Resource: Dear Healers, how you treat clients can hurt your work
[Downloadable Google Doc Available Below]
In this post, a simple Client Experience process can change how healing happens
(and I won’t even ask you for your email)I love my healing arts practitioners: our amazing sound bathers, energy healers, astrologers, psychics, life coaches, somatic healers, therapists, herbalists, nutritionists, yoga instructors, and more.
You are the people we really need right now, especially in a city as big as New York City.
But in the last 8+ years that I've been in this space (and the decade before then when I worked in corporate client management), some of the most common mistakes I see are pretty basic, like…
Showing up on time
Client communication
Delivery of service
It’s one of those things where my mind is blown and I’m thinking to myself, “this is so basic, why aren’t you doing this? Your client is so confused.”
When these things are inconsistent or even missing, it doesn't make your client feel good, and it impacts your healing practice. And let's be real, it impacts your reputation and dollars.
While certain clients are familiar with your modality and work, many others aren’t. If they’ve never been through this journey, they don’t know what to expect or how it works, or even how you work. You have to make sure the way you deliver your service helps those who may not be familiar with it, and it's as simple as writing what they can expect from your session(s).
And if the client knows you and how you do things, great, then they’ll either skim how things work in your practice or just ignore it. But for those who are new, information like this is helpful.
Plus…let’s talk about cancelling and showing up late to your appointment.
How many times have I heard… “yea, she’s good…but, errmm she’s flaky. She shows up late every time, haha.” Bruh.
Yes, most of us are doing this solo, your boundaries matter, and emergencies happen; however, you simply cannot ghost your clients because you're not feeling it, or blame tech issues for showing up extremely late because of Mercury Retrograde without proper communication.
If anything, it makes you look worse when you know these things in advance and aren’t prepared for it. It’s like throwing an outdoor event, seeing the weather forecast for rain, and then not telling your guests about what will happen when/if it rains (i.e. do you have a rain location, does it get cancelled and when is that call made, do you have a backup secondary date…etc. etc.)
Here's the thing, our clients have chosen us and our service(s) to help them through really vulnerable challenges in their lives, and our job is to support them with it. So if it’s Mercury Retrograde and you’re doing a session online, you better be showing up 20-30 minutes earlier than usual to check your tech, and have their mobile number or email ready to communicate in case things aren’t working for you.
Ok, I’m going to stop because as much as I’m poo-poo-ing on you a bit right now, I know that most likely you’ve never been taught customer service. It’s not your fault. And I really want you to win and I think your work is so important.
Ok, so why am I saying and doing this?
With me on maternity leave and not sure what I’m doing with my life for work again (i.e. I don’t know if I will return to healing work yet…), I wanted to at least give back something to all the amazing healers in the case I never return.
And if I do, yay for you, it’s free.
A few weeks ago, I polled y’all on Instagram about what client service topics might be helpful, and you voted for a client experience playbook. With that vote, I created a Google doc and decided to specifically write about the process on what to do after the client has decided to work with you. I feel like I’m able to help in that area.
Now, the getting clients part, that's where I don't think my strong suit is, and it's best left to someone else to do (any volunteers?!)
If this is something you’re interested in, it's a FREE Google Doc. I won’t even ask you for your email address. I’m hoping this is accessible for those who want it. It’s pretty basic, but I think it might be helpful. If you have a Google account, just copy it over and use it. If you don’t, just download it.
Hope this helps!
