Best Business Tips For Massage Therapists! Ask the Muscle Whisperer Series

We hope you have all been enjoying our "Ask The Muscle Whisperer" series. This month we asked the UK massage industry's top thought leaders to share the mistakes they made in their massage therapy business and what lessons these mistakes taught them! Read on to hear their thoughtful tips.

• EARLE ABRAHAMSON
• NIKKI WOLF
• JAYNE BURKE
• EMMA GILMORE
• SUNITA PASSI

• EARLE ABRAHAMSON 

  For Earle the best advice that he was given came from a colleague who had 30 years of experience in the soft tissue field. This colleague had established networks and Earle felt like they had a kind of blueprint for how to develop a successful business. The experience of observing and modelling his own work on their practice taught Earle so much and so his best business tip is to really work at building your networks.
  
  Take time to think about who has worked in the same field, observe, model your practice on those that have gone before you and have achieved things you aspire to. What Earle learned very early on is that he had to try many things. Certain things he achieved but there were others thing that he failed at. It was at a CPD event while chatting with fellow therapists that Earle really appreciated that in order to truly learn you need to be able to be honest with yourself, to reflect and ask different types of questions. If you are too afraid to pick people's brains and be honest about your shortcomings you could miss out on solid advidce. By thinking about who could inspire him and who he could help as he continued along his journey as a massage therapist Earle no longer felt nervous about reaching out and asking for guidance.
  
  For Earle being open and honest means people can see you are authentic in your aims and then its easier to build up a relationship with them and find out the ingredients you need to succeed. The best business advice is to work out where your strengths are and then also where the deficits are in your knowledge and then work out a strategy to address those. Earle had to handpick those he wanted to work with, and think about who would help him grow where he needed to develop and how he could help them in return. By attending events by asking the right questions by asking different types of questions, by listening and being honest with yourself and others he was able to grow his business in ways he couldn't have achieved without this shift in mindset. Earle concludes will challenging massage therapists to be willing to learn, be willing to ask, and be willing to challenge yourself!
  

   

  Watch Earle answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

  You can find more details on Earle's latest book 'Muscle Testing – A Concise Manual' by clicking the images below or find out more details on the next Hands On Training courses by clicking here.

  

   

  Publications:

  • Making Sense of Human Anatomy and Physiology - Lotus Publishers 2016

   

  • Concise Manual of Muscle Testing - Handspring Publishers. Due out October 2019 
  Earle Abrahamson
  Nikki Wolf
  Jayne Burke
  Emma Gilmore
  Sunita Passi

• NIKKI WOLF

  For Nikki the best business advice she was ever given came from a family friend. At the beginning of her massage career Nikki was on her way to see a client. It was around 8pm and her father's friend was talking to her about the new business. Nikki was so excited and was talking about how she was about to head out to see a client. The family friend asked "is it not a bit late?" Nikki agreed that yes it probably was a bit late but she didn't want to turn the client down and was happy to have their business. The friend turned to Nikki and advised her to not make herself too available, that she wanted to create a sense of scarcity with her clients, because you should want them to think you're busy.
  
  At the time Nikki took this on board but really thought I just want clients! But slowly she started to realise he was absolutely right. As massage therapists we need to make sure we have time off for ourselves and if we don't want to work weekends, we shouldn't have to, if we don't want to work evenings, we shouldn't have to. Nikki acknowledges that is it handy to have some options for clients that absolutely can't come and see you during regular work hours but generally, what we want to avoid as massage therapists is saying yes to everyone and booking them in at all sorts of times that don't really suit because it's just not going to create a good business with the stamina to last.
  
  Having sloppy boundaries just gives clients the idea that you will accommodate them, no matter what. When really what you want is client who really want to come and see you and who value your skills and expertise. Nikki advises that you don't need to lie to them but, for example, when you open your diary you wouldn't say when do you want to come. Instead, you say I've got Tuesday and Thursday at three o'clock free, which suits you? So you're giving them options, but it's a choice within a timeframe you are comfortable with and you are creating the idea that you're busy. And if you're busy, obviously you're successful. And if you're successful, you're really good at what you do! This also gives a sense of urgency that they'll miss out if they don't book. So don't make yourself too available. give the impression that you're busy and create a sense of urgency so they feel like they have to book in a time that suits you!
  
