Category Archives: The Business Side of Massage

Meetups for Massage Therapists

I am just back from our massage therapist state convention Classes, networking, stuff to buy and a bit of fun. I had the joy of being a test body, demonstrating treatment by one of the best bodyworkers in the world today.
But the big annual meeting/convention paradigm is changing Conventions are losing attendance, and may be going the way of the pay phone. We have lots of other opportunities to communicate, so fewer therapists every year, also means fewer people selling products, fewer recruiters and fewer classes.
At some point our state meeting may change to every other year, or it may morph into some sort of social event that happens to have some classes the same weekend. They just don’t want to call it a convention, because conventions are losing money.
Well, should the community of massage therapists care? What does a convention do for we who rub?
As someone who has spent 25 to 30 hours a week for the past 20 years in a dimly-lit room, I have to say I like seeing other people who do what I do. It’s a good time to compare notes. How’s business? What are your shoulders feeling like? Find a good program for your schedule? How do you unstick scalenes?
Hey, we can do all this online, of course, but I do like to see folks in person. I notice that the web has replaced much communication, yet people still gather in groups. Perhaps we should have bonfires on the beach, so we can feel our tribalism as in days gone by. Whoop-whoop!

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Therapeutic Massage?

My massage client had gone to a fancy resort spa with an extraordinary view of the ocean. The spa was world-class. The services were expensive, the atmosphere somewhat reminiscent of a place where Roman emperors might have gone for a holiday.
How was your massage? I asked him when the holiday was over.
I had the guy they said was the best there, my client said, and I probably had the worst massage of my life.
Okay, I was not-so-secretly delighted that the fancy place didn’t measure up. But what was wrong with the massage? Shouldn’t it be pretty good if not better than average?
My client thought so. His masseuse didn’t ask any questions and spent 80 minutes gliding his hands and forearms over his body, impersonal and disconnected. I asked him afterwards why he didn’t work more on my bad spots, my client said. The guy told me oh, you wanted a therapeutic massage. Remind me next time.
Yowza. Great moments in customer service. Of course there would be no next time. I felt bad for my client, worse for my profession. What had gone wrong here? Why would a supposed deep-tissue massage turn into an oil basting? Even more important, why would there be a difference if my client had spoken up and asked for a “therapeutic” massage?
Unimpressed, yes, but it gave us both a moment to consider what a therapeutic massage means. I have been doing massage for 21 years. My client is a connoisseur, having had two to three massages a week for a good 40-plus years.
The person we couldn’t quiz was the spa therapist. Don’t know if he was hung over, injured, overworked or just uncaring. Maybe he didn’t like working on old guys. Maybe he was a Johnny-one-note with a recipe for conserving energy. The great unknown.
Either way, he had insured that my client would never get a massage from this guy ever again. And my client was soured on the resort, too.
To my way of thinking, all massages are therapeutic, he said.
I could not agree with him more. I’ve had great massages from experts to the humble, self-taught therapists. The names of the massages did not matter. The caring connection matters most.

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Massage Clients Need Training, Too

Most massage therapists charge by their time spent in a session, so dealing with client cancellations and no-shows is a particularly dear subject.
Big massage businesses just put their policies out there: 24-hour cancellation or full charge for the missed session. No appointment without a credit card to “guarantee a reservation.” It is a survival tactic that keeps the bills paid.
But what happens when the massage is not part of a big edifice of business complete with a receptionist to state the policy? Massage is a client-based business, after all. Can you afford to alienate a client for a missed appointment? Can you nicely charge folks for services not rendered? Is a cancellation policy a must or a risk for the small massage practice or clinic?
Those questions are an excellent place to start when considering your practice and its future. But keep in mind that massage therapists tend to be quiet, healing people who do not like confrontations, especially with those people seeking relief from stress. If you don’t have any policy stated up front, you may be in the position none of us healing people like: broke and behind in the bills.
Aaargh. Yes, boundaries. Those darn things hopefully they talked about a lot in massage school. Is there a middle ground? Can a therapist walk the fine line between impersonal business policy and caring personal service? And still pay the bills?
This is a tough subject. Why? Because out there in the universe, most people are honest and upfront and understand that you need to be paid for your time. Then there are others who feel every nickel saved on a cancel fee is a personal victory attesting to their ability to avoid paying for anything. Yes, these are the legendary “cheap clients” who will turn your book into a sea of red ink if you are not careful.
Airlines and other big shops generally don’t give money back or reverse charges. They have found out the hard way that when a big biz is involved, many people perceive lying to not be charged or to get your money back is okay fibbing. Hey, the airlines can afford it, right? Well, not really. Big shops have to defend themselves.
The most important thing here is that if you have a “cheap client” with a great excuse is to get rid of them. A cancellation policy will do that. Otherwise these folks will suck your energy dry with no regrets.
Sometimes, yes it happens, the client is actually using the no-show as a way of firing you. It says in a big way that the client does not value the service. It means “cya.” Whatever is going on, this is the client you will be relieved to remove from your book. If that client ever calls again, they pay the no-show fee before getting a massage for their “emergency.”
In the big and small picture of customer service, I think it is important to respect your skills enough to have a firm cancellation policy. It can be full charge, half charge, whatever you want, but have it. And when a regular client who appreciates your work has a true emergency, it is okay to say “no charge.” That will be appreciated. After all, small business is personal, eh?

