I had a Sad Marketing Massage Moment this weekend.
Two lovely massage therapists had their chairs set up at the Fourth Annual St Martin’s Dragon Boat Races. I watched them the whole morning. They had three customers. Sad.
Here’s what was going on:
- There were 24 dragon boat teams of at least 21 people each, plus the spare rowers and all the support folks.
- Of the 24 teams, 8 were from the Olympia area. 6 were from areas more than 40 miles away. The remaining 10 teams were made up of people from here and there but probably most lived within a 20 mile radius.
- Each team had it’s own “tent” where you could find the coaches, coordinators and, most importantly, the racers’ significant others. Each tent was well marked so you knew which team’s it was.
- There was a program which gave information about the teams (why they race), the heat schedules (when they race) and also listed the sponsors and vendors and their ads.
- Most of the people attending the meet were attached to the racers themselves. Those who were not were very likely local residents.
- It was the first nice day in a couple weeks. You can’t plan for that sort of thing, of course, but you can take advantage of it. When the weather clears after a dull, soggy month, people feel more open and receptive to new ideas or experiences.
Here’s what I could see they were doing right in terms of marketing:
- They had two signs (one facing each way) with times and prices listed.
- The therapists acknowledged the people passing by with a friendly nod or a hello. They walked closer to people who asked questions. They weren’t heavily engrossed in a book or in conversation with each other.
- They had a 1/2 sheet of brightly colored paper with the benefits of massage listed on it which they handed to any interested people. (It wasn’t a list specifically for rowers’ issues but it was something.)
- Their chairs were set up with the tissue thingies pre-placed on the head cradle and arm rests so a person could reasonably infer that some care for sanitation and health was in force.
- They looked “clean”; both had obviously bathed recently and wore professional/casual khakis and tucked-in shirts.
- Their chairs faced the lake so customers wouldn’t have to miss any race.
- They set up a sun shade so they were prepared for most kinds of spring weather (mostly rain, some sun).
- Somehow they managed to be right by the best place to view the races. Whether this was by chance or design, it was an advantage.
And yet, they had only three people come and sit down during a four hour period.
These two therapists were new to doing chair massage at events. Thankfully, they seemed to have good attitudes and were taking notes about what could be done next time to improve their customer volume. They had a good start, just a small start.
For those of you who will be using events to build your clientele during the warm season, here’s what you can do to get far more than three customers in your chairs at an event (using this dragon boat race as an example):
- First of all, your copy and other marketing material should reflect who is at the specific event. In this case, it was an outdoor, athletic event, primarily attended by dragon boat enthusiasts and their families. Take some time to research what kind of nut cases like to get up at 4:30 a.m. to get soaking wet in the rain on choppy water (Oh … did I say that out loud?). What does their association literature say? If you find that most dragon boat associations talk about community, team building, health, tradition and personal accomplishment, be sure to work that into your marketing.
- Ask the event coordinator if and when team (participant/vendor/etc) information is available. Ask if the info is available online or if you can have a rough copy of the program or vendor list ASAP. In addition to knowing there would be several state and city government teams at this event, there was a Hispanic women’s coalition team and a visually impaired team, Blind Ambition. These are good groups to know about before you begin introducing yourself.
- Find out if there a program for the event. If there is an opportunity to buy an ad, do it. There was a lot of time between races. People had little to do so they flipped through the whole program. Watch next time you’re at an event like this. You’ll see it. This dragon boat event was selling a full page ad for $100, $50 for half, $25 for a quarter page. Nobody who advertised in this event’s program tailored their copy for these specific attendants. Nobody. GRAH! It’s hard to get a group of potential customers more selected than this.
- Whether you take an ad in the program (do it) or hand out 1/2 page flyers, you need to address the very specific concerns of the attendants/participants. In this case, tell the rowers that a pre-race warm up massage will help optimize performance and focus their concentration. Post-race work will help keep them primed for the next heat and ease strain. And you offer full length sessions at your conveniently located studio. Come visit your booth to book for future post-race sessions. Package deals are available! Share with your team mates! Buy a gift certificate for your coach!
- Suck it up and go introduce yourself to the attendants. There were tents for each team. If you’ve done your research, you’ll know the names of the local teams. If you are a shy sort, focus on the support people for the teams. These are usually the spouses/partners. They’re the ones who really tell the rowers what to do. They will not be so focused as the competitors and will have more time to hear you. Give them your flyer and/or point out your ad in the program. Tell them that, in addition to helping the rowers today, you can also make tomorrow less ouchie for them. If you are bolder, seek out the coaches. Tell them how you can help their team get an edge for the next heat. Tell them you do goal-oriented work. Tell them where they can find you today.
