This is a great time to be thinking about how to give a year-end boost to your business. Offering gift certificates and holiday gift items can propel your revenue in a big way.
Here are some top tips used in spas and wellness centers for bringing in extra cash flow without having to work twice as hard in the treatment room.
Offer Gift Certificates & Loyalty Discounts to Boost Revenue
We can learn from spa businesses. Angela Cortright, the owner of Spa Gregories Day Spas in Orange County, California, says, “Gift certificates at Holiday truly are big business.” She encourages massage therapists to create their own gift certificates and offer them to their clients to purchase and share with their networks.
For every client, you have the potential to sell at least one certificate with the average massage at $100, which could mean $4,000 in one month if you see 10 clients per week.
Cortright says that gift certificates are 20% of their spa’s overall revenues, and 50% of their gift certificate sales occur between October and December, with the majority of those are purchased 11 days prior to Christmas. Some of the most successful promotions have been:
Book a 90-minute massage and get 30% off
Complimentary treatment upgrade with purchase of a gift certificate. Another promotion that does well is if you offer a complimentary enhancement with the purchase of a gift certificate. The enhancement to the massage can be hot stones, foot scrub or aromatherapy, for example.
Spa Gregories’ Mistletoe Massage is a 90-minute massage at a 30% reduced price. She says this “blows the doors off every year!” This cannot be paired with other promotions.
Gifting your clients: loyalty discount 15-20% off three massages booked. This is the season for giving. A thoughtful way to give back to your clients is to offer a special discount for a treatment in the New Year. That will express gratitude for their patronage but also boost your bookings. Regular clients are sure to book more than one treatment with you, so give them an incentive to book three in a row with a loyalty discount for the New Year.
Book a friend and receive a 20% discount. Sharing the love with friends and family by giving the gift of wellness is a great message to underscore the importance of massage not as a luxury but as a necessity for maintaining balance and optimal well-being. This offer gives you two massages booked instead of just one.
What if the gift certificate doesn’t get used? Cortright says that “as much as we would love for every gift certificate recipient to come in and have a fabulous experience, many never get redeemed. “Depending on the state you operate in, you get to keep the unused gift certificate revenue (but keeping it as a liability on your books), although you still pay taxes on the revenue. Non-use can range from 15 to 20%.
Sell Gifts that Support Well-Being
Offering your clients self-care products for at-home use is beneficial in extending the treatment benefits—and they make great wellness-focused gifts during the holidays while turning into extra income for you.
Your income improves by doing good; selling retail products that encourage a healthy lifestyle supports your clients’ well-being, and they can in turn share with friends and family by giving the gift of wellness.
As a professional massage therapist, you can get pro discounts or purchase at wholesale prices for products that you carry in your clinic and recommend to your clients. Depending on the price point of the items you display and recommend to your clients, you can expect to earn $600 to 800 more per month.
Here are some of the items to sell that support your massage therapy and encourage the daily practice of self-care at home.
CBD oils and liniments. CBD massage is the top-selling massage in spas today. Some of your clients may be curious about CBD or some are already very familiar with the therapeutic benefits, so this is a great gift idea to put on your shelf as it helps relieve stress and tension and also encourages restful sleep. Look for organic CBD products with less than.03 THC, so it is non-psychoactive, and will provide body and mind benefits without getting “high”.
Aromatherapy shower mist. a simple yet effective way to get the benefits of essential oils for the respiratory system and to refresh the mind and body. Be sure to carry pure, organic formulas. Eucalyptus makes a classic steam shower used for centuries to clear the nasal passages and congestion in the lungs, especially during the cold weather season.
Essential oils. Essential oils have become popular for those into health and wellness. Pure, organic essential oils are concentrated and come in tiny 10-15 ml (one-third to one-half ounce) size bottles so they are great stocking stuffers and easy to travel with too. They can be used in a diffuser for creating a relaxing ambiance or used in a bath soak (10-20 drops to drawn bath water) or used as a natural perfume on pulse points.
Even a couple of drops onto a tissue for inhalation is either uplifting or soothing depending on the oils of choice. Essential oils can also be blended into unscented body massage oil or lotion for self-massage and creating your own customized aromatherapy experience at home.
Be careful to avoid synthetic fragrances or scents as they do not have therapeutic benefits.
Bath salts. Epsom salts are very popular among massage therapists and athletes but explore formulas that combine different minerals for different therapeutic benefits. Be sure to select bath salts that do not contain synthetic fragrance or artificial colors.
A bath soak prior to or after a massage is a great complement to any treatment and also encourages your clients, their friends and family to take the time to unwind, calming the mind and relaxing the muscles.
During holidays and through the winter season, a bath soak to warm the bones and move circulation and release tension is the best gift ever.
Herbal teas. shifting caffeine habits is a great wellness message for entering into the New Year. Offer a selection of organic specialty teas to raise the spirits naturally. Specialty teas make a nice house gift when visiting or attending holiday parties.
Comfort packs. Moist heat therapy herbal packs deliver aromatic warmth and comfort to tense muscles during the often stress-filled holidays. Warming the bones and relaxing the body is a great gift for young and old alike.
Inspirational books. Even though many read from their phones or Kindles, there is something special about receiving a book of inspiration as a gift. It supports positive approaches to living, touches the heart and shows you care.
Get Going Now
Start announcing to your clients that you have a gift program in November when people are making their holiday gift lists. Other holidays that do well with gift certificates and wellness gifts include Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day—and always offer GC for birthday gifts, anniversary gifts or thank you gifts.
Gifting programs are a wonderful way to share the healing experience with others and spread the word that the benefits do not stop in the treatment room but can be practiced every day, at home, in some form that supports our mind-body well-being. What a gift it is to offer these products and services to our clients, and to improve the quality of their lives.
About the Author:
Tara Donna Grodjesk, VP Earthlite Spa and Wellness Products, Founder of Tara Spa Therapy and Visionary of the Year award winner for Women in Wellness, has devoted her years of experience in wellness to refining bodywork techniques, creating innovative body treatments and offering a careful selection of holistic therapeutic products for the wellness market today. Grodjesk has been training massage therapists internationally and developing treatment programs for world-class hotel resorts, destination and day spas. Her articles for MASSAGE Magazine include “This is How CBD Products Can Help You and Your Clients” and “Use Essential Oils for Your Own Balance, Resilience & Well-Being.”
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