Building a Massage Practice by Connecting through Consultations.

One of the most important pieces of building a successful massage practice is to connect with your clients in a way that builds trust, comfort, and healing. Creating an atmosphere of trust and healing requires that we be good listeners both in the literal sense, as well as with our hands. This starts with the first encounter and is crucial to develop during the first session.

Rather then rushing into the first massage, I suggest taking between 30-45 minutes to do a consultation with all of your clients on their first visit. This will establish an atmosphere of care and trust and will make them want to return for more visits.

A consultation is a brief conversation we have with our clients to determine why they want our services, what their priorities are, and discover how we can best serve them. This is done by asking a series of questions that allow the client to be expressive about their needs. Below is a series of questions I ask on the first visit, as well as the rationale for asking them.

"What brings you in for a massage today?"

This question is necessary for us to know about their needs. Did they come in for shoulder pain, stress relief, or because you come highly recommended.

After they answer I will usually ask:

"How long have you had this condition."

This can start to open "the story" about their condition.

and then:

"Do you have any other concerns or priorities you would like to address today."

This is an open question that allows them to tell you about other aches or pains they may have, and it also allows them to express any other concerns that may be present. Often when I ask this question people will start to tell me about stress, emotions, or "their story."

Now that I know what brought them in for a massage, and any concerns or priorities that are present, I will ask them how these things are affecting their life. Questions I ask are:

"How does this __________ affect your life?" (Fill in the blank with back pain, stress, shoulder pain, or whatever condition they may have.)

"Does this __________ affect your family, social, work, or personal life?" (Ask these one at a time, and only the ones that seem appropriate.)

The above questions are important to ask because under their reason for coming in is a living person, a story, unexpressed emotions, or a host of other things that are important for us to know about. Is that back pain affecting their emotional life, their office work, or their ability to play with their children? If so I want to know! Why you may ask, because this is what starts to build trust, openness, and connection, and once you have developed this type of relationship with your client, they will often be one for life.

The above examples are a very condensed version of how I do a consultation, but it should suffice. In summary the consultation is meant to accomplish a few things.

1. To determine their reason for coming in.
2. To understand how their condition affects their life.
3. To allow them to express their emotions and tell "their story."

Taking the time to understand our clients before the first massage builds trust, communication, and sets the tone for converting them to long-term customers. Since doing consultations I have been able to build my practice by having a high percentage of first-timers return for repeat visits. Mastering the art of doing consultations takes time to develop, and when done properly is a sure-fire way to build a massage practice .

Building a massage practice is something that takes time, passion, care, and knowledge. For more information about how to develop your practice through massage marketing and practice management Click Here!

Happy Hands,

Jim