Running a successful spa or wellness center on the heels of COVID-19 is an uphill battle. There are more challenges than ever before. Although there’s a wide variety of different ways to drive sales, cross-selling is one proven strategy that many wellness professionals are mastering with online booking software.
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Running a successful spa or wellness center on the heels of COVID-19 is an uphill battle. There are more challenges than ever before. Although there’s a wide variety of different ways to drive sales, cross-selling is one proven strategy that many wellness professionals are mastering with online booking software.
To put it simply, cross-selling and cross-booking are sales strategies that business owners implement to entice customers to buy higher priced items, which can generate more revenue for that business. Cross-selling usually involves marketing more profitable products. But, it also can also mean encouraging clients to book multiple services.
Inside a wellness center or a spa, cross-selling or cross-booking happens when a client is encouraged to schedule a hot stone treatment in addition to their relaxing massage, or when a customer books reflexology and acupuncture together instead of just one service.
The long list of ways to apply this approach goes on and on. For Chicago-based business owner Luchy Manjarres Cohen, cross-selling was once a concept. Now, it’s her No. 1 strategy inside her popular boutique, Sorelle. Cohen uses her booking software to help promote cross-selling. Here's how.
The Value of Promoting Cross-Selling
When it comes to the subject of cross-selling, Cohen swears by this strategy and recommends that other industry professionals take advantage of its potential, especially during this tough time. She first opened her salon after spending years working as a mental health professional.
Cohen's time in that field taught her that people need a space where they can relax and feel pampered. Dhe also learned that most people enjoy visiting a wellness center or spa a whole lot more if they can experience a number of treatments in one visit.
Cohen created Sorelle to do just that. The boutique offers full body waxing for men and women, eyebrow shaping and tinting, eyelash extensions and mani/pedis, in addition to hairstyling and skin care services.
Importantly, cross-selling allows Cohen to earn a healthy profit whenever she invites someone into her spa. Part of the reason this strategy works so well is because it’s easier to sell to an existing client rather than constantly striving to bring in new clientele.
“Cross-booking has always been at the core of our business. We are a full service, one stop shop. If we don’t do that, we are losing our core, our identity,” says Cohen. “We sell the convenience of having both beauty and fashion services under one roof.”
When properly executed, cross-selling lets clients and businesses get additional peace of mind while maximizing their time. “We value convenience; we value time,” says Cohen. To make sure all this runs smoothly, she uses online booking software.
Online Booking Software Promotes Cross-Selling
Wellness center and spa customers who don’t have access to online booking software usually have to spend more time scheduling additional services with the owner or staff members. Those same customers might miss out on multiple treatments or products because they have to take those extra steps.
Similarly, business owners who don’t use online booking software have to spend extra energy calculating the total time of every additional service. Then there’s the hassle of making sure that staff, resources and break times can accommodate providing one or more extra services.
Activating online booking software eliminates all of those unnecessary steps. For Cohen, it meant letting clients do more self-service booking while reducing the administrative work on her side. Clients were able to use the online booking software to truly customize their experience.
Since online booking software promotes cross-selling and cross-booking, business owners like Cohen have been able to use it to expand their offerings. They can sell more merchandise like fashion-forward clothing, and there's the opportunity to sell more high quality, organic products. The options are limitless.
“I think everyone loves it because the more time that a person spends in the shop, the more chances they have to create a connection,” says Cohen. “The feedback from clients is that they love it, and they look forward to telling us what is going on in their lives. So, for them it’s just coming in to chitchat with their friends.”
Keith Howard is a content editor for the online booking software company Booksy.
