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September 28, 2009

Giving Away Your Services

When I was in massage school, we had a class on professional development that dovetailed into business management. A lot of questions that students had involved how to grow your business from the ground up, since many of us were going into business for ourselves. The school suggested putting ourselves out in the community, giving complementary massages at sporting and charitable events. They also suggested advertising, a very expensive option. And finally, offering discount packages.

I took the approach of signing on with a new salon who needed a massage therapy as a service available to their customers. What I didn't know was that the owners, who were fine hairstylists, had no head for business. They kept promising to advertise in the local paper to drum up business for the salon, but when faced with the reality about how expensive advertising is, the ad never ran.

I sat for months with little or no business. I went to a school field day, set up in the teachers tent and gave free seated massages (with a tip jar close by) in hopes of accessing a population that I believed would benefit from massage. I got no takers. I went to the local health fair at the mall and gave free shoulder massages. I even had a free massage as door prize. When I called the winner, he became hostile and hung up on me. The second name I pulled, I left a message on their voice mail -- I never heard back from them.

I joined the local "New Comers Club" which offered door prizes. I put in free massage coupons for months and recipients squealed in delight when they won a massage. Only one person redeemed their door prize and I never saw them again. At my last New Comers meeting, they had a guest speaker arrive and give a presentation. It was a competing massage therapist who also gave away free massages as door prizes that day. I quit New Comers Club immediately and never looked back.

In desperation, I started giving free hand massages to customers who were coming in for haircuts. I figured once they were able to experience how good massage felt, they would opt for the real deal. I always pointed out the difference between how the massaged hand and arm felt in comparison to the one that hadn't gotten massaged yet. People would acknowledge they could feel the difference, seemingly impressed. I had only two massages book as a result after month and a half of unpaid work.

What is so difficult about starting out, is that you don't have any money. You work like a dog and it is difficult to stay motivated when you see little in the way of financial return. I felt like people didn't want what I had to offer even though it was free! I was like Rodney Dangerfield, I couldn't get no respect. At some point I realized that what I was trying to sell myself, so I needed to examine how people might perceive me. I was presenting myself professionally. I was talking about the benefits of massage to anyone who would listen. I was enthusiastic and willing to work. What was going on here?

I eventually moved my table and supplies to another location, a wellness clinic, where the audience was more receptive to the services I offered. In order to keep myself occupied, I answered their phone for free, giving me the advantage of catching any calls that came in for massage therapy. I treated it like an 8 to 5 job whether I had massage work or not. I believe my visibility and availability is what grew my business.

The disadvantage to this arrangement was that my clients took for granted that I would be available immediately when they called. As my business grew and time slots filled up, I began hearing complaints. But I didn't mind and it provided an opportunity to guide people into booking standing appointments. With half a dozen of those kinds of clients, I had enough of a sustainable business that I could pay my rent. The business grew from there and after 2 years, I was making a living wage.

From the start, I created an incentive program for repeat clients. I kept track of the number of sessions that they had with me. After 10 visits, they got their 11th one free. I kept this policy until the day that I closed my door in December of 2007 to attend PT school. I believe this incentive program payed for itself by engendering customer loyalty. Every time a customer brought in a coupon for a free massage, I cheered, knowing that my attitude is important. Also, I was always grateful for the repeat business.

tags: massage massagetherapy wellness massage therapy bodywork health

Posted by linda at September 28, 2009 10:13 AM

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