Time TO TRAIN

Melissa Mitchelmore, spa manager at Glass House Retreat in Essex, shares her advice on how to choose the right product house and motivate your team through regular training

What do you look for when considering which brands to bring into your offering?

We look for brands that would help carry our name and deliver the best to our customers, and are animal- and cruelty-free. I test out lots of brands to ensure that treatments are results driven and that the brand would offer us the constant and high-level training we need.

What would you recommend spas look for when seeking a new brand?

It really depends on what your goals are – for me, training is my main focus. Being able to know that my team gets regular new and refresher training changes everything for your customer experience and retail sales.

Think about what your customers are looking for – for us, it’s results and relaxation, so brands that can combine both of those elements are a great fit for us.

Regular training is something you’re passionate about at Glass House Retreat – how often is training offered?

Constantly, really. When I start a partnership with a brand, this is important to me. Image Skincare visits us every four to six weeks for training in products and for the team to ask any questions they might have – we have a group chat with our business development manager, so she is on hand during working hours should they wish to ask anything. Germaine de Capuccini is just as accommodating; we have yearly half-day refresher training, and they also offer one-hour training when they come to visit monthly.

In house, one of our team has a degree in skin science, allowing regular training sessions to not just expand their knowledge in products, but delve deeper into knowledge they may not have touched on since college sometimes.

How does training effect choosing which brands to partner with?

It has the biggest effect. Training and support will determine the success of the brand in house for me. I’ve worked with brands that have less support and it made it a struggle for me to remain motivated at times – everything was a battle. I expect monthly meetings and regular training from our partners.

How does regular training help the business from a financial perspective?

For the business, it keeps our five-star reviews just that. Guests are constantly amazed by what they experience – it promotes higher retail sales and better conversion percentages in sales. In turn, that means I order more stock and the rewards from our partners only improve further. Also, I think it’s easy for therapists to become complacent if you don’t keep up with regular training, which just means they’re bored. We regularly invest in new treatments, not just for our guests, but to develop the team, instil new motivation and excitement for learning, and to change up their day.