New Therapist + Good Outcomes = A Successful Career
You, the New Therapist
Many newer Massage Therapists struggle to know how to have great customer outcomes from the first time a client comes in. It can be challenging to learn how to have a high client return/request/referral rate. Is that you?
This book is written for the newer massage therapist who wants to learn how to have a high client return/request/referral rate. Mastering this skill is crucial to your long-term success, whether you are an employee, a contractor, or a self-employed Massage Therapist.
It can be challenging to get and keep clients. I will show you how I developed the customer service principles necessary to have satisfied clients who continue to rebook and send referrals.
You can become an outstanding therapist. Great and thoughtful technique is assumed to be your baseline to become one of the greats. This can only be developed with time. A business trainer told me, “Before you can be great, you have to be good. Before you can be good, you have to be terrible.” Just know that if you’re not great or even good yet, that will QUICKLY change with time and practice.
Maybe you already have all the confidence you feel you need in your abilities. You feel you are already absolutely fabulous! Great! The best way to really know that is through client feedback.
Most clients will not criticize you directly and may not even tell the staff where you work. They may not say anything to you and just vote with their feet and their wallets by not returning. Remember that just because you don’t receive negative feedback, it does not mean you are good, yet. Give it time. You will get better!
What they don’t teach in school is that technique is only the beginning of what you need to learn. The topics in this book are ones that no one else is talking about. At least not in these specific ways. From me, you will learn about standards for outstanding customer experiences, being an exceptional therapist, and setting up systems for a successful business.
You do not have to feel as lost or overwhelmed as I did when I first started. This book can be your road map as you make massage therapy your profession and career. Where I struggled, I hope you will soar. Let me be your mentor!
Good Outcomes
A career in massage has so many benefits. It can be very gratifying to see people helped on a daily basis because of my intervention in their lives. Massage treatment can be amazing and life-enhancing. Through my career, I have gained a huge amount of anatomy, physiology, and healing knowledge, for which I am grateful.
This career is not without drawbacks. Massage can also be hard labor, repetitive, and even sometimes boring. You will have to learn how to handle that side of being a therapist, also.
In the medical world, we are considered the low person in the hierarchy of healing. Which from our perspective, is baffling because, as therapists, we constantly see how much healing power we have to offer. Our services are often undervalued by the medical profession and clients alike.
Jobs with good pay and great working conditions are hard to come by. We are often left to create our own jobs, as I have done.
The flip side of the negatives above is that we have tons of freedom to create our own paths. We can choose to be an employee, a contractor, or be our own boss. We can be creative and entrepreneurial and makers of our own destinies. The sky is the limit!
As of now, we can have a foot in the medical world without being bound by a hospital schedule, adhering to medical protocols not designed by massage therapists, or having to rely on insurance billing.
Hospital-based massage is a growing area of practice for massage therapists. I hope that we, as a group will step up to create our own protocols and departments within those settings as this focus grows.
Wherever you work as a massage therapist, building your client list will be the cornerstone of your success. Marketing by the business is what gets most clients in the door, especially if you work for a bigger practice or chain. This next part is crucial: it now becomes your responsibility to keep that client coming back and requesting you! You also want to get them to recommend you to their circle of influence so you can build referrals.
Consider how this impacts you even more if you are a solopreneur. Without a high return or referral rate, you cannot stay open for long. You may be one of the many who constantly struggle to afford their life. Plus, as far as your marketing budget, referrals are the most cost-effective marketing method in existence.
Good outcomes are measured by the high repeat, request, and referrals combined with low burnout rates and proper self-care. It is possible to make a long career without hurting yourself or burning out as a massage therapist. If you can achieve these measures, you will be equipped to have a long, fulfilling, and financially stable career helping people.
My Successful Career
Hi, my name is Sarah. Are you wondering why you should listen to me? Let me tell you a bit about myself.
Over the years, I have been an employee, a contractor, and a self-employed small business owner. I have made my living as a full-time Licensed Massage Therapist for more than 26 years, and guesstimate I’ve done over 20,000 massages.
Here are some common situations which push massage therapists out of the profession:
Many struggle to make enough money. I have built a thriving practice based on repeat and referral clients.
Most people quit after just a few years because they hurt themselves or can’t make enough money. I have taken practical steps through the years to keep myself and my business healthy.
Burnout is so common. I have lived through burnout and figured out how to keep going.
In other words, I am a voice of experience telling you about my path to achieving good outcomes.
Statistics show that 80% of us come to massage therapy as a second career. I personally got into massage therapy purely by happenstance.
In 1996, I graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Art History. I picked Art History as a major without considering this was not necessarily the path to a high-paying career. Instead, I ended up as a low-level manager in a corporate business that was not related to my degree at all. I quickly discovered that being a corporate drone was too restrictive and dull for me.
I decided massage would be a good gig to try so. I choose my massage school because it was the budget option with the shortest program for the cheapest price. I got lucky because I was trained by some of the world-class massage therapists coming out of Atlanta in the 90s. The school I chose turned out to be a fantastic decision.
If you are a new Massage Therapist, just know that I’ve been in your shoes. When I was a new massage therapist, I had no mentor. I had so many doubts and insecurities when I began. I greatly credit building my skills as a massage therapist to starting out in a huge and busy spa where I had to quickly figure out how to have a continual return/request rate. It felt like “sink or swim”!
I started carefully watching those around me and began to glean what worked best for them. My observations and trial and error in my own life are what have led to the formulas, ideas, and philosophies in this book. Allow my story to inform and motivate you.
This whole book is to get you up to speed fast, zoom by the competition, and reach into the future, which is literally in your hands.
This book is laid out in easy-to-read chapters. The next section is about details that make for an outstanding customer service experience. These can apply no matter where you work. After that, I discuss how to connect with your clients and set yourself apart from average therapists. Finally, you learn to build systems, so your practice is easy to run.
I am so excited to be on this journey with you!
Take care,
Sarah Dick. LMT
