What are you doing?

My therapist friend said that phrase in a tone of voice that implied I was sculpting a stone wheel from a boulder.

I’m writing holiday cards to my clients, I replied.

Ohh, no, no, no you will get carpal! she said. Let me show you my toys.

Out whipped the tablet. With its apps. This one sends appointment reminders automatically, along with holiday greetings and birthday offers. Au-to-ma-tic, she said, as if it were a word I have never heard before.

Yup, that’s me sitting there with my stones knives and bear clubs, sending out cards to people whom I have been seeing for massages for so long they are like family. But no, I am modern. My stamps are self-sticking.

I swear it is not age. We are about the same age, my massage therapist friend and I, and we have come up through the ranks into developing our own independent practices.

And I still have an appointment book and pencil. And I send holiday cards. Handwritten.

As my software engineer client told me one day, those apps. are great. Until all your data gets stuck somewhere in the cloud.

Bah Humbug!

Recently a prospective client quizzed me on the phone about my massage therapy services. This is the type of call I used to be frustrated with – some people only ask about price and hang up.

Price, it turns out, is a boundary, not a barrier.

People who ask questions about the massage, rather than the price, are the most likely to make an appointment. I try to answer as simply as I can and coax enough information to find out if I can be of help. That helps the prospective client understand and appreciate the value of the service.

The odd thing about price-shoppers, too, is the ones who have issues about price rarely have a true need for a lower rate. They are savvy shoppers.

Well, I’m a savvy shopper, too. But I know when I look at a shirt on the rack at a mega-discount store that I can see what I am buying, and I have to be OK with the presumed source of that wonderful discount – someone’s cheap, hard labor.

Massage, it turns out, can be like that too. I feel no “guilt” not booking a price-shopper because I know they will get what they pay for.

I find if I can communicate the value of my service – and there are ears to listen to that message, I can turn that call into an appointment.

Massage therapy is not a shirt.

At a recent continuing education class, our instructor went around and asked us to introduce ourselves and talk about how we are doing with our massage therapy practices.

Another therapist, a male, had gone broke renting a therapy room for $500 a month while struggling to get two to three clients in that time. He gave up the office and has been going to the local swap meet, doing chair massages. Most people do not want to pay his fee for a full massage, preferring the cheaper joints around town, many of which do not use credentialed therapists. He is also often rejected because of his gender.

I wasn’t feeling the confidence or success in this room. And people who bother to take c.e.u.s tend to be the go-getters. How can therapists develop practices when confronted with people who won’t pay or do not want the services offered?

I also felt like the oddball. My practice is going well, I have been too busy and I am working at my office and at homes. I can’t fit in all my clients.

A small sampling, but does it represent the struggles all massage therapists face?

Our instructor, an experienced and very smart therapist asked another question. “How many of you use social media?”

My hand went up. No others.

For folks trying to build a practice, remember much of social media is free. Cover the basics such as having proper credentials and licensing and you can list your availability on a number of sites. People looking for massage will find you.

Having your clients recommend your services to others often works very slowly. Their online review of your work makes that referral work for everyone who reads your information.

During the break, I was waiting for questions. No questions. Before class adjourned, I told my practice mate to stop going to swap meets. “Don’t chase people who do not want or value your services,” I said. Loudly enough for the rest of the class to hear, I hope.

Massage therapists are not all alike when it comes to their understanding of how to build a practice. I have heard lots of explanations as to why bookings stay low, very few explanations of why they are full.

 If you catch one of these shows the clichés are numerous. The owner wants help to make their business pay, but they don’t want to hear anything critical of their skills. The help is interested in making money, but stymied and discouraged by unsolved problems. Often there is a sacred cow: a lazy staffer or manager whom the owner wants to avoid confronting – or an unworkable idea that the manager/owner won’t drop. The bottom line is that the bank wants its money, not excuses. 

I enjoy these shows as a kind of self-therapy even though the environments are very different. Most massage therapists work alone. They are the owner, staff, manager and investor. The outlay to start a massage practice tends to be small, and there are very few therapists who make anywhere near “six-figures” when it comes to gross income. 

In common, though, are some basic universal truths. The formula for success is not a secret requiring an expensive marketing class or a practice coach. It is, just like the roaches in the kitchen of a failing restaurant, right in front of a person with eyes to see. 

Yes, darn it, arrive on time. Be clean. Do not wear jeans. Listen to the client. If it is a return client, go over your notes before they arrive. No notes? Where are they? Why be paid professionally if you don’t practice like a professional? Do you report your cash? And yes, a warm room and a clean heart. 

Argh. 

No shortcuts.