I’m not perfect, we’re not perfect, you’re not perfect…
Since I am a business coach and mentor, sometimes people expect me to have it ‘all figured out’…
I do have a lot of ‘it’ figured out, but sometimes Sh&#! happens!
Today was a perfect example.
2 sh#tty things happened in my business at the wellness center, and as far as I can tell,
they were out of my control.
I’m going to be honest and vulnerable here.
Read on for what went wrong and my “moral-of-the-story”.
Yucky Thing #1:
This was regarding a job position at our wellness center. We went through all the steps.
My office manager, Charlie briefly interviewed a new applicant over the phone, he and I had interviewed in person, in fact he came in twice to meet with me, his references checked out, he seemed great, we emailed back and forth, I offered him the position and he was going to start tomorrow ….
This morning, I got an email from him, negotiating a higher pay rate, different working hours,
and Paid Time Off… WHAT??
uh… hello… all this is supposed to happen at the beginning of the ‘dance’, not after you accept the position, the day before you start!
HOW FRUSTRATING & TIME WASTING!
and now, I have to start the job search all over again.
Yucky Thing #2: occurred just a few minutes ago.
A new client walks in for a session. I’m at the front desk and ask all the right question, establish credibility discussing the fact she is a nurse at a local hospital and I mention how the hospital often send us referrals…
We discuss the rate, the goals of the session, and confirm that it will be with a male therapist. She agrees to an hour massage with one of our therapists.
10 minutes into the session, she asks him to stop, and says she doesn’t want to finish.
She is almost in tears and as she is looking at me asking “how much for 10 minutes?”, (we didn’t charge her.)
She asks for her intake form with her personal info on it, back. I walk around to her side of the front desk, and gently touch her arm and ask if I can call her later to check in. She tells me not to touch her, and says not to call her.
WOW! The therapist and I stand there in shock.
He has worked with us for almost a year, (and has been a practitioner for years). I totally trust he did nothing wrong. The therapist and I talked about what could have/should have been said or done, what possibly went wrong, but he came up with nada.
Why Am I Telling You This?
For 3 reasons.
Reason:#1- to point out that I am out here in the trenches doing what you’re doing — running your business as best you can. And no matter how well you prepare, and plan — YUCKY STUFF HAPPENS TO ALL OF US!
When it does happen, I use it as a learning experience so it hopefully doesn’t happen again. In this case I really do believe we did ‘all the right things’. Hopefully she won’t go on social media and blast us for something that is not our fault, but if she does… that is life.
I asked her if I could follow up with her to see if I could understand what happened to upset her, and of course I wanted to do damage control. But she refused to have me speak with her, so my hands were tied.
#2 reason I’m sharing this, is to point out, that even if we do everything possible to keep things running smooth, sometimes it is not even about us, and really is probably more about them.
It’s frustrating to think about what our role is/was in having things go amiss, but it is important to take the time to analyze and strategize for the next time.
(Example: As she requested, I gave her back her intake form. Now the problem is, I don’t have any record of her, since we didn’t enter her data into the computer yet…. Should I have given her the form back? Legally, what is/was required of me as a business owner? Could I have made a copy first before giving it to her? What if she files an insurance claim?…see these are bits I don’t have answers for. (but will find out so I am better prepared in the future!)
Reason:#3-
If (when) you get knocked down, you have 2 choices, either get up off your butt and keep going, or put your head down and sing ‘woa-is-me’ songs!…
The choice you make at the times things don’t go well will be the difference between business owners who experience long-term success and those who achieve nothing but dismal outcomes or worse, failure.
As a business coach I teach not only what I’ve learned from investing in programs and education with my mentors, but also you get to learn from my over 25 years in private practice and as a wellness center owner.
My goal is to help you avoid the pitfalls whenever possible, or at least mitigate them, as well as give you a nice shoulder to cry on when you need it!
Luckily, bad things are rare when you have the correct systems and protocols in place. And, I’m happy to report on most days, I AM PERFECT, YOU ARE PERFECT & WE ARE PERFECT!