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Taking Chances with Your Massage Muse

Massage therapists are like musicians, athletes and dancers. We train, we practice, and yes, we ache.
Those of us who are in it for real are often playing despite pain. Therapists should be doing all kinds of things to stay in the game, from stretching icing and exercising. But like our musician and dancer friends we are often too busy doing lots of massages and working on our careers to do these things regularly.
Lately folks have wondered about the longevity of a massage therapist’s career based on body mechanics. The stats are kind of miserable: Some newbies are out in three months. The average career is five years. The longer-lasting folks seem invincible but are not really.
My long-timer buddies look fine but have complaints of tendonitis and numb appendages. In my observation, people who work out or do a cardio activity such as cycling seem to wear well. I will think that and then I see a friend out for six months after an accident on the bike.
I suspect there is no magic formula to surviving and thriving in a massage career, but I also suspect that some people leave their starting gates with their feet tied. Hyper-mobile thumbs, hips, shoulders don’t do that well in time. Too stiff people seem to get by but have a lot of osteoarthritis. A long-time therapist friend (25 years) says it all comes down to whether she can play racquetball twice a week.
Well, we all have our goals/expectations.
The older and wiser therapist, has, hopefully learned. My exercise ball is in my living room; another is at the office. My racquetball-crazed friend has her Pilates reformer in her living room. Another has her own cold laser on the nightstand by the bed. How many ice packs can fit in a side-by-side fridge?
We all know the best prevention of all is massage, of course, and when therapists get a massage once a week they seem to do well. How many of us do it? How many of us pay for it?
My master plan is to continue to enjoy doing massages for a good while longer. That takes dedication to prevention. I feel like the musician who has made it to the symphony. I’d better take care of what I have so I don’t have to retire before I am ready.
What is your strategy? Do you have one? Are you dedicated to prevention, the thing we tell all our clients about endlessly?

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Finding and Keeping a Massage Office

Many therapists could benefit from the use of a massage office. Your own spot saves your back from wrangling tables at house calls. Your own spot also offers a great learning experience – how to develop skills to negotiate and keep an office, handle bills and make more income.
At some point in every massage therapist’s career the question comes up: Would you rather work for yourself or someone else? Would you rather handle the details to enjoy the freedom? Does it suit your style and your abilities? If it does not, are you interested in developing those skills?
Being able to answer those questions thoughtfully is just the start. I’ve pulled together some tips from a long career; some of it spent working for others and some for me.
Find the Time: Lots of therapists I worked with at spas and medical offices talked about getting their own place, but most never took their first steps. You have to plot out your time. Will you spend every Monday and Tuesday looking at places? What about collecting equipment and décor on the second-hand market? Will you be spending full retail for what you need?
Study up: There are lots of online resources, most free, where therapists share their stories and advice. Tap in. I also looked at consumer columns on such things as commercial leases, tax advantages of an office and how to use your noggin to determine if potential officemates and/or landlords will be a good fit.
Work up you own agreement. If you find a place to share or rent full-time, you will get your best deal from your own hand. Sure, lots of landlords have their own agreements, but those agreements often turn back on themselves and nullify the very things you want or need. If you can use a one-page, simple agreement of your own design, you are better off.
Know your noise: Massage needs peace and quiet. The most common complaint I have heard from people is that they didn’t know the neighbors would be noisy. Or their landlord rented to a noisy neighbor just to fill space. You need some quiet neighbors, like accountants, other wellness offices, etc. Restaurants, machine shops and daycare are going to drive you crazy. Get it in writing that you won’t be subject to excessive noise incompatible with your business.
Have one-year’s rent in the bank before you leap. If your office is going to cost $500 a month or $5,000, you need to know you can pay for it while you figure out your business. Don’t rely on your hands to make paying clients magically appear.
Have more than one income stream available: If you run ads on Google, have a good website and your cousin the chiropractor sends you clients, you might make it. Most people forget to figure in the cost of marketing and keeping good referral sources in place.
It is also a frequent and fatal mistake to assume that if you leave your employer, your clients will follow. Most won’t. And your employer has paid money to get those clients in the door and the clients may just like it there just fine. How do you handle that? Trust me, it will take about 5 minutes for your employer to find out you are telling clients about your new venture. Ethics applies in business and in massage. Read up on how to leave gracefully. You don’t want to be one of those therapists who have to go to work for someone else a year later because you venture failed or created a lawsuit.

