When I select a massage therapist for my own treatment I look for a couple of traits. One is they must be able to give me deep pressure and the second must-have trait is a good personality. Then call me a snob, but I like a tastefully decorated office and a non-smoker. I am not saying this is what everyone should look for in a therapist but for my optimal massage, those are my personal preferences. So in this line of thinking I had to ask myself what it is in ME that attracts my client base.
I have often told others that if you have good hands and an ounce of personality then you cannot fail at this job. To a certain degree I still believe this. I mean honestly how many people do you know that despise getting a massage? Typically if something feels good and it makes you healthier, consumers will try it out. In fact, a survey compiled by the AMTA (American Massage Therapy Association) revealed 1 in 4 patients that sought treatment for pain had tried massage therapy at least one time in that year. Patients that received regular massage therapy was around 12% overall. That is a big pool of bodies. So with a little creative marketing and some good word of mouth, you should be able to drive some people through your front door.
So once you get them in the front door, how do you make them want to come back? Obviously you need to do a massage to their satisfaction, but what else can you do to make yourself and your practice their number one choice for their massage needs? One of the first chances to make a good impression is the office setting. For my own clinic I tried to make it a place that looked inviting and professional, but not too clinical and rigid. I went with neutral/earth tones with a hint of Asian flair. When it came to giving my massage table a special little perk I added memory foam toppers and heated fleece table covers. I finished the table with flannel sheets. All of these extras are small things that I hope make the difference between my clinic and some of the other massage offices.
But the eye candy does not stop at your office decor. How you present yourself matters too. You only get one chance to make a good first impression so I try to project a confident, intelligent, and compassionate demeanor. I make eye contact when I introduce myself and go over their intake form. It is a pet peeve of mine when someone cannot communicate with intelligence so I try to make sure I use correct grammar and speak about massage in terms that the client can understand without having a medical degree. When I name a muscle I explain where it is in their body and what movement(s) it is responsible for. Now don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to telling someone their muscles are not in their happy place or that something is jacked up, but I do not lead with this jargon--it is for after I have assured the client that I know how to do my job.
Looks are important too. Would you want someone massaging you if they had dirty fingernails? Were sweating profusely? Wearing a halter top and hot pants? Okay maybe some folks WOULD like that, but that is not the kind of massage image I want to project. Hubby wears scrubs to enhance his professional look. When we work corporate or charity events we wear matching polo shirts with our company name embroidered on the chest. Clean, well-groomed and unwrinkled goes a long way with me and I can only assume it is important to the clientele who I want to attract.
So I have covered the office appearance and the therapist looks, but what else is attractive to potential clients? I tend to think it is personality. If you meet two professionals and each is equally qualified in their field, but one is not friendly or unwilling to engage in conversation and the other is warm and happy to discuss your concerns at length, which person are you more likely to bond with? I think it is the friendlier, warm fuzzy person and that is why I try to connect with each and every client that I come in contact with. Do I make connections with everyone that walks through my clinic door? No. If it is meant to be, it happens. If not, I tell people with sincere honesty "I might not be the therapist for you."
Since laws of attraction are not precise and do not always adhere to science, I can only begin to make an educated guess as to what makes my practice enticing. My theory is like attracts like. So I will not be waving my fingers over bodies and removing negative energy. I will not be wearing sleeveless tops and letting my armpits get bushy-haired and back to nature. I will not be chanting or offering prayers over clients. What I will be doing is giving the client a professional atmosphere, a good massage and a massage therapist that tries to meet both their physical and emotional needs. If that client returns I will assume I did something right!
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