also meant fewer linens, robes and towels were used, even
further reducing laundry expense and labor.
Step three involved ensuring that our back bar inventory
was sufficient. Any back bar items that were near expiration
(due to the two-month closure) were strategically included
as either an enhancement or as an addition to an extended
service, such as a 90-minute facial rather than a 60-minute
facial. This pushes guests towards the highest-margin
services. We were especially grateful during this phase of
our planning to have the amazing support of our vendor
partners at FarmHouse Fresh, Phytomer and Salon
Services, who helped ensure our success with reopening
pricing, quick shipping and full support of our modified
yielding plan. Reach out to your own spa’s vendors, if you
haven’t already, to see how they could help support a
yielding plan.
The last step in our plan was to bring back approximately
half of our team. We reopened earlier than most
spas in the United States, and demand was an unknown;
until we knew how our guests would respond to our open
doors, I did not want to bring people off of their unemployment
benefits. Using ISPA’s Spa Reopening Toolkit, we
shared our “new normal” with our team. This included
heightened standards of cleanliness and safety for team
members and guests alike, as well as an “all hands on deck”
approach necessitated by reopening without our beloved
and oh-so-essential spa attendants.
Again, our focus was bringing as much revenue as possible
to the bottom line, so every fixed cost was scrutinized.
Without open amenities and food service, we decided to reorganize
our check-in, locker room and service provider processes
to see if it was even possible for us to operate
without spa attendants. Everyone (and I do mean everyone)
cleaned and sanitized, folded laundry, assisted guests,
turned over rooms, stocked restrooms and more. For most
of us, the days were much longer than usual and a couple of
us went more than 45 days without a full day off. But the
Menu Changes
PRE-PANDEMIC, we offered a very robust
spa menu with everything from decadent
lavender bolus massages to slimming body
wraps and more. We will re-introduce many
of these services over time, but our ability to
maximize our back bar and leverage it across
multiple services—similar to the way a
restaurant chef uses ingredients in multiple
dishes—will impact those decisions moving
forward.
sacrifice was worth it.
When we received our month of May P&Ls (and just recently
our June P&Ls), we learned that we had surpassed
our very aggressive goals for EBITDA (in the 20 percent
range). However, there were additional benefits to our yielding
plan that were equally important. By offering only those
highest profit margin services, our team received peace of
mind during a challenging time. They had the time to focus
on all of the new policies, procedures and tasks and not protocols
that required a large number of products or extra
steps (such as cleaning hot stones). In essence, removing the
most product-intensive services allowed our smaller reopening
staff to focus on what mattered most. As a bonus, their
paychecks reflected our “full services only” approach, with
higher commissions and service charges than typical. Applying
yield management to our reopening menu was a true
win-win.
We have learned much these past few months. With the
many benefits of this modified yielding approach, your spa
will be able to focus on the ever-evolving needs of your
team and your guests, while remaining a vital and viable
business just as La Rive Spa has. n
Measuring Performance
WE RELY HEAVILY ON SEVERAL KPIS to ensure strong EBITDA month after month: on a
daily basis we track average revenue per guest, average retail per guest and revenue per labor
hour. We incentivize our team to set achievable goals and to then meet and exceed those goals.
YVONNE SMITH is senior director of resort experience at Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Spokane,
Washington. She spent nearly 10 years directly overseeing Northern Quest’s La Rive Spa as director of spa
& resort retail, where she led the spa to a Forbes Four-Star rating. Smith currently serves on the ISPA Board
of Directors.
16 PULSE ■ SEPTEMBER 2020