Seeing, Hearing, Celebrating Our Loyal Clients
Last weekend, I had a short flight within the US west coast and for once, wasn't on a tight schedule. The flight was oversold by 1 passenger & after 2 loudspeaker announcements, no one was clamoring to take advantage of the USD $1500 travel voucher, hotel room for the night & a first-class seat on the first flight out the next day…so after I made a quick phone call to the family I was headed to visit, I approached the gate desk to volunteer.
They asked my name & seat number. I said “Noël” only & “4-something? I don't remember.”
“Oh yes, we saw you on our list, Miss Noël….you are a oneworld Sapphire member, welcome to Alaska Air.” And then proceeded to talk-through next steps.
There ended up being a few passengers delayed from a connection and so everyone, including me, boarded our flight out of Seattle after all…but I was taken-aback at the brief conversation we had, driven by the desire for the airline representative to make a “VIP” passenger feel seen & welcomed, though it was the passenger doing the airline a favor this time. They clearly had a system, the way top-restaurants do and the way discerning fitness studios do and were trained to have a warm conversation with passengers like me.
As we know, one of the ways our boutique fitness industry differs vastly from the traditional mainstream box-gyms is our ability to recognize client milestones, get to know clients on an individual & personalized level & celebrate with them. We lean-into the hospitable opportunities and more often than not, they happen because studio founders are involved in their businesses and because we in smaller studios truly want to know the goals of our clients…and ask. And make recommendations, accordingly.
Brené Brown shares: “Connection: Connection is the energy that is created between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment. Belonging: Belonging is the innate human desire to be a part of something larger than us.”
This week, can you check-in with your loyalty program and be sure your people are being seen, heard & celebrated? And if you don't have a loyalty program, what is one way you can make your “oneworld Sapphire” people feel celebrated & welcomed?
Have a great rest of your week!
P.S. Remote ways to work together are here. If you're looking for a 1:1 session to work through an SOP refresh, refine your hospitality points, discuss & strategize continuing education for your team or anything else, I am only booking through February 14th for now!