“ The receptionist is the Vice President of Marketing when I walk in , and that person who you hired last week to do pedicures ? They ’ re the Senior Vice President of Marketing for that hour they ’ ve got my feet in their hands . They ’ re the marketing department .”
people your spa markets to as students allows you to focus on educating them through the story of their experience with your spa because they are already bought into the value of the change you are trying to create .“ Our goal is to be remarkable , with a story that resonates with people who are enrolled , that is unique enough that we are hard to replace , but not so unique that we don ’ t know what to do about it .”
To help develop that story , spa leaders must also answer the second of those two questions that Godin believes should define everything you do in your spa : What is it for ? When you can clearly define the change that your spa is seeking to make and who it is that has enrolled in the choice to value that change , you have the ingredients for a resonant story that aligns your offerings with your guests ’ needs . positioning vs . differentiation
A big part of what draws people to certain brands , products or stories is the status they convey and the desire that status creates to become and remain affiliated with what that brand , product or experience represents . One challenge facing the spa industry is that there is often no obvious and visible indication of a guest ’ s affiliation with a spa or its services like there is when someone wears branded clothing or purchases a new car . As Godin observed , “ You look really relaxed . Did you just get a massage ?” is not a question most of us are likely to hear .
So how , then , to confer status , engender affiliation and inspire the kinds of word-of-mouth testimony that can drive guests into your spa ? Or , as Godin put it , “ How do you create an environment where it ’ s likely that I will talk about it ?” His answers to that question skewed far from
JULY 2021 ■ PULSE 21