Jessica Frost Any great facial, spa treatment or aesthetic procedure starts with an in-depth consultation that gives you all the information you need to create a tailored experience.
You put a lot of trust in your clients when prepping them for their treatment. From their current skincare routine to their lifestyle habits and health conditions; the information they give you can influence the treatment process and their honesty is key to smooth sailing.
So what exactly does it take to create a great consultation form that makes it easier to learn everything there is to know about your clients?
We got in touch with Ainslie Colless whose 15 years of spa industry experience, most recently as a spa manager and author of Rockstar Spa, a spa leadership guide, brings insightful tips and advice on creating the best consultation form for your business.
“Consultation forms are so important to have formal documentation of each guest and how they are presenting when you see them. It gives the guest time to think about what they want to get out of their spa therapy and acts as binding documentation for medical information,” says Ainslie.
There are three key outcomes you should be considering when creating your consultation form, shares Ainslie, that will influence what you choose to include.
“Generally, all spas have three common aims; to make a customised experience that’s signature to your spa, engage in therapeutic language that could either extend or add on profits to a treatment or finally, to create sales.”
“Spas usually miss the question, ‘why did you book in today?’ or ‘what do you what to get out of today’s appointment?’ Therapists can be busy focused on learning SOP’s of spa therapies that they often forget to customise the experience to each guest.
By asking the why, spa therapists are able to draw from their toolbox of knowledge and recommend a product in their spa or suggest rebooking another service while they create a tailored and memorable spa journey for each guest,” advises Ainslie.
As for her top tips for customising your consultation forms and getting everything you need from your clients:
Think Quality Over Quantity
Only add questions that you anticipate discussing. If you are requesting that your guests fill out a form, make it high quality, with usable information. If a guest has written anything on the form, it gives you permission to discuss it during the consult before the spa therapy. There is no use in guests filling out information that is not discussed.
Be Specific
Tailor your form to ask specific questions about medications. Spa therapists don’t need to know all medications taken, just the ones that can be contraindicated for your therapy. So, design sections for certain treatments, like laser hair removal or facials which can ask questions regarding other recent therapies that could affect the course of the treatment. e.g. recent topical treatments, recent hair removal or medicals to treat current skin conditions.
Get Visual
Using checklists, body diagrams and face diagrams can make forms more engaging and shorter. If forms are shorter, guests have a habit of giving more information as they don’t feel weighted by paperwork.
Take advantage of techy tools
There are apps available that provide consultation forms integrated in their software to make it really easy when setting up or making changes in clinic.
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