Take your Thai Massage Marketing to a new level (Part 3)

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series on the business of Thai Massage. For more ideas on building the ultimate Thai Massage business please check out other articles I have written. You can find them here, here and here. Click here to read Part 1 Click here to read Part 2 Alrighty everyone, time to tackle the big kahuna, the elephant in the room.  What do we do when we encounter clients who feel the price is too costly for them? Is this an insurmountable road block in the business of Thai Massage? Well that depends on how you look at it… I really believe that is one of the most important parts of this conversation. That is, if your energy surrounding this question is negative, doubtful or full of fear, it is understandable, but it is also not constructive. The old adage of where there’s a will there’s a way is of great importance. And so is remembering what it feels like when you meet a challenge head on and then get to experience the other side of having achieved your goal. It is invigorating, inspiring, confidence building and rewarding. It is so important to keep in mind that our thoughts play a big part, perhaps the biggest in shaping our reality. So even against all instincts, which in many instances are old patterns of fear and not having enough, or being told we’re not good enough, we have to let that go as much as possible. Breathe through it when those moments happen. They are the waves of resistance that come up, but we don’t have to be carried away by them. They too shall pass and they’ll pass quicker when we believe it, when we know it in our hearts and trust the process. I think it is fair to say that for many of us, we are going to encounter this challenge in our business – a lot. And the better prepared we are with a strategy and consistently taking steps to answer this question, the better we’re going to do. There are short term approaches and long term ones. But as you’re about to see, there are good answers out there and it is up to us to implement them. Education is a must! Your newsletter is a great forum to teach your clients and potential clients and so is social media. In the last post I talked about some of the topics you could include to provide outstanding content for your clients, but there are a couple more that we can add that are specific to this topic.

1. Train your clients about the choices that clients are making with their money. I would write a post that asks “how much do you prioritize your health and well-being now and in the future versus your indulgencies?”. It is not that those treats should be avoided, but especially if price is what keeps you from getting Thai Massage every 2 or 3 weeks then what are some things you could reduce in order to have the funds to pay for a session? Are there things like having coffee at home instead of at a café, drinking less alcohol, less fancy dinners, fewer cigarettes etc. that you could try in order to get a massage? Perhaps it’s as simple as one less night on the town or 10 less drinks or 1 less cup of coffee a day? I would put it in real terms to help people understand how small changes can add up to the money needed for more massages and the kind of positive impact that can have on your life.
2. Do you see a natural health practitioner regularly? One great idea – and I thank my student for this- is that you should also be seeing a specialist as often as you’d like your ideal client to visit you. When you do that, there are many benefits. First of all you are aligning yourself with the same energy you’d like in return. And I think there is something very powerful in that. Secondly you become an authority on what that experience is like (and of course you get to experience all the benefits). So then you can be more honest with yourself and with your clients as to how important it is to be as regular as you’d like them to be. Perhaps that may even shift some of your earlier notions as to how often you’d like your clients to come and see you. This also gives you great topics to write about when you are emailing your students. You can have a regular series that takes them on the journey with you. And in so doing you are teaching and training your clients new habits and ways to look at how they can take care of themselves. Something that many students in our field do is work out exchanges with those professionals, so that may also be something you want to try in order to make this happen.
3. Similar to the last idea is that you can have your clients who are your regulars write regular posts detailing their experiences. One of the most powerful tools in your pocket to help in this process is social proof. When your clients see other like-minded people doing it, then they are more receptive to take action. In order to recruit people to do this, you may even decide to make it a contest or offer a special price on sessions while they are writing for you

Giving specials on the price. There are different avenues you can take and you may want to try out more than one system and see what works best for you. For example in the past I wrote about the 50-25-10 method of pricing yourself. You can click here to read all about that, but essentially you have a low price to bring people in and you end up rewarding your regulars who book at the end of their session (When they are most likely to rebook) Another approach is to have a regular rate and then once in a while offer a special. If you take that approach (or even if you use the 50-25-10 method), then you are offering some kind of discount that is out of the norm and therefore it is important not to offer it very often and there needs to be a defined end date. The shorter the better. Scarcity definitely compels people to act. I would recommend giving people 5-10 days tops to take advantage and book. And it is also important that you follow up during that period with extra emails to remind people that the special is ending. Combining these ideas Even more powerful would be to start combining some of the ideas we’ve been talking about. if you send out a newsletter or two with some great content then you could have a P.S. at the end along the lines of keep your eyes posted for an announcement that you’ll be making next week. Then you can offer your special, perhaps along with a story of a regular and the benefits that person is receiving (some social proof) And then you would continue to gently remind your community of the special part way through and then on the last day. It is vitally important to send that last short reminder, because in many cases that is when the bulk of people sign up, so it should be front and center You earn more and clients pay less The last idea is to find ways to offer your services that help people to pay less for a shorter or group session. This way you won’t actually make less for your time. The two things that jump out at me would be to Thai Massage tune-ups. These are 30 minute sessions that target a specific part of the body. And for some of my graduates they have proved very popular for bringing clients in more frequently. So lets say you have a client who wants a 90 minute massage every month, then you can let them know that once or twice in between the longer sessions they come in for the tune ups that will target the shoulders, the back etc. Restorative Yoga & Thai Massage sessions.  If you are a yoga teacher, enthusiast, or are trained in Thai Massage, then you could take my weekend course in Restorative Yoga and Thai Massage and start offering that service. In that scenario a client could pay something like $30 or $40 for a session that could be anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours (depending on how long you want the session to be and what you think is best for your clients). Having 4-6 clients come in at a time you can easily make at least as much for that time as you would for a private session, and possibly more. That way of giving is such a nurturing way to offer Thai Massage and it has so many benefits. One is the reduced price, but it is still so incredibly effective at promoting deep relaxation, renewal and re-energizing. Another is that it becomes a great way to get more people into Thai Massage by lowering the bar on the price without compromising your earning potential. It can also attract new potential clients who may not be comfortable with a full massage, but would like to get massaged while in relaxing yoga postures.  Even if you do not have the space in your current place of business it is easy to rent space in most neighborhoods at a very reasonable rate. Hopefully you can take some or all of these Thai Massage marketing ideas and ramp up your business. Being successful is often an exercise in removing barriers so that everything can flow with grace and ease. On the one hand there is your personal mindset that involves believing in your success and that what you have to offer is amazing. On the other it is having options that make it just about impossible for your clients to say ‘no’. Then it is about taking action and trying not to worry if it is perfect. You just have to get started, be consistent and tweak and improve as you go. One of my mentors puts it so well and I’ll leave this series with the same message; “incremental steps add up to huge exponential changes in your life and your business.”  To your great success!! …………………………………….. Like what you read? Want to contribute to the conversation? Leave your comments below!