Yes, it’s still August, but I have to bring up the “C” word.

Christmas.

There. I said it.

This is when you sell most of your gift certificates. This is when you spend a lot of time, energy and money encouraging people to give their loved ones the gift of good health.

I’ve had the chance to talk to a bunch of you over the past couple weeks about massage marketing for winter and Christmas. Here’s what you’re asking:

Should I start now? (YES!)
Are there any sample introduction letters to doctors/PT/businesses anywhere that I recommend? (Yes.)
Is co-marketing a good idea this time of year? (Yes … and all year ’round, too.)
Is marketing worth the effort? (Um … yes.)
Do I have to keep sending them stuff? Because I feel like I’m annoying my clients? (Yes. And no, you’re not.)

But what nobody is asking (yet) is: How to I keep the clients I’ve worked so hard to get?

Thinking about how to keep your clients is as important as thinking about how to attract them. And this goes for boosting your re-booking frequency as well as attracting new clients.

As we work our way toward the biggest gift certificate sales occasion, you need to think about how to retain new clients and to encourage established clients to book more frequently.

Today I’m just going to focus on new clients who have received a certificate for your services.

1. Think before You Act
Before there is any action — buying certificates to sell, telling people you have certificates for sale, writing up your menu of services —think about what impression this packet will give someone who has never met you. Are you going to be perceived as clean? professional? organized? special?
And then, how are you going to maintain that first impression?

2. What Should a New Client Know about You?
This is where understanding your Ideal Client pays off. What do you specialize in (hint: not “NMT” or “trigger point release”)? Do you keep hours your Ideal Clients love (Saturdays, two late nights a week, etc)? What kind of results can they expect?

3. Customize, Customize, Customize
As best you can, find out as much as you can about your prospective client. Why is this person being given a certificate to your services? Have they had massage before? Do they have any chronic injuries/pain? Any thing you can reasonably discover — and respond to — will help you help your potential client.
“How?” I hear you cry. Every little piece of information helps you customize the first bit of contact they get from you. Certificate designs, information, education, and explanations that focus on the new client all make you seem more prepared to help them heal.
AND, can you be permitted to get their contact info? Because you’d like to send them a postcard if they do not redeem their certificate within [three months].

4. Reward Good Behavior
Those of you who have been reading my stuff for a couple years know I’m down on giving monetary discounts to increase sales or bookings. I think it undervalues your work and creates a wodge of clients who just will only come to see you with a coupon.
On the other hand, as a dog trainer and mom (don’t tell me there aren’t similarities between the two), I am a firm advocate of rewarding Good Behavior.
Coming to see you is Good Behavior. Rebooking is Extra Good Behavior. You can reward rebookings with a coupon for [15 extra] minutes or an extra/special service added on to their next session. Or “preferential” appointment times. Or, if it’s just what you do, give them a discount on their next session.

5. Follow up with Common Courtesy
A hand written thank you note does wonders for my attitude. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this. Give it a try. If you like, you can reward good behavior at this point and include a rebooking coupon with it. (See above.)

6. Get out of Jail Free Card
You are not going to want to retain every client that comes under your care. This is okay. You do not have to expend your full energy trying to retain clients that do not mesh well with your practice. You do have to consider what impression you give them; they may recommend their friends to you.

So …
Before you begin (which is NOW), take an hour to think about how you are going to make your first impression. Think about how you are going to encourage that relationship, how you are going to keep that client coming back (hint: consistency). Having even basic answers to these questions actually saves you effort (and money) in the long run.

Further Reading
Turn Gift Recipients into Clients

All my best,
Eileen

We’ve talked about consistency in your massage marketing message. Now I want to ease the discussion toward timing in your marketing: when you reach out to your massage / bodywork clients. This is going to be a two-parter. Can see your practice, and your marketing, in this real-life situation?

Is This You?
I read a fabulous book last week: The Invisible Gorilla, by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons. It’s more about how our minds work (not like we think they do) than timing, BUT, one of their examples grabbed my marketing attention.

Chabris and Simons discussed the experiment of the internationally acclaimed virtuoso violinist, Joshua Bell, playing “incognito” at DC’s L’Enfant Metro station.

Mr. Bell played six classical pieces — the kind that have been considered beautiful, heart-rending, spiritual, awe-striking for centuries — to almost 1100 passers-by on their early morning rush.

Guess how many paused to listen to this world-class soloist who has played every major concert venue in the world (including Sesame Street)?

Seven actually stopped.
Twenty seven gave money, mostly on the run.
About 1,070 people rushed on by without a pause.

This could be you. The 1100 passers-by could be your clients.

