Spa policies are crucial to manage both clients and staff expectations on how your business operates. These are particularly important in outlining behavioural etiquette and clarifying matters regarding payment and legality. To ensure the smooth running of your spa, we outline several policies you should be implementing.
Spa policies for booking and payments
Spa policies define guidelines for all manner of business areas, with one of the most important outlining bookings. An example of this would be displaying your terms and conditions before a booking is finalised, stating what the client can and cannot do (transferring the booking to another site, for example).
It would be remiss to not mention any details regarding transactions related to bookings, such as what percentage they are required to pay, at what point, as well as what methods can be used. You can then reduce any payment concerns by implementing our advice on these five common mistakes when taking payment online, including outlining the time taken to process a booking refund. Through displaying such booking and payment policies clearly online as part of your booking policy or payment terms and conditions, you help manage client expectations prior to any bookings.
Spa policies for gratuity
As a spa business, you may cater to many international clients with different understandings of gratuity, or tips. For this reason, it may be important to outline if gratuity is not expected, but welcome by staff, or any standard rate of gratuity included in your prices. This can usually be set up in systems such as Core by Premier Software®, which will take a percentage of the cost on specific treatments. Make sure to outline these details clearly prior to clients making any payment.
Implement a cancellation policy
Cancellations are an unfortunate problem for many businesses, but this could be mitigated through implementing a cancellation policy. Through implementing a charge for those who cancel within seven days booking, you help deter clients from no-shows or cancellation last-minute. However, it is vital that you outline this in your spa policies on your website and in your booking confirmations. That way, clients will be made well aware of any charges should they cancel with short notice.
Spa policies and etiquette for arrival
Booking confirmations are useful for outlining your spa policies and etiquette before clients arrive. This could include a request to fill out an online medical questionnaire, when to arrive and what items of clothing to wear, such as flipflops in your spa facilities. Alongside this, it is imperative to outline behavioural expectations, such as maintaining silence and leaving your phone behind to not disturb other clients. These all help clients understand what etiquette is expected of them, so make sure they are clear in the booking confirmation.
Retail and gift card policies
Gift cards are often a particularly popular purchase amongst clients, meaning you should provide guidelines for these in your spa policies. Questions such as whether they are usable on certain services only, non-refundable, or renewable after expiry are all valid queries that should be pre-empted. It’s therefore worth detailing what clients can and can’t do with them to avoid any disappointment.
Core offers online functionality to help you implement not just the sale of gift vouchers, online booking, cancellation fees and gratuity, but also your spa policies via email and SMS. When Core and its online features are combined with Premier Payment Solutions, you provide clients more transaction options. Through partnering these applications, clients can pay online through Premier’s payment gateway, as well as through Chip and PIN terminals onsite, or over the phone via its ‘Customer Not Present’ functionality.
Similarly, Core integrates with OneJourney, Journey’s online platform to retail spa packages, outline your spa policies and take payment. With OneJourney, you can set terms and conditions for both individual treatments and your overall business. These appear at the bottom of each treatment’s details, and should outline payment expectations through its payment service provider, Stripe.
Discover more how Online by Premier Software or RevSpa (Now OneJourney) can help you, then discover how Core can help your business by booking a free presentation below.
