WELLNESS BUSINESS: DO YOU NEED TO INVEST IN BRAND DEVELOPMENT?

You may be wondering if your wellness business needs to invest in brand development.

The answer is that it depends on your goals and objectives for your business. If you want to create a strong and recognizable brand, then investing in brand development is essential.

However, if you are just starting out and are not sure what direction you want to take your business, then investing in brand development may not be necessary. Ultimately, the decision comes down to what you want for your business and where you see it going in the future.

Defining "brand"

When it comes to wellness business owners investing in brand development, it's important to understand the meaning of "brand".

Simply put, a brand is how a business markets itself, its values and its identity; it's how the world perceives it.

A good brand will clearly express an organization's core objectives while differentiating them from others in its field. Ultimately, brands are developed over time as people learn more about the company.

Why wellness business owners need to invest in brand development

By understanding the core values and unique features of your brand, you are able to establish an identity that sets you apart from competitors.

This helps customers recognize your business and provides them with an expectation of the quality of service they can expect to receive before even stepping foot in the door.

Brand development also enhances customer loyalty by reinforcing why your business is the best option for their needs. Whether it be products or services, investing in defining your brand will surely serve you well in both short-term and long-term goals.

The benefits of brand development

Investing in brand development is a valuable asset for any wellness business owner; it provides multiple benefits such as creating a recognizable identity, allowing an organization to easily stand out from the competition, and cultivating long-term customer loyalty.

A successful brand conveys trustworthiness, which is key in growing your business.

Branding also helps communicate core values to your audience and provides continuity in a company's messaging; this allows customers to feel as though they are forming genuine relationships with businesses due to their familiarity with the branding itself. Smart branding also ensures that your reputation is protected; by consistently promoting a strong image rendered through effective visual communication, you can ensure that potential customers will be drawn to your specific offerings.

Therefore, investing in excellent brand development techniques opens up multiple opportunities for growth and success within the wellness space.

How to get started with brand development

To get started, it's essential to define your brand's core values and mission statement. Once you have identified these attributes, create visuals that encompass them – like a logo or colour palette – before engaging with customers through social media, email campaigns, and digital advertising.

Of course, don't forget to take stock of what your competition is doing – understanding their strategies can help you identify where your offering stands out.

There are creative agencies and freelancers who can help you with brand development. They can take in your input and guide you through your options to help you develop a brand that speaks your business.

With the framework we developed ourselves as consultants, a big part of the The Wellness Makers Method next to Strategy is Story - click here to check our resources that can help you craft and communicate your vision in a way that is clear, consistent, and compelling for your customer. 

If you're not sure where to start, try these first:

1. Define what makes your business unique. What do you offer that no one else does?

2. Develop a tagline or slogan that reflects your brand identity.

3. Create a style guide for all communications related to your business (this includes everything from social media posts to email marketing campaigns).

We look forward to witnessing your business thrive!

Blue skies,

Sam and Sonja

WHAT'S YOUR WELLNESS BUSINESS STORY?

As a wellness business owner, you are integral to helping individuals take control of their health and well-being. You provide products or services that enable people to lead healthier lives, which is why it's important to have a story behind your work.

Your story connects the purpose of your business with the customers you serve, helps build relationships and trust with existing clients, and encourages potential customers to make meaningful connections.

By sharing your story, you can bring more awareness to your wellness business and create meaningful connections.

Let's explore how understanding and delivering on key components- your concept and branding - within your wellness business will help share what makes it unique.

Concept

A concept is an idea or foundational element of any wellness business, serving as a blueprint that provides guidance on how to approach and run a wellness enterprise.

For wellness business owners, understanding a concept is essential in communicating the unique value that their services offer clients, and for staying true to it in every aspect of their wellness business. Having a distinct concept that relates to the wellness industry also helps wellness businesses stand out from their competitors.

Through having a strong concept, you can ensure that clients know what is expected when they visit the facility and purchase services—creating an experience that improves clients' health and wellness.

Branding

Branding for wellness business owners is an important aspect of their success. Building a brand requires considering how you want your customers and prospective customers to perceive your wellness services, products, and overall business presence.

Through brand development, you have the opportunity to create a unique and compelling story that inspires potential clients to take action and become lifelong advocates for the business.

A brand is much more than just its logo.

