5 Secrets to Corporate Massage Sales Success - Massage Magazine

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On-site chair massage is a growing business, especially now, as it is often requested and expected by the younger generation of office workers.


Many large companies recognize this as they partner with wellness companies to offer programs like corporate chair massage to enhance their employees’ work life.

According to FORTUNE magazine in 2016, corporations that make massage available to employees include American Fidelity Assurance Company, Cisco Systems, Genentech, Scripps Health and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, among others.

A Growing Market


When researching how chair massage has grown over the years, Google has a great tool, Google Trends, that shows data to support the theory that chair massage interest continues to grow by leaps and bounds.

Google indexes range from 0 to 100 and demonstrate the interest level of those inquiries. When researching how chair massage has grown over the years, Google Trends did not disappoint with the statistics. It showed a significant increase of inquiries using the keyword chair massage over the past four years.

Whereas the term chair massage was indexed at 29 in January 2014, the same term increased to 93 by December 2018.

To further excite and encourage mobile chair massage companies, between Dec. 31, 2018, and, Jan. 6, 2019, Google searches for chair massage were up 33 percent in one week. If this indicator turns into inquiries and new business for corporate chair massage companies in 2019, it shows that this is going to be a great year for many in the massage profession.

But that success won’t be had without planning. Now is the time to capitalize on growing your business with a proper outline of whom to contact and target to promote on-site chair massage.

This article will feature 5 ideas on how best to make the initial contact with a corporate client.

1. Formulate a Pre-Sales Objective


Before entering into any discussion, it’s best to identify who your client is and what your ideal service offering is. With the massage profession so diverse now, it makes more sense to identify your chosen, ideal client in order to seek and then educate them on the benefits of your particular massage service.

For example, if you are a sole massage therapist provider with a private office, it makes more sense to target individuals who value working with an independent licensed professional. There are many avenues to create interest as a sole proprietor, including gift certificates, a referral program, and monthly emails with details about self care and the benefits of massage.

If, however, you own a business that offers massage to corporate clients, it makes more sense for you to target corporate clients that value the ease of prompt and easy scheduling with professional and experienced therapists coordinated through an established company.

If you are unclear on this, take a few minutes to consider your best clients enjoying your massage services. Why do they continue to choose your service(s) vs. another?

2. Research Local Businesses to Prospect


By spending time researching and organizing like businesses to contact, your efforts will be more effective. The time spent thinking through businesses that have used services in the past opens up ideas how to best proceed to honor your time and efforts.

When offering on-site chair massage, consider those employers that have employees spending the majority of the workweek sitting at a desk. For a more structured environment and workweek, some types of companies that come to mind include law offices, IT companies and architectural firms.

For more service-related companies that have shift work, consider nursing homes, hospitals and large medical practices. These employees are often moving and typically covering large areas in their day-to-day routines.

Once you have established your preferred client and geographical area, gather a list of prospects as a result of some online searches. Plan and prepare for the valuable time set aside to make contact with prospective clients. Researching the company’s website and personnel listed online helps to discover the size, location and marketing of the company.

Understanding the client is critical to your success, showing that you have done your homework and understand some key points about their business offerings. Also, set a limit for the minimum number of employees working there to ensure that your efforts will result in solid business growth.

As a rule of thumb for my business of 17 years, I find that if the employer is paying for chair massage services, it seems that 70 percent of the employees will gladly enjoy massage services. If the employee is self-paying for massage, the number drops to roughly 40 percent of employees gladly enjoying massage services.

Thus, it is best to set your sites on a company that is large enough to provide enough interested clients to enjoy mobile chair massage services. My personal objective with company size is to target companies with 250 or more employees.

3. Schedule a Day and Preferred Time to Focus on Your Sales Efforts


For many massage therapists, scheduling time each week to promote your business is tricky to manage. Times should vary week to week, with different days and times, to monitor how successful your results are with making contact with corporate clients.

Typically, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays work best as clients are well into the work week and not wrapping up for the weekend ahead. Varying the times for either early morning or early afternoon can vary by location and business.

4. Make Contact with your Ideal Client


If you are savvy with social media such as LinkedIn, you can use your resources and time to make the initial contact by email. This potentially opens the door to further conversation about the benefits of an on-site wellness program.

In addition, a your website can bring results and leads if continually updated with blogs, articles and other beneficial information about corporate wellness.

Once the potential client has contacted you online, you can easily research them through various social media channels, including Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

Having a plan is the best plan if cold calling into large businesses. Practicing a short script prior to making contact shows that you are prepared and ready for discussion on why your services beat others in your marketplace.

Highlighting client experiences with you or your company is compelling to those considering a new company or wellness program. Review why on-site chair massage is a great perk and what it brings to the employees of the company. As a massage therapist offering massage, that should be easy to formulate.

When calling major companies that are on your prospect list, it is best to be confident and upbeat, inquiring about the person to contact regarding their corporate wellness program.

Asking to speak to the human resources office, a wellness committee member, or someone who is committed to employee health concerns opens the door to further discussions.

5. Dialogue Once Contact is Made with the Prospect


Once you get through to this potential chosen client, introduce yourself and your business and ask if they have a few minutes to discuss corporate wellness and the benefits of your program.

If so, briefly describe your company, position and benefits experienced by your clients with on-site chair massage. If not, ask for another time that would suit their schedule.

Sales is a delicate balance with the information exchange. It is best to ask a few relevant questions to get a baseline of the interest of the client.

Possible questions include:

• Would you be interested in an on-site chair massage program?

• If so, how do you best work with other service-related companies?

• What is important to your company when considering this type of program?

• Do you employees have the option to work from home? If so, which days are preferred for at home work days?

• Do you have the budget and available space to provide this offering or program?

• Lastly, when is a good time to follow up again about a corporate on-site chair massage wellness program?

Moving forward, it would be beneficial to track your results in order to determine the best time of day to promote your business along with the best way to reach your ideal clients.

With a new year in sight, now is the time to dedicate your efforts to a profitable 2019.

About the Author:

Janet Constantino, NMT, LMBT, has been a massage therapist for 17 years and a small-business owner for 12 years. She is the CEO of Massage Kneads, a mobile chair massage wellness company. She enjoys spending time with her family and playing tennis when not offering on-site chair massage.

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