A Client Notices Attention Meant Only for Them

Imagine a personal trainer named Nadia Ferreira who trains Maya Castellanos at 7 a.m. every Monday and Thursday. At the end of a Monday session, Maya mentions that she flies to Tokyo on Saturday for a week of meetings. Nadia says she hopes the trip goes well. Then her next client walks in.

Nadia has five more sessions that day, and by Friday she has forgotten the trip. Maya spends the week in Tokyo without a workout. When Maya gets back, Nadia asks how Tokyo was, and they pick up the program where they left it.

A month later, a colleague asks Maya whether her trainer is any good. “She’s fine,” Maya says. The colleague asks around for other names.

Suppose instead that Nadia writes “Tokyo, Saturday, one week” in the note she keeps on Maya, in the minute before her next client arrives. On Friday evening, she reads the note. Then she texts Maya a 20-minute workout that needs no equipment and fits in a hotel room.

Maya does the workout twice in Tokyo. A month later, when the colleague asks about her trainer, Maya says, “She sent me a workout for my hotel room before I’d even packed.” The colleague asks for Nadia’s number.

Nadia heard the same remark both times. In the first version, it stayed a remark. In the second, she wrote it down and acted on it before Maya asked. She gave no gift and made no announcement. The workout could only have been meant for Maya, and that is what Maya told her colleague about.

So write down one detail each client mentions in passing, and act on it before they ask. Here is why attention meant for one client works, and what it looks like in practice. Then you will see why calling it something you do for every client goes wrong.

A client notices attention paid to them alone

A gesture that comes from your own work already tells a client more than a gift bag does. Nadia’s workout came from her own work too. What it added is that it could only have been for Maya. No other client had mentioned a week in a hotel in Tokyo.

Here is the course’s view of why a client notices that. A wealthy client hires many professionals, and most of what those professionals give could have gone to any client. So a gesture meant only for them is rare.

It also shows the client that you were listening when they mentioned something in passing. Nadia’s text on Friday, about a remark on Monday, showed Maya that Nadia kept the trip in mind all week.

A second mint, given as if for one table, raised tips the most

Robert Cialdini, author of Influence, describes a set of restaurant studies on tipping on the website for his talks and workshops. In the studies, a single mint with the bill raised tips by around 3%. Two mints raised them by 14%.

In a third version, the server left one mint and started to walk away. Then the server paused, turned back, and said, “For you nice people, here’s an extra mint.” Tips rose by 23%. The diners got two mints in this version too, so only the way the second mint was given changed.

Cialdini’s conclusion is to give first, and to make what you give “personalized and unexpected.” The second mint was both. It seemed meant for this table, and it came after the server had started to leave.

Both qualities are easy to lose. Tell a client that you do this for every client, and the gesture stops being personal. Promise it on your website, and it stops being unexpected.

In a service business, the extra mint is acting on something a client mentioned, before they ask. What a client gives back is not a tip. It may be another year of sessions, or a recommendation, as when Maya told her colleague about Nadia.

A chef and a tutor act on remarks their clients made in passing

The detail worth acting on is usually a remark the client did not ask you to do anything about. It can be about the work or about the client’s life, such as a trip, an exam, or a parent moving in. It is also something the client told you. A detail you found online or saw in their house is different. The client did not choose to tell you about it, so it can make them feel watched.

Imagine a private chef named Marco Ruiz who cooks for Joanne Pierce three nights a week. While Marco clears the plates one evening, Joanne mentions that her mother moves in next month and has to avoid salt. Marco writes it down before he leaves.

The menus for Joanne’s mother’s first week in the house arrive already low in salt, with no comment. Joanne notices at the first dinner. She asks Marco to keep cooking that way.

Imagine, too, a tutor named Ellen Tran who teaches Owen Avery every Thursday. At the end of a session, Mrs. Avery mentions that Owen’s grandmother is visiting next week. She adds that Thursday is the only evening the whole family is free.

Ellen offers to move that week’s session to Wednesday, and Mrs. Avery says yes. The family has dinner together on Thursday, and Mrs. Avery thanks Ellen the next week.

Neither Marco nor Ellen said that they had remembered anything. Joanne and Mrs. Avery saw what each of them did, and that was enough.

Why calling it something you do for every client goes wrong

Imagine a dog walker named Theo Marsh who walks a dozen dogs on the east side of town. His website says, “We notice every detail about your dog.” On Tuesday, his client Ruth Calloway mentions that her dog, Biscuit, has a sore paw.

The next day, between two walks, Theo takes Biscuit on a shorter, slower loop by the pond. He texts Ruth a photo of Biscuit resting on the grass. Then he adds the sign-off he puts on most of his texts: “Every dog gets the extra mile with Theo!”

Ruth thanks Theo politely. The sign-off tells Ruth that the short walk was not only for Biscuit. His website promised her that kind of care before she ever hired him. When a neighbor asks Ruth about dog walkers, she says that Theo is reliable. The neighbor books someone else.

In the version that works, Theo sends the same photo and writes only what Ruth needs to know. He writes, “Took Biscuit on the short loop by the pond to rest her paw. She walked well and seemed comfortable.” Theo has also taken “We notice every detail” off his website.

Ruth forwards the photo to her husband. When the neighbor asks about dog walkers, Ruth says, “Theo remembered Biscuit’s sore paw and gave her a short walk without being asked.” The neighbor asks for Theo’s number.

How to act on what a client mentions

1. After each session or meeting, write down one detail the client mentioned in passing. A note on your phone under the client’s name is enough, such as “Tokyo, Saturday, one week.”
2. Read the note before you next see or message the client.
3. When a note gives you something you can act on before the client asks, do it. If the detail touches a job you have booked, put it into the plan for that job. Do it now, while the plan can still change. For example, a home organizer’s client might mention that her son is home from college in June. The organizer can do his room first, so it is ready for him.
4. Some details would change something the client chose, such as a day or a time. For those, offer the change as a choice instead of making it. The choice was the client’s to begin with. Ellen offered to move the session, and Mrs. Avery decided.
5. Say only what the client needs in order to use what you did. Leave out words like “we do this for every client,” because they tell the client the gesture was not only for them. When the client thanks you, say you are glad it helped, and go back to the work.
6. Check your website for sentences like “We notice every detail,” and take them down. A gesture the client was promised is no longer unexpected.

Next: You will see why a client hires you for the person they want to become. A list of their needs will not show you that person.