On Discounts and Happy Endings
Independent massage therapists and energy workers tend to have challenges with the business side of their profession, especially charging clients correctly. Very often they want to focus on helping people and don't want to get caught up in the money part. Yet, they've got rent to pay just like their clients! I have become a huge advocate of knowing your worth and charging appropriately. I learned through personal experience that inappropriately discounting yourself does not pay off. I discounted massage clients, Reiki classes, and workshops. I did it out of fear; fear of losing a client, fear of standing in my own power and claiming my self worth. I also inappropriately discounted my jewelry but that is actually a post of its own. What follows is a story of how I let a client take advantage of a discount I offered. It does not have a "happy ending."
The vibe at the local metaphysical boutique continued to decline after the "Mirroring" incident. Eventually I moved to a different location. In celebration of the move I created a $50 promotion for the first visit at the new space. I only had a few regulars and was quite thrilled when the very first client was completely new to me. She found me online. During her session she kept coaching me into doing deep tissue and myo-fascial work rather than the relaxing Swedish massage she scheduled. Wanting her to be happy I accommodated her a bit. That was mistake #1. At the end of the session she said she wanted to see me regularly but could not afford my regular rate of $75. She really told a good "woe is me and my finances" story! I told her that if she scheduled every 2 weeks I would honor the $50 rate. That was mistake #2. After a few sessions her husband called wanting an appointment. I was thrilled! We met at the office where he told me he wanted a 90 minute massage. I hesitantly explained that the $50 first appointment special only applied to 60 minute sessions and that my rate for 90 minutes was $125. He said that was fine. I was a bit confused. He had no problem paying $125 and his wife said she couldn't pay more than $50? MMMmmmmkay! So moving along, Mr. Husband ever so subtly made it clear he was looking for a little something extra during the massage. Being a massage therapist for less than a year and never encountering this before, I attributed it to a misunderstanding and did not address it. That was mistake #3. The session ended. Mr. Husband paid and to my surprise scheduled for the following week! The time came for his next appointment. This time Mr. Husband was much less subtle with his intentions. I did not end the session (mistake #4) although I did verbally tell him, "NO!" At the end of the session he paid and to my surprise (again!) he scheduled for the following week. I let him schedule to keep things smooth. I had no intention of keeping the appointment but it was Sunday morning and we were the only ones in the building. I did not want a hassle. In the meantime, Mrs. Wife had been scheduling her appointments with me, continuing to try to get deep tissue and myo-fascial work for $50 and singing the poverty blues. Long story short, I canceled Mr. Husband's appointment via text message telling him that he was looking for something that was not on my list of services offered. I ghosted on Mrs. Wife because privacy laws prevented me from telling her why I would no longer accept appointments for her husband. Fast forward about 6 months, I got a phone call from another massage therapist who also worked in the same office. When Mrs. Wife saw that her new therapist worked in the same office she told her how I disappeared. The other therapist happened to be one of my instructors when I was in massage school so she started to lecture me about not returning Mrs. Wife's calls. I explained the entire situation to her and she said she saw why I ghosted on Mrs. Wife. When I got to the part about Mrs. Wife claiming to not be able to pay full price when her husband had no problem paying full price the other massage therapist said that Mrs. Wife had been working her hard for a discount too!
A few years later I ran into the happy couple at the gym. Perhaps that will be a story for another time...
If you are an independent massage therapist or energy worker who would like help navigating the business side message me! I'd love to talk with you about how you can effectively offer promotions without compromising your business and self worth as well as smoothly navigate other sticky areas...