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Sliding Pay Scale...
I am curious to see if anyone has used a sliding scale to decide what a client will pay for a massage? Does it help bring in more clients? How do you base the scale?
Any information, thoughts, or idea's are welcome.
Any information, thoughts, or idea's are welcome.
Views: 1607
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Laura Allen on
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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.
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Permalink Reply by Johanna Beals on
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Thank you for your reply. It's so hard these days, to see someone in such need of a massage, but the only thing stopping them is the fee. I will have to remember the option about offering a discount to those who really need one. Thank you for that idea as well.
That's wonderful to hear that the acupuncturist was able to make a sliding scale successful in her clinic.
Laura Allen said: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.
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I do appreciate the reply......
hahaha @ what your basics massage instructor said....
It does make sense to use the sliding scale on those that you know. If a stranger were to come in, we wouldn't know what the truth was or not, if we went by the honor system.
I do believe people who can't afford a massage very often, are the ones who need it most. This is the real reason why I am seriously thinking about trying out a sliding scale.
Thank you so much for all your insight, there is a lot here for me to think about.
:)
Henry Hardnock said: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
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Permalink Reply by Dave Marhofer on
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Although a good idea, sliding pay scales can also work against you. Everyone has set prices, that is what you feel you are worth. I use discounts with my regular clients, as long as they keep booking appointments. Now and again, if I feel that someone cant afford the massage, and really needs it, I will work with them, and charge what they can afford. I havent used it, but I would only use it on say my regulars, and people I know. The only thing is, now you have to work twice as hard, and run the risk of burnout over a period of time.
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I have experimented with discounting and can say it usually doesn't work, the people feel somehow cheated or hurt. I feel they don't appreciate what they are getting, and usually it involves family or firiends.
What I've done is: Set your price whatever it is then when you feel you need to raise your prices keep the old price for your regulars so they are getting a discount. Seems towork for me.
jason
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I want to thank those who have given their advice and information about this subject. I really do appreciate the feedback.
:)
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Permalink Reply by Katherine McFatridge on
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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.
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Permalink Reply by Don Dillon, RMT on
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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!
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Thank you so much for your insight. I like the idea of giving a once a year package sale though. Gift certificates are always wonderful to have.
Katherine McFatridge said: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.
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You bring up some wonderful points to take into consideration and the questions are ones that are important for anyone to answer. I was mainly asking about this subject due to someone else bringing it up and I've never tried it. There is plenty to read and debate over on this issue. It is true that it's important to build up on the Marketing, skills, and relationships, once that is done a practice will grow, but I know that it takes time.
Rewarding clients (and their behavior) is a wonderful way to keep everyone happy. That, I believe, is a good thing for everyone to bring into a practice.
Thank you for your wonderful words of advice. I will look at those books that you suggested and see how they can help.
Don Dillon, RMT said: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!
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Permalink Reply by Julia Morrow on
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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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Thanks so much for the insight. I don't think I will be too open with offering discounts to clients. The chiropractor I'm working with is offering a special price right now for massage, since it isn't too busy (in this one office I'm working in), but hopefully that will turn around soon and we can start charging regular prices again for massage clients (who are there just for massage and not chiropractic treatments.)
Julia Morrow said: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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