Trust - A Major Part of Your Success!
Trust is important in any business when it comes to gaining new clients and keeping them; but it becomes even more important if your clients have the potential to feel vulnerable when benefitting from your services. Your clients must trust you before they feel happy about disrobing for a therapeutic massage or lying on a table for some energetic work. Likewise, your clients must trust you before they'll tell you about their personal problems or feel secure enough to let go of some emotional tension. Whether you're dispensing herbs or coaching someone through sex problems, gaining and maintaining trust is vital to a busy practice.
First Impressions
When you first encounter someone, they make a decision based on feeling as to whether they trust you or not. It's almost an unconscious process that takes place as you interact with them. On subsequent meetings people tend to refine their impression of you, but the most important meetings are those very early ones, in particular the first face-to-face meeting.
So how can you influence their decision? A lot of it is about what not to do. Often people may decide not to trust you based on some silly little thing they noticed.
Personal Appearance
Your visual appearance plays a huge part in someone's perception of you. From the way you walk, to the clothes you wear and the style of your hair - your clients will take it all in, evaluate the information subconsciously, and decide whether they like the "look of you", or in other words, do they trust you or not?
Really it's all common sense: if you're dressed appropriately and are well-groomed, then they'll probably see no reason not to trust you. On the other hand, you want to avoid:
- Wearing scruffy, dirty or revealing clothing
- Having dirty hair or fingernails
- Wearing strong aftershave or perfume in a treatment environment
- Greeting a client barefoot. If you want to do your treatments barefoot no problem, but make sure you always greet your clients wearing shoes.
Your Clinic
When a new client arrives for their first treatment are they greeted by a clean, tidy and well-kept space? Whether you're working from home, doing mobile treatments, or working in a clinic, your clients will judge you based on what they see, hear and smell. You don't need to provide a perfect spa environment, but the following things are a big no-no:
- Pet hairs
- Screaming kids (yours not your clients’)
- Threadbare or dirty linen
- Piles of junk in your workspace
Many therapists like to display their certificates on the wall. This can be a great way to reassure clients that you do have the training and expertise needed to care for them. Membership of professional associations is another great way to reinforce the fact that you are a professional. Even if you don't want to flout your credentials on the wall of your clinic, mentioning your qualifications on your website and advertising brochures is highly recommended.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, a lot of it boils down to professionalism. If you conduct yourself professionally this will go a long way towards establishing trust. Monica Roseberry in Marketing Massage puts it beautifully when she says "If potential clients trust you, they are more likely to book, then rebook and refer. If they don’t trust you you will have to keep working to get more new clients." It really is as simple as that!
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