Why your massage clients don't return!!

[ihetduihigmiscejl]

Hello this is my first post and I am not a therapist of any sort; I am however a user of therapies of the holistic, alternative spectrum.
This thread is about going for a massage and the things that put a customer off coming back a second time.
I hope it might inform some practitioners of the noble art because lets face it you wont usually hear it from the client who will simply not return.
So to start the ball rolling.

Going for a (nice) massage, getting home afterwards and realising that your clothes, bag everything taken into the room now stink of stale cigarette smoke and realising that the 'therapy room' doubles as the masseuse's family smoking room! Gross.

Or that your massage room is a glorified utility room sharing your ambient space with computer, old furniture and bric a brac. Hmmm; quality...not!

This topic/thread isn't meant as an attack on therapists.
It is meant as a chiding way to bring issues experienced by myself or other posters to practitioners attention to improve the quality of your clients experience who are parting with their money for a hopefully great experience

Not a name and shame exercise either please.

 

[tweedledee99]

Loverly thread coolhandluke,

Now people have started to take this thread seriously
And stopped shooting the messenger
We have a great thread going
Thanks for rattling the cage coolhandluke,

hermie

 

[KookiePenny]

Haha, no it can't have been you The strange thing was that he was telling me he was very happy there, very happy with that room, that he had that room to himself which was nice, and he can run his own business the way he wants to and he wouldn't want to work in a clinic etc.

 

[030407<3]

I just cannot resist adding to this thread....


Having Acupuncture treatment in a chinese medicine emporium, about 5 years ago.

The ageing chinese practitioner....great I thought, knows what she doing....

She didn't speak English, no problem with that, because she had English speaking assistants in the shop, downstairs, who did the consultation etc.

However a problem arose when..as I was lying almost naked, on her couch, with pins stuck along allsorts of meridian points and could not move!!...she decided to pull the curtain round me while she cleared her chest/throat of phlegm in the sink which she used to wash her hands for her treatments.!!!

Well I ain't deaf, and I am bit fussy about personal hygiene...couldn't tell her to take the pins out then I could go, because she didn't understand and left the room anyway......

What a hoot that treatment was not..........and nope, I didn't go back.

It seems they thought I was too yin....doubt I was after that treatment.

 

[Jenny**]

Was this just off Russel Square by any chance? Went to a great guy there when I went to UCL but then he left and this dame started and she was reeeaaaallly bad. Never went back Sahem as it was thye highlight of my month with my wee guy who chastised me about my livvvver.

Patchouli

 

[spirit]

As a massage client, I much prefer it.

I have found that the most stress busting thing for me is knowing someone isn’t going to walk in, so door bolted, no clutter, no expanses of vibrant colours (such as walls) that I can’t avoid visually unless I close my eyes, the right temperature, and during the actual massage treatment minimal talking or even complete silence, no scents (base oil with bach flower added is a favourite) and a good massage by someone I intuitively feel comfortable with. With my eyes closed and not being distracted by sounds and smells, or thinking of verbal responses, I can really "feel" what is happening on both a physical and emotional level.

For me, the treatment starts the second I walk through the treatment room door. The more stressed I am, the more simple the treatment room needs to be (not clinical, a few soft touches) and the less distractions to the main treatment. Whatever the intention of the therapist, sometimes its just "noise" to a very stressed client.

I have two therapists who give me what I call “raw massage” and the sheer simplicity and comfort of their treatment rooms make me sigh with relief as soon as I go through the door. (Just thinking about it makes me smile ). It’s then easy to add what I can cope with. Sometimes its music, but if so I can take in my own cd if I wish to. Sometimes I’ll opt for aromatherapy. Sometimes I'll choose another treatment they offer.

It’s that which takes me back time after time (now in year 4 for one therapist and year 3 for the second - I need two because its who has got a gap, I like to book as and when and I don't want to wait 6 weeks for an appointment). And my daughter has been introduced to massage (and other treatments) by the same 2 therapists.

But for the very stressed client, which is often why I am booking, sometimes less sensory and informational input during a massage treatment is very definately more.

 

[Juan N]

and mean with it, I can't stand the therapist who is a clock watcher and can't bear to give a minute for free or in this case reduces the treatment by a third but presumablynot the price. I am of the opinion that a 'one hour' massage should mean exactly that. If any therapist then says, well if you want the full hour and extra time for undressing, consultation, shower, whatever; then I will have to charge more is a charlatan IMO. £30+ per hour, not many people earn that as an hourly rate, often paid in cash and whilst it is a skill it's not that unique is it?

 

[chillinfree]

It is hard though when you're working at a centre or clinic. I do so and the room rent is high, payable also when you don't have clients. So £30+ per hour sounds like a nice amount of money, but the reality is that if I don't see at least 5 clients a week, I don't even cover my costs!