What’s Going on Here?
The authors of Invisible Gorilla think one possibility for people not noticing Bell was because they didn’t expect to see Joshua Bell at a DC Metro stop. For the same reason most pedestrians, bikers and cyclists are hit by cars: the drivers didn’t expect to see them.

The second possibility is that the commuters weren’t in a mind-space to be receptive to Bell’s “message.” They’re part of the early morning rush to get on the Metro. They’re thinking about their commute. They’re thinking about being late. They’re thinking about work. They are wrapped up in the Right Now; they’re NOT thinking about nice, pleasant things that are right, smack in front of them.

What’s This Got to Do with You?
Your work is a nice, pleasant thing. Your clients spend a lot of time wrapped up in the Right Now.

A well-written, targeted message might capture their attention for a second or two.

A well-written, targeted message delivered at the Right Time will get a much more satisfactory response.

Tune In Next Time …
I’ve got Thoughts about how you can discover what time is best for your clients to hear from you (hint: it takes time) and how you can use timing to be more effective in your marketing.

All my best,
Eileen

PS: I strongly suggest putting The Invisible Gorilla on your reading list. It’s written for us, real people, and is highly entertaining. And you feel smarter for it.
Before you read, check out: the selective attention test; the test that started it all.
AND, if you want to read the NYT article about Joshua Bell’s experiment, here it is.

Last week I talked about some basics on having your massage marketing messages heard by your clients. One of the basics is to be consistent.

Initially, I was talking about being consistent in your message. eg: Postcard message: I’m affordable, Email: You can afford me and here’s why!, Newsletter: Affordable AND good for you!

On further reflection, I feel being consistent in your communications is important, too. This would do three things for you:
1) increase clients’ awareness of you and your work (possibly increasing your number of regular clients)
2) save you effort
3) save you money.

Increase Client Awareness
You expect to get advertisements and coupons in the months leading up to the holidays. You expect to get “I want to win back your business” coupons from businesses that haven’t contacted you for a while. Because you expect it, and no one really says anything new, all that advertising kind of turns into noise. That noise gets filtered out and ignored.

What if you regularly contacted your clients every month? What if your clients expected to hear from you every month? What if your clients could count on you for regular education, encouragement and cheer?

Then you’d be more likely to be recognized and looked for. You’d be more likely to be heard and get a greater response.

Save Effort
When people don’t hear from you — or about you — for long periods of time, they forget about you. Every time you wait a long time between a mailing or an advertisement, you have to start all over.

It’s like running into an old friend after 10 years. Bringing them up to date on your life takes serious energy and effort. Calling an old friend once a month to play catch-up is relaxing and doesn’t take much time. Same thing with your clients.

When you reach out to your clients consistently, you don’t have to keep re-introducing yourself and re-educating people about the benefits of your work. You just keep the conversation going.

Save Money
Let’s say you only do mailings twice a year: once at Christmas and once around Mothers’ Day.

Because your clients haven’t head from you in four months, you have to make a greater effort to get their attention.

What better way to ensure response than by offering a discount, right? Well … Let’s think about this.

You spend $500 sending out postcards, newsletters and emails. You attach a coupon to each mailing: “$5 off as my gift to you.” 20 clients respond. Great! That’s earned back your $500 easy!

But you’ve just lost $100 — 20 clients X $5 discount = $100.

With $100, you could buy and print a custom message on 200 postcards.
You could buy 1,000 snazzy business cards.
You could customize and download 6.66666666 client newsletters (I have my calculator out).
How many more people could you reach with only $100? Lots.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Meh. Who knows if the whole $100 thing would be worth it to me anyway?”

Well, okay, I don’t know. But what I do know is you’re going to feel like you have to offer $5 off every time you try to re-ignite your clients’ interest.

What you end up getting is a bunch of clients who only come in when you discount yourself. And how is that saving you money?

(If you’re going to make an offer, find a way to add value to a session rather than doing a discount.)

So.
There is so much marketing noise out there. If your clients know when to expect to hear from you, if they know that your expected message is relevant to them, you will be heard. That’s how it works.

When you’re consistent, you don’t have to keep fighting marketing inertia.

When you’re consistent, you don’t have to keep hitting the marketing restart button.

All my best,
Eileen

PS: I’m heading out to Montana for our annual Fourth of July shindig. My primary occupation will be “watching the kids”. This involves sitting on the back porch with a loaded shotgun, scanning the treeline, watching for mountain lions. This isn’t so bad as it makes me feel all frontier-y. And it gets me out of cooking.

I had an amazing first-time experience with a health care provider this last week. And now I want to Share. Because this could be you.

