Body Treatments, the key to increasing spa revenue

Body Wraps are the quintessential spa treatment, a photo of which you’ll find in almost every spa’s marketing materials. Why, then, do many spa owners and managers tell us that they are unsatisfied with the quantity of these services they perform, and that they would like to do more?

Body wraps truly offer great benefits, to all concerned, so it's simply a matter of identifying the benefits, and communicating them to spa therapists and clients, as well as employing some consistent strategies to keep your schedule full.

Benefits to the Spa

• Greater revenue per service hour. The benchmark for service dollars is generally the revenue generated by one hour of massage, so if a massage provides $80 of revenue per hour, you can usually expect that the same hour of a body wrap brings $100-120. A few extra dollars in product cost can increase service revenue by up to $40!


• Massage therapists who perform this service can often offer an insurance receipt, as it falls under the “hydrotherapy” area of their scope of practice. The ability to obtain a receipt can be a draw for many clients.


• Many body wraps, such as Moor Spa’s Moor Gel and Seaweed Gel, don’t need a wet room to perform the service, which opens the door for many more spas to provide the service without costly construction in the spa.

Benefits to the therapist

• A body wrap is much less physically demanding for the massage therapist who performs it, which can extend his or her career lifespan. It also offers the therapist variety and prevents career stagnation.


• A body wrap often helps the client recover from muscle pain and soreness more quickly, which adds to the therapist’s fulfillment.

Benefits to the client

• Body wraps have an added therapeutic value, above and beyond a simple massage. Body wraps work to increase blood circulation, nourish the body’s systems, eliminate toxins and provide an anti-inflammatory effect which can relieve pain from conditions like arthritis.


• As a high-touch service, clients derive tremendous pleasure from a full body wrap, which can include exfoliation, cocooning with product (Moor Spa Body Mask, Moor Spa Seaweed Gel, White Gold Wellness Chalk), and a light, finishing massage.

How to market these services

The key to “selling” any service is knowledge! The person in the best position to sell any spa experience is your Spa Receptionist or concierge, your client’s point of first contact with your business. We often recommend things that we know, understand and enjoy, so shouldn’t your staff know firsthand how delicious a body wrap can be? It’s vital that your receptionist be part of the ongoing training of your staff, and she must not only know your menu but also have experienced all your services. In our experience, we often find when we visit spas that the receptionist has never had a body scrub, a wrap or any body treatment other than perhaps a massage. How can she express passion for a service that she either doesn’t know or hasn’t fallen in love with?

Here is a cost effective list of things you can do to market body services without breaking your advertising/marketing budget.

• Make ongoing training mandatory for all staff including receptionists, stylists, and estheticians – both full and part time. If you haven’t had training in a while, schedule another session. Suggest that non-technical staff be a model for the hands-on portion of training. Make sure as many of your staff as possible experience the treatments. For the staff performing the services, competence and confidence come with lots of practice, and in experiencing it themselves.


• As each guest arrives, offer them a tour of the spa section of your business. You will be surprised with the number of regular clients who do not know the full range of services you offer.


• Make it part of the booking process to mention at least one body service to every guest as a suggested service.


• Have your staff with open time slots offer small complimentary treatments (such as a neck and shoulder massage with Moor Spa Tension Balm) to waiting guests. Your clients will feel special, their wait time will fly by, and the time spent will offer your staff the opportunity to learn about the purchase motivation of your guests. Your client will also experience a portion of the pampering effect they will feel if they choose a full treatment.


• Educate your staff by teaching them to use words designed to convey the spa experience. Explain the health benefits of spa treatments in understandable terms. They should also talk about the benefits the client will receive by having the treatment, i.e. improve the texture, firm, tighten and tone the skin, relieve dry and itchy skin.

Work to build caring and respectful relationships with clients. Make them want to spend their free time with you – then they’ll be more likely to try the treatments you suggest.

Stress Awareness Day

Stress: According to the American Institute of Stress, “Increased stress increases productivity – up to a point, after which things rapidly deteriorate, and that level also differs for each of us”. We all know on some level what stress is, but it is actually very difficult to define scientifically as it is a subjective sensation.

You may have heard that today is Stress Awareness Day. Stress, although beneficial in small doses, can lead to a whole host of problems if it is left to build up in your system. The question is, how do we cope with it?

