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A client's comment about my consultation sheet made me change my whole approach
I was doing a facial on a regular client, Sarah, last Thursday and we got to talking about the intake form. She said, 'You know, I always feel like I'm just checking boxes on these things. I never know if you really read the part where I write about my stress levels.' That hit me hard because she was right. I'd been using the same generic sheet for years, just glancing at the written notes. Now I make a point to read her written answers out loud at the start of the session and ask one follow-up question based on them. It adds maybe two minutes, but the connection is totally different. She feels heard, and I get way better info for customizing her treatment. Has anyone else tweaked their consultation process to feel less robotic?
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cooper.nathan1mo ago
But hold on, isn't that just adding more steps for the sake of feelings? Like @johnson.willow said, we built these systems for a reason, to be fast and get the key info. Reading every note out loud sounds nice, but what about when you're running behind? That two minutes adds up. Most people just want the service done well and on time. They write "stressful job" on the form so you know to be gentle, not so you have a therapy session. The old way worked fine for years because the point is the facial, not the chat.
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johnson.willow2mo ago
Honestly, that's such a good point and it's everywhere. It's like we've built these little systems for everything, forms at the doctor, online checkouts, even talking to customer service bots, and the human part just leaks out. We're all just feeding data into slots. What you did, actually reading the words she took time to write, that's the fix. It's treating the information like a person wrote it, not a computer scanning it. I bet that small change makes her feel way more like a client and less like a file.
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