Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1276187
active listening and curiosity to stand any chance of giving the customer what they want. Cal recently interviewed a hospice chaplain for a course I'm teaching. She said that the most important skill she has developed is the ability to "hear what's not being said." This is what's being asked of us in our interactions with our clients on a regular basis. Humans are terrible about being explicit when it comes to expectations. Our clients are no different. How are we supposed to give them what they want when they're asking us to guess what that is? Imagine you're a clerk in a department store. A customer comes in looking for the "perfect outfit" for a party at a friend's house later that week. The customer already has some ideas about what "perfect" is. You probably do too. There's a decent chance that your ideas of perfection are different from the customer's ideas. Sensing this, you might start to ask some questions. Where in town is the party? What's the occasion? How well do you know the host? Do you plan to dance or is it a quiet, dinner situation? As you listen fully to the answers to these questions, your ideas of perfection may start to come a bit closer to each other, but you've still got to be curious 64 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k s e p t e m b e r / o c t o b e r 2 0 2 0 The client is always right, but that doesn't mean you're wrong; it means you have to raise your level to meet them in a place that highlights their story and their needs, while integrating your ability to give them the best possible product to meet those needs. Simple Phrases to Have at the Ready for Clear Communication "I see how it could feel like that, and probably does. There's some real truth in what you're telling me, and there's a little more to the story. Can I share my thoughts about what I think might also be happening?" "I've heard other people describe it that way too. I'd like to address some of your concerns." "That sounds about right. There are a few gaps in that theory that I'd like to fill in if you'd allow me." "That has actually been the common wisdom for a long time, but the most recent research has shown that . . ." (Be able to send them links to said research if they want them.) to truly meet their needs and help them to feel like, above all else, they were "right" to come to you for what they needed. We are living and working in a time when customers are more informed and more demanding than ever. Information (albeit of varying quality) is everywhere! Your elbow hurts? Ask Dr. Google. You're having a hard time sleeping? WebMD is there. Whatever ails you can be diagnosed in seconds and treated with household . . . things. In this climate, communication, expectation-setting, and education are an integral part of our job as care providers. This is where so many of us fall down and simply find it easier to "let" the customer be right. Good care often requires a bit of what many of us experience as conflict. Very few of us feel skilled at navigating conflict. An easy way to avoid conflict is to simply agree, or at least not express something different. When a client tells us that they "have carpal tunnel," and they need us to work with their forearm in this way they saw on YouTube, we have to figure out how to hear what they're telling us and then to help them understand that we can give them what they want while you both completely forget anything you learned from YouTube about connective tissue.