Ongoing training, webinars give customers consistent results, franchisees know-how

Take a moment to relax. Breathe slowly. Imagine a soothing back massage or a steam bath. Imagine the feeling of your skin being moisturized as your mind is free to drift. Relaaaaaaaax.

Can you feel it?

People who go to a day spa know what they are looking for. They want excellence. They want relaxation and pampering. Most of all, they want consistency.

With nearly 300 locations worldwide, Planet Beach works hard to ensure that franchisees, spa directors and spa consultants receive the training they need in order to give customers a consistent experience.

“Consistency is a key point. We sell a Contempo Spa Passport that allows members to utilize not only the spa where they are a member, but other spa locations. We want one of our customers in Ohio to be able to walk into the Planet Beach in Cairo, Egypt, and be able to have the same experience and quality of service in both places,” said Melissa Sire-Woodrow, spa performance consultant for Planet Beach. “We have all of the team at Planet Beach corporate focused on the franchise community to ensure that everyone earns spa certification. It’s good for our customers and it’s great for the franchisees.”

The training not only helps new franchisees, it also helps those who have been in the system for several years. Planet Beach was founded in 1996 as a tanning franchise, and evolved over the past several years into a pioneering automated day spa that uses body care products, state of the art massage tables and spa capsules to deliver spa treatments at the fraction of the price traditional day spas charge. There are many operational efficiencies that benefit owners, too. It is essential though, for spa directors and owners to understand how everything works — and how machines and products combine to deliver the best results for customers. That’s where the training comes in.

“It gives new Planet Beach owners an excellent foundation, and serves as a revamp for those who have owned a Planet Beach for several years,” said Brandy Gonzalez, director of spa performance and education.

The training breaks down into three main categories:

Onsite learning: Planet Beach hosts franchisee and spa director school every other month at its headquarters in New Orleans. The four-day training is required for new franchisees and existing owners are encouraged to attend every year to learn about the best ways to manage and operate a Contempo Spa. There is also a great deal of training offered during the annual Planet Beach convention in New Orleans.

Performance calls: Planet Beach hosts a monthly call with franchisees to reveal top-performing locations from the previous month and to allow successful franchisees to share tips with other owners. “We ask the whole company to join in the call,” Gonzalez said. “We have giveaways and we share best practices in the field. It grows morale and helps show that our systems and procedures work if you follow them and put them into place.”

Planet Beach also hosts calls to go over the details of quarterly promotions, ensuring that all franchisees are on the same page and that customers encounter the promotion wherever they go.

Area representatives also stay in close contact with franchisees to help them troubleshoot any problems and coach them on their way to grow their business.

Online training: Planet Beach has an extensive library of online webinars — Planet Beach University — which serve as training manuals for every aspect of the business — from how to operate a SlimCapsule to how to handle hiring. The webinars serve as the backbone of our online certification process. Spa directors and spa consultants must pass online tests that demonstrate their knowledge of proper procedures.

“Our online training certifications are broken down based on your role within the spa,” Gonzalez said. “Franchisees and spa director have similar responsibilities, but the franchisee will get a little bit more training on business fundamentals. There’s a separate certification for an assistant spa director and another certification for a spa consultant. There is also an education certification program for new hires. Unless you have passed all the components of your training, you are not considered certified. Our plan is to have every single person in the Planet Beach system certified or re-certified during 2012.”

That way, franchise owners can relax knowing that customers will get the same excellent service, no matter where they go for their Planet Beach experience.

To find out more about owning a Planet Beach, download the free franchise report at the upper right. Click here to find a Planet Beach near you.