- Hand your business card to everyone you talk to. Give 3-4 to the people who seem most receptive. Consider attaching your cards to some of your handouts. Get your name in their hands.
- If you go out to introduce yourself and gather customers, bring your appointment books with you — both today’s and your regular one. If you’re talking to a team captain or coach and they suddenly decide to send some rowers to you, be ready right then and there to get them scheduled. Backing and forthing is going to make them impatient and you frazzled. AND think about carrying along some of your gift certificates, too. You just never know.
I’m sure there’s more. A lot more. Those of you who work events; what have I left out?
All my best,
Eileen
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13 users commented in " Dipping in Your Oar: Notes on marketing massage at local events "
Eileen, in MO we are required to have the client sigh a consent form — if you have a place for their email address also, perhaps with a bit about “free email newsletter and specials”, you might be able to bulk up your address book that way!
I’m getting ready to provide hand massage at a charity golf tournament — I’m debating on whether to buy a booth ($80 for two days, I provide shelter) or just hand out cards. I can put something in the goody bags for free, so may enclose a small bit of muscle rub in them (again with cards!).
Interview today at a TCM/Chiro clinic — wish me luck!
Beth
LUCK TO YOU, Beth! You deserve a good space with people who support your work.
Good point about collecting people’s consent to contact them with relevant, helpful information (newsletters and such).
And smart idea about the hand massage. If you can convince people that your work will help them at the tourney *today* then it may well be worth your while to get a booth. Can you send out info to the players before the event? Maybe along with the organizer’s mailings?
Tell me how this goes. Both things.
Eileen
Actually, I can set up for no charge without a booth — though I don’t know if either option would allow me to charge. (It’s my pet charity, though, so I’d likely have a tip jar with proceeds over gas money going right back to the Shelter.)
Great case study! As you said giving out hand outs would have got them much more business. Such a waste of a great opportunity.
Beth — Do you have any “hand care” handouts you can hand out? Or shoulder/flexibility/muscle strain/etc.? Just a thought.
Massage Marketing — Sort of a waste BUT they did take the opportunity to figure out what they could do at their next event. So that was good. And I got the chance to write about it so maybe other folks can think more fully about their upcoming events.
Hi Eileen,
I hope they learned from that opportunity. Did you get a chance to talk to them about the marketing possibilities? This case study is a great insight for other massage therapists though!
Take care
Hi,
my name is Jeniene. I am a CMT in Michigan going on 8 years now and the biggest lesson I have learned in regards to marketing in this field is you have to give a lot to get a little. Were the girls charging for their services that day? I would rather do 30 free chair massages and gain 5 regulars as opposed to charging a fee and only doing 3 people and gaining no regulars. I worked in a salon my first year and offered BUY ONE HOUR MASSAGE- RECEIVE YOUR NEXT HOUR FREE for the entire year! It was challenging financially but it paid off in the end because I gained some solid cash regulars who are still with me to this day at the chiropractic establishment where I now practice.
Whenever I do a chair massage marketing event I have learned that you need to attract people to your area any way you can because once we get our hands on people is really when the magic starts. It is our gift. If you are sincere in what you do, people will feel it.
I always take a FREE DRAWING with me. People like FREE stuff. I bring a white board and easel and advertise for a FREE ONE HOUR or HALF HOUR MASSAGE GIFT CERTIFICATE. Make sure they put their name and number on a raffle ticket and tell them they need not be present to win. Little paks of biofreeze are attracting to people as well. Also in addition to passing out benefits of massage, give them a coupon for $5 off their first full body session in your place of practice.
