We have great clients. I mean, we have AMAZING clients. We get so much of our business from our existing clients referring us to their friends. Liam has informed me that what we are looking for in the ideal client is known as the “Evangelist Client.” This is the client that comes to your business, has an amazing experience, and then feels such joy that he or she leaves and spreads the good word. This is the client that tells pretty much everyone they know about their favorite product, or restaurant, or waxing salon. Businesses are built on Evangelist clients. Liam also told me that most of Apple’s customers are Evangelist. Liam and I are both diehard Apple users, so I get that. We also both love a great little speciality food business called Zingerman’s. They have an unbelievable customer service policy, a quirky hand drawn catalog with great food finds, and they are very accessible as a company. All things that I admire.

I just want to take a moment to give a little shout out about one of our Evangelists. Her name is Patri and she has been a regular client of Beth’s for the past year. I have never met her, but now I feel like I know her, and she knows me. Her Evangelism started with her fabulous post on our Urban Waxx Facebook fan page. She talked about her love of Serious Serum. Here it is:

Top 5 Things I Love About Serious Serum (in no particular order):

1. That it is essentially non-scented. I dislike when products push their scent agenda. Especially on “sensitive” areas. This one does not.
2. That the directions are clear, concise, descriptive, and colorfully written. Seriously.
3. That it doubles as a facial exfoliant. It’s like a gift that this product does double duty.
4. That it is sold at the best place to be waxed in the west. Personally, I’ve never liked a spa more. It just feels like a really good place to take it all off. (And by “take it all off” I mean the hair. With the wax. Not, like, in the waiting room.)
5. That it perfectly compliments the best wax I’ve ever had. Seriously.

Well, that was pretty awesome. I was pretty shocked that someone had taken the time to write such nice things, and so well written, about us and our product. But, her Evangelism didn’t stop there. Next, she wrote a review about us on Yelp. And here it is:

I don’t often give reviews, especially adding a five star rating to a place that has a consistent five star rating. I mean, really, it seems silly to go on and on and on about how great a place is. We get the picture.

But, here’s the thing about Urban Waxx. It isn’t just great. It’s exponentially great. Why? Well, it isn’t just the best wax I’ve ever had (seriously), because that’s a given. And it isn’t just the super cute yellow building that houses it, although that doesn’t hurt. And it isn’t even the actual waxing services they provide, because many places around this town provide many of the same services. What makes Urban Waxx the best wax I’ve ever had (seriously) is the ownership.

I’ve never met Shannon, but I know she owns Urban Waxx. And I know she has a kidlet and a hubby. And I know she loves her staff, her city and her community. And I know she loves to support local business. And I know that she stands behind her services and her business 100 and 25 percent. How do I know this? Maybe because I’ve done my homework, people.

But not really. Shannon hands this information out. Freely. In blog form. And facebook form. And in responses to customer concerns on this here public voting forum. And honestly, I find her honesty about her business and her life refreshing. I feel like I can trust a businesswoman who is extremely open about herself, her life and her business. That’s just good business, in my book. (And my book is pretty selective.) This is a good business, a good company, and a place (providing I had any esthetician training and/or experience) I would strive to be employed.

So, I’m coming down in favor of Urban Waxx. Given those who have already “yelped” and those who provide services there, it seems like I’m in good company, too.

(And, as a post script. For those who are deterred by what they view as a high price for waxing services, consider the following: the person who waxes you places a hot substance on your delicate girl or boy parts, be they nether-region-parts, face-parts, or other-skin-covered-parts. Do you really want to give that power to the lowest bidder?)

So I read that review. I actually cried when I read it. I couldn’t believe that someone not directly involved with Urban Waxx could understand so deeply what we strive to accomplish every day. It was amazing. It really resonated with me. Wow

A few days later I checked our Yelp page and Patri’s fabulous review was no longer on our page. Sigh. This has happened many times with us in the past on Yelp. 5 star review go missing. After speaking to Yelp as nauseam on this particular topic. Yelp has told me that they will remove a review that they consider “biased” toward a business, or if the Yelper in question has no profile picture, no friends, and no other reviews. Basically if they think the review is fake they yank it off the business page. It will still be on the reviewer’s page, but not be able to seen on the business page.  This little quirk of Yelp’s used to make me come unglued. We don’t shake down our clients for reviews and the reviews that we get are legit.

Then, with Patri’s Evangelist review, I had an epiphany: Yelp thinks that our reviews are fake because some of them seem TOO good! I actually felt pretty great after that. The fact that we have clients that feel so strongly about what we do at Urban Waxx that they would take the time to write a glowing review that was SO glowing that it would seem fake? Wow. We must be doing something right.

On the flip side, we don’t always have clients that are madly in love with us. That’s the bummer about working closely to people every minute of every day. Sometimes, we aren’t the right fit. I will promise, however, that we will try our absolute hardest to make every person that walks through our doors or emails us or calls us 100% thrilled with us. We want to have Evangelist clients…like Apple or Zingerman’s. That is our ultimate goal.

So, to Patri and all of the other Evangelists that pave the way for us: we thank you. Deeply.