Components of branding include creating an emotional connection, developing a distinct style, defining your target audience, and creating valuable content. It's important to focus on the details such as your colour theme, message consistency, typography selection, and consistent visual identity to connect with customers on a deeper emotional level.

It's also essential to think about how you will promote your brand both online and offline through social media channels and physical locations in order to maximize potential customer reach.

The story is one of the chapters in our Foundational Course for Creating a Wellness Business and is part of The Wellness Makers Method - to find out more about this course, you can click here.

We hope to see your wellness business thrive!

Blue skies,

Sam & Sonja

SPA OWNERS: WHAT'S IN YOUR INVENTORY LIST?

As a spa business owner, it is incredibly important to have the right inventory items on hand. The evidence is clear; having proper resources at your disposal can lead to increased customer satisfaction and retention, improved efficiency in daily operations, and greater overall success of your efforts.

By carefully understanding what makes up the necessary ingredients for running an effective spa - from essential treatments to office supplies - you'll be able to ensure your spa reaches its highest potential.

Creating your inventory list

This should begin with an accurate assessment of what treatments or services your facility will provide and what rooms or areas you will have.

This will set the framework for other related items that may be necessary.

For example, a facial spa may require items such as exfoliation scrubs, masks, moisturizers and toners, while a massage therapy business would need massage oils, sheets, bolsters, and lotions.

It is also important to include items such as cleaning supplies, towels, robes, and marketing materials to help promote the business.

As spa consultants, we create a comprehensive list of inventory items for our clients depending on the features, the services, the physical rooms, the products, and the dedicated areas of their spa. Through years of development, we've built this spreadsheet of inventory lists for a complete spa. Each sheet holds the inventory list based on the specific space and is further broken down into areas within the space.

It's a complete shopping list with supplier recommendations. We highly recommend you look into our Inventory List - Complete Spa - from the product page; we also included a video introduction so you can see for yourself how this resource will add value to your spa business.

Having an accurate inventory list helps you gauge the amount of each item you will need for a certain day or week and can also provide useful data for forecasting when restocking may be necessary.

Ultimately, having an inventory list can prove invaluable when it comes time to restock and keep your spa business running efficiently. It's important to remember that inventory is a vital component of any successful spa business - so make sure you have the right resources and supplies on hand.

5 useful tips when creating an inventory list

1. Set up categories: One of the most important steps when creating an inventory list is categorizing your items. This helps break down the types of products, so it’s easier to keep track and also allows you to forecast future needs effectively.

2. Take a physical count: Make sure not to rely on estimates when taking a physical count of your inventory. Ensure that all items are accounted for, and take into consideration any spoilage or damaged products.

3. Utilize a spreadsheet: Spreadsheets allow you to keep track of items more easily, with the ability to sort by categories, track amount and cost per item, and forecast future needs.

4. Stay organized: Create a system for organizing your inventory list, including colour coding and labelling products to keep them in order and easily accessible.

5. Monitor usage: Pay attention to the amount of each item being used so that you can anticipate when restocking or ordering more items is necessary. This will help prevent any shortages or delays in service.

By managing your inventory list effectively and utilizing the right resources, you can ensure that your spa business runs at optimal efficiency and achieves its maximum potential. With a well-organized list, you will be able to restock items quickly and efficiently, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and improved overall success for your spa business.

Blue skies,

Sam & Sonja

WHAT'S YOUR WELLNESS BUSINESS STRATEGY?

Are you a wellness business owner looking to start or expand your business?

Taking the time to define and refine your overall strategy can help ensure that your efforts are focused, efficient, and will deliver the best results.

What is strategy?

Strategy at its core, is the process of planning, prioritizing and organizing resources in order to achieve goals. It involves developing a long-term plan that outlines how you will use time, finances, personnel, and other resources to reach objectives.

Why is strategy important for wellness business owners?

This type of planning encourages you to think ahead and envision future opportunities as well as potential pitfalls so you can take effective action to maximize outcomes. Establishing a meaningful strategy not only helps you successfully build your companies but also allows you to remain competitive in ever-changing markets.

When is the right time to start thinking about strategy?

Considering a business's strategy is a critical part of any wellness business owner's success. Although it’s never too late to implement strategies, the earlier these are considered, the more likely owners will be successful.

