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What are your professional pet peeves?
We need some input for our Round the Table column in the next issue of Massage & Bodywork magazine. Reply with your answers and you just might see it printed in the next issue!
The question this time is:
As a massage therapist, what are some of your professional pet peeves?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on
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I work in a spa....One, if not the biggest pet peeves for me is... Having the client cancel their appointment when they realize I'm male.....People that want to see me, think I'm booked up... And there is usually not enough time for the slot to be be filled. Its a big revenue loss for me...I'm almost use to it now though.
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Permalink Reply by Darcy Banks on
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Beth Powers Johnson said:I recenly had a college student schedule an appointment to use her gift certificate. She called about 8 hours prior to her appointment to reschedule, and I happily did so for her. The day of the 2nd appointment, she did not show up. She called 3 days later to say she totally forgot all about her session, and needed to reschedule. I was 'HOT" and knew if I called her right back, it would not be a friendly conversation. She text messaged me about 4 times saying she needed to reschedule as she did not want to lose that $60..... what about me having to set up the session & have the room all ready for her, when I could have easily found someone else to fill that session (not to mention the fact that I have a child at home that I could have been spending time with)..... so frustrating! She has called several more times saying she does not want her GC to expire...
Ann Hibbard said:The most annoying thing that potential clients have done is to tell me they have lost a gift certificate for which I have no record. I tell them I keep careful records and if they can tell me the approximate expiration date I will look it up for them. They usually back down. One lady asked for repayment for a gift certificate that she had given to a friend who did not show up for our scheduled session. Another wanted to cash in her gift certificate instead of receiving a massage. Gift certificate goofs are by far the most recurrent problems from clients that are not regulars. For this reason, I do not sell them to anyone except established clients. I also do not appreciate being asked to give volume discounts. Unlike a distributor of dry goods, the amount of work I do is the same for the number of sessions booked.
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Permalink Reply by Litahni on
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As an Energist and Intuitive Therapist I can tell you that my skills in no way relieves me of the responsibility of taking good SOAP notes. I would love to see each of us find solutions to our "pet peaves" I don't really understand how sharing all of them, without offering solutions, helps us. Although I have never been in favor of " negative complaining sessions" seems counter productive to me.
Deb Korty said:One of my pet peeves is the "intuitive therapist". Intuition is a big part of how we might craft our sessions for our clients...but it doesn't relieve one of SOAP charting, listening to what the client is asking for and professionalism in the interaction with clients and other professionals. I did have the experience of an "intuitive therapist" that included all the above...and I made the decision that that was the only time I needed to go there.
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I have a few clients that want me to do massage in their bedrooms and then let myself out of their homes so they can get right into bed. I will not do this. It puts me at risk of being accused of taking something out of their homes when they are not present. It also makes me feel like they are disrespecting my personal and professional boundaries.
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Have you checked your state's laws on gift certificates? Some states you have to give them the cash if they request it. Darcy Banks said:
Beth Powers Johnson said:I recenly had a college student schedule an appointment to use her gift certificate. She called about 8 hours prior to her appointment to reschedule, and I happily did so for her. The day of the 2nd appointment, she did not show up. She called 3 days later to say she totally forgot all about her session, and needed to reschedule. I was 'HOT" and knew if I called her right back, it would not be a friendly conversation. She text messaged me about 4 times saying she needed to reschedule as she did not want to lose that $60..... what about me having to set up the session & have the room all ready for her, when I could have easily found someone else to fill that session (not to mention the fact that I have a child at home that I could have been spending time with)..... so frustrating! She has called several more times saying she does not want her GC to expire...
Ann Hibbard said:The most annoying thing that potential clients have done is to tell me they have lost a gift certificate for which I have no record. I tell them I keep careful records and if they can tell me the approximate expiration date I will look it up for them. They usually back down. One lady asked for repayment for a gift certificate that she had given to a friend who did not show up for our scheduled session. Another wanted to cash in her gift certificate instead of receiving a massage. Gift certificate goofs are by far the most recurrent problems from clients that are not regulars. For this reason, I do not sell them to anyone except established clients. I also do not appreciate being asked to give volume discounts. Unlike a distributor of dry goods, the amount of work I do is the same for the number of sessions booked.