This is a fabulous example of how specializing your massage / bodywork practice can create devoted, happy clients

The Set-Up
It was time for my son’s first dental exam. Since I wanted this to be a good experience, the first person I asked for recommendations was my dentist. Without hesitation, she gave me a name.

I looked them up and realized I would have called this place anyway; they clearly specialize in pediatric dentistry. Their name says it all: “Small to Tall Pediatric Dentistry”  While their website is not the greatest, I was able to find information that resonated with me.

These two things together — the recommendation and their specialty — had me already half-trusting them.

The Hook(s)
“How Specializing Your Massage Practice Creates Starry-Eyed Clients: Eileen is awestruck” continues »

How many ways? Well, you tell me.

Your massage / bodywork clients need your help. And I have a plan. It will take about 30 seconds of your time.

We’re going to make a list. You and I. When we’re done, I’ll make it pretty and you can have it to hand out to your clients.

Let me back up a bit so you know where I’m coming from.

Things are to the point in my life* where I’m attracted to any title — any where — that is a variation of “Six Easy Ways to Reduce Your Stress.” Magazines at the supermarket, ads in Facebook, clippings from my mother. I’ll take anything I can get.

“?# Ways to Reduce Your Massage Clients’ Stress, or I don’t WAAAAANT to take a bath” continues »

In this day and age you are probably the only person outside your clients’ families who touches them. I’m sure you know how much this can mean to a person. While you cannot physically lay your hands on (or near) your clients at all times, you can continue to touch their minds and hearts.

You can thank them.

A while ago, I had a question about how to write a thank you note to a new client. When you market your massage practice, this is something you should do. Are there other reasons to remind your clients you appreciate them? Yup.

“8 Different Reasons to Say Thank You: Marketing massage while enriching your soul” continues »

Requirements for websites change practically every week. What was “required” for achieving optimal sales last week has changed by the time you’ve finished your first cup of coffee Monday morning.

Massage therapists and bodyworkers don’t work like that. You don’t work like that.

You should have a website. You need one to be found. You need one to help you communicate with your clients — established and potential.

Many of us get overwhelmed reading website “How To’s.” We get to thinking we have to include every new “must” in our site. What many people end up with are convoluted, distracting blots on the internet. Clients can’t find the information they need because it’s buried under information an “expert” has proclaimed you should have.

Massage therapist and bodyworkers’ practices aren’t like that. Your clients, and your practice, require a different approach.

“You Need a Site but Don’t Be Scared: 3 massage websites that cover the happy basics” continues »

Marketing your massage / bodywork practice to your Ideal Clients will save both your sanity and your tooth enamel. Here’s why:

1. Ideal Clients Save You Money
You can spend $300 on a newspaper ad that might generate 10 responses. Or you can pay $50 to advertise in an event’s program, or a dentist’s newsletter, or a city’s parks department schedule.

Go where your Ideal Clients are and spend your money there. You’ll get a better response.

2. Ideal Clients Save You Effort
“4 Reasons to Focus on Ideal Clients: Marketing your massage practice to clients you want” continues »

46% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. Therefore, I am presuming that 46% of you made some sort of resolution to improve your practice.

You want more clients. You want more of your clients to tell their friends about you. You want to change your practice’s focus from working with the ill and disabled to working with active seniors.

You have resolved to step up the marketing for your massage / bodywork practice.

And by now, mid-January, 75%+ of you Resolvers have “broken” your resolution.

Is this a problem? Heck, no!
Should you feel disheartened and vaguely ashamed? Nah.

Here are 12 steps to get over the discouragement that seems to go along with “broken” resolutions and get on with making your massage / bodywork practice healthy and profitable.

“Wait! Stop! Don’t Give Up!: 12 steps to banish despair and keep massage marketing resolutions” continues »

I went to a big holiday craft fair this weekend (hey, the mother-in-law was in town) and was very pleased to find two massage therapists tucked in amongst the handmade soaps, Christmas wreaths and interesting fudges.

What a great place to attract clients and to make some gift certificate sales.

Don’t Let This Be You
The problem was that these MTs were hiding. They were hunched at the back of their respective booths looking glum.

This was sad. These therapists had spent about $200 to be part of this two-day event and a lot of time to get organized and ultimately it was wasted. They weren’t going to attract any new clients or make any gift certificate sales.

I’m all for marketing massage and bodywork at fairs and shows. If you’re in the right frame of mind, it’s the best way to introduce yourself — and your work — to new people.

Here are 5 tips to market your massage / bodywork practice:

“Fair Game: 5 tips to market your massage practice at craft fairs and trade shows” continues »