As Chris Duello tells it, medical doctors were responsible for bringing The Face & The Body Day Spa to database marketing.
Ever more powerful products and techniques, such as laser therapy, have made the spa industry increasingly competitive. Many of the new entrants are shops run by medical professionals, who lend a cachet to their operations.
Duello, The Face & The Body’s marketing manager, determined that her competitive advantage would be a customer data system that provided analysis on a level mirroring the spa’s pampering treatments. The St. Louis chain runs The Club, a points-based program that allows it to build portfolios on each customer.
At registration, customers supply their name, address and telephone number. The $10 registration fee is returned to them in the form of a $10 spa certificate.
Much of the actionable data comes later, when customers buy products or use services. As a data component, services provide challenges and opportunities beyond stock-keeping unit analysis. Often clients develop an affinity for one particular provider, which can be a problem when that individual resigns, as happens roughly half a dozen times a year.
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