our gift card sales [mis]adventures & how I hope this might help your studio

This past weekend, my Dad asked me to find a nice spa where he lives & to assist him in arranging a gift card for someone who had helped to drive him to & from his radiation & chemotherapy treatments. He wanted to purchase one for an appropriate amount, considering their menu of services & allow the recipient to choose which service(s) they wanted to enjoy, as he didn't wish to assume their preferences.

Seems simple enough, right? I assure you…if it was…I would not be sharing with you. 🙃

I found a lovely spa's website & had a quick peruse. Straightforward information & pricing. Went to their location with my Dad, asked to purchase a gift card & 'highlights' from the dialogue coming from reception included: “well is this person a member?” 

and “we have member prices & regular prices” 

and “our gift cards are not for an amount, you must specify the treatment you want to give, and since neither you nor the recipient are members, we will charge you for the specified service only at the regular price."

Needless to say…we left. I promptly found another spa which looked equally nice at a very quick glance from my phone while in the car, we drove there, briefly glanced at their brochure of services to ensure he was giving appropriately, paid, wrote a “to-from” card & it was then wrapped into a lovely gift box. 

In & out in probably 3 minutes.

Moral of the story: Please ensure your studio's website reflects a client's reality when they enter your space…and please make it easy for clients to pay you for your retail & class memberships/packs! 

This was an opportunity to serve potential clients who were not already bought-into the spa's brand…and they fumbled the ball.

Had the sales experience been more along the lines of: “Our clientele are mostly monthly members on various packages. I'd love for your guest to give us a try, however & see if they want to continue with what we offer. For a gift card, we offer x amount increments good for y services & when they call to book their appointment, they'll simply say they're a new client & we'll handle from there. All of this information is on the gift card. For what amount would you like to purchase?” …we would have been all-in.

Coincidentally, the day before the adventures-in-spa-customer-service, I had checked into a hotel with my Mom & was a bit…taken aback at the boldness of the label of the bottled water in our room. It read, and I promise you, I embellish not: “Hilton Honors: Diamond, Gold & Silver members-just a little thanks from us! Enjoy two free bottles of water on every stay. All other guests: $3.00.”

As I chuckled to myself & took a quick photo so I would remember their wording, I couldn't help but think of the old Groucho Marx line “Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member."

As always, if you have something to share, hit reply - I'd love to hear your [mis] adventures with a membership model!

Have a great rest of your week!

Noël