Money, Marketing and Soul for Massagepreneurs
Posts tagged Clients
See Your Massage Practice Through Your Client’s Eyes
Aug 10th
What do your clients experience when they interact with your massage practice? Is the office clean? Comfortable? Too often we are too busy doing projects and forget about what the client sees with papers all over the desk.
If you have office staff, are they polite and helpful? How is the quality of the service? Are you giving your best massage (or other service) possible? Did you thank your client? Did you remember to ask if the client wanted to reschedule?
In your business, what you don’t know about your clients’ perceptions of your quality and service can hurt you. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes and pretend you are a client entering your practice for the first time, what do you see?
One of my consulting clients was having problems getting clients to rebook after their first massage. She didn’t have any problems with existing clients. So I asked her to pretend she was a new client coming to her office for the very first time. When she opened the front door, what was the first thing that she saw. My client told me that she saw her desk. When I asked her to describe her desk to me, she said that it has about 5 stacks of files, papers, etc. all waiting to be taken care of. I asked her if she thought the clients were seeing tasks that were being taken care of and thought maybe if she can’t take care of this paperwork, how can she take care of me? I told her how clutter affects people, so she agreed to clear the clutter with the aid of her staff. Almost immediately, she noticed that new clients were rebooking.
You may conduct the evaluation of your business yourself, enlist the help of a few friends, or hire a mystery shopping company to implement a formal, ongoing program. You might be surprised (pleasantly or not) by what you learn.
When you see yourself as your customers do, you can identify problems that may be costing you clients. Make it easy to do business with you and watch your profits increase!
So how did you do? What did you see/discover about your massage practice? What changes do you need to make? Share your experiences below. I would love to hear what you learned.
You did do the exercise, didn’t you? If you didn’t, go do it now.
25 Things Your Clients Wish You Knew
Sep 10th
Clients come from all walks of life with various characteristics that make us all unique. Sometimes these characteristics are not as pleasing as we might want them to be especially when we are the client. After all, we are spending our hard earned money and we want things that we buy and do to be perfect.
Clients are the life blood of our business – of any business really. Here are 25 things your clients wish you knew about how they feel about themselves and about doing business with you.
1. I want you to be dependable and on time. I have a very busy schedule and am frantic most of the time.
2. I like it when you thank me for my business.
3. I find that I am frightened most of the time.
4. My life is extremely chaotic. If you make it less stressful for me, I would be extremely appreciative.
5. I like it when I feel like the center of attention when I come to you for a massage.
6. I like to feel like I am part of the elite crowd – give me stuff no one else – or at least very few people – are getting.
I want to known that I am getting the best value for my money.
8. I will spend an unlimited amount of money on what I like – pampering is definitely something that I want more of. But I want it to be a good deal at the same time.
I am loyal to businesses that are loyal to me.
10. I like it when you educate me about my muscles and body but don’t make me feel stupid.
11. I want to be taken care of.
12. When I send you one of my friends or family member, I want you trust you to take care of them.
13. The more money I make, the more free stuff I like.
14. I like it when you look neat and tidy. It makes me secure that the rest of your massage practice is clean — especially the sheets.
15. I don’t really like it when you talk about other clients to me. It makes me think that you like them more.
16. I don’t like feeling I am being ripped off. Give me the best deal possible.
17. I wish you would ask me how I like my massage. There are certain parts of my body that I don’t like to have touched and when you massage them, it ruins the whole experience for me.
18. I lam very self-conscious about my body.
19. Sometimes I don’t understand what you are talking about when you talk about lactic acid or my muscles, but I am too embarrassed to ask.
20. I want to know that what I tell you is confidential.
21. Sometimes I get lost on your website.
22. When I arrive at my scheduled appointment time, I want your undivided attention – not answering the phone or doing paperwork.
23. I would love to give you my opinion of how you are doing, but I want you to ask for it.
24. I like it when you remember how I like my massage and little things about my life. It makes me feel special.
25. I want to relax during my massage and feel better. If you can help me do that I will love you forever.
Some of these things mentioned above have been collected clients, friends and family as well as my own experience as a client. By knowing these things, you can serve your clients to the best of your ability. It will make them happier and your job easier.
7 Ways To Connect with Your Clients
Aug 27th
There are lots of ways to connect with your clients, but here are seven.
1. Tell a story. This is far less intrusive — and way more effective — than making your point directly. When telling your story, evoke specific emotions from your listeners — laughter, anger, compassion — that would help them connect with what he was communicating.
2. Make physical contact (when appropriate). While talking with your clients, place your hand on their shoulder, back, or forearm when speaking, thereby passing your energy on to your client kinetically.
3. Remember your client’s name. If you have a poor memory find a method that works for you and retain their names.
4. Call them by name. Make sure to call them by name more than once in the course of conversation. Someone once told me that the sound of our own name spoken in a loving tone is one of the most soothing sounds we can ever hear. I agree.
5. Make deep eye contact and don’t leave until the interaction is complete. This shows respect that they are the most important thing happening right now.
6. Calibrate vocal inflections and volume based on the amount of rapport established with your client. If you have a strong rapport was strong, be more boisterous in volume. If rapport is weak, use a more soft-spoken demeanor. Simple, but effective.
7. Ask for their opinion. Humans love to give their opinions on things. On those rare occasions when we are actually asked our thoughts on something — and we are listened to — it makes us feel tremendously important.
Why do you think it is important to connect with your clients? Do you have any other ways that you connect that I didn’t mention above. Tell us your thoughts in the comments. I would love to hear them!
