Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/121374
Client Communication from page 1 Whether it was hoping for better personal interaction, not feeling listened to, wanting deeper work, or thinking the atmosphere could have been more comfortable, the "complaints" reported by massage and bodywork clients in our 2013 ABMP National Consumer Survey could all have been solved with a few words. Here's how. Be Fully Present and Listen Educating Your Clients Can Bring Them Back Body Sense spring 2013 massage, bodywork & healthy living ABMP offers an easy-to-use client education tool—Body Sense Create the Perfect Session magazine—that keeps talking to Address Trauma Through Bodywork 5 Herbs for Health your clients even after they've left your office. This free, quarterly digital publication from ABMP is based on a philosophy that considers massage therapy an integral facet of a healthy lifestyle, not just an indulgence. This is a message worth sharing with your clients. A public education magazine brought to you by + Post-Session Wisdom It's not that you don't conduct a thorough health intake or properly explain to clients It couldn't be easier: how to disrobe and get on the massage table. 1. Go to www.abmp.com/bodysense/ • But do you really listen to what the client 2. Click "Send Body Sense magazine to your clients now" says as she rattles off her ailments, and 3. Follow the prompts and send Body Sense to your client do you establish goals together that will email list today meet her needs? • Do you check in enough during your sessions to make sure the pressure is good and the client is • 24% said their massage experience comfortable, or do you ask once in the beginning and then would have been better if the session assume everything is OK from there on out? was longer. • Do you ensure the client is warm enough, cool enough, or has This is hardly a complaint, but enough bolstering for maximum comfort? rather an opportunity for you. Ask Learn to listen to the client's body, in addition to listening to clients if they want more time (if her words, and you might just seal the deal for that client's return. you have it to give), or let them know before the session begins that a cancellation will allow you Ensure a Positive Client Experience to extend their time if they want. Of massage clients who reported some dissatisfaction with their Be sure to note the cost so clients service in the ABMP consumer survey: aren't misled into thinking this will • 19% were dissatisfied with the touch itself, reporting it wasn't deep be from the kindness of your heart. enough or was too deep, that they wanted less intensity or more If a client says longingly that she intensity, or that the therapist didn't cover enough of the areas they wishes the session would have been wanted worked on. longer, note that in her file. When These are all issues solved with communication. A therapist she calls to rebook, remind her that who was frequently checking in with her client might have you also offer 90-minute sessions if discovered some of these failings before the negatives framed she would like to try that this time. the entire outcome of the client's experience. Your job is to be a As an aside, make sure you get the Goldilocks of sorts and find the elements that are "just right" for opening dialog, health intake, and each and every client. instructions for each session done as If a client says he especially wants you to work on his sore efficiently and quickly as possible, so back, make sure you deliver. Even if you know it's his gluteal the client reaps the benefit of every muscles that are causing the problem, work his back, and his minute of your hands-on work. glutes, explaining your logic a little bit as you go. Explain how Communication is critical to your pain and structural inefficiencies refer throughout the body, success, and not just for getting how your work is cumulative, and why he needs to rebook. clients in the door the first time, but Education, in these small, bite-size morsels, keeps the client the second, third, and fourth time engaged in the therapeutic process. as well. Be fully present, actively • 13% didn't see the return on investment with massage, nor the listen to clients' words and body promise of lasting benefits. language, and educate them at every Client education is key here. Cite studies regarding the benefits opportunity—these steps will help of frequent massage, remind clients that massage is much more nurture, and solidify, your clientthan a luxury, and explain that even after the pain is gone, there therapist relationships and turn your are residual effects massage can address, and that their return on one-time client into a massage "lifer." investment is a pretty good one. Karrie Osborn is senior editor at ABMP. DS 2 May June 2013