DAYSPA is the magazine of spa management. Spa owners and spa managers turn to DAYSPA for spa management trends, spa management tips and more.
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72 DAYSPA | MAY 2016 appointment without having to place a call. You can also drive clients to your spa by listing information such as: • Accepted methods of payment • Wheelchair accessibility • Insurance eligibility • Parking availablity • Contact information • Whether it's by appointment only or if walk-ins are welcome If you're a business owner, Yelp's Business Owner Ac- count provides a free suite of tools to help showcase your spa and connect you to the Yelp community. This portal, which is also accessible at biz.yelp.com, lets you track how many clients have engaged with your spa through mobile calls, website clicks, mapped directions and check-ins. You can also view reports of customer page views, how many deals have been sold, and the number of Yelp bookmarks, call-to-action clicks and map views. RELATING TO REVIEWERS Most business owners realize that one of the main ways to take advantage of Yelp is to respond to customers who have reviewed their services. Whether the commen- tary is good, bad or downright ugly, it's deemed proper protocol to address all reviews. Julie Pankey, founder and managing partner of JMPankey Partners, a spa consult- ing company based in Maine, advises spa owners to respond to all reviews just as they would to face-to-face customer feedback. This includes being gracious and un- derstanding, regardless of what the reviewer has posted. "Engage with your customers, and this will create loyalty and a personal connection," she urges. There are two ways to respond to reviews: privately and publicly. Although "public" responses posted directly on your listing are the best way to show Yelp users that you take your reviews seriously, there are certain instances where it pays to take advantage of Yelp's private message tool. For instance, you may want to offer a discounted visit to entice back a customer who left a negative re- view, but are concerned that other reviewers will see your willingness to offer discounts and try to take advantage. Alternatively, private messages can be used simply as a way to tell a positive reviewer "Thank you, please come back!" without fl ooding your public page. Pankey advises sharing both positive and critical reviews with your staff and using the feedback as a train- ing tool. "Great reviews encourage your employees and create a positive momentum in the spa; negative reviews can help to foster positive change," she says. Cecilia Hercik, founder and managing director of Olav- ine Spa & Salon in Wailea, Maui, notes that most Yelp users appreciate when a business owner responds to a review. "Your answer isn't just posted for the clients who have already come through your doors," Hercik points out. "It's also there to show your other clients—and potential clients—who are browsing Yelp that you care." Hercik warns to never instigate a fi ght on Yelp. "Always be professional and courteous," she says. "Your answer, as the business's owner, is important because people need your side of the story." Although the ideal scenario is to catch any negativity or challenges before your guests leave your spa, the reality is that it doesn't matter what you do when you have a guest who is hard to please. Unfortunately, the ability to hide behind a monitor allows reviewers to unleash their criticism on the Internet in a way they might not in person. "The reviewer usually doesn't understand the huge damage they can cause to a business by posting a negative comment without giving the owner the op- portunity to fi x the problem," explains Hercik. That's why Shannon Mouser, co-owner of Viva Day Spa in Austin, Texas, addresses all her reviews as soon as pos- sible. "We immediately look into negative reviews and call the guest directly to fi nd out what happened," she says. "I'd say that 95% of the time we are able to re- solve the issue and ultimately end up with a happy PLUGGED IN