Jul 09
27
What makes a successful massage therapist?
What makes a successful massage therapist? What is it that will make the difference between being able to make the money that you need as a massage therapist and having to quit and change careers?
What qualities make for a successful massage therapist?
Is it having a certain technique?
No, people can be successful using any technique or massage method. There are probably over 300 different types of massage and new methods being created everyday.
Is it having a certain amount of money to start your career with?
No people have started with nothing and people have started with bank loans or savings to start their business. Having money doesn’t make any difference.
Is it being an expert at marketing?
No – most massage therapists know nothing about marketing and they learn as they go.
Is it having a good location?
No. You can make it work in any location really. I used to do massage in a health club and the room I used was right next to the aerobics room and there wasn’t any soundproofing – I kid you not. I was so busy at that location and always had clients. Sometimes better locations can make it easier but it isn’t guaranteed that you will succeed if you have the best or right location.
Is it knowing more than other massage therapists about business?
No. You can learn about business.
Is it about getting the right people to refer to you like doctors or clients?
No. Anyone can find people to refer to them if they do their networking.
Is it the economy or the trouble in the economy.
No. The economy is about other people’s money. Many are very successful in this economy. With so many people stressed out and getting sick or injured the opportunities are unlimited. Is it more challenging to build a practice or find a job in this economy? Yes it might be but that doesn’t mean it can’t work. Walmart was started during the great depression to fill a need.
What is it that makes the difference of whether or not you will be successful or not in the massage profession?
YOU! You are the difference!
What makes the difference is your commitment to making things happen for yourself. Yes it isn’t always easy. It takes time and effort. It takes a constant vigilance in remembering just why you are doing this to keep you motivated. It might mean you have to work a part time job or find a massage job at times or doing whatever it will take to make ends meet.
Monica Roseberry in her first edition of “Massage Marketing” came up with 4 components that create success. These were put together after she actually toured the country and went to many massage schools and interviewed students and massage school teachers. What made the difference had nothing to do with the degree of marketing knowledge or business skills. What made the difference was:
- The Desire to Serve
- The Commitment to Succeed
- A Strong emphasis on professionalism
- A Commitment to Excel at customer service
It may also mean hiring a webdesigner or investing in learning about websites and how to get them to work for you. It may mean investing in a business and marketing coach.
Massage therapists have a strong desire to serve. This in itself is often the motivating force for succeeding. (It can also be the road to failure when it is not combined with self care and creating boundaries.) The desire to serve is often confused with having to sacrifice money and self to serve.
Monica Roseberry in her first edition of “Marketing Massage: How to build your dream practice” says this about serving.
Like it or not, your desire to serve or not serve can be felt directly by your clients.
It is the desire that will take you through the ups and downs of being a massage therapist. (It is like that way in any field that you choose too.) Having a strong desire to serve combined with a strong commitment to succeed and to preserve in any economy or through any challenges will lead to success. This means that just because you try one thing and fail doesn’t mean that it is over. Learning from your failure is the most important part of failing at something. If you send out a postcard to 100 people and no one responds it doesn’t really mean anything. You just have to do it again and again until it works. Because massage therapists have a way of putting their hearts and souls into a massage business, it often gets equated with thinking and believing that they are not good enough or something must be wrong with them if no one called from one mailing or even 100 mailings.
It doesn’t mean anything.
Being Professional is also a component of success. Professionalism means different things to different people. Part of the problem for some massage therapists is that they think that being a massage therapist is about their freedom to do as they please and would rather stick to their own ideas of working with clients. The most important thing a massage therapist can do for their professionalism is to understand the client/therapist dynamics and keep the work focused on the client. Since working with people in a state of undress and touching people is such an intimate act, the rules change. There are so many potential issues that are not really obvious like how selling products can influence the client/therapist relationship. This isn’t covered much in massage school and it is helpful to get ongoing supervision (not in the work sense of the word) but clinical supervision which is about working with a more experienced massage therapist to be aware of boundary issues and being a professional.
Having Excellent customer services skills is also one of those topics that seems like common sense but it isn’t if you have not worked with people much in a business situation. Most clients don’t really have a clue about massage, what the different styles are or really care what technique you are doing. They only care how it all feels. Going above and beyond in every session is what customer service is all about. It is simple things like returning phone calls within an hour of getting them or returning them when you say you will. It is being on time for sessions. It is being present with the client and not bringing your personal issues or even advice to the table.
So while there isn’t just one thing that makes for a successful massage therapist but a combination of qualities that create the right mix.
What do you think makes for a successful massage therapist?
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