With every happy customer comes validation—tangible proof that you are living and breathing your values as a spa business and making a difference in people’s lives. But you are human. Your staff is human. It is very likely that at some point, someone will share their discontentment with you in person or leave you a less-than-satisfactory review online. Taking the initiative to hear and address your clients’ concerns or complaints can be anxiety-inducing for even the most confident spa owner or director.
Assuming the review isn’t overly antagonistic, unhappy customers offer an opportunity for productive conversations, which is always better than silent resentment. Beauty Lounge owners in Michigan, Lisa Yaldoo and Olivia Shouenyia, consider any feedback a multi-layered opportunity: “Clients love to share their experience, and it helps us understand what improvements to make, if any. We never realized how important reviews were, but they connect you so much to the client.”
Fight, Flight, Freeze or Fawn
You invest so much of your time and self in your spa business that it’s only natural for a complaint to feel like a personal attack. Although you may not associate events such as receiving a complaint with your survival instincts, psychologically speaking, even these “everyday” experiences can be perceived as a threat by the brain.
Zoé Bélisle-Springer is an award-winning writer, speaker, e-book author and podcaster known for creating inspiring, educational content for the spa and salon community. As community and content manager at Phorest Salon Software, they are responsible for driving community engagement and leading collaborative courses and mentorship programs.
