Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/72121
KEEPING CLIENTS building your practice. The therapists who you pump 70 new clients a month to, if they don't retain any of them, those therapists cost you money. This is where clinic owners really need to pay attention. It's not the topline numbers you need to worry about as much as the holes in the bottom of the boat." The results have been remarkable, McCuistion says. Some therapists do a better job at this than others, of course, but overall retention numbers are up. Five years ago, before McCuistion launched his plan, only 4 percent of new clients at his Boulder clinic returned for a repeat massage within 30 days. Today, 22 percent do. "New client retention is about the relationship between session one and session two," McCuistion says. "Frequency is all about Session 2 to infinity. Successful massage therapists have high new client retention and also very high frequency. Frequency is the bread and butter of a practice. Most massage therapists make the majority of their income from a small number of people who are their best clients." MassageSpecialists.com offers operations consulting, scheduling software, and practice analytics as well communication seminars. For more information, call 303-938-0388 or email dirk@massagespecialists.com. LIVING THE SYSTEM Not surprisingly, therapists aren't always enthusiastic when first confronted with McCuistion's systematized communication method. At first, it strikes many as too mechanical, too intrusive, and too pushy. "To be honest, for the first couple of years I didn't do much," admits Nicola Rigby, who has worked at MassageSpecialists.com for three years. Checking in with clients throughout the massage session, questioning to find out exactly what they were experiencing, and making sure she knew she was addressing their top areas of concern all became second 62 massage & bodywork january/february 2012