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For all our responsibilities as the professional in the massage room, for all our education, for all our years in practice, for all our expertise we are still only a visitor to our client's bodies. Only a guest. We don't own the body on the table, live in it, or go home with it.

Why am I thinking of this? A medical appointment. The nurse practitioner was, in a word, condescending. She expected me to have brought things with me that no one in her office had ever asked for. She told me information was available to me when it wasn't. She advised me to take steps I was already taking. Best of all, she told me that my lived experience was incorrect. What I noticed about how my body reacted to certain stimuli was incorrect because the research she's seen says it doesn't happen like that.

I've had massage therapists do this to me as well. I've been lectured to about stretching and water consumption, despite the fact that I was stretching and was drinking enough water! I've had therapists ignore my pleas to adjust their pressure because, apparently, they know better than me. I've been told certain experiences are "normal for my age" when they aren't.

What's this go to do with the business of massage? There are two parts to people becoming repeat clients -- delivering the results they seek and treating them at every point along the way with respect and hospitality. You can't get by with just one or the other. You have to deliver both.
Great customer service is about building a relationship of respect and hospitality. Customer service doesn't have to be fancy or expensive, though it can be if you want it to. Customer service so often comes down to the little things that say "I've thought about what would make you comfortable". A hook and clothes hanger. Signs making it easy to find the bathroom. Pillows and blankets. A comfortable chair. Making the time to really listen to your client.

Many of these things are the same things you'd do for a friend who was a guest in your home -- letting them know where the bathroom was, giving them closet space, offering a comfortable bed with enough blankets and pillows, etc. If you can be a good host to your friends, you can do good customer service for your clients because they both come from the heart.

Love -- expressed as respect and hospitality -- really is a business asset.

Kelly Bowers


There are opportunities for great customer service -- often in ways you wouldn't necessarily think of -- at every point of contact with clients.

From your first marketing contact till the day you say good-bye, there are many ways to build and strengthen a good relationship.

If you're curious about ways you could be providing a stellar customer service experience, check out this book. It's an easy read and full of things you may never have thought of before.
I had a great time talking to the students at Peachtree City School of Massage last week (by Zoom). All about things to think about when you want to open a private practice. Thanks for the invitation Allie!


Would you like me to present at your gathering, school, or for a group? I love doing that! Drop me a note and I will happily send you my catalog of courses or schedule a free talk.
Online Scheduling Now Available!

Online scheduling available for your convenience!

If you're scheduling with me for the first time, choose "initial consultation".

If you're a coaching client and need to talk between your quarterly business coaching sessions, choose "coaching mini session".

If you want to schedule a 30- or 60-minute session to help you work out a challenge in your practice, choose "Cuppa: short" for a 30-minute session and "Cuppa: long" for a 60-minute session.

SPACE AVAILABLE!!

Is it (finally) time for your own new, revitalized, or re-designed private massage practice?

  • You're ready for your own private practice and you want to do it right, right from the start

  • You've been trying to get your private practice up and running but you're struggling.

  • You've already opened your private practice but suspect you've missed a few things

  • You've been in private practice for a while but it seems to be limping along or to have stalled out

  • You need to pivot and that's practically like opening a new practice

If this sounds like you, you might be just right for The First 2 Years. Click below to learn more about how this might be good for you.
Tell Me Your Story

I have a contract with a publisher in the UK to write a book all about starting a multi-therapist practice! The working title is More Than One: A Beginners Guide to Multi-Therapist Practices.

I need your help. The foundation of this book will be interviews with massage therapists who:

  • have successfully run a multi-therapist practice
  • have unsuccessfully run a multi-therapist practice (we often learn more from our failures than our successes)
  • have worked for a multi-therapist practice

Does that describe you? Then I'd love to talk with you. The interviews will be 1-2 hours by Zoom (and recorded).

Would you like to tell me about your experiences?

Would you like to nominate someone to be interviewed?

If so, please let me know! The interview process will start in June.
Why I Love ClinicSense This Month

ClinicSense genuinely understands massage therapists. Their latest promotion is that they'll help pay for your AMTA or ABMP membership.

To receive credit for your AMTA or ABMP subscription, send your AMTA/ABMP renewal receipt to subscriptions@clinicsense.com. They'll add credit into your account based on the kind of ClinicSense plan you go with:
 
  • Lite Plan: They pay half your membership fees
  • ‍Standard Plan: They pay this year’s membership fees
  • ‍Premium Plan: They'll pay your membership fees EVERY year

If you're looking for practice management software that bundles so many tools into one place and truly understands massage therapists, all for a perfectly reasonable price, I recommend taking a hard look at ClinicSense.
Your Massages Take Care of Other People.
Your Business Takes Care of You.