Here are a few ways to deal with stress:

• Positive thinking – reframe your language, especially the things you say to yourself. Instead of “worries”, you may have “challenges”, “obstacles”, “concerns”.
• Talk to supportive people – friends, family. Check in with those whose opinions you value may help you gain the perspective you need.
• Write down your concerns – rather than have a jumble of thoughts in your head, put down on paper the things you are thinking of. Sometimes just getting them written down can make them seem less serious. Then, rather than worrying, you can focus on more productive things.
• Relaxation techniques – there are oodles of ways to cultivate relaxation. You could try EFT, guided visualization, meditation, breathing exercises. Try one! Try them all!
• Physical activity – not only is exercise distracting, but endorphins from exercise also make you feel so much better. With the weather getting nicer, a brisk walk can be lovely. Yoga is great too, or you may consider taking a class on learning to run!
• Improve your diet – cut down on the stimulants like caffeine (coffee, tea, pop) and refined sugar, as well as alcohol (a depressant) and smoking. All these substances affect mood. Eating a good balance of complex carbohydrates and lean protein regularly through the day in small meals will keep your blood sugar balanced, as well as your mood!
• Complementary therapies – try acupuncture, homeopathy, massage, reflexology, wellness treatments at a holistic spa, yoga, massage, and aromatherapy. The options are limitless!
• Psychotherapy/counseling – some worry and stress, kept in balance with your life, is normal. If worry and anxiety begins to affect your functioning, such as having anxiety attacks, it may be time to find a professional to help you get the balance back.

Moor mud can help as well. This ancient substance abounds with healing, and balancing properties. Whether used in a wrap or a bath, Moor mud can help soothe your stress induced aches and pains, giving you a head start to regaining your balance. Try a mud bath today!

Exhilarating Leg and Foot Mask

In a recent visit with one of our innovative clients, Deb Izumi at Indulgence Spa and Salon, in Wellington, Prince Edward County, we developed a lovely new treatment, using two Moor Spa products.

It’s always more cost effective to use products you already buy in different ways, and this time we came up with a winner. We combined the light and creamy Moor Gel Body Mask with the fresh and tingly Tension Balm (not coincidentally the best selling Moor Spa product in the world) to create a leg and foot mask that can raise the simple pedicure to new heights.

Simply add a few pumps of Tension Balm to about four ounces of Moor Gel, and you have enough product to do approximately 4 spa pedicures. You could incorporate this mask into a spa pedicure after a foot soak (perhaps a Moor Spa Foot Bath?), exfoliation and nail/cuticle work. Apply a thin layer of the mask to the client’s lower legs and feet, up to just below the knee, wrap with plastic, and cover with a warm blanket for up to 20 minutes. Removal of the product is easy, with either a dry or hot towel. Finish with an effleurage massage with Moor Spa Foot Cream.

Your clients will be left with a feeling of lightness – soft, moisturized and cool for hours.

We travel – for spa professionals who would like to see this protocol demonstrated, please contact us for an appointment and/or costing of the products used.

Detoxifying

Most of us groan a little as we think about the excesses we’ve lived through over the holiday season: too much food (of the wrong sort), too much alcohol, not enough exercise, not enough sleep, along with the stresses of parties, shopping, and family events.



These excesses live on in our bodies as “toxins”, along with toxins that we ingest through air pollution or pesticides contained in our food. Along with the ingested toxins come those that are the byproduct of our body’s natural functions - breathing, digestion, or muscular contraction. In that instance, we can call uric acid or lactic acid a toxin as well. Under optimal conditions our bodies are able to almost completely eliminate the latter type of toxins. Our bodies were not designed to process and eliminate the synthetic toxins, however – heavy metals, PCB’s, nicotine and other synthetic chemicals. These toxins may accumulate in our internal organs, our skin, or be trapped in fatty tissue.



Simply put, a toxin is merely a waste product in the body that hasn’t been excreted.



Accumulated toxins can lead to sluggishness, brain fog, fluid retention, and an inability to let go of extra weight. Toxins can be equated to “clutter” in the body. If your desk is cluttered, how much more time does it take to get your work done?


Encouraging your body to let go of toxins
For the most part, we trust in the sophisticated systems in the human body to detoxify itself, however, we can also support our bodies in a number of ways.