Also working "full-time" as in doing 40 hours of massage a week is physically not feasible for the vast majority of therapists, so the cost of a treatment takes that into account. Also part of the "job" is doing the admin, advertising & marketing, training, research, dealing with client's enquiries via e-mail or phone etc, which is otherwise unpaid. So looking at that, after deducting the costs, I actually make less money than I do at my "day job"!

So of course I nominally see 4 clients in my 4-hour slot at the centre if I can. Spacing them apart would mean I could see only 3 people and that would severely affect my margin, or in effect increase the hourly rate I pay for the room.

I tend to overrun most appointments by a few minutes, by the end of the evening I usually finish about 15 min later because of that.

And yes people often pay in cash, but that is still taxed, just like people in employment!

In an ideal world I would like to be able to space clients apart and have each of them on the table for 60 minutes, give them a free consultation etc. In reality they probably get about 55 min on the table, apart from the first session where the initial consultation is also part of the session. They basically pay for 1 hour of my time I suppose, not for 1 hour on the table.

That said, I would never, ever see a client for less than an hour: a 40 min session is outrageous and sounds like the therapist couldnt' be bothered or was in a rush to get home!

Patchouli I would complain if I were you: yes they are self-employed but in their contract it might well say something about how to treat clients. Also if the owner gets more complaints, they might decide to terminate the contract with the therapist. They will have to give them some notice, as defined in their contract, but they can get rid of them and they probably would if someone like that is damaging the reputation of the centre.

If nothing else, it would at least get pointed out to the therapist and she might better herself, meaning that other clients are spared the same experience you have had.

I will do a full-body in a 1-hour session but find it hard to fit it all in, especially as most people requesting that also ask for more focus on back, neck, shoulders. So in practice it can mean that areas such as legs and arms only get a few minutes each. I do appointments up to two hours though, so if people want, they can book a longer session, but of course that's more expensive...

 

[mwfrgkps]

It was also the fact that she had me finished dead on twenty past two and walked in while I was getting dressed, even handing me my shirt!! Then had the cheek to say she hoped she would see me back again soon.

I hung around to see if she was taking anyone else in after me and she wasn't. She didn't come back out the room after I left and no-one went in. That annoyed me even more that she didn't HAVE to get me out in HER time.

I actually rent out rooms to practitioners and HAVE asked some to leave due to crappy practice (one girl, if she had a client in at 5pm would walk in at ten past five). I keep on top of what the others are doing and have good reception staff (at last) who let me know what is going on but not in a tell-tale way, just if they are concerned about anything. Whether a client didn't look happy, if a therapist is constantly turning up late for appts etc. If I feel a therapist is giving the place a bad name I will ask them to go and have done on at least two occassions, once for the girl who always turned up late (with client sitting waiting and she was just walking in door) and the other was a guy who was very aggressive with the clients regarding re-booking (he would walk them to desk and almost demand that they re-book, then he would get mad when they cancelled the following day and blame it on the reception staff).

Because I do this full time and also own the darn place I do have the luxury of giving clients extra time, however I do charge for this. A bns takes me 35 - 40 minutes and I allow an hour. I charge £25 for this. A full body is £45 and as stated previously I allow and hour and a quarter with fifteen minutes turnaround. In my opinion clients prefer to pay a bit extra and get a good proper massage and not rushed as quickly as possible out the door. In fact I encourage them to lie for a minute or two just to savour the effect on their muscles and listen to the music before firing them out the door and back to reality. I do have a high return and I think that is why. As I have a high return and a healthy client base I do end up making money from it.

We need to get away from this 1/2 hour, 1 hour etc and take what time is needed for the treatment, however, we should charge accordingly too which is why my prices are higher (but if you think about it they aren't as the client is getting the proper time). I am still in this to earn and am not a total bleeding heart but I think people will pay for really good treatments.

I would much rather have a full body (including stomach and feet) for an hour and fifteen minutes and pay a higher price than these stupid "rush jobs" which leave me irritated rather than relaxed.

Patchouli

 

[__ii__]

Coolhandluke: why do you not train yourself?

 

[iam_wicked]

I certainly do appreciate a massage therapists job is physically demanding. That's why I can't understand it when therapists work clients back to back with no time to re-energise etc.

You have pointed out the difference between good clinics that allow adequate time between clients and those that don't. You hated the conveyor belt way of working and were becoming burnt out so you realised the pitfalls of the 'kwik-fit' approach to healthcare/massage.

I can't imagine any massage therapist worth their salt being able to sustain an 8 hour day! This doesn't however mean they should expect to be paid for 8 hours in a four hour period of work plus 4 hours 'me' time!

In what way is massage a 'unique' skill!?!

There's good bakers, plumbers, florists and massage therapists. Any mumbo jumbo about 'unique' skills is to do with your own perception of your status and worth IMO (only my opinion mind!).
As a percentage of population I wouldn't expect the number of people that can do a good massage to be any fewer than any good tradesperson, nurse, gardener with of course the usual different quality standard within each group and some exceptional people in each group. (Please spare me the 'and plumbers get £80 an hour and I only get £35' retort as you don't have to crawl around on your hands and knees in dark corners of people's lofts or unblocking their toilets etc.) Massage treatments sounds quite 'nice' in the scheme of things.

