3 Ways To Make The Right First Impression With Your Clients
As a wellness practitioner, making sure that your clients have a great experience is an essential part of growing your business.
Sure, one-off clients can help you pay the bills in the short term, but they represent a missed opportunity. Your best clients are the ones you build a real connection with. They make your business better by offering these benefits:
- They tell their friends and family about you, bringing in new business without any upfront costs.
- Their trust in you allows you to feel comfortable working on new treatments and skills with them.
- They are receptive to promotions and special offers that you put on.
- They make you feel fulfilled with your career, showing you how your work can have a tangible effect on another person.
But great clients don’t go on trees. Beyond having good technical skills with your treatments, you need to establish real connections with your clients.
This comes easier to some people. It’s difficult to do on days when you are burnt out from the stress of running your own business (and managing your personal life).
But just like everything that we write about on the Symmetry Knowledge Hub, connecting with your clients is something that you can accomplish with the right preparation, knowledge, and habit-forming.
So, let’s talk about how to make your clients fall in love with the work that you do.
1. Seek Out the Right Clients
Let’s start at the very beginning of the process. The “top of the funnel” is the first stage of your potential client’s journey – when they are first becoming aware of your business.
Marketing activities like your social media presence, website and business listings are how potential clients learn about your business, and decide whether they are the right fit.
Think about what kind of message your brand sends out. Read our article on how to find your niche to learn about the process of defining your target audience, and consider what this currently looks like for your business.
With an ideal type of client in mind, let’s make one thing clear: many wellness practitioners don’t have the luxury of turning away clients who don’t match their exact target audience.
However, you can still define what the “right” clients look like, and focus on them as you grow your business. Here are some practical ways to do this:
- Learn about your clients. Ask what they do for work, how they heard about you, and what gets them out of bed in the morning.
- Keep track of this data somewhere. This way you can make informed decisions about your clients, instead of assumptions.
- Take note of your interactions. Right down why you connect with certain people and not with others. This way you don’t have to rely on memory, which can be difficult when you work with many people over the course of the day.
2. First Impressions Matter: Create a Welcoming Environment
Your clients can only connect with you if they feel comfortable in your treatment space.
This is a no-brainer for wellness practitioners everywhere. But it’s a difficult thing to get just right.
There are a few reasons for this. People quickly get used to a space they visit every day. Also, there are times when certain spaces just seem “off”, even when it is hard to identify why.
So what can you do about this? First off, build a warm and inviting space with soft lighting, relaxing music, and calming aromas to set the right mood. Ensure your space is clean and well-organized, and carry these same qualities with your personal presence.
Now, take your own biases out of the equation. Invite a friend or family member to your space. Seek out someone who is known for being honest (no BS), and ask them what they really think of the space at first glance. The purpose of this is to hone in on the little things that you don’t notice.
Of course, there’s another way to ensure you welcome your clients in the best environment possible – let someone else worry about the little things.
Symmetry Collective locations feature amenities like therapeutic rooms, a yoga studio, infrared sauna, linens, reflexology chairs, facial steamers, hot stones, Thai mats, and spaces for workshops and classes. Learn more about our locations in the Denver area today.
3. Practice Empathy and Active Listening
Your first meeting with your client is crucial. This is when you learn about the problems they are experiencing, and when you think about how to approach these problems and help them meet your goals.
This is also where your client will decide whether you are doing a good job of listening to them or not.
While you are asking them questions, make sure you are paying attention to your client’s body language and subtle cues. Practice active listening by asking open-ended questions, setting aside your own biases and judgments, and showing positive nonverbal communication with eye contact and avoiding any distractions.
Take special care while learning about their life, and how their physical issues are affecting their ability to do what they love. You can show empathy by sharing your own experiences if they are similar to your client’s – but remember that this is all about them.
Make your client feel heard, understood, and comfortable. Realize that opening up is difficult for many people, and may take time.
Now that you know something about your client, make sure to keep note of it for the second time you meet. Remembering something like a vacation or birthday means a lot to people, especially if it is mentioned off-hand in the first place.
The Next Interaction
A great first impression is the foundation of a long-lasting relationship with your client.
Next time, we will discuss how to take this to the next stage of the process, and build a group of clients who sing your praises and help you to supercharge your wellness practitioner business.
See you next time!
