Pulse September 2019 | Page 31

“[Guest data] helps our marketing department decide what we want to do going forward. If we run reports that show our Facebook presence isn’t making an impact, we can focus attention there.” — teri kramer, spa director, talking stick resort & spa at, we would participate in a spa week and basically take a loss,” comments Vies. “I did a deep dive in the data and figured out if that week was a guest's first time visiting. If it was, I checked if they purchased any retail, booked any non-special services and if they ever came back to pay full price for any service or retail.” After running the numbers, Vies discovered that only 25 percent of people who participated in the week ever returned to the spa and paid full price. Rather than eschewing the idea of a spa week entirely, however, Kies took a more positive tack: “we looked at which services had the highest number of people who did come back, and used that to determine which services to offer” when AquaVie runs a similar promotion now. Teri Kramer cited recent industry data, as well as sales data from vendors, as the main influence in her decision to begin offering CBD products both in the treatment room and in retail. “I read it all and I apply that to my thought process,” Kramer says, adding that she takes into account what is being published by industry sources, including Pulse. Trudy Smith likewise uses external data to inform menu changes at The Spa at Kilaga Springs: “We use data to adjust our menu and services all the time.” difficulties in data use Integrating data into the decision-making process isn’t always easy, though. The most commonly named blockade? Human nature. “Are you using data just to promote your own agenda?” asks Kies, “Or are you just collecting the facts SEPtEmbEr ■ PULSE 2019 29