The Spa Spy

August 31, 2014 — detective, evaluate, pool classes, spa, Spa Spy

Spa Lady logo

My business cards are running low so I have thought how I would like to edit the next batch I order.  I do love my logo that I had designed many years ago, but the way I work now and want to work in the future has changed.  I still love spas and travel, but am much more moderate about the amount of time I want to spend away from my home now.  I have not taught at a destination spa for ten years and I have no desire to resume any teaching like that.  I have been enjoying learning to blog and communicate in new ways in order to spread my talents and my message.  I still am a big believer in water immersion and bodywork as a restorative feature of holiday merriment.  I no longer have any need of classes all day and a competitive program to follow in an all-inclusive package.  I don’t need instruction to make good use of a gym, pool or a steam room. I am an expert at all of that.  I appreciate good teaching but now prefer to study in short spurts, doing workshops with teachers I truly admire over a one size fits all health curriculum.  I now like an a la carte approach to my own health.

This has made me think about my very first job in the spa industry which was not a paid position.  I was a swimming teacher and also taught aquatics and studio fitness classes at a local health club.  I was invited to Canyon Ranch in Tucson to meet one of my travel clients and deliver a ticket to her (airline tickets were on paper and very valuable, if you remember). She took me to a class in which I was invited to participate.  During the class the teacher, who was the fitness director, danced over and asked me if I wanted a job.  I said no.  After class I spoke to her and she made me an offer I did not refuse, which was to be a spy in the pool classes.  There had been complaints and she wanted to have a person take the classes and evaluate them.   This dandy offer came with no strings attached.  I went to 3 or 4 pool classes a day and wrote a short evaluation of them for the office.  If the teacher was very bad I had a talk with that instructor about improving the class, but never wrote them up to be as bad as they were.    If they did not improve, then I did make the report more negative.  The rest of my busy spa day was spent in the steam room, taking classes or getting discount body work.  I was really good at that job and added value to the operation while taking from it exactly what I desired at the time.  Later I went on the payroll, which I think was a big mistake.  I liked spying much better than working and going to meetings.

I think I have particular specialized knowledge that is useful to anyone operating a spa, and that I am going to launch a service called The Spa Spy.   I will offer to do an evaluation based on the needs of the client spa.  I can bring the spa director new perspectives, most importantly that of the customer.  Secret shoppers help retailers narrow down and eliminate problems in stores.  Since spas depend a lot on energetic and emotional elements it is even more important to find out how a customer who is not known to the staff is treated.  I can provide valuable feedback about in house rumors and attitudes…always easy to extract during a one hour service.  It is the easiest thing in the world to get the dish on how the staff feels about management during a spa treatment. My vast experience as a travel agent as well as a spa instructor makes me uniquely qualified to provide this service.  My next card will have a revision.  She will undergo a makeover..and become The Spa Spy….same classy lady, new services offered.  What do you think, Gentle Reader?  Do you own a spa and wonder what is really going on there?