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Habitually late clients drive me crazy. This really pushes my boundaries because I feel I should cut their sessions short, and I have when the next client will be inconvenienced. But depending on the situation, I do occasinally find myself caving in and squeezing the full session time in, even though it puts me behind. When the late client does get a shortened session, I justify in my own mind the times I have given a few extra minutes here and there. This is a good reason to tell a client when you go over, making sure they know you have done so and that it is not the norm.
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Permalink Reply by Carrie M. Vaughn, LMT on
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The four words I absolutely cringe to hear are "You can't hurt me". My mental answer is always, "Yes, I certainly could" and my response to my client is always, "That's not what I'm here to do. We'll start out with a medium pressure and you can let me know if it's too much or too little from there". Then I go outside the room and seethe. It isn't a competition, it's not a mark of honor if you can take so much pressure your therapist can't go deep enough and it's certainly not a mark on your pride if you can only take medium or light pressure. It doesn't matter the type of pressure, it matters what works best for your body to work out the issues you have. Most of the time when I start out with medium pressure, it's either too much or just right for most people. Only about one out of twenty five clients says they need more pressure. I don't understand where the idea comes from that people think they have to have the deepest of the deep to get relief. Those words just absolutely set my teeth on edge!
Then on a related issue, the people whom, when asked about the pressure being too much, say it's fine when they're squirming on the table or literally coming up off of it. I ask frequently and keep dropping back the pressure to make sure it's okay and if that lesser pressure is better for them, which it almost always is. It bothers me, though, that when I ask, people aren't honest with me. Please tell me if it's too much or if you need more. I'm here to help!
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Permalink Reply by Velea Shulman on
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Velea Shulman said:My number one professional pet peeve is when therapists call the massage table a bed. It is a table and should never be called a bed.
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Permalink Reply by Linda LePelley, RN, NMT on
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Agreed!!
Velea Shulman said:
Velea Shulman said:My number one professional pet peeve is when therapists call the massage table a bed. It is a table and should never be called a bed.
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Permalink Reply by Micah Goodman on
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I don't have a pet peeve with late clients or no shows because late clients are cutting into their session so they loose out not me. I stick with my late/no call, no show policy. I also, am religious about calling my clients the day before a session to remind them. This is an absolute must. One, if they need to change their time it doesn't effect me as severely and two, if they fail to show they have no valid excuse.
My biggest pet peeve doesn't have to do with clients but with therapists. If I tell a therapist exactly what areas I want/ or need massaged thats what I want done, period. For example, I have chronic hip pain from an automobile accident so I am good if they work the hips, low back and legs. More often then not I get a scripted full body massage. When I asked one therapist why she didn't even work my glutes at all she said, "I don't work the glutes." I specifically, asked her before the start of my session if she had any issues working the hips and glutes and she told me no. So in short my biggest pet peeve are therapists who don't listen to their clients.
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As a professional, when someone who is NOT a massage therapist, is interested in picking my brain for ideas or a project involving massage therapy, and they argue with me when I tell them what is possible hour-wise or schedule-wise. For instance, I recently spoke with someone who has access to many nursing home facilities, and is interested in setting up massage therapy for residents. He thought one therapist should be able to do 8 hours each day, supplying sheets and traveling from room to room and setting up tables, etc...for the equivalent of $10/hour. I bowed out of further discussion with this individual---but if this endeavor is pursued and he finds someone to work at that pace and that rate, eventually, it will be the clients who are not getting full benefit, for no competent therapist would agree to those working conditions.
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Its a mild pet peeve. Never the less, it bothers me when I hear it. And I hear it often enough... Its when I get a new client that tells me that their back hurts.. When I ask them to point out exactly where... They just say. " Well you'll feel it."
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