At Soul Seed Academy, we believe that women build businesses differently. We believe that women owned businesses are businesses that are motivated by how many people they can help rather than how much they make. That’s why women tend to discount packages, charge less than they are worth, or ignore policies to maintain relationships with their clients. Those are unhealthy ways to love on your clients.
We believe that you can love on your clients in a way that doesn’t devalue your company. Our favorite way to love on our clients is an approach we call “Listen and Loves”. It’s a heartfelt strategy where the core principle is to listen to what your clients say and find innovative ways to show them that you care.
Here are some of our favorite examples
In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, women in America were sewing clothes for their children out of flour sacks. The flour companies started printing patterns on their sacks so that the children had something beautiful to wear.
One lady who owned a cleaning company, heard her client mention that their favorite flower was sunflowers and that they were planning on getting new currents with sunflowers for their kitchen. The next time the lady came by to clean, she brought sunflowers.
When a grandma booked a room at an Airbnb, she told the lady on the phone that she was visiting a new grandbaby. The owner of the Airbnb left a small gift with baby supplies in her room when she arrived.
There are 6 rules for Listen and Loves.
- It must cost less for you than the value it provides your client
- You can buy a journal for a client for $3 and spend 5 minutes decorating it or writing in that journal your favorite experience with them or your favorite quote or your favorite places to visit near your establishment. That $3 journal is worth way more than $3 to your client because they can see that you put in effort to make it personal for them and add more value to it.
- It can NOT be part of a promotion — It’s note advertised or a bonus for purchasing something from you
- Listen and Loves are not a “buy one, get one” kind of thing. They are unadvertised surprises that celebrate that person as an individual.
- It must align with your brand.
- Every gesture should reflect who you are.
- It should be scalable.
- It shouldn’t be something that costs you a ton of time or money. It should be something that’s simple for you to do.
- It shouldn’t be something that you already expect from the service.
- Lotion on a massage table is already something we expect.
- Beware of amenity creep
- This is a term in the hotel business. Not all hotels had a free breakfast at first but now it’s expected with your stay. Amenity creep will dilute the impact of the listen and love.
“Listen and Loves” is about fostering connections, creating memorable moments, and letting our clients know they’re cherished. It’s a commitment to making every interaction not just transactional but transformational.
As we embrace the “Listen and Loves” philosophy, we invite you to explore the beauty of thoughtful client care. It’s in these small, unexpected moments that the magic truly happens. We give you permission to care and love on your clients. Now go and make their day!
