Being professional with your clients is a must if you want to build a steady, solid practice. Your reputation is of the utmost importance. The reality of this business is that word of mouth is your best marketing asset. Without gleaming recommendations from your clients, it is impossible to reach the many people it takes to prosper and achieve success.
Many traits go into the making of a wonderful teacher. But your most important goal is to make your clients feel special and like they are the most important person in the room. They need to feel comfortable and well tended to. And one thing that will absolutely derail any of the above ideals is if you are too focused on yourself and your story to pay any attention to theirs. There is only room for one person’s wants and needs in your session, and that luxury belongs solely to the person in front of you. For that hour, the teacher’s life gets put on hold so they can be of service to the client.
Those teachers who tend to chat too much or share too much personal information always lose in the end. The clients are coming in to pay you for the service of movement facilitation, not to listen to the latest saga in the teacher’s life. This doesn’t mean that the clients will know nothing about you or that after years of working together that there isn’t a comfort level that gets established and thus information shared. But what this means is that the client’s needs are primary. Chatting can be done at another time.
Since money is exchanged, there is an agreement that you will do your job in the time frame which is given. And your job is to teach them to move better and freer. This entails pouring your energy and expertise into them, so that they leave the studio feeling satisfied and like they learned something new about themselves. Teaching someone is a selfless act. You want your clients to walk out of the studio lighter and more buoyant in all ways. And the only way this is achieved is by maintaining healthy boundaries with personal information so you can maintain clarity in being of service to your clients.
~ by Casey Marie Herdt
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This was such a fantastic reminder….everyone in my studio thinks I have not a problem in the world….or at least if I do I don’t let it bring me down. A positive attitude is contagious! …and I find if I personally fake it for awhile that that positive attitude that I am outwardly displaying bounces back from my clients and becomes a reality!
I’ve found newer students in particular really resonate with a teacher who is humble and let’s them feel comfortable with their current skill level too.