“ The spa reception , attendants and therapists are our biggest system users in the spa .”
— CARLOS CALVO RODRIGUEZ are months that I say ,“ Okay , this treatment is a little bit too low . I ’ m just going to put it as the first option ,” and then you can see how it picks up over the next month . It also allows us to do a lot with yield management and dynamic pricing .
Pulse : What are some best practices for getting new team members comfortable with your systems ? CCR : The key with any new technology is to take the time to get new employees onboarded upfront , so they feel comfortable using the system and have an opportunity to test it and ask questions .
Everyone has access to our human resource platform that includes online training modules . We sit down with the learning and development manager and determine the best learning path . Then , it gets populated on their profile and they have to complete it .
In addition , we have at least two to three hours of weekly training in the spa . We train attendants on the questions guests are more comfortable asking when they get to the change room , as opposed to at the front desk .
Pulse : You mentioned therapists have access to the system notes and are required to enter notes . Do you use templates for the notes ? CCR : We have a series of six or seven standard questions , which includes preferences . For example , we have six different types of oils and one of the questions is to specify which oil you used in the treatment . You simply tap on the screen to select the answer . And then we have a text box for specifics , like if they treated the rhomboids , or if a guest likes stretching of the lower limbs . We have an iPad assigned to each therapist , or they can enter the notes right into their phones .
Pulse : You said you go in and play with the system to work with your dynamic pricing , the presentation of your menu and so forth . How did you get to a place where you felt comfortable doing that ? CCR : When you ’ re working with our system , you can see change and effect immediately . You don ’ t have to wait a week for a development team to put it in place before you see it live . I get with a lead , a supervisor or one of the managers , and say ,“ Let ’ s just work on an asset — the online booking and page , right ? Let ’ s just go on the back and make changes , adjust the order or change the description or add a little note at the bottom . Then refresh the website , and you ’ ll see the input right away .” And they ’ re like ,“ Oh , wow , this is it !”
Pulse : Can you talk a little about how you use some of the operational reports for management ? CCR : The one I am loving the most right now is a report that measures how much more money you have brought to the spa using yield management and dynamic pricing . When you are trying to implement dynamic pricing , you don ’ t necessarily know how much you ’ re going to bring in . If your report says you brought up $ 1,000 more , trust me , that ’ s worth it , because that ’ s $ 1,000 you were not going to get by charging the same price .
The other one I use the most is the revenue forecast . I look at it daily , because I can see the days when certain categories are low . For instance , We don ’ t have hair revenue on this day . Then I can go into the system and see the two hair stylists are both off and check why they ’ re both off . Or I can see nothing is booked right now . Then , I can contact marketing and ask them if we can push some Google ads for that week .
It also helps us to motivate the staff . Take retail revenue :
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