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Wrangling the Walk-In Massage Client

Sometimes a client just appears looking for a massage. Literally a walk-in. What can a therapist do to turn a lookie-loo into a booking?

These potential clients may be trying to size up you and your spa. Offer a quick tour.

If they like you and your spa, but are reluctant to make an appointment, offer a special. What’s a special?

I can do a half-hour massage for the regular price and if you like it you can extend it to a full hour at a discount of $10.
I can offer you a half-hour massage for a $10 discount and if you want to extend to an hour the discount will be $15.

If you are already booked and waiting on a client, offer a specific appointment option:

I can schedule you today at 3 p.m. for a deep tissue session. We can do an hour or 90 minutes…?

Are you way too busy today? Offer advice on getting an appointment at another time.

I can usually get people in with a few days notice. What about this time later this week?

Showing potential clients around, answering a few questions and being friendly can turn the walk-in prospect into a client. Try it. It works!

After all, the walk-in client is there because they want a massage.

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The Good Massage Therapist

Here’s my shortlist for what a good massage therapist needs to know:

Talk to the client first, not during a session. Get enough information to know what the client seeks, whether they want a complete massage or spot work, and if they have medical conditions that should not be massaged. This communication takes only a few seconds. A good massage therapist always has time to communicate.

Know Contra-indications: A client with a cold or kidney infection can develop much more serious infections if massaged. A good massage therapist knows the reasons not to massage and how to explain that so the client doesn’t get angry.

Practice Universal Precautions: Protect your clients and yourself. If you don’t know what universal precautions are, you are not practicing safely. Good massage therapists know how to practice without spreading disease – or going overboard and putting on gloves when there is no rational need.

Pressure: The point of an effluerage is to soothe, not startle. Pressure with a first effluerage should be mild and stay the same all the way up. Therapists who start light on less sensitive areas and then suddenly drill sensitive tissue at the end of an effleurage could be called grinders. Not a good rep.

Timing: Twenty minutes on the feet because you like foot massage is not a good opening if the client wants a full body treatment. A person with a headache usually wants their head rubbed first.

Encouragement: We don’t fix, we soothe. A positive word goes a long way in helping people feel better.

Goals: What you want to practice that day may not be what the client wants. They may just want to fall asleep. Check-in. Ask before doing unusual techniques For example: whiplash clients can be very afraid of having someone traction their neck by suddenly lifting their head with a towel. If they don’t understand or agree, they will tense up.

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Real Practice for Real Massage

On a massage therapist’s first day at work, the training starts with how to say hello to a client. Easy?

Oh heavens. I have had massage trainees stare at the floor. Roll eyes in a complete circle looking everywhere but at the client. Worst, a brief nanosecond of eye contact followed by staring over the head.

How would you feel to be greeted these ways? Would you go into a room, take your clothes off and figure everything is going to be fine?

Yes, sometime before massage therapists become overnight successes because of their fabulous hands, they need to learn the art of eye contact. Yet for many of the massage community, we’re introverts, looking for a quiet place to work in harmony. We didn’t think about developing eye contact because we are not social divas, by and large.

That first day of looking a stranger in the eye can bring out insecurity for a walk right across your face.

Here is the really bad news. When you cannot look someone in the eye they don’t see shy and humble. They see sneaky, dishonest, and even incompetent. Fear or loathing. Aloofness. Distance. Not the first impression anyone would want to make with a client, ever. The last impression a therapist wants is a wrong one.

With two or more trainees, it is fairly easy to practice greetings with each other. You do not know each other, but you are in this life raft together. We will go over it about a dozen times, and toss out those little things in our expressions and eyes that say the opposite of the greeting we speak.

