Relationships

"Sometimes, the reason some things get done is because there's a relationship there."

This is something a friend of mine recently said in a discussion we were having about some big changes coming to the company she works for. The company just announced they are moving hundreds of jobs from their current location to another city 80 miles away. She was speculating on how things will change in their day-to-day operations when those jobs are not only in a new city, but are filled with people her department has never met. Starting over with no background, new people, to try and pick up where they left off with coworkers with a history of working together, a team... because of that relationship.

Her comment made me realize that all businesses are really about relationships. While it might seem obvious to some that a massage business is about building relationships with our clients, it actually wasn't that obvious to me when I was first starting out. I can remember being so stuck in a scarcity mindset and struggling on how to get clients that day that I didn't think much past that appointment and creating a long-term relationship with that client. I remember feeling scared to ask clients to schedule their next appointment because I didn't want to seem "pushy".

Now when I look at my massage practice and that some of my clients have been with me since the beginning, it's amazing. 15 years working with these people's tissues. Marriages, divorces, births, deaths... relationships. We've gone through all of these things together in our working relationship of massage therapist and client.

Clearly, there's a big difference between a working relationship in a corporate setting and the relationship that goes on between massage therapists and their clients. "Things get done" might seem a bit off topic... but the important take away from that is "there's a relationship there". Reaching out to clients in between their appointments or if you haven't seen them in a while, asking after their session when they would like to schedule their next appointment, remembering important dates or life events by keeping organized records/notes of your sessions... these things can make a difference in building that trusted relationship with your clients.

Cindy Iwlew is cofounder of Bodywork Buddy Massage Software, a complete online management solution for independent massage therapists that includes online scheduling. She continues to operate her own private massage practice of 15 years. www.BodyworkBuddy.com  

Important Changes for Yahoo Users

Last week, Yahoo quietly made a change to their email services that has affected most emails being sent from a third party on behalf of a Yahoo address. (For example: email reminders to your clients from your online scheduler).

Bodywork Buddy immediately emailed our members who use a Yahoo address to notify them of this change. Since this affects all third party services sending emails on your behalf, we wanted to let others in the massage industry know in case this affects you and your massage business.

To quote Yahoo:

Yahoo made a simple change to its DMARC policy from “report” to “reject”. In other words, we requested that all other mail services reject emails claiming to come from a Yahoo user, but not signed by Yahoo.

So what does this mean? If you're using a Yahoo account for your massage business, any emails from a third party online scheduling system will likely bounce and not be delivered. This affects all third party systems sending emails on behalf of your massage business, not just Bodywork Buddy. 

What's the solution? For now, the only real solution is to use a non-Yahoo address. Although there is speculation that this may start to be incorporated by other free email services as well. Your best bet? Use an email address from a private domain.

Here at Bodywork Buddy, we are encouraging our members with Yahoo addresses to change their account to a non-Yahoo address for the time being for clients to receive their reminders still shown as coming "from" their massage therapist. We will keep you in the loop on any changes regarding this issue with Yahoo. 

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact our team. We're here to help!




Sincerely,
Cindy Iwlew

How to Raise Your Rates

Are your rates too low but you're afraid to raise them? Worried you'll lose clients? Fearful you won't be able to compete with the massage chain down the street?

Check out this video with Mareo Forleo and Ramit Sethi on how to raise your prices.  I love the challenge Ramit gives at the end: write out 3-4 sentences of how you add value to your client's life. (Not to be confused with explaining or justifying your price increase!)

I asked on our Facebook page what helpful tips our fellow massage therapists have for raising rates, and Tracy Illchuk suggested advertising an increase a few months beforehand and offering a package bundle (3 massages) at the old price. (Thanks for the tip, Tracy!) I definitely think it's a great idea to let your clients know the increase is coming.

What would be your write-up of the value you add to your client's life?

Cindy Iwlew is co-founder of Bodywork Buddy Massage Software, a complete online management solution for independent massage therapists that includes online scheduling. 

She continues to operate her own private massage practice of 15 years.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com