An interview with Mr. John Reed, Chief Operating Officer of SANGHA Retreat
by OCTAVE Institute
SANGHA Retreat by OCTAVE Institute is the only retreat offering personal awakening through ancient Chinese practices and the discovery of quantum science, with a focus on raising consciousness. It’s a comprehensive platform that offers a rich variety of wellness programs and modalities for guests to explore and experience in a relaxed approach. At the end, guests not only acquire a healthier physical and mental state, but also a deeper understanding of life.
Mr. John Reed was appointed as the Chief Operating Officer of SANGHA Retreat in October 2019, and is in charge of the resort’s business performance, developing a sales-driven culture throughout the organization and leading the OCTAVE Institute team to the next level. Reed has more than 35 years of experience in the hospitality industry in the U.S., Australia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bali and Bhutan. He has worked at many renowned hospitality organizations and has deep knowledge and understanding of the markets in South Asia and Indochina, especially Bhutan where he spent a significant part of his career building the AMAN brand. Born in the U.S., Reed graduated from Cornell University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management. SpaChina has invited him for an interview to unveil the mystery of Sangha.
Could you give us a description of Sangha Resort and the concept behind it? How important do you think are concepts for resorts?
The Sangha Retreat is located on Yangcheng Lake, literally right on the Lake. We have various hospitality components on the property. We have 60 lakeview suites and one lakeview penthouse suite, 80 service apartments, and 8 luxurious villas that range in size from four bedrooms up to seven bedrooms. And we have something called “fellow travelers”, which is a smaller room type that is much more for our learning programs and MICE offerings. In addition to that, we have 100 villas for sale that range in size from four bedrooms up to seven bedrooms.
Regarding our concept, Sangha goes back to take in some of the greatest wisdoms and philosophy of the East and of China such as TCM and Dao, and combine them with Western medicine. We’ve brought that into a very comprehensive clinic where we offer a range of modalities and programs including gut management, men’s health, women’s health, heart check and so on. We complement that with an amazing spa which features a great hydrothermal circuit for many different saunas and steam rooms, plus a salt cave, a kneipp path, a cold plunge pool. So we combine all of these elements into a well-being platform that addresses what we call the six living habits — breathing, sleeping, eating, movement, thinking and awareness. We also offer a lot of complementary programs to give guests a beautiful enriching experience and build up their overall program. It means when you come in, it’s not about to overwhelm you with a wellness program or medical program, but you can really choose what you like in terms of the program, or almost no program, and then build up one with the complementary programs on offer and pick different treatments that are there. The doctors address any issues you may have on a functional basis. They are looking at the root cause of that problem, not necessarily the problem itself or the environment itself. So people want to come in, take a relaxed approach and explore what we have and appreciate it as well.
I think in terms of closing the gap with the market, it’s truly about offering programs where people may not necessarily understand the issue, but once they see the concepts and offerings, they are attracted. They say: That’s interesting. Maybe it does help me. Or I just simply want to try this program. So to introduce these concepts to draw people in and allow people to begin this journey of wellbeing is very critical.
Many hotels outsource their spas. Are they making a mistake by doing so? Would it be better in terms of the overall value of the brand to take on the risk and the responsibility of running the spa yourself?
I think it’s dependent on the brand because it truly can become a part of your brand message. There’s no question that if you outsource it, you do lose control to some extent. It really does go down to the brand messaging philosophy.
Talking beyond Sangha, I believe the profit margins on the spa is typically very high. When I look at some of the properties that I’ve managed in the past, we started a project with 20 or 30% of our revenues coming from the spa. It’s surely a critical part of the business.
How do you see the modern interactive experience affecting the guest experience, or affecting the marketing promotion approach of Sangha?
5G is taking customer engagement and experience to a new horizon. It changes the way we connect with our audience by multimedia content through the various interactive social channels, and provide personalized experience for the in-house guests. We have just restructured our WeChat accounts to enable our audience to receive much more targeted and joint branded messages across the key product pillars. The design of our brand engagement experience has been made 5G-ready, such as enhanced graphic illustrations of our programs and offers, next-level gamification of promotional messages, and short video and GIF insertion in the articles. On the in-house experience front, 5G is going to enable our guests in Sangha interaction to be more comprehensive and brand immersive at the outdoor areas of the campus. We have a number of sites in Sangha which have been created with some specific mindful, spiritual, Zen, and environmental beliefs behind them. In the near future through our Sangha App, guests will be able to explore and connect themselves with these stories for their own self-discovery journeys.
What new technologies is Sangha using in its current operations?
We have a strong focus on innovation in all areas of our business and we are always searching for anything that helps give our guests and consumers a better experience and a better result. However, more specifically we use a range of innovative technologies within our clinic that provide noninvasive wellness assessments, leveraging the most advanced science. An example of this is the TimeWaver. TimeWaver applies the theory of quantum physics to the energy field of life information. As humans, we communicate and optimize the energy of life and spirit through the information field as energy acts on matter including of course us humans. TimeWaver uses this information from the human body and information field to give a comprehensive test and to provide an assessment of overall health. It then gives suggestions for better conditioning of the immune and nervous system and so that hormone levels are operating at the best state; It helps optimize the information field of the users personal and living environment to achieve the optimal balance and harmony, as well as the numerous fitness functions to further improve health and provide more possibilities for recovery.
Last year and this year, most guests are from mainland China. What is their profile?
We have a broad range of guests from varying backgrounds, ages and socio-economic standing who visit Sangha, generally with one major aspiration in common; how to live the best life. Historically the major segment for the Wellbeing consumer has been a more mature segment 35 to 60 years old, but we are now seeing a younger demographic with am increasing number of millennial guests.
So, we have a bespoke experience with guests having a comprehensive range of personal assessments so that we can have a full understanding of their needs, desires and preferences which all go into their confidential profile. This allows us to recommend and prescribe the optimal journey for guests. This along with personal information is stored securely within our software systems. Obviously, the handling of data is very sensitive especially personal health information and we work to the highest international compliance standards, aligned to how an international hospital would be expected to operate.
When guests come, to what extent do you just let them do what they want to do, or to what extent do you guide them to the right direction?
I think when it comes to wellbeing, it’s important to make an introduction of the different aspects of wellbeing. What programs are on offer? Why is this important for you? Otherwise there will be a general level of ignorance in a negative way. Our guests simply need to look at the products that are being presented here and be given an understanding. Of course, we don’t want anything to be too regimented. But it’s very important as well to have a couple of appointment services and programs scheduled into the day and then allow them for other opportunities to explore, to add on for upselling additional revenue opportunities. So we do have a balance. We’re not stressing out our customers.
But at the same time, if you want to have a guest to reap results, you do need to truly guide them, encourage them and coach them along on that journey. Then when they leave, they do feel the difference. They can see a difference in their body, mind, or skin, whatever it may be. So they can say: It really happens.