Sh&#! happens – don’t let it stop you from reaching your dreams!
Post your thoughts below- I would love to hear how you handle the garbage that comes your way…
If you want to learn more about how to set up your office protocols and systems to minimize as many yucky things as possible, Registration is now open for my
Design Your Dream Practice 3-day event in San Francisco!
How would you like to sit on cozy couches, over-looking this amazing San Francisco Bay, and work on your business?
This is the view you will see (and be motivated by) from the private Penthouse suite I’ve arranged to host this event!
Take a look at the details on this linked page,
of what you will learn when you choose to
come to San Francisco and play with us!
I’m promising, you will finally learn what it takes to generate an
extra $3000 – $5000 a month in your business!
I’m also promising you, you will be shocked at how affordable I’m making
the tuition tickets right now —
but it is ONLY for the first people to register.
We’ll have space for ONLY 25 heart-centered entrepreneurs.
(and 6 of the spots are already taken by my VIP clients)
Jump over to DesignYourDreamPractice.com and get yourself set up for the next phase of your business success!
Business mentor, Educator and Inspirer to Clinic Owners & Solo Practitioners. Love to hear from you ~ Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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What a horrible day! I am so sorry that happened. I agree with Robert — that was their “stuff”, all of it. It was unfair to be put in such an uncomfortable position for both situations.
And what an opportunity for a learning experience, too. I’ve had my fill of yucky clients and bad situations. And I’ve often wrestled with how to protect myself and my business from these things.
Just this week, I posted a quick video showing the new place I was working out of…a gentleman whom I never met personally/spoken to on FB — we are members in a couple of MT & B groups — comment & attack me on my personal FB page because I offer Reiki as a service. I was unable to delete his nasty comments from my phone and unable to access a computer until I reached home late in the evening…I had several colleagues who were friends jump to my aid — which made it worse. I decided to not engage. When I finally made it home and to my computer, I deleted his comments & blocked him. There is some justice in this, too…he was removed from the Reflexology group we both belonged to, and the Massage Therapist group, I contacted the administrators and made them aware of the situation. They promised to keep an eye on any posts he makes in the group.
It was very humbling. I have had people harass/bully me about being a Reiki practitioner, but it was always in person. I hope this week goes much better. Happy Mother’s Day! Sending Reiki ♥ to you and your staff.
Hi Kimberly,
Thanks for the Mother’s day wishes.
I think once we’ve been in business for any length of time, stuff that is not so great happens to all of us at some point.
Luckily we can just learn from it and move past it. As the song goes, “What doesn’t kill ya makes you stronger!”
Hey Irene,
Two words, Emotional Release.
In today’s world I have found all to often people are dealing with way too many things.
Health issues, family issues, financial issues, self worth issues, and all of that is bottled inside as you well know.
As therapist we need to be aware that touch can be a powerful tool in helping these ones heal or cope with these issues, however “they” may not be aware that touch/massage/bodywork can be the conduit in helping Them face these issues. And that is were the problem is, they are not ready to face or deal with these issue. They may be thinking in getting a massage That they will be able to escaping these issue for an hour… Only that sometimes the opposite happens since so much energy is bottled or stored up in their soft tissue, ask your therapist what muscles had he worked in those few 10 minutes? Were they ridged or armored up? Good chance they were and I’m sure your therapist did his best to melt or unwind the area. Chance are that was area that triggered her emotional release.
It a good idea to let them know that occasionally this may happen and it ok, yet if they are not informed this may be to overwhelming for them. Its my suspicious that this is what happen with this particular person.
Again this was not your fault or the therapist, it’s all them.
Like you said you learn from it and are Now in better position to deal with it in the future.
Hi Robert,
You’re right, “In today’s world I have found all too often people are dealing with way too many things.
Health issues, family issues, financial issues, self worth issues, and all of that is bottled inside as you well know.”
All we can do is our best to have the relationship/experience be a wonderful experience for everyone, whether it is as a client or as a colleague.
Every day is a learning experience!
Thanks for your post.