follow up contact with clients

Hi Angela

Im new in the business so can only say what I am doing, whether its right or wrong. Because im not sure on getting the balance right as you say about being pushy. I dont ask clients if they want to rebook after their first treatment as this may make them feel uncomfortable and put on the spot if they are not sure. If they were sure they would be saying can I rebook. But I also dont want to give the impression that I dont care if they rebook or not so what I do is either send a text or an email a few days after their treatment just saying that I hope they had enjoyed it and had felt some benefit and that I would be happy to treat them if they want to book again and thank them for using my services.

Hope that helps and if anyone thinks this is wrong then please let me know 🙂

Paula

I’m sure there’s no right or wrong answer, it’s just what works best for you.

Personally, I try to get clients to book their next treatment before they leave. I usually ask them what they liked or didn’t like about the treatment and talk about what we could do next time. Then it’s easier to move on to whether they want to book the next one

Steve

follow-up contact with clients

Hi Angela
With new clients I always ask them without being pushy if they would like to book another appointment.
I have already explained to them at the consultation stage about (depending on the problem) usually needing a course of treatments.
If they do book an appointment then they always have the option of cancelling.

I wouldn't chase people up though - because it does seem pushy and I'd hate it if it happened to me.
Sometimes you know that the treatment/therapist isn't right for you.

I've been a reflexologist for 11 years and do find the regular clients that just 'disappear' very puzzling. When you've built up a good relationship with a person it always seems strange that they just don't turn up for an appointment one day and then don't get back in touch.
Still, that's people for you...............everyone is different and you have to learn not to take it personally.

Best wishes

Hi Angela,

I find that new clients tend to book another appointment because generally people have come with a specific issue they want to address and they need a course of treatments.

There have been people who have just come for the one treatment and they tend to be those who have been bought a voucher by a friend or relative (although many of them have come for courses of treatments) or those who are over 40 weeks pregnant and hoping that reflexology will help them go into labour. I haven't followed them up as it didn't sit right with me and feels pushy. It's frustrating though, particularly when you never get to know whether the treatment did help someone go into labour or whether they had a boy or a girl etc. Sometimes I do get to see these people again about 2 years later when they're having the next baby which is always nice.

As for those clients who seem to be doing well and then suddenly disappear, well I've been one of those clients myself before. I had a course of acupuncture which did wonders for me but I remember feeling like I didn't know how to stop the course of treatments and so one time instead of re-booking I told the acupuncturist that I didn't have my diary on me and would call him to re-book which I then never did. At the time I felt like I was ok and that I wanted to save the cost of the treatments but I thought if I said this to him that he would try to talk me out of it. I've tried hard not to put any pressure on clients and have often suggested myself that we try to space out their treatments more once things have settled down for them so I hope they haven't felt the way I did with the acupuncturist.

When I was fairly new qualified someone in my village who I know a little came for a treatment and was suffering with rheumatoid arthritis. She didn't want to re-book at the end of the treatment as she wanted to see how she felt afterwards. I bumped into her a couple of weeks later and she said, "I felt fabulous for 2 days after I saw you but then I just went right back to normal so it doesn't work". She was with a friend of hers who was also saying how these things never work for long. For some reason I didn't point out that if she'd been given a pill by her GP that made her feel better for 2 days then she would definitely have gone back for another pill. I didn't have the confidence at the time. Anyway, I sometimes tell this story to new clients and use it to show why it's worth trying a course of treatments rather than just a one off.

Sorry, have managed to ramble on and on! Hope I've said something useful! 🙂

Elizabeth

Thanks to everyone who replied.

In the past I have asked at the end of the session whether someone would like another treatment or not and they tended to say yes, but then I'd get lots of cancellations a day or two later which just messed up my diary, and I never knew whether it was because people had 'felt put on the spot' or that the effects of the treatment had worn off...or what!
Now I explain the benefits of subsequent appointments - the accumulative effect etc. during a treatment, but mostly leave it up to them to ask for a follow up.
However I think after reading your responses I will be more pro-active, just make sure clients feel it is in their interests that I'm contacting them.
A follow up email or text is fairly unintrusive, and if worded correctly should come across as good follow-up care. It will leave them time to decide if its right for them and give them an opportunity to ask me any questions about their reaction to the reflexology in the days after their treatment.

Now its just fingers crossed for all these new clients to make their appearance....

Angela

P.s. thanks to Elizabeth for her report from the clients point of view. It would be fascinating - if scary - to hear more of what our clients think of our professional behaviour.
I suppose I also need to work on my established client feedback options!

Angela

Good luck Angela

The reason I email or text is because it is unintrusive and it saves putting people on the spot. I dont do reflexology but other holistic therapies such as massage, ear candling etc. I always leave new clients aftercare sheets that also mention the benefit from having more treatments, the ball is in their court then. I think by doing a brief text or email asking how they felt after their treatment is good aftercare too 🙂

Its a tricky one. I do htink about contacting clients, but if a therapist contacted me a few days later I would assume it would just be a soft sell.

I guess its just trial and error and see what sits right with you.