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The Magazine for spa and wellness in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America​

Spa Booking Technology

Improving the guest experience with spa software

As a spa director it has always been the ‘norm’ to wear many hats throughout the day. With responsibilities mounting, it’s important to allow technology to help optimize business operations.

Providing your guests with a user-friendly experience while booking a single or multi-guest reservation on a customizable online booking site is just one of the many requirements. Traditionally, guests would have to call to make a couples or group booking, and that usually consists of several individual appointments. This is still the process with many software systems, allowing room for error and the inability to send streamlined, multi-guest itineraries to everyone. The multi-guest reservation feature supports many departments including spa and wellness, fitness classes and other activities, allowing you to create entire ‘experiences’ for guests, providing them with an easy-to-follow itinerary for their stay. This feature enhances guest satisfaction by allowing guests to book services and classes after hours, reducing call abandonment and guest frustration during high traffic times at your reception.

The guest experience is made seamless when spa software connects to other systems at your property. For example, when an interface is set up, spa software can search reservations with the guest’s name and room number. This eliminates the need to contact the front desk to verify or make a charge. Services and retail items can be charged to your guest’s room, allowing them to relax and enjoy a smooth check-in and check-out process! Book4time has an industry leading 60+ interfaces allowing our system to talk to your PMS, credit card, AI, inventory management systems and many more.

You invest a lot of time and energy into your team and business, it’s important to choose software that offers user friendliness while also including advanced features that allow you to deliver exceptional experiences.

 

Digital tools for personal branding

Wellness professionals can set themselves apart by creating personal branding; there are a variety of digital tools that can help.

First, the wellness professional must assess and define their personal brand target: spa managers and directors, human resources and recruiters, colleagues or spa users. Properly developing a personal brand will position them as a wellness specialist, a good communicator, and a connoisseur of spa protocols, equipment, products, and spa menus. There are an array of website creation templates that allow wellness professionals to build their personal brand step by step. Offering a practical self-management system (such as WordPress) to use their name as a domain, analyze statistics and position themselves in search engines results via their name or specialized blog content.

In addition, there are digital platforms to host personal audiovisual content. Instagram, YouTube and TikTok all allow wellness professionals to showcase their knowledge with short videos. They can also answer questions or include testimonials from colleagues, employers, or clients. These digital tools are more interactive than a CV and can facilitate the hiring process. This provides the opportunity for employers to easily recognize the skills of their candidates, and enhance their employer branding.

Another way to nurture the personal brand are digital forms, which provide information and parameters to evaluate qualities, guidelines to create content of interest for the website or social networks and can be used to create a segmented database. These forms can be created with Google Forms and linked to personal brand websites. CRM (customer relationship management) can also be considered, facilitating communication with potential customers or new followers, offering them goods and services according to their interests.

 

Touchless Technology Musts for Spas

Based on recent research conducted by ISPA in conjunction with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the spa industry has reason to be optimistic. The last two years show an increase in first-time visitors and more frequent visits by spa-goers. People are prioritizing wellness and stress relief and are looking to the therapeutic benefits provided by spas.

Over the same timeframe, people have become accustomed to touchless experiences driven by technology. Online food ordering, ride-sharing apps, and mobile payment functionality all tap into the desire for personalized, touchless experiences. Spas need to cater to these same desires.

Attracting these digital-savvy guests requires spas to have functional technology allowing treatment bookings online or through a mobile app. On arrival, they may prefer to check-in, complete intake forms, and see the spa menu from their own device. When it’s time to pay, spa-goers may prefer app payment or tapping their card or device.

Spas need to meet the expectations of today’s modern consumer. The touchless control given to guests not only enhances their experience, but also removes the burden of administrative tasks from staff, allowing them to focus on the guest’s wellbeing. By providing an environment that delights guests and eases staff workloads, spa managers can benefit from this streamlined process, strengthen their bottom line and maximize their return on experience.

Fabiola
Author: Fabiola