I hope these ideas work as well for you as they have for me. Good luck and God Bless you all, Jeniene
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This happened to 2 of us from a massage therapy clinic I formerly worked at: We were at a first-annual fundraising event, not accepting any payment, not even donations to award back to the fundraiser (park ranger rules–must abide), sowe were simply there to provide pre- and post-race table and chair massages. From an event that had about 200 runners + their supporters + vendors + volunteers, we maybe worked on about 10 people, total. We had a plain white tent (which stood out well in our location), and since there were 2 of us not being busy, I decided to take our business cards (which were specially printed to include a discount they could use at a future date at our then-office) and did a very brief-and-to-the-point speech: I got their attention by walking toward them while making eye contact and smiling saying “Hi!” and reaching my hand out to shake theirs. Unless they have something very against you people don’t usually refuse a handshake and it’s a great way to say, “Yes, I’m talking to YOU!” Obviously they’re going to want to know why you made that advance, so now the door of opportunity was open for me to say my name, that I’m a licensed massage therapist and that we were providing FREE massages for all persons present at the race–not just racers–at the ‘white tent over there’ as a thanks for helping making ‘today’ possible/putting forth effort to help today’s event’s cause. Then I handed each person both of our business cards with the discount side face-up and mentioned that these cards can be used at a future date at our office, and they could share them with anyone if they wished. I said, “Thanks,” and “I’ll look for you at our station!” In this case I avoid using “Hope to see you…” because it is processed by potential clients as “I’m desparate for business and awkward about approaching people, and I might be nervous about the work that I do.” Nobody wants to be at the mercy of a nervous person doing something for their health. There are ways to be bold and forward without being pushy. “I’ll look for you at our station” doesn’t say, “I’m keeping my eye on you,” but rather “I view you as important and I will remember your face/our conversation, making it not awkward when I see you again”.
I have continued to do that on my own, if the case ever was. I never charge unless I am requested to be there. I only accept free-will donations (and I always make more that way than charging because people then don’t have to get out money and count–they just give a small wad of money, which can be anywhere from their spare pocket coins to $20), and if it’s a fundraiser, 100% of donations given for massage go back to the cause—people love that, because they feel and know they are helping and getting immediate thanks for their support.
I had the opportunity through my local Chamber of Commerce to participate in a golf tournament. I put 20%off coupons (chair massage) into the goodie bags, had signage up in several places, stood in the line handing out goodie bags and lunches( telling each participant personally, with a smile, to look for the coupon in their bag). My chair was set up in a prominent place. I had informational brochures as well as my cards and brochures displayed within easy reach. The space was made inviting with soft music and flowers.I made myself useful(and visible) by helping with the auction table, in the kitchen, and out on deck. I gave free demos to the site manager and the assistant golf pro. I was there on site from 10am to 7pm. I met a lot of influential people and passed out some cards and brochures; but had TWO paying customers. What more could I have done?! Thanks, Brenda J. Windom, LMP
Wow, Brenda — That sounds disheartening. To *me* it looks like you checked off all the basic to-do’s and then some.
Because I was not there to “experience the atmosphere” I am hesitant to tell you what you could have done to get more paying clients. So keeping in mind that I AM NOT YOU and WAS NOT THERE, here are my thoughts:
1) I strongly recommend that if you want to continue going to events like this, you post your questions on either http://www.massageprofessionals.com/ or http://bodyworkonline.com/forum/. I’m not fobbing you off. I feel that actual massage practitioners sharing their experiences are going to be more helpful in the specifics department.
2) If you are going to do more events like this, think about exactly what you want to get out of them. Experience? Connections? Clients? Working vacation? Tax write-off? These are all different goals. Pick one (ONE) and work towards it.
3) I am *very* impressed you greeted people. This is hard for many people to do. Good for you for getting out there and making yourself visible.
I’m curious whether you simply reminded them of the coupon in the goodie bag or whether you gave a variation on “I’m here to help you [loosen up your shoulders to improve your swing]. My space is over [by the Top Flite booth] and there’s a coupon in your bag.”
4) If you do this again, consider ways you can capture people’s contact information: a drawing, a newsletter, etc. Then be sure you contact them with USEFUL information. Because your work is useful.
5) Is there any way you can further your connection with the COC? I mean, I’m sure they would LOVE it if you offered sessions for free to tall their members and all, but I’m thinking about individuals within the organization. You’ve met several of them face-to-face. Do you feel comfortable contacting them — mailing to them, speaking at a meeting? Stuff like that?
Just thoughts. I am sorry you had a slow day at the tournament. Really, do think about posting your questions on one or both of the forums. I’ve been impressed with some of the conversations I’ve seen on them lately.
Feel free to email me at marketingmatters@comcast.net.
Eileen
COOL, Healingartsmaq! Way to get the energy going! So I’m taking it this works for you and the clients you want to attract.
What are you hoping to get out of these events? Showing your support? Attracting athletic-type clients? Both? What kind of results do you find you get — both for the event day and for people using the coupons on the business cards? Is this something you do often and is it worth it or is it just a fun day out?
I like how you phrase your invitation/call to action. Thank you for sharing that.
Tell me more!
Eileen
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