When clients move on, you can’t assume it’s because they are dissatisfied. There may be another reason behind their departure – a change in their personal life or work status or a health issues. However, if clients find fault with your service offering, you want to know about it. According to 1st Financial Training Services, 96 percent of unhappy customers don’t complain, however 91 percent of those will just leave and never come back.
Rather than wait for clients to come to you with complaints about your offerings or customer service, proactively seek input on a routine basis. Here are some ways to do that:
Client Surveys and Questionnaires
Develop a brief questionnaire or survey to send to clients as part of your ongoing email outreach or create a separate campaign. Keep questions short and ask only those that you’ll use and that have a purpose. For example, if no one is complaining about calling to book appointments, there’s no point in asking if they would prefer to go online to book. Five key questions may be all that is necessary to get the input you need to make meaningful changes in your spa or massage practice.
You also can post questions on your website. Try posting an open-ended question from time to time to see what kind of feedback you get. If clients aren’t taking advantage of your skin treatments along with massage or not purchasing retail product offerings, find out why. You may learn that you need to offer more options or change your pricing structure.
Social Media
Social media can be very helpful in getting client feedback. Post a poll on your Facebook page. Ask a question on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and see what kind of input you get. In addition to asking a question, you can use Twitter Search to see what kind of comments are being made about your spa or massage practice, if any.
Online Reviews
Make sure information about your spa or massage practice is up to date on all the review sites where you are listed. Then monitor your reviews to see what clients are saying.
Front-line Staff
Front-line staff that is on the phone with clients and prospects and greeting them when they walk in may be the first to hear about complaints. Make sure your staff keeps you posted on this feedback.
Maximize Feedback
Once you gather the input from your various sources, take the following steps:
- See if the comments fall into categories, such as pricing, results, customer service, facilities, etc. Put together a spreadsheet or some other document for tracking so you can put the comments into their relevant categories. Also distinguish between positive and negative comments.
- Look for patterns in your comments. You may find, for example, there is a pattern about how much treatments cost or the range of treatments.
- Negative feedback should lead to change. Come up with a plan to address those areas of your practice where you find the most complaints and concerns from clients.
Keep in touch with your clients on and offline to get their input and use it to provide the best service possible.