It takes some doing especially when the new trainee is solo. One of my solo newbies was getting great feedback on her massage, but her surveys indicated that her greetings were getting in the way. The telling question – would you request this person again – was not going her way. If the survey says the massage was great, what to do?

We had a talk over mocha bobas, a drink invented by people who want to make me feel old.

It went something like this:

How are things going?

Great! I love my job!

Fantastic. How are you doing with building your client list?

I’m getting some people back. Not as many as I thought I would. It seems to take time.

Is there anything that you think would help you?

The dreaded open-ended question. A pause. This is the most uncomfortable time. But this new therapist was intelligent and gifted. She knew what I was asking.

I think I need more help with greetings.

Let’s practice now. Go up to the barista and ask for something more. Look her in the eye. Greet her like a client. See if you can connect with just your eye contact.

She tried it, and came back.

That was tough. I felt like I was staring at her, invading her space. It was very uncomfortable. I don’t like it.

Suppose that is the only way to get your coffee, or anything else in your life that you want. Can you make eye contact? Can you practice enough in the next week to get comfortable with it?

Yes, it was an assignment. When we met for coffee the next week, her discomfort was less, her confidence more. We can still both be shy, I said, we just have to learn how to connect with our eyes and our hands.

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Running Your Massage Practice

Massage therapists are not known for their left-brain skills. It’s hard to keep track of money, supplies, and clients and still use the powers of intuition and touch to help people.

Or is it? There are some relatively simple and low-tech ways to keep track of things so you can keep up with your bills and keep the IRS happy as well.

Most massage therapists are independent contractors, so they need to do something to keep practice and financial records in a way that they can create with the least pain. Simple systems can help with preservation of sanity.

Here’s some “practical” advice:

Smart phone apps offer easy client minding and bookkeeping systems. But one of the problems with these apps is that when a therapist gets busy, these get neglected.

A week, a month, a year later, these apps only tell you what you have told it.

The calendar is simplest scheduling/bookkeeping system has long been used by salons. Whether paper or on your phone, note the client, phone, duration and amount. Add each day’s amounts and hours up, then total each week. No, it won’t dissolve into an easy spreadsheet. But it will keep you in the know.

Some therapists will keep their client notes and info on a separate file in the phone. More complicated but it keeps the notes separate from the financial records, which is better for client privacy.

Expenses often are another forgotten aspect of the massage therapist’s business. Again, the calendar can help. Make note of where you drive for mileage, how many sheets you wash.

For the completely absent-minded, the most elemental system for expenses is a resealable plastic bag. Receipts go in there right away. If the receipts are electronic, they go into another notes file in your phone.

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Good Fences Make Good Massages…

The other day, whilst talking to massage therapist friends about the best and worst places to do massage, we came up with lots of candidates for best, but the worst won hands down: beauty salons.

Yes, it has happened to many massage therapists. It may have been a fill-in job during massage school or a way to circumvent crazy local regulations, or just a desperate attempt to pay the rent. We had all, at one time, worked in a beauty salon.

Going in, we all agreed it looked like a great opportunity. A room in the back of the place, a built-in foot traffic that might be interested in massage, and a few people hanging out there to talk to when it was slow.

My friend said: My first day I got a lecture about why I had to wear make-up. I don’t know a lot of massage therapists that wear make-up because it slides off in the first 10 minutes of a session. I actually had to tell the salon owner that we sweat.

My other colleague stopped mid-sip in her Starbucks. She said: I got to wear a Minnie Mouse uniform with cap sleeves and a skirt. I felt like I was about to parade down Main Street. Our salon owner thought all the spa people should wear dresses so we looked cute. Meanwhile, everyone in the rest of the salon wore black jeans and T-shirts.

This brought back my own memories. It was a part-time job during massage school. The salon was a seething cauldron of drama. The stylists liked to unload about their unhappiness in the area where they mixed color – right outside the door of my massage room.

Asking people to hold it down or take their conversations elsewhere led to chaos. After more than a few jabs about being too quiet for a salon, I fled shortly after graduation from massage school. Much to my surprise, a few clients found me. One told me she just put up with the salon because she liked the massage.

I left salon world, happily, for better-designed spas and medical offices. My spa kept the hair stylists corralled in a separate room with a real door. No drama.

Much to my horror a client confessed to me one day that he was a salon owner and wanted to develop a spa-salon combination. Would I be interested?

Been there, done that I said. But a salon needs separation from a spa environment. How about a real door and a real wall across the back half of the salon? That way the sanctuary could be established.

He asked me to visit the place when it was remodeled. Yup, a real wall and a real door. It was very successful.

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