• Drink water – help your body help itself by giving it the fluids it needs to flush toxins through your kidneys. One to three servings of Herbal Infusion in water or juice daily can assist with this.
• Improve digestion with a healthy diet. This includes fibre-rich foods like fresh, raw vegetables and fruits; whole grains including brown rice, millet, and quinoa; and raw nuts and seeds. Did you know that ounce for ounce, sesame seeds are the most calcium rich food available?
• Get plenty of restorative sleep. Going to bed early so that you can get 8 hours of solid sleep is a decadent and rewarding thing to do. You can prepare your body for sleep by taking an evening Moor Mud bath. Through simple osmosis, moor mud will also help your body detoxify.
• Eliminate (or reduce) your intake of non-nutritive products like white bread, processed foods, coffee, carbonated drinks and alcohol.
• Reduce serving sizes of meat in your diet. A piece of meat the size of a deck of cards is about 3 ounces, the recommended portion for a meal. Avoid processed meats.
• Reduce stress with lifestyle changes. Do small things daily, and don’t resign yourself to a life of high stress. Meditation, yoga, and visualization are all ways to teach your body to let go of stress.
• Exercise and get a good sweat going. Shower and steam afterwards and you’ll rid your body of loads of toxins.
• Exfoliate your skin – either with a body scrub or dry brushing. Try a salt glow or Moor Spa’s Body Scrub Cream.
• Choose healthy personal care products that take care to use natural source ingredients, without chemical preservatives, artificial colours or fragrances, or petroleum derived ingredients. This reduces the toxic load you put on your body. Moor Spa’s complete line of skin care offers plenty of options.

How do we encourage clients to invest their time and energy into detox?
People want to feel good. They want to feel energetic, have high energy levels, let go of extra weight, and have fresh and healthy looking skin. Your clients are bombarded with the fear of “toxins” in magazines and on television, but we don’t want to feed into that fear.

By no means do we want to promise something we can’t deliver to our clients. Honestly, there is no such thing as a magic bullet. We need to keep our integrity and credibility intact, and our clients need to commit to doing their own work too.

So, knowing that there is nothing you can “sell” your clients to “fix” them, what can you do to help them in their journey to better health?

Offer supportive encouragement, reliable information, and treatments that help them feel better. A warm, soothing, detoxifying Moor Mud wrap can help kickstart the process for them, as can an invigorating Salt Glow. Offer clients at-home support with Herbal Infusion and Herbal Bath, and they can be on their way to making positive changes in their health.

Moor Mud

It’s a common misconception that “Moor” is a company or brand name, when Moor is actually the name to describe a type of mud, or earth. Several companies, in Canada and worldwide, produce and sell Moor-based or pure Moor products.

A respected ancient healer, Paracelsus, understood healing to come from the earth and knew the healing properties of moor. Moor has been an important health and wellness ingredient for many centuries, and according to sources, one of the first users of moor was Cleopatra herself. Modern research was influenced by Professor Otto Stöber, a researcher who founded the Austrian Moor Research Institute in the 1940’s. His work has been continued by others, including Walter Kosmath in the 1950’s. He discovered tiefenmoor (a deeper deposit of moor near Vorarlberg, Austria). In most European countries today, Moor remains a respected and sought after therapy. A brief perusal of current clinical research reveals thousands of published studies in journals around the world on the therapeutic value of Moor.

Moor is a rich, organic mud, formed by time and composed of thousands of plants, which has been proven to be quite similar to the composition of the human body. Moor an ideal ingredient in body and skin care compounds, as its bio-availability aids in nourishing the body as well as assisting in its detoxification. This gives therapists a powerful tool to assist clients in reestablishing their body’s ability to heal. The anti-inflammatory properties of Moor assist in healing skin disorders such as psoriasis, and inflammation of the joints, as in Rheumatoid Arthritis. It is a natural antiseptic and works to balance hormones as well.

Every Moor Spa product includes the rich, black moor water as the signature ingredient. This water is extracted from the moor by a process of filtration which takes several weeks to complete. It contains most of the moor’s water-soluble nutrients and is therefore extremely nourishing to the skin and body.

For more information about clinical research involving Moor, and to receive copies of abstracts, please contact L’Moor.