On her blog, Kelli Wise at massagetherapyworld.com just did the MT’s in Washington state a big favor. She let everybody know that it is ILLEGAL  in Washington to give people a monetary award for referring clients to them. Whoa.

Some of you bodyworkers already keep it simple, thanking clients in conversation or through the mail with a beautiful greeting card. Others of you like to offer a discount coupon or gift certificate to clients who refer. Well. In some states that may still work, but not here.

So what else can you do if you are one of those practitioners who wants to continue to reward your referring clients?

Two great ideas

A couple of good ideas were expressed on Kelli’s blog.

1) Host a special party once in awhile for your referring clients.
2) Make a donation to a favorite cause in the name of your referring clients.

Three more tips

1. You know those newsletters you get from the charities you donate to? Most of them have a column where they list donors. If you send a client newsletter, add a column thanking clients who refer! (Ask permission, of course.) Our Natural Touch Marketing client newsletter gives you a space where you can add an item such as this.

2. I mentioned greeting cards above, but don’t forget the cheaper and easy-to-mail postcard option. People really do love getting hand-written snail mail these days. In addition to saying thank you, please don’t forget to include all your contact information on it.

3. If you’re pressed for time, simply thanking referring clients with a quick email may be plenty adequate.

Track who’s referring

To do any of the above, you have to know who your referring clients are, right? So make sure you ask on your intake form where new clients heard about you. Tabulate that information periodically, and attach a note to the records of any clients who are passing on your name!