Are Happy Endings 'Part of the Business'?

Did you catch this article and video of a registered massage therapist in Canada reporting a creeper client to the police last month? It's a bit discouraging. 

A West Island certified massage therapist is urging Montreal police to examine how they handle complaints of unwanted sexual behaviour after an officer seemed to try to dissuade her from filing a report and repeatedly told her to not be "emotional."

Luckily, she recorded the conversation. She said police need better training on how to deal with women who turn to them for help.

Early on in my massage career, I did have the unfortunate need to contact the police about a client. Luckily for me, they took my complaint very seriously and were nothing but completely respectful and helpful.

Claudia Cavaliere had to not only deal with the creeper client, but then also with the detachment and disregard of the police when she tried to file a complaint. Thankfully, her recording is getting some attention that will hopefully lead to some changes and/or additional training for the police officers.

Photo ID is now required at the spa where Claudia works. This with a few other tips on how to screen out creeper clients may be helpful.

Cindy Iwlew is a licensed massage therapist who has had a private practice since 1999 and cofounder of Bodywork Buddy massage software.

The Power of Attitude

I was recently reading a blog post from the Center for Barefoot Massage on 10 Ridiculously Easy Ways to be More Successful.

#6 Stood out to me. 

Attitude-is your massage client taking advantage of a sale? Don’t act resentful about it or transfer any negative feelings towards them subconsciously. Instead, be grateful that they are choosing to spend money on YOUR massage. I’ve heard of many clients having bad experiences with Groupon massages because their therapist didn’t care, didn’t keep them in the whole time, or were just not the most pleasant.

This is something I always try to be aware of in my own attitude and actions. One thing that I've gotten good at over time is to not take any feedback personally and to be open to it so that I can improve my client's experience while they're on my table. I even tell first-time clients to feel free to let me know if there is anything I can adjust to make them more comfortable (pressure, music, temperature) and I specifically say "You're not going to hurt my feelings, this session is all about you - I just want you to have the best experience". I have literally seen some clients instantly breathe a sigh of relief when they hear this.

A friend once told me that her MT talked through her whole massage. After several sessions of this - the client mentioned that maybe they could chat before the session so that she could relax more during her massage. The next session she received was rough and painful, as if the MT was purposely trying to hurt her.  

via GIPHY

Now, maybe the MT has no time to chat before or after a session and was upset at the client for suggesting that. But that doesn't really matter - the client was letting her know what her needs were, and the MT chose to let her feelings about that feedback get in the way of giving a good massage. Or maybe it wasn't a conscious decision... yikes, I'm not sure which is worse.

With a positive approach you will feel in control and confident and you will perform at your best, whereas a negative approach will damage confidence, harm performance, paralyze your mental skills and may also impact your health. - The Importance of Attitude for Business Success

Of course, we all have bad days. What are some ways that you get into your zone to be at your best for your clients? One thing that I like to do is to get to my office early before I start my work day. I diffuse some essential oils and play some fun music while I fold my linens. It helps me to get in the right mindset for my work and clearly separate my personal life and whatever may be happening in the outside world from the oasis I'm creating for my clients. I find if I'm rushing around and only at my office for a couple of minutes before my first client, I'm frazzled and have a hard time focusing the rest of the day. (I know other therapists who have no problem doing this, I'm just not one of them!) I know that for myself, this little ritual of arriving early helps to prepare my mind and my attitude for my work day.

We've probably all experienced the subtle or not-so-subtle energy of a therapist with a bad attitude. Even if the technical aspects of their massage were "good", it probably wasn't the best massage you've had. Being aware of and adjusting our own attitude is one of the simplest ways we can improve our business and offer our clients our best work.

Cindy Iwlew is a licensed massage therapist who has had a private practice since 1999 and cofounder of Bodywork Buddy massage software.

How to Instantly Add Holidays to Your Bodywork Buddy Calendar

Veteran MT Advice: The Art of Stubbornness

Recently in my massage therapy business, I had to make the very difficult decision to stop accepting new clients. This was difficult because for the last 14 years I’ve been doing everything I could to attract these new clients!

When Cindy asked me to talk about how I got to this point in my career as a business owner and MT, I had to think about what exactly I did to reach this stage in my business. At first I couldn’t think of what I did to suddenly be so booked I couldn’t fit anyone in for 4 months. Then it occurred to me... it wasn’t sudden, it was all the hard work of running a business starting to pay it’s returns.

When you go to massage school, they teach you how to be a Massage Therapist, not how to run a business. These are two separate things that need separate training. When I graduated from massage school, I decided to work for someone else because I thought it would be easier. Their business model was for me to give free chair massages until someone decided to pay for a full massage, of which I received a commission of 50%. I gave a lot of free massages and starved. I had to move back home to my parent’s house. 

This is where the big lessons began for me. I’m sure many of you have similar stories or are at the beginning of your career convinced you are about to fail. Being of the Stubborn Persuasion, I wasn’t about to let this living with my parents situation define my career. However, humility was also on my Life Lessons Syllabus, so I had to have “The Talk” with myself on how I was going to make this career work. If I wanted it to work, I had to do the work. No Excuses.

I took a part time job at a chiropractor’s office and I learned from her how she ran her business. She became a great mentor and I learned that there are lessons in mistakes; that picking up and working with what is in front of you will go a long way. I also used the security of that job to help me build my own business. I could take a few more risks, in case I did make a mistake. 

Since I had moved back to my parent’s home two states away from where I was living, to a town I didn’t grow up in, I was in desperate need of colleagues... So I went to my AMTA state chapter conferences and hands on CEU classes so that I could talk to people. I joined Live Journal groups (I’m old) and read Massage Therapy Journal and Massage Magazine (the print versions!) to give me insights into the industry. I was stubborn, but I knew that I didn’t know squat!

I was told that the first 5 years were the hardest, so I just kept reminding myself of that when it got hard, and you know what... it turned out to be true (so hang in there!). I was told that MTs careers average 3- 5 years; I made a goal to be in practice for 10. My stubbornness wouldn’t let me quit and then when it started to get a little easier I didn’t want to quit.  

I tried new things: Online scheduling in 2010 was scary for my clients. Some even asked me to go back to paper. It was months and months before the first person actually booked online without me talking them into it. It was a couple years before a new client I had never heard of scheduled. I stubbornly stuck it out because I wanted online scheduling to work. Now I don’t have to answer the phone anymore. I maybe lost a potential client who didn’t want to schedule online, but I gained ones who did. 

Some things did not work: Buy 4 get 1 Free cost me a lot of money I desperately needed. I changed my package policy to be a significantly smaller discount; I could still pay the bills, but my clients still got a deal. I was able to buy groceries AND pay rent! When clients pine for the good old discount days (aka whine) I stubbornly refuse to give in, “$5 off is more than $0 off,” I remind myself. They are welcome to pay full price. 

The take-a-way here folks is this: There are a million little lessons that you are learning everyday. The beginning of your career is hard because you are bombarded by them. Some of those lessons hurt and some are exhausting. It seems impossible because everything is new and fresh and you just want to be amazing everyday. As you make it through the days, weeks, and years those lessons will feel familiar, and doable, and sometimes even an exciting challenge. Be patient, and maybe a little bit stubborn. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erin Howk Bennett, BCTMB
Therapeutic & Stress Reduction Massage