Ideally, wellness business owners should start considering their overall strategy from the very inception of their concept. Taking into account key factors such as competitors and target market not only helps improve a business’s competitive advantage but also ensures that wellness business owners can maximize their return on operational activities.

Being strategic is an important factor in guaranteeing that wellness businesses meet their goals for success.

What needs to be considered while building up a strategy?

Frankly, a lot needs to be considered when building up your strategy for your wellness business. We actually dedicated a whole chapter of our course to strategy, we're currently planning to reshoot the course, but still, it's available online if you need much-needed help and advise, click here to find out more about our Creating a Wellness Business - Foundations Course.

For now, here are some questions you can put your time and efforts into answering:

What's your business vision? What is your company's mission statement? How will you differentiate from competitors?

What's your business mission? What are your short term and long term objectives? What tactics will you use to reach these goals?

How are you going to finance your business? How can you make sure you have the right resources in place?

What does the current market look like? Who are your target customers, and what do they need?

What resources (financial, personnel, and other) do you have available?

What product or service will you be offering?

When do you anticipate launching your business and introducing new products/services?

What are the goals for your business? How will you measure success?

These are just some of the questions to consider when creating a successful strategy for your wellness business. Taking the time to plan and define your strategy will help ensure that all your efforts are focused on achieving success.

Blue skies,

Sam & Sonja

SPA OWNERS: WHEN DOES YOUR CUSTOMER JOURNEY START?

As wellness business owners are aware, the spa customer journey is an important factor in building a successful business.

It consists of effectively establishing a relationship between the wellness establishment and its customers—from their initial contact forming an impression of your spa through to the experiences they have when visiting.

Crafting memorable experiences with smooth transitions from one touchpoint to the next is essential for a successful customer journey, as it has been proven that well-designed service interactions can establish loyalty and trust with your customers. With well-thought-out strategies for creating seamless customer experiences, wellness business owners can provide their clients with enjoyable spa experiences and improve their overall satisfaction.

If you're a spa owner or planning to open to your spa, we highly recommend taking a look at our Spa Guest Experience Audit.

For spas, when does the customer journey start?

Many would assume that a spa customer's journey starts the moment the customer walks in through your doors, but the reality is that it starts way before that.

It starts when the customer isn't a customer but rather just a person who's unaware of your services and your business. How do they get to know your business? What's the first thing they'll see that will introduce them to who you are and what your business is? What will pique their interest in contacting you or booking a service?

Many times, it's online reviews, social media posts, or your website. If a person is interested in a type of service you offer, they will search online to check their options or chat with a friend to ask for recommendations. In our digital age, it's rare for people to just walk into your spa for a first impression. They would have already made that first impression when they saw your social post, your website, or online reviews about your services.

This is why it's important to ensure that all of your digital presence works together to create a positive first impression and encourage customers to get in touch with you. You can also provide additional information on your services, packages and other offerings through various channels, such as email marketing or engaging content on social media.

It's also important to work on your business branding from end to end - it's not just about the physical store. It needs to be effectively applied to all possible touchpoints like your website, social media pages, and collaterals.

Creating an effective customer journey is key to ensuring your spa business succeeds. By understanding and optimizing your customer journey, you can provide a more enjoyable experience for your clients, drive more bookings and increase loyalty.

We hope this article has been helpful in giving you an overview of the importance of the customer journey and where it actually starts.

Blue skies,

Sam & Sonja | The Wellness Makers

THE SECRET TO ENSURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION FOR WELLNESS SERVICES

As a wellness business owner, you strive for excellence in customer service. You have to accept that satisfaction is defined differently by each customer, and so one customer journey may work well with one customer but be frowned upon by others.

For spas, it's especially important to understand what your customers want - not after the experience, but before a service is even recommended. This way, even though each customer's expectation is different, you can tailor and personalise their experience to fit their individual needs, and this would ensure each and everyone is satisfied with the type of service or products they receive.

This is where consultation forms come in.

A consultation form allows spa staff to gather accurate information, which can then be used to effectively plan the care and service they provide, thus ensuring clients leave feeling confident that their wellness goals have been thoroughly addressed. The information gathered through these consultation forms also helps inform decision-making around product purchasing and staffing, ensuring that spas operate efficiently while providing high-quality experiences for their customers.

