Feedback
August 2nd, 2007The long awaited feedback that Dinah received from her clients:
Well, it does seem that most clients who don’t re-book cite lack of expendable income…so maybe they are seeing shiatsu as a luxury or treat that they need to cut down on when money gets tight, rather than as a therapy. I could do a cross-correlation and see if those clients are the ones who came more for relaxation or out of curiosity than for a specific complaint…but I doubt my sample size is big enough to see a reliable trend.
I did get an odd one…a client who seemed angry at me that she could not open the .jpeg voucher…but once she had sorted out the problem with her PC she did actually rebook regularly. Not sure what we can conclude there!
Now whenever a new client tells me that they think their problem (usually a musculo-skeletal one) is caused by actions that they need to do for work, such as typing at a desk, I always recommend they mention it to their line manager and ask for an ergonomic assessment, after which the company can send them to see the physiotherapist retained by the company if necessary. It’s not much use my straightening out their necks and backs if their chairs and screens are the wrong height…However, I was quite disconcerted to hear from three or four of these non-re-booking clients that their aching backs and stiff necks completely cleared up after their workstations were ergonomically adjusted! But very happy for my ex-clients of course!
July 8th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Hello I just found your blog and well done, you really did a great job contacting your clients to find out the reasons why they did not re-book. I have been working for years as on site massage therapist and although my clients found my treatments very effective and enquired about the techniques I used as they recognised it different from other types of massage, they kept on having regular sessions with the chiropractor, osteopath or physiotherapist and never tried a full body Shiatsu. Or if they did it, it was one off and they got back to their specialist. But, every time I see them for the usual chair treatment, they complain of the same problems over and over again. I am hopeless!!!
July 9th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Thanks Giuliana – my wife is pretty good with communicating with her clients – it definitely isn’t my strongest point……I find my on-site work is always a little different to private clients, mainly because when I’m working on-site, it is in an office type environment and people generally have specific computer related aches and pains – and they see the therapy as a vehicle to helping their “working” selves. It is always tricky to eradicate the tense shoulders or back without changing working practices (posture, stress levels etc) because spending 8 hours a day reinforcing a problems and only 30 to 45 minutes once every few weeks trying to fix it is really only going to treat the symptom. That said, it is pretty satisfying work because my on-site clients see their shiatsu as a treat and they always walk away feeling better than when they walk in, so I get to see immediate results
My private clients tend to be more interested in overall health and well-being, so they tend to come to shiatsu with fewer specific aches and pains and more a view to balancing and harmonising. With a longer term view and these sorts of deeper changes, the results come about over time, so they are less obvious, but rewarding in a different way.