Seth Godin writes in his business blog about a common practice — that of talking down to the very people who bring in their money and interest and passion for your services. Putting unreasonable limitations on them only hinders the relationship, such as the sign in the image below which was spotted in an otherwise upscale retail store.

I might need to pick up yoga again or meditation as a de-stressor, because when I run into this kind of disrespect for clients, I start to feel like a cartoon character — all knotted up and desperately needing some relaxation.

Seth writes, "No exceptions? Really?" When you tell someone that a rule or suggested action truly has no exceptions, you are essentially saying that you are unwilling to spend any time having a conversation about how their experience in your location can be made easier on them. The message his article leaves is to take care of your customers and they will reward you with loyalty and respect.

Enjoy the rest of your week and this unseasonably warm weather!

Posted in Creating Customers, Spa Business Management • Share • Trackback

One Response to “Losing sight of the client”

1. Eva Sztupka-Kerschbaumer Says:
   October 14th, 2007 at 3:31 pm

   Hummmm,

   We have tried in the past to have a "no exceptions" enforcement of our "customer rules" but in reality it just doesn't work. The best way to express this to the uninitiated is to reference some school's zero-tolerance policy (which in some cases results in kids being suspended or expelled for bring aspirin to school). While they may sound like a good idea, they just don't make common sense.

   For instance, we have a 36-hour cancelation policy. Every week we have guests cancel last minute or forget their appointment and just not show up. Technically, we could charge every single one of these guests according to our policy. But in reality, I think we actually enforce this policy less than 5% of the time. Why? Because (even though we are light-years better that our competitors and we have a 3 week waiting list for appointments (so these cancellations do make a difference)) our clients are extremely loyal and we consider it a necessary part of doing business. Also, since all of our competitors are not as busy as we are, our guests would find it too easy to get an appointment at another spa in the area (even though they would not be as satisfied with the service).

   Sometimes, if the guest is a habitual offender (always late, etc) then we only charge them after they have had at least a couple of warnings.

   Regardless, a cancellation policy (or any restrictive policy) only works if the message is consistent from all channels (front-desk, technicians, menus, websites, etc.) because it is too easy for a guest to say "oh, no one told me when I booked the appointment about that policy).

   Here comes Christmas,
   Eva Sztupka-Kerschbaumer
   ESSpa Kozmetika Organic Hungarian Skincare
   www.esspa.com

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