  

  Watch Nikki answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

  To find out more about Orchid Massage Academy, click here or find more details on Nikki's mentorship program, here. Alternatively you can follow on Facebook here

  

  Earle Abrahamson
  Nikki Wolf
  Jayne Burke
  Emma Gilmore
  Sunita Passi

• JAYNE BURKE

  For Jayne the best piece of business advice she has been given didn't feel right at the time. Jane is a big believer in timing and that things happen when it is the right time. So what was this advice? It was to get clients to pay on a monthly standing order. Now this is often controversal as many massage therapists like to be super flexible with their payment options and at at the time Jayne wanted to empower her clients to decide when they came back to see her.
  
  But what happened in reality was that although her clients wanted to come back next week for another massage treatment they kept putting it off and it would end up being a few months before they came into her clinic again. In terms of treatment goals this meant Jayne was back to square one again which helped her to realise this wasn't an efficient way of working for anybody!
  
  Jayne realised her clients actually needed some guidance around when they should get another treatment. She started to tell them that they needed to see her regularly to begin with to deal with their initial pain or complaints and then she could get them onto a maintenance programme of less frequent treatments. For a lot of Jayne's clients this is monthly for others it's weekly, everyone is different but the idea is that clients are pain free between sessions. But the important thing is the payment. If the payments are set up to come into you regularly, the client will book the appointment, and they will attend, they're not going to waste that money. Jayne uses Xero to get her clients on a payment plan so it is straightforward for everyone and reduces her admin considerably!
  
  

  Watch Jayne answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

  Click here to find out more about Jayne Burke Holistic Therapies or you can follow on Facebook, Twitteror Instagram.

  Earle Abrahamson
  Nikki Wolf
  Jayne Burke
  Emma Gilmore
  Sunita Passi

• EMMA GILMORE

  
  For Emma the best bit of business advice she received was to communicate with her authentic voice. Emma truly belives that if you communicate with your authentic voice you attract the type of client that resonates with what you're saying, and therefore sticks. So its extremely valuable to spend time thinking about how you want to communicate, thinking about how to find your authentic voice, thinking about what are your skills and how can you communicate this clearly.
  
  Think includes not only thinking about the words you're actually going to use but also what images represent what you truly feel, and truly think. Clear communication is essential to describe accurately what it is we offer, as a therapist and comes down to things like cancellation policies, cost of treatments, duration of treatments, how to find you all of these details are so important and need to be clearly communicated. Over the years Emma has found that many therapists are really reluctant to tell the world what it is that they do, especially on social media. But Emma has found that if those people are encouraged to find their authentic voice they feel less shy about using social media and attract the people that want to find them. So think about what is your specialism? What is your niche? What is different about you, what is it that you bring to the table and how can you communicate this to clients?
  
  As we change all the time and we develop and our skills progress as massage therapists you need to update the way you communicate, you need to update your website and inform clients through your social media. Every time you learn. You're updating your skills, updating your knowledge and you need to communicate this with the world and with your potential clients. Emma has found clients are really excited for us when we go to study because of course we bring a whole abundance of skills back to enhance their treatment. So don't be afraid to share with your clients what it is that you're studying, and how this has changed the way you work, and how this can help them through your treatments!  
  
  

  Watch Emma answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

  You can see the latest courses on offer at School of Bodywork by clicking the image below! You can also follow on Facebook and Instagram.

  

  Earle Abrahamson
  Nikki Wolf
  Jayne Burke
  Emma Gilmore
  Sunita Passi

• SUNITA PASSI

  
  For Sunita there are two pieces of advice that have really shaped her career as an Ayurvedic practitioner. The first is to follow our gifts and passions. The advice Sunita was given was to really follow her heart and her passion and in the business of massage, and complimentary therapy, once you step into that world, and you start to run a professional practice, Sunita has found it can be easy to get swayed. You might see that there's a particular type of therapy that's very popular, and you feel that you need to also go and train in that technique to offer it to your clients but maybe it doesn't completely float your boat, or you don't completely resonate with the science behind it.
  
  Stopping to think maybe there is another therapy that you're completely connected to that you deliver amazingly and will get the best results from. Taking stock like this and following your heart can stop you from diverting, and it helps you build something really, really solid that you can become recognised and known for. This advice really helped Sunita shape her therapy business as it helped her really focus on the services and the way that she markets her skills. Being more streamlined makes things a lot more easier and a lot more pleasurable than trying to be all things to all people.
  
  Sunita's second piece of advice is to embrace change. after 16 years in the industry Sunita has seen tonnes of changes and also her responsibilities have shifted a lot in that time. It's important to acknowledge that not only our environment can change we can also change as people and what we need from our business might not stay the same. Maintaining an air of flexibility can really help you weather challenging times, in the industry and in your own life.
  
  

  Watch Sunita answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

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  Earle Abrahamson
  Nikki Wolf
  Jayne Burke
  Emma Gilmore
  Sunita Passi