UpClose & Personal - Richard Eidson

Good spa treatments produce good results and it the task of spa owners and spa managers to sort through the numerous spa treatments being offered to today and see which ones they are going to offer at their spa. Every spa treatment is a complex combination of the various elements. The purpose of this article is to give a simple Spa Treatment Formula to better understand spa treatments. This formula is: Spa Treatment = Product + Equipment + Technique. You can use this formula to analyze any spa treatment. Now, let's consider each element of the spa treatment formula.

Spa Treatment – every spa treatment, whether it is a facial, massage, cellulite treatment, exfoliation, etc. promises to the client certain specific benefits. What we want to know is how do these spa treatments produce these benefits and just as importantly, do they really produce the benefits they promise. One would think that if all the spa treatments that are currently being offered produced perfectly all the promises they make, then we would all be slender, healthy, stress free and look twenty years younger than our biological age.

Product – almost every spa treatment uses some product. Massage uses various massage and essential oils. Cellulite treatments use activating gels, algae creams and products with secret, magical formulas. At any trade show, you will encounter endless booths offering products that are essential components of various spa treatments. Bio-Elements, Aveda, Pevonia, MD Formulations, FloraSpa, St. Tropez, CA Botana and many other companies offer a wide variety of products for spa treatments.

Equipment – almost every spa treatment uses some form of equipment. A massage treatment is done on massage table. A steam treatment is done using a steam canopy, steam room or steam cabinet. Estheticians have numerous types of equipment to allow them to make their healing and beautifying transformations. Hydro-tubs make certain forms of hydrotherapy possible.

Technique – every spa treatment involves a specific technique to produce the benefits that the spa treatment promises. At every spa trade show there are many classes on how to do specific spa treatments that have been designed by different spa companies. Once again, companies like Bio-Elements, Aveda, Pevonia, MD Formulations, FloraSpa, St. Tropez, CA Botana, and other companies offer specific techniques they have been developed to produce the promises their spa treatments make. All companies offering spa treatments have spent years developing specific techniques for each treatment and now make them available to you for use in your spa. There are massage schools dedicated to specific techniques such as cranial-sacral, rolfing and shiatsu that involve considerable training.

Thus we have a formula for analyzing any spa treatment: Spa Treatment = Product + Equipment + Technique or Spa Treatment = PET. The following are some suggestions and observations for using the Spa Treatment Formula when analyzing a specific spa treatment.

Spa Treatment: When we consider any spa treatment we can look at what the promises are and are these promises real. For example, do cellulite treatments really work and which ones are best? You also need to consider the how much you need to charge for the treatment and will your clients pay that much. Also, will you have enough promotional materials to promote the treatment to your clients and is it a treatment that fits in with your unique spa vision. Also, will your staff be willing to learn and promote the treatments.

Product: When we consider the products used in any spa treatment we need to know if they meet our quality standards, if what they promise is real, if the cost per treatment is acceptable and if it is something our clients will find appealing.

Equipment: When we consider equipment required for the spa treatment we need to know how much it really costs. We need to consider the total cost, including needed renovations, installation, and how much we must pay each month in lease or loan payments. Equipment is basically a fixed cost we much pay each month regardless of how much we use it. And does the equipment produce the promises made? Many spa owners are disappointed because they find that the equipment they purchased does not produce the benefits that were promised or that there are hidden problems in terms of installation, breakdowns, maintenance and other problems.

Technique: When we consider the technique of the spa treatment we need to learn if the technique really produces the benefits promised. Also, there is often an expense involved in training to do the spa treatment. And most spa treatments are based on the idea that is the technique which is most essential because without proper technique the products and equipment will not produce the desired effect.

In the next article, we will look at specific examples of spa treatments using the Spa Treatment Formula and see how this can be a simple but very helpful tool.

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