Depending on the particulars of a spa's business model, consultations can take various forms and occur at different stages throughout the customer journey. Some spas may require relatively short consultation forms to be filled out prior to the appointment, while others may have longer, more comprehensive ones which are conducted during face-to-face meetings or phone conversations with customers. In any case, it is important for spa owners to ensure that their consultation forms are accurate and comprehensive enough to give them the details they need to recommend and safely implement their services or products.

Because aside from how a customer would prefer to receive a treatment or service, another important purpose of consultation forms is to acquire your customer's health information and product-use history. With this on hand, you can prevent accidents from happening like allergic reactions to certain oils or skin reactions from overlapping skin care products.

Finally, it's essential that spa staff use the information gathered from consultations to create an ongoing relationship with each customer based on trust and mutual understanding. Doing so will ensure that your customers feel comfortable with your wellness business and encourage them to come back again.

If you don't have a consultation form as of yet, we recommend taking a look at our Spa Consultation Form Template. This is a resource we developed through our years of working with spa business owners as we helped get their spa businesses from idea to open.

Blue skies,

Sam and Sonja

ARE YOU IN THE PROCUREMENT PHASE FOR YOUR WELLNESS BUSINESS?

Procurement is an important process for wellness business owners to understand when opening a new business.

The procurement process involves researching and finding supplier partners who can provide the products, goods, or services necessary for your wellness business to thrive.

Knowing where to shop for quality items or services can be tricky and time-consuming.

Identifying reliable suppliers who are trustworthy and have competitive prices can help you plan and save resources in the long term. It would be best to do your due diligence when researching potential suppliers and factor in how they will meet your expectations when making appropriate decisions.

You should also be aware of the different procurement methods available to you when purchasing items and services. Popular procurement methods include direct purchases, requests for quotes (RFQs), tenders, auctions, and catalogue orders.

Working with spa business owners as consultants, we find the procurement phase to be the most challenging. The products, supplies, and services need to be aligned with the spa's vision, mission, and overall design. And for us to be able to find the perfect supplier, we had to spend hundreds of hours browsing all possible options.

We finally compiled these suppliers into a comprehensive spreadsheet and added functions, so you can easily find suppliers based on the product or item that you're looking for. If you're in the procurement phase for operations and are looking for equipment and supplies in setting up your spa business, we highly recommend you look at our Supplier List - Operations - which we made available through our resource store.

If you’re looking for spa partners and retail brands, we also have a supplier list for you - Supplier List - Spa Partners & Retail Brands.

What are the primary things to look for when choosing your supplier?

1. Price - It's important to compare prices with other suppliers, as well as their terms and conditions.

2. Quality - Make sure that the products or services supplied meet your business's standards and expectations regarding quality.

3. Design - Be sure to look into the design of the products if relevant, and ensure it aligns with your business's aesthetic.

4. Delivery Time - This is especially important if you are expecting orders for a certain timeframe. Make sure that the delivery times match up with when you need them and that there are no hidden fees for rush orders.

5. Payment Duration - It's important to know how soon after ordering you are expected to make the payment and what forms of payment are accepted.

6. Customer Service - Check out reviews from past customers to get an idea of the customer service you will receive. If possible, ask questions to test out the level of responsiveness and support that a supplier offers.

With the right suppliers, you can ensure that your spa business runs smoothly and efficiently.

We hope this guide has been helpful in providing insight into the procurement process for wellness businesses!

Blue skies,

Sam and Sonja

5 TRIED-AND-TRUE TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL WELLNESS BUSINESS MARKETING

Marketing is an important part of running a business, especially in today's ever-connected digital world. It is the process of communicating the value of a wellness business to potential customers.

At its core, marketing is the practice of understanding customer needs, crafting persuasive messages to communicate with them, and delivering products or services that meet or exceed their expectations. It provides wellness businesses with a way to differentiate themselves from their competitors while also wanting to stay true to their core values and mission.

Wellness businesses can use marketing efficiently to spread awareness of their services, build relationships with customers, and make growth for their business possible. It requires careful planning and research into your target audience in order to get the desired outcomes.

If you're a spa business owner still finding your way through marketing, we highly recommend taking a look at our Spa Marketing Handbook.

Here are 5 tried-and-true tips for successful wellness business marketing:

Harness the power of branding. Make sure your branding is consistent, recognizable, and memorable.

