Customer Service
A Great business depends on great customer service.
Being able to handle all sorts of situations -from people who are shy and don’t know a thing about massage to someone who is assertive/aggressive requires a degree of professionalism.
I know I really hate sitting on hold with a recording saying “your call is important to us” or waiting weeks to hear from someone regarding an order I placed and have already paid for.
People are always interesting to deal with. When ever someone calls, you never really know who you are talking to. I worked in customer service for about 10 years before becoming a massage therapist and part of our training was to treat everyone with the same respect that you would want to be treated with. Keeping your cool and remaining professional and really listening to people is what can lead to converting someone who is just ‘interested’ into a regular customer. And because you don’t know who anyone is to begin with -assume that they all have hundreds of people and friends that they will refer to you. If you keep that in mind, you can even turn a difficult situation around.
For example: I once had a client come in for just a half hour massage. Her husband had given her a gift certificate. She for some reason - did not want to be there. I am not sure if she was afraid of something, didn’t like being touched or had never had a massage. She was defensive from the moment I met her at the desk. She didn’t want to fill out the intake form so I didn’t make her even though I knew it would be better having her do it and sign the release. I just asked her a few questions about her health which she was also reluctant to answer and proceeded to give her a massage. After the massage she came out and said something like “Wow that was the greatest thing I have ever experienced!” She went away happy and became a regular customer who I have sen for 10 years now on a weekly basis and she has sent me so many clients through the years I can’t even count them! I at first was caught off guard by her being so unco-operative - If I had become defensive back we would have gotten nowhere.
There is a great article called 8 rules for good customer service from about.com says
“The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers – a relationship that that individual customer feels that he would like to pursue.
How do you go about forming such a relationship? By remembering the one true secret of good customer service and acting accordingly; You will be judged by what you do, not what you say.”
They also cover the basic things everyone should know but may take for granted like answering your phone, take the extra step and do even more than what you say you are going to do (overdeliver), and listening to your customer.
Listening is really difficult to do but it really helps to listen to find out what the client is needing. Underneath everything a person does or says is a need. It is also the most important part of the therapeutic relationship that is developed with your client. It starts the first moment of contact.
Customer service is not what you think it is but what the customer thinks!
September 16th, 2006 at 7:14 pm
Customer service is not what you think it is but what the customer thinks!
Julie! This is SO true! Well said.