The best thing I ever did to grow my practice is …
Whitney Lowe: Networking with other health professionals. This included doing presentations and creating information that was directly relevant for their patient population.
Laura Allen: I was very active in my local Chamber of Commerce. They really helped publicize my business.
Til Luchau: If I met someone who was stressed, hurting, or agitated, I’d give them some work, right then and there, or have them come in for a free session. They became my best advocates.
The key thing I wish I knew when I was starting out is …
Whitney Lowe: How much time would be spent in running the business side of the practice. It is easy to get excited about the work we do in the treatment room, but that will never last if we don’t focus on running a business.
Laura Allen: You can’t pay your staff more than you pay yourself. You’re the one with all the responsibility and taking all the business risks. It’s noble to want to pay people well, but you deserve to make a good living.
Til Luchau: It’s the pleasure of doing the work itself that’s the real reward. About 15 years in, with a super “successful” practice, I realized I wasn’t having much fun. Now, after 33 years of practice, I’m enjoying it more than ever.
My definition of excellent customer service is …
Whitney Lowe: Going out of my way to treat each individual as if they are the most important person I will be seeing that day. Treating people this way really helps your treatment room success.
Laura Allen: Being client-centered, listening to their concerns, having clear and professional communication, giving them what they contracted for, and not going off on treatment tangents just because you want to. It isn’t about you.
Til Luchau: It’s the same in my private practice as in our trainings: it’s being good at interactions that clarify and serve our clients’ needs, longings, and desires, even if that means helping them find what they’re looking for somewhere else.
My business management advice for therapists is …
Whitney Lowe: Take advantage of modern marketing strategies. The changing marketing landscape can work to your advantage by introducing you to potential clients much more effectively than the old methods of advertising.
Laura Allen: Take an honest inventory of your strengths and weaknesses before starting out. If you’re not good at accounting, hire someone to do it at the outset instead of waiting until it becomes a problem.
Til Luchau: “Business” doesn’t have to clash with “healing.” Humans are the only creatures that have transactions with each other. Transactions done well (e.g., giving, receiving, exchanging, loaning, repaying, etc.) can interconnect our interest in a web of mutual care.
The challenging experience that taught me the most valuable business lesson is …
Felicia Brown: Failure. Really, failure is just feedback that what you’re doing isn’t working. It’s also inevitable. I learned early on to pick myself up, figure out what went wrong, make adjustments, and keep going.
Doug Nelson: The skills for being a successful therapist and for being successful in business are different. At one point, I thought hiring accounting people meant I didn’t need to be involved in that part of the business. Painful lesson. No one knows your business like you do.
Jennie Hastings: That it does not pay to hold on to a client who drains you. Even if they want a 90-minute massage every week and you don’t know how you’ll replace the income, let them go if they are causing you physical or psychological pain.
Clint Chandler: The current challenge is identifying whether I will be able to retire in 10 years. I strongly suggest that MTs meet early in their careers with a financial advisor to create a retirement strategy and with a disability insurance agent for disability coverage.
My most effective marketing strategy is …
Felicia Brown: Referrals. A referral promotion in 2012 that cost me $72.39 brought in more than $50,000 in revenue to my business (at last count).
Doug Nelson: To reach more people, narrow the focus of your practice. It is counterintuitive, but very effective.
Jennie Hastings: Building relationships with business leaders in my community. I joined a business networking group that taught me a lot about running a business and created relationships that support me to this day.
Clint Chandler: I offered a complimentary session to several physical therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and medical doctors. I wanted them to experience my work firsthand, and I listed the conditions and situations that I felt my approach could be most effective with.
To be a successful business owner you need to …
Felicia Brown: Remember your first role is to promote yourself. It doesn’t matter how many techniques you know; if you have an empty table and are unable to reach the people who need and want what you offer, you cannot succeed.
Doug Nelson: Be mission driven, not goal driven. A mission will sustain you when times are difficult, and things will be difficult at some point. Plus, clients resonate with your passion for the field.
Jennie Hastings: Have a clear vision of your goal and focus on that. It is hard to be successful while juggling many competing priorities.
Clint Chandler: Call people back right away and be a good listener; try to understand their situation, goals, and needs. View every client as your best possible marketing partner.
My financial advice for therapists is …
Felicia Brown: Know your value—from the prices you charge and discounts you offer to what you pay yourself or invest in your future. If you have money or prosperity hang-ups, get help.
Doug Nelson: While we want massage therapy to be accessible, it is vital not to undervalue it. Just as we respect environmental sustainability, your business must be sustainable as well.
Jennie Hastings: To be realistic about how much it costs to do business. Build this into your fees, and do not feel bad about it. Decide for yourself what your work is worth, and ask for what you need to be supported.
Clint Chandler: Report the cash you receive so that your income category is accurate. This will help you secure a personal or business loan and increase the amount of your social security benefits once you retire.
My most effective client retention strategy is …
Ben Benjamin: To always spend the time to take a complete history and understand the client’s goals before beginning treatment, and being honest with that client if they will not benefit from my work.
Allissa Haines: Asking, after working on the primary issue, “Is there anything I missed here or any spot you want me to go back to?” This ensures the client feels heard and gets the massage they sought.
Eric Stephenson: To educate and invite clients to return with a professional recommendation and easy rebooking process. This includes how often they should receive massage, benefits of regular massage, and a piece of self-care they can incorporate between sessions.
