Customer Success, Book4Time
The importance of community in the hospitality, spa and wellness industries has been front and centre in recent months. As we move into a new era and way of operating, our communities have become increasingly valuable for navigating a new landscape. ISPA town halls in which industry leaders come together to share ideas and experiences with one another have provided insight and guidance, as well as feelings of comfort and reassurance that we’re all going through the same shared experiences and have each other’s best interests at heart.
Communication and staying connected are key to survival. Fortunately, our industry is one in which even fierce competitors tend towards connection over antagonism. And this is what will keep us vibrant and innovative, even in the hardest of times.
Community building can be fostered in more ways than one and in ways that might not immediately come to mind. For example: by your software partner.
Software is a tool that, like any other tool, can be used for the most basic functions or imbued with deeper purpose. A hammer is used to hit things, and can also be used to build structures that provide living spaces and create communities. Software has been used in more meaningful ways than anyone could ever count.
Here are three levels on which your spa software partner should support and foster community relationships.
Your partner community
A partner should care deeply about your shared relationship and this should be evident in their product and company conduct.
Customer support should be 24/7 and 110% focused on ensuring that any issues are responded to with quality information and follow up. Customer success managers should be dedicated to developing long-term relationships based on business needs and should help you achieve desired outcomes.
Training and onboarding should be comprehensive and thorough, and designed to ensure self-sufficiency, while still guaranteeing availability for support should need arise. Moreover, seamless integrations with existing systems can help harmonious relationships between suppliers and between you and your guests.
This is the core of where your community begins.
Your guest community
From the core you expand into your guest community. Your spa software should make your Customer Relationship Management easy. This is achieved with functionalities that include collecting information through centrally managed notes and document tracking to create a personalized guest experience, an absolute must in today’s world.
Statistics show that:
- More than two in five consumers (42%) say that if a company doesn’t provide them with a personalized experience, they’re likely to switch brands.
- Even if a product or service disappoints, 72% of consumers say they’ll give the company a second chance if it provides a hyper-personal customer experience.
- More than half (63%) of consumers expect personalization as a standard of service.
- 49% of buyers have made impulse purchases after a more personalized experience.
Creating these experiences makes guests feel valued and appreciated. Should your company have multiple locations, this should continue with sharing of notes across all of them so that your guest feels like a part of your community wherever they are in the world. And this should flow through to your continued communication with guests between treatments, including collecting feedback and maintaining contact. Community doesn’t just happen when you’re in each other’s presence. It’s an understanding that you belong together, even when you’re apart.
Your industry community
Moving out into the whole of the circle, as mentioned, finding support within the whole of our industry is going to be even more important in the future. A software company worth partnering with should always be listening, gathering information, and using that information to make improvements. Any company with a wide customer base that includes hotels, resorts, spas, and casinos, should be tapping into those resources for insight and then creating solutions into which we can all share.
One of the things that we plan to do at Book4Time is develop a series of customer advisory boards. These boards of industry professionals will be grouped by areas like subject matter, special interest, or unique geographical location, and encouraged to share their experience, feedback, and any pain points. We will then take these insights into consideration when developing and improving functionalities. The idea is to bring people together to strategize on how we might do things differently and better.
Don’t underestimate the potential for your software partner to play a big role in your community.
Partners should be in tune with the industry, while professional organizations such as ISPA and the Global Wellness Institute ensure that the community is broad, inclusive and engaged. Whether you work for Accor, Four Seasons, Marriott, Jumeirah, or an independent company, everyone has similar objectives. We will achieve these objectives, and surpass them, more efficiently together, as a community.
Spa Executive is published by Book4Time, the leader in guest management, revenue and mobile solutions for the most exclusive spas, hotels, and resorts around the globe. Learn more at book4time.com.