Are You Open for Business?

Felicia Brown
Oct 2, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Oct 24, 2025

Earlier this week, I had the strangest experience. On a whim, I decided to go to a local spa/massage business to book a session. I'm not going to mention the name, but we'll just say it is a multilocation business.

Clearly, it was a slow day or time (about 7 pm on Tuesday) as their lobby was empty and there was no one at the front desk. I literally stood in the waiting area for a FULL ten minutes before I ever saw an employee. When someone finally appeared (I'll call her "NOTalie" or NOT for short), she was very pleasant. However, NOT had no concern that I was standing there waiting for someone to assist me, possibly for as long as she'd been away from the front desk.

When she asked how she could help me, I told NOT that I had not been in before and was interested in booking an appointment. She did not share anything about the business, the spa experience, or ask me any questions about what I was looking for. However, NOT told me that the last appointment they take is an hour before their closing time. I actually arrived at the spa just before that cutoff time, but NOT was not around to know that.

Anyway, I waited for her to ask me if I wanted to schedule a future appointment, but nothing. Then, when I inquired about booking a session, NOT told me I could book online or call. There was no invitation or offer to book an appointment for me while I was standing there. No inquiry about what day would be good for me, or mention that appointments were available tomorrow. (I'd already looked at the website, and believe me, there were plenty of open times!)

NOT did offer me a menu - as if I hadn't had ten solid minutes to look at every product and piece of marketing available already. I declined, letting her know that I had already taken a picture of it. And then I left.

Am I missing something? I drove to this business, was standing in the location, obviously interested in scheduling an appointment, and NOT did not make any effort whatsoever to get me scheduled!?

By the way, anyone reading this should know that I was completely amused and not upset as a consumer. Rather, as a massage and spa industry expert and professional, it left me curious and concerned about the lack of customer care in what is supposed to be a healing business. I also pondered whether my experience is unusual or if this disengaged level of service has become the norm in spa and massage businesses. After posting about it on Facebook, I got a resounding "YES. Felicia, please go show them how it's supposed to be done."

I'm not yet sure if that business is the right target for what I do. However, I have a unique level of curiosity for these kinds of things in a spa/massage biz rather than being upset like a normal customer would be. It's like I'm doing research and gathering stories for future classes and speaking engagements. Thus, I really want to go back for a service just to see what will happen.

Here are a few questions for you to consider:

How are you or your team NOT open for business?
How are you or your team NOT engaging with your clients?
How are you or your team NOT making the sale?

It's hard to see problems clearly sometimes, even when there are glaring issues that need to change. If you want help smoothing out the rough spots, I'd love to help you bring the "ahhh" back into the entire client experience and not just the services.