Susan Epperly: Forgive the corny pun, but I’ve found it to be immensely important to “keep in touch” with clients. Sending out a content-rich monthly email newsletter has helped me maintain a dialogue with clients.
The customer service experience that taught me the most about how to treat my own clients is …
Ben Benjamin: Working with medical practitioners who were honest about what they knew and didn’t know, and who always followed up on what they said they would do.
Allissa Haines: Every terrible massage I’ve ever had. Especially the one where the therapist ignored my neck, after I specifically asked for work on my neck.
Eric Stephenson: Ordering from Zappos. They are a way-cool customer service company disguised as an online shoe retailer. They masterfully developed rapport by listening to my needs, mirroring back what they heard me say, and then recommending the perfect product.
Susan Epperly: While living in Asia, I noticed that small businesses there tend to give small gifts to customers as tokens of appreciation. After adopting this in my own practice, I created an ebook listing hundreds of ideas for such parting gifts.
The technology tool that has benefited my practice the most is …
Ben Benjamin: Schedulicity online scheduling system. It’s easy and quick for both me and my clients to use. And it has great technical support both in setting up an account and maintaining it.
Allissa Haines: Online scheduling. It’s reduced my workload, cut down on no-shows and cancellations, and helped me maintain control and boundaries with my schedule.
Eric Stephenson: Social media. When you are clear about who you are in the world, what you have to offer, and how that benefits others, you can broadcast the message to a large audience for free, over and over again.
Susan Epperly: An online booking system. This frees us up to focus on being practitioners rather than schedulers.
My marketing advice for therapists is …
Ben Benjamin: Honestly talk to people about what you do and share the excitement you feel—whether that be one on one, in a networking situation, in promotional emails, or on social media.
Allissa Haines: Learn it. Plan it. Do it. Accept that there is a learning curve and make the effort to learn all about marketing. Plan an approach, write out the steps, and then actually do those things.
Eric Stephenson: Focus on creating “highly satisfied” clients, and they will do a large part of the work for you. They are twice as likely to return to your business and three times as likely to recommend you than the merely “satisfied” client.
Susan Epperly: Find your own voice and be your own quirky self. While clients obviously expect skill and professionalism from their massage therapist, they will also appreciate authenticity and uniqueness.
Author Bios:
Laura Allen, an educator and the massage division director of Soothing Touch, has been a massage therapist for 18 years. She is the author of five textbooks and is a regular contributor to trade publications. www.lauraallenmt.com
Ben E. Benjamin holds a doctorate in sports medicine. He has been in private practice for more than 50 years and teaches throughout the country on orthopedic massage. He is the author of Listen to Your Pain (Penguin Books, 2007), Are You Tense (Pantheon, 1978), and Exercise Without Injury (MTI, 1979), and co-author of Ethics of Touch (Sohnen-Moe Associates, 2013). www.benbenjamin.com.
Felicia Brown, author of Creating Lifetime Clients (Spalutions, 2016) and Free & Easy Ways to Promote Your Massage, Spa & Wellness Business (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013), provides business and marketing coaching for massage professionals. A licensed massage therapist, she also owns a wellness spa in Greensboro, North Carolina. www.spalutions.com
Clint Chandler has over 27 years of both clinical practice and teaching experience in massage and manual therapies, with an additional eight years working as a multidisciplinary team member and case manager in various physical rehabilitation settings. www.myofinder.com and www.bionexusllc.com
Susan Epperly, and her husband, Shane, are clinical massage therapists in private practice and the owners of Tiger Lily Studios, LLC, through which they produce educational products for fellow health and wellness practitioners. Their boutique bodywork clinic is in East Austin, Texas. www.tigerlilystudios.com.
Allissa Haines owns a thriving massage practice and wellness center in Plainville, Massachusetts. She creates business and marketing resources for other massage therapists and is known for being ridiculously in love with massage, scotch, and cupcakes. www.massagebusinessblueprint.com
Jennie Hastings is a board-certified massage therapist, writer, and teacher. She is the author of The Inspired Massage Therapist (Massage Blossom Books, 2012). For her, massage therapy is the foundation all her dreams are built on. www.inspiredmassagetherapist.com
Whitney Lowe directs the Academy of Clinical Massage and is the author of Orthopedic Assessment in Massage Therapy (Daviau Scott, 2006) and Orthopedic Massage: Theory and Technique (Churchill Livingstone, 2009). He teaches continuing education in advanced clinical massage through the academy and offers an online certification program in orthopedic massage. www.academyofclinicalmassage.com
Til Luchau is lead instructor at Advanced-Trainings.com. With a diverse background that includes manual therapy, somatic psychology, transformative education, and management consulting, his ability to connect interdisciplinary, big-picture ideas to practical, real-world applications has made his articles, books, trainings, and videos popular worldwide. www.advanced-trainings.com
Douglas Nelson celebrated multiple anniversaries in April 2017. He began his 40th year of practice; his 18-therapist massage therapy clinic in Champaign, Illinois, celebrated its 35th anniversary; and his teaching institute began its 20th year of existence. He is also president-elect of the Massage Therapy Foundation. www.nmtmidwest.com and www.bodyworkassociates.com
Eric Stephenson creates continuing education focused on career longevity, working with some of the most respected names in the wellness industry throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, and the Caribbean. His new video, “Intelligent Deep Tissue Massage,” was released in May 2017. www.imassageinc.com