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Charging More
I hear a lot of talk about charging more for our service which I see no problem with if that is your goal. But I just saw on a site where 20% of the population has 80% of the wealth. Now, it is good if most of your clientele wants to feel good after a long week of work and can afford $100 dollar an hour massages but what about those who can't afford the $100 dollar massage and have pain issues. what do we you do then; Charge the wealthy one price and those in pain another?
Views: 220
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alexei Levine on
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I offer discounts to people with low incomes, and give free massages to people with very low or no incomes. It may not be the most profitable way to do business, but that's not why I got into the healing professions.
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Permalink Reply by Susan G. Salvo on
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I price my massage by time - 30 min, one hour, and 90 min. The VAST majority of clients (even low income) can afford my 30 minute massage.
If we add a little more time to a session (say 20 minutes), I don’t charge them for the EXTRA time. It’s essentially giving a discount without calling it a discount.
For this to work, the therapist needs to space clients out so the flexibility is there when needed.
Hope this helps.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Clifford on
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A third option (rather than increasing time or offering discounts) is to schedule treatment as frequently as the client can afford, and to increase the emphasis on client self-care. Self-care is especially important for people who have chronic pain.
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Permalink Reply by Choice Kinchen on
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I agree with Susan and Paul...good points.
Alexei, I have health issues so I understand the importance of the healing profession. But there is nothing wrong with also making a liveable income. I don't understand therapists that almost think it's wrong to make a difference AND make a profit doing it!
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Choice,
Do you think you won't make a livable income if you offer a discount to people with low incomes? Just continue to charge full price to those who can afford it. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I don't think it's wrong to make a boatload of money doing massage, it's just not why I got into the field. If I wanted to make a lot of money, I'd do something else, where it's easier to make a lot of money, like working in the financial sector.
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Permalink Reply by Julie Onofrio on
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It really depends on what you are talking about. Many say they can't afford massage yet they have nice cars and take nice vacations. If they really believed in massage they would put it into their spending plans.
Then there are those that truly can't afford it but could use massage. There should be clinics set up to provide for these people. It takes money to do that. There are some clinics like that starting to form.
The thing that most massage therapists get caught up in is thinking they need to take care of everyone. If you can afford to work for less yourself without sacrificing taking care of your needs which should include retirement, vacations and nice things then you can afford to offer low cost massage to a few in need or as per your spending plan.
Having sliding scale fees used to be really based on people's actual income. You used to have to fill out forms attesting to your income and proving it. I am guessing that most massage therapists offering sliding scale or low cost massage aren't doing that - are you?
There is always such a fine line between helping people without money and helping them in a way that is keeping them in poverty- like sometime unemployement and food stamps programs keep people from trying to better themselves.
It seems most of the time when I have offered low cost massage they end up not showing up for some reason and drop out of sight. That isn't everyone of course...but how could these people be better served?
A friend of mine a long time ago worked with women from other countries who were in the low income bracket teaching them how to do massage so they could work on others in their families/communities. What ever happened to things like that that are much a part of the history of massage?
yes it is an ongoing question...
Julie
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Permalink Reply by Sunrise Gervais on
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My approach is to price my services according to the industry standard of those in my immediate market. In the case of those who ligitimately can't afford a massage and need one for medical reasons I offer a discount over a series of sessions asking the client to commit to a service a week or biweekly over say x mos.
In my experience, only a very few either ask for a discount or cannot afford the service. The majority who seek out my services are willing to honor the benefits of the work by paying for them. In the beginning I was more focused on working so I would give people more breaks on pricing. I have slowly realized that I can honor myself and make a living at the same time even if choose not to devalue the services. This means having fair policies and sticking to them not to affect the pricing of the standard in my market. I too have given some clients more time rather than a break in price. I believe that what I give away will in some form always come back to me.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Erickson on
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First, determine what your business model is and what you need to do to make it work. Then charge the appropriate rate(s) to attract and retain the clientele needed to sustain your business. Don't worry too much about what other MTs charge, but be open to adapting your business model and/or prices as needed.
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