Create content that adds value to customers’ lives. Share health tips and tricks, success stories, testimonials, and more. Make use of social media platforms to create engaging posts, use relevant hashtags appropriately, and interact with potential customers often.

Invest in understanding your unique target audience. Gather demographic info about your potential customers to craft specific messages for them. Understand the customer journey and discover where your potential customers are on their journey and what messaging is necessary to move them through the process of becoming loyal customers.

Understand the value of networking. Connect with thought leaders and influencers in within the wellness industry and reach out to potential customers in a meaningful way.

Focus on customer service and satisfaction. Ensure that your services meet or exceed customer expectations, keep communication lines open, and provide feedback opportunities for customers to help you improve your business.

As most consultants would say, customer service is the key to success. Good customer service can turn first-time customers into regulars and word-of-mouth advocates for the business, allowing it to reach new heights of success and longevity.

By taking care of individual customers, wellness businesses create a positive reputation for their services; this helps build trust and loyalty between them and their clients. Moreover, providing an exceptional customer experience is a powerful form of marketing that costs nothing but yields great results - from return visits to improved online reviews.

Embrace good customer service, and you'll be able to guarantee quality services and excellent experiences that lead to lasting relationships with your wellness clientele.

Blue skies,

Sam and Sonja

UNDERSTANDING HOW YOUR CUSTOMERS PERCEIVE YOUR WELLNESS BUSINESS

One of the most important aspects of running a successful wellness business - no matter how big or small - is understanding how customers perceive your services.

Outside perspectives can help respond to changing demands in the industry and open up new opportunities for your business, as well as provide invaluable insights into what drives customer satisfaction levels. It will help you identify areas for improvement and growth, uphold quality assurance, and build better relationships with your customers.

Different ways to get customer feedback

Surveys or Feedback Forms are one of the most effective ways to gather customer feedback, as they allow you to ask customers directly about their experiences with your business immediately after a service or product has been rendered. With these forms, you can also ask specific questions about your service, so it's a great way to get insight into aspects of your wellness business that customers wouldn't normally provide feedback on.

Whether you choose to acquire responses to your surveys digitally or manually by a physical form depends on your business structure, the services you offer, and your customers. Online forms or surveys offer a great way to export the results easily and are geared towards a customer base that is more tech-savvy. And while physical forms would require additional time to collate, it may be the easier way for wellness businesses that have physical stores to get the responses they need. It won't require any device to fill up and can simply be handed to the customer after the service has been rendered.

From our experience as spa consultants, spa business owners mostly opt for physical forms because it allows them to get immediate responses and is generally easier for their customers. Another thing they consider is whether asking their patrons to pull out their phones or providing them with a computer station to acquire feedback digitally can potentially work against their purpose of providing a conducive environment for relaxation

If you're a spa business owner or you're in your planning phase of bringing your spa business idea to life - we highly recommend taking a look at our Spa Feedback Form Template. It's a professionally designed feedback form we've developed through our years of consulting for spa business owners. We also left there a video introduction of the resource so you can better understand how it applies to your business.

Online Reviews such as those provided through your website, a site mainly for reviews like productreview.com.au, or your Google Business Profile account allow customers to voluntarily leave reviews and comments on their experiences with your business.

Going through these reviews will give you information about gaps you may need to fill and services you can improve on. These reviews are also publicly visible, which is a great way for other potential customers to understand your services or products better and encourage them to try them out for themselves.

Social media can be invaluable for gathering customer feedback from your followers. Keep an eye out for mentions, comments and reviews and use them as opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations with your customers. Aside from the ability to actively engage with your customers, another great value of social media reviews for your wellness business is that it allows you to reach an extended audience through your followers.

No matter which method you choose, customer feedback is essential for the growth and success of your wellness business. It encourages better customer service, helps you improve and develop new services, and ultimately leads to a stronger relationship with your customers. With the right tools in place, gathering customer feedback can be an easy process that will help you stay on top of trends and ensure satisfaction for your patrons.

Continue providing excellent services as well as customer-focused initiatives to ensure that customers are happy with the experience they get in your wellness business. You can also set up reminders and notifications on your management tools so you won't forget to contact customers for feedback and surveys, or better yet, include feedback gathering in your customer journey process!

Blue Skies,

Sam and Sonja