 

[hrslismys]

I do agree with you about spas as the practitioner is usually an employee.

However....

Our place just rents out space and time blocks. It is then up to each practitioner to tell us how they want to run their appointment system. If they work on the hour, so be it. If they want to space their clients and give more time at higher cost then so be it too.

Clinics/Spas are, as I have already said, need to get away from this half hour/one hour nonsense and actually give the time needed for a treatment. However, the charge should be levied accordingly. Imo there is no point paying £35 for an hour (read that as 40 minute) "full body" if I could find somewhere that takes £45 but gives me at least a FULL hour.

Who says that appts given out to clients have to be booked on the hour or half hour?

I would say that if a practitioner is renting time/space from a clinic and is not an employee then it is up to that practitioner to dictate their appointment schedule. Why is it up to the clinic to dictate?

Lets face it, if you are renting clinic time/space then you, the practitioner, are actually a client of the clinic i.e. a room rental client and as such should have say over your schedule. Clinics do, if they have a number of practitioners/rooms, make quite a bit of money via room rental so why should they dictate what your schedule is?

If the clinic has to dictate when you take appointments within your rental period then I wouldn't want to work there.

I think it is time we started to think outside the box as far as being self employed and renting room space/time is concerned. Maybe then the clients such as CHL (and me on Wednesday) wouldn't feel they are being short changed.

I think it is great that CHL has opened this topic as I am sure it has given some of us food for thought about our practice.

Patchouli

 

[Calz]

Are you not contradicting the topic of your own thread a bit here? As we have all come to agree on this topic, massage is not just about mastering the techniques and the A&P and creating a nice environment for the client. You also and more importantly need to have a great deal of sensitivity, not only in your hands and other "tools", but also in your attitude: being a good therapist requires great communications skills, even counselling skills. You also need to be comfortable in your own skin, work on yourself, your own personal growth. And not everything comes with experience, it requires a certain natural talent.

I can only hope that I'm being the best I can in all these areas. And I know, having seen many therapists for treatment myself, that there are probably more below-average therapists out there than there are good ones!

As for the £35 thing: as I have explained before in a previous post, it is not just a matter of doing a few hours of massage and then sitting back doing nothing the rest of the day, but being self-employed and running your own business involves a lot more than just doing the actual massage.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Quote by Pinky Are you not contradicting the topic of your own thread a bit here?

go pinky
go pinky
go pinky



I think massage should be priced by the energy used during treatment.....then us tuina practitioners would be sweet

I believe that in the next few years you will see different prices for therapies, in accordence to training and application.

This £40 per hour is a common charge across the board and quite frankly some of the therapies are just not worth it.

Its ok for everyone to jump on the bandwagon at the thought of these prices, but it won't be long before you see some of these drop to £10 or £20 per treatment.

Lets also face it that many treatments are dragged out to fill the hour so therapists can earn the money. Some of these can be done in half the time and half the cost.

Just some thoughts

 

[vatsal]

Forgot to say that the £35/£40 also needs to cover any holidays, sickness, and any other absence.

Totally agree though that even so, some therapists are not worth that.

Some spa's can charge up to £60 for a superficial massage, which I think is outrageous.

 

[bridgeee]

Ahh..haaaaa, there we have it again!

the massage is worth probably £30 but the extra £30 is all the trimmings you are paying for, which also begs the question ( again ) would we rather save the money and visit someones home based set up or pay the extra at an establishment

I charge exactly what i am prepared to pay myself, and this to me seems fair enough.

If i didn't feel i was getting my money's worth then as a client.......

I WOULD NOT RETURN!

 

[ucqxrsio]

Anything is only worth what someone will pay for it.

If a therapist has not done an accurate costing when working out their prices, then sure as eggs they will not last long as a business. "All the trimmings" - trimmings such as marketing, book keeping, preparing of accounts and tax returns, petrol, room hire, advertising, babysitters, telephone charges, not to mention equipment... really anyone who thinks that £30 an hour will cover all that AND provide an adequate return on the training they have undergone is in cloud cuckoo land.

 

[jpeafuxeidfiqgecw]

[/b][/color]

thats funny, i remember my parents used to say that to me when i was young, in them days £5 would have got you a good massage.

Indo

 

[oneclickwonder]

I agree with this, which is why, someone relying on my treatments to keep them in peak performance for their £20,000 per week salary is prepared to pay £90 per hour for a treatment, and someone earning £50,000 per week is prepared to pay £150 per hour to keep them playing.

If they didnt think it was worth paying, they wouldnt pay it.

 

[Buk]

----based on my income I look forward to my £2 massage.