More than ever personalization matters to today’s customer. A 2021 report from management consulting firm McKinsey & Company[1] looked at the importance of personalized customer service and found:
- Seventy-one percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions. And seventy-six percent get frustrated when this does not happen.
- Personalization drives performance and better customer outcomes. Companies that grow faster drive 40 percent more of their revenue from personalization than their slower-growing counterparts.
McKinsey research also found the benefits of personalized customer service to companies that excel at it. Those companies generate 40 percent more revenue from those activities than average players.
What is personalized customer service for massage?
Personalized customer service means offering clients solutions that meet their specific needs and preferences. Personalization embodies empathy because it conveys to clients that you understand their issues and strive to provide treatments to resolve them. The importance of massage personalized customer service is in the trust that is establishes with clients when they feel you are listening. Over time, personalization becomes a key driver in your unique value proposition.
In today’s highly information-intensive world, the data you gather on your clients – from their service history, treatments, retail choices, schedule of visits and more – is key to enabling personalized customer service. By leveraging this information, you are better able to customize and adjust treatments for healing or relaxation, as necessary, to meet a client’s individual needs.
Benefits of massage personalized customer service for better outcomes
By personalizing massage, you improve outcomes:
- Provide more targeted relief: Understanding client’s specific areas of muscle and joint pain and tension, which can change over time, you are better able to focus on these regions and provide needed relief.
- Enhance relaxation: Customizing a massage can better reduce stress and enhance relaxation.
Personalization begins at intake
Getting to know a client’s needs is at the heart of providing a personalized massage experience and that process begins when clients call in for an appointment and you or a team member ask a series of questions to understand what services will be best. More in-depth questions during the intake session will further your success at customization, which can include upgrades that will be beneficial and enjoyable.
As part of intake, you want to get a good feel for a client’s expectation and concerns, the latter which is especially important for first time massage clients. These first interactions with your client will set the stage for showcasing the benefits of personalized customer service you offer versus the cookie cutter approach competitive massage therapy professionals or centers may provide.
Add-on treatments and more enhance personalization
Customized massage treatments today may include add-on treatments that further the uniqueness of the experience. Whether full body exfoliation or body wraps – many of which can be further enhanced with customizing complexes or essential oils – foot treatments or facials, you have many ways to distinguish your service and to set the bar on what is personalized customer service in the massage marketplace.
Customization can even extend beyond the treatment. Some massage therapists and spas are creating unique experiences for their guests by enabling them to book blocks of time instead of specific services. During this time, they can create a treatment that is all their own – from the music to the products to the temperature of the treatment room.
Customized massage services also increase the opportunity for retail at-home products. You can recoup the cost of introducing more expensive new services by offering complimentary retail products and training your team on how to sell them.
Customization drives business changes
But to accommodate individualized needs, you need to be prepared to make some changes in
the way you run your business. Massage therapy personalization requires being on the lookout for new treatment ideas. As a result, your menu may frequently change.
Having more treatments for a wider range of needs also may mean carrying a greater variety of backbar products and more staff training. Staff should be capable of administering a wider range of massage services.
Marketing is another area to consider. It will be important to promote the benefits of personalized customer service for massage therapy in marketing collateral, on your website and on social channels. Social media content, including the use of videos and imagery, helps tell your massage therapy customization story. Also, through social media, you can interact with clients and prospects to answer their specific questions.
Since clients are not created equal, treatments should not be either. Understanding client needs and personalizing the customer experience may be a make-or-break factor in keeping clients for the long term and attracting new ones.
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[1] “The value of getting personalization right – or wrong – is multiplying,” McKinsey & Company, November 12, 2021. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-value-of-getting-personalization-right-or-wrong-is-multiplying