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I have never used a sliding pay scale, per se. However, all the practitioners in my office (ICs) are free to discount massage for anyone at any time, if they feel that someone really needs the work and can't afford the full fee, and I will adjust my percentage accordingly.
The acupuncturist who works for me now started a sliding scale clinic in a larger town about 50 miles away that was successful. She ultimately left it to spend more time with her baby but it's still in operation and still doing well.
My basics massage Instructor use to say if you drove up in a 62 chevy he charged one price and if you drove up in a cadilac he charged another. Not sure if he was kidding or not.
I use a sliding scale only if I know the person or group of people. I got involved with the state hospital in wichita falls Tx. and found out the avg. annual income for nurse aids, and so on up the higher paying employee. Granted this is info normally you cant find out unless you know someone. (I did) so I based a percent on what their annual income. Ex. if they made 20,000 a yr. I took 20.00 off my 60.00 dollar session. I made 30.00 dollars. granted thats not much but considering the number of employees I soon had more on my plate than i could handle.
one main reason i do a sliding scale is because of the working class people who dont make alot of money can afford to use massage more often.
If you want to make a certain amount of money year consider this. lets say 35,000 a yr. you could charge $55 an hr and work 12 hrs a week and the rest is your time. or if you worked about 25 hrs a week you could charge 30 an hour and make over 35,000 a yr. but this doesnt take into conserderation your expenses. just another way of looking at how you charge. thanks
I generally don't discount my treatments on a sliding scale. Once a year I have a package sale for a period of time, but I feel it's worth it to have a client commit to 5-10 treatments. The clinic I work at does offer a gift certificate sale at our annual open house, as well.
That being said, there are a handful of clients who I do discount treatments for. It is rare and I only do it because I know these people really do need the treatment but can not afford it at my regular rate.
The conversation seems largely skewed to offering discounts, as if it were the right thing to do. I believe discounts without cause ruin credibility, devalue one's service and sets the practitioner up for wheeling-and-dealing for every dollar they earn. I would suggest you reflect on the following questions:
Why do I believe I need to discount my services?
How can I determine whether to give someone a discount? Their clothes? Their car? (by the way, I understand Warren Buffet drives an old pick up truck...would you give him a discount?)
Is it because I'm struggling financially that I'm assuming my client/patient can't afford care either?
What other assumptions am I making about the results I obtain or the value of my work?
I would suggest another strategy...reward the behaviour you want. If someone refers, give them a complimentary 1/2 hour or small token of appreciation. If someone is a frequent user of services, do something special at year end for them. Giving away time as thanks is different than discounting...discounting suggests you can ALWAYS get it at a lower price. Reward people for utilizing your care or referring, not based on assumptions or your personal financial situation. Many practitioners suffer, I believe, from Underearning. Read Overcoming Underearning by Barbara Stanny and Earn What You Deserve by Jerrold Mundis.
When I moved to the city I'm now in, I thought I should have the lowest fee to attract people. I couldn't build a practice for the life of me. However, when I focused on building my skills/marketability and cultivated relationships while rewarding the behaviour of referring and frequent use, I eventually raised my fees to the highest in the city. And I'm overwhelmed with business.
It's not the discount that brings you business...that brings in the tire kickers. Quality of care and building relationships over time brings in the business.
And yes, I do offer lower fees if someone requests it. I figure if they have to ask, and ask sincerely (I can spot the tire-kickers) then I expect they need it and we work something out. So don't discount! Reward the behaviour you want, build relationships, cultivate your skills and promote, promote, promote!
I used to offer discounts to seniors, imagining nursing homes, frail, limited incomes, etc. But then I got lots of calls to go to homes of obviously wealthy seniors. So I changed to only offering discounts to low-income seniors and let it up to the honor system. That didn't work either, because I found out people were lying to me and had scads of money. Grrrr. So now I only say,"Refer 3 people to me and get a free massage" and offer discounts to those receiving disability payments from the gov't.
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