Massage Career Success for the Independent Practitioner - Massage Magazine

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We all desire to be successful, yet the road to achieving it often appears elusive and difficult. One explanation for its mercurial nature is there exists no single definition of success. It has many measurements and qualities. One starting place to view success is when your actions fulfill your desires and abilities.​

No two people are the same or have identical goals. What makes one person happy may not satisfy another. The same holds true for massage therapists and their practices.

Some massage therapists prefer to work part-time, others full-time. (And there is no agreed-upon hour standard for what full- or part-time means in massage.)

Some measure success by how much money they make or how many clients they see. Others place more value on the quality of their experience: How satisfied are they in practice, how pleased are their clients, and does their practice afford them a balanced lifestyle? Successful practitioners typically find a balance that leaves them feeling satisfied with their overall situation.

It is often said: “Success is an inside job. It’s all in your head.” That is partially true but incomplete, because creating a successful practice involves other ingredients worth mentioning.

Countless workshops and numerous presentations on the subject reveal that success leaves clues. The first one I’d like to describe is your chances of actualizing your full success potential are directly related to how well you engage your heart, hands and head in your endeavors.

Another way to frame things uses a success road map that incorporates the Three Ps of Success.

Why Do You Practice?​

The first P to having a more successful massage practice is getting in touch with your passionate purpose for practicing. Some might say this is the heartfelt part of what you do. In other words, what is your primary mission or reason for being in practice? What motivates and drives you? Hopefully, it’s to help facilitate clients feeling better and being healthier, while feeling gratified in providing a worthy service.

Your heartfelt, passionate purpose is tied to your belief system of why you are in practice and doing what you do. Are you motivated to do what it takes to actualize your passion, or are you held back by limiting beliefs or circumstances you need to change or overcome? One word of caution: It’s fine to aspire to make a good income, but if money is your only objective, it’s hard to have lasting and satisfying success.

Are You Planning?​

The second P is to plan how you will actualize your success-driven purpose. This includes your business as well as personal decisions.

For example, do you want to practice privately or as an employee? Do you want to practice in a spa, doctor’s office or another setting? How many clients would you like to see per day and for how long? How will you attract new clients into your practice? How many days per week would you like to practice, how many hours per day, and which days?

Your plans also include basic practical considerations such as how will your massage environment be set up—how will it appear?

As fundamental as these questions are to ensuring you have a more successful and enjoyable practice, too many practitioners blindly ignore them before jumping in and opening up shop. Of course, no one plans to fail, but what happens too often is people fail to plan, which can be just as costly.

Above all, please avoid a mistake too many massage therapists encounter: If you are planning to work as an employee, first get crystal clear about your needs, such as the days and hours you can work, pay expectations and duties required of you before you sign any agreements.

If you’re already practicing massage, maybe some areas or aspects keep you from becoming as satisfied or successful as you would like. It’s never too late to identify them and seek ways to make changes and improvements.

Do You Have Procedures?​

The third P embraces procedures necessary for your success. Arguably, the two most important procedures are your hands-on abilities and your client-management skills.

Beyond your belief systems, passionate intentions and well-thought-out plans, quality hands-on massage skills are important for your practice success. Your hands-on massage approaches and applications are the essence of what you provide for your clients. It’s where you nonverbally interface with their tissue, nervous system and very being.

If your massage applications are not satisfying to clients’ needs and desires, it’s unlikely they will return to you for further care or refer others no matter how savvy your marketing strategies may be.

But be aware that not all massage therapists, nor practitioners in other health care fields, develop successful practices just by having good hands-on skills, no matter how talented they may be. Many practitioners find their hands-on skills alone aren’t enough to command the client retention, referrals and financial rewards they were hoping to achieve, which is a major reason so many practitioners continue to stress and struggle to reach the level of success they desire.

Many massage therapists are now discovering the next big step to building their confidence, credibility and success—applying well-proven, standardly accepted client-management skillsthat empower them to confidently guide their clients through essential areas of care.

It’s an empowering skill set that allows chiropractors, osteopaths and PTs to guide their patients’ care with assuredness, and it can do the same for massage therapists.

Client management falls under the heady part of practicing. It includes skills such as applying clinical reasoning to evaluate health history information, consulting with clients about their presenting complaints, properly examining them, assessing findings, providing specifically-designed treatment plans, and measuring and monitoring progress. Good client management communicates each process to clients and confidently answers common questions they often ask.

It’s been said by top practitioners that trying to heighten practice success by hands-on skills alone is like whipping a horse to go faster, whereas applying good client-management skills steps on the gas pedal.

Heart + Hands + Head = a Successful Career​

This article would be amiss without mentioning how some practitioners focus on acquiring clients through advertising. But talented hands-on and client management skills cannot be replaced by promotional means because they boost clients’ trust in your professionalism, which naturally increases compliance and generates quality referrals.

In four decades in health care, I have seen how practitioners who earnestly combine their heart, hands and head tend to have the most satisfying and successful practices. They also have the ultimate tool kit for providing their clients with the best overall care.

The road to having a successful massage practice is paved by first recognizing areas of your practice needing improvement, then breaking through habituation patterns and comfort zones to acquire or improve upon skills that serve you and your clients better.

Three areas successful practitioners commonly strive to keep improving upon, which we mentioned, are their practice environment, hands-on abilities and client-management skills. Regarding the first area, how does your work environment look to your clients? Is it clean, appealing and professional-looking?

Maybe it needs a new paint job, better carpeting, and certificates or pictures more nicely framed.

How well do your furnishings and equipment look and function? Is your table of good quality and does it allow maximum comfort to clients and efficiency for your use? Are there places for clients to sit, place their clothing and feel relaxed? Can elderly clients easily step onto and off your table?

The second area, which is most massage therapists’ go-to for trying to boost their practice success or skill sets, is taking a new hands-on class. Although your hands-on skills may be the most critical way clients praise or criticize your work, never underestimate the consequential effects of your room appearance. A distasteful or unprofessional-looking environment can have a seriously negative impact on how clients view your practice, making it important for you keep it clean, sharp and professional-looking.

The third area, your client-management skills, is arguably as important if not more so than the others. Knowing how to best process and manage your clients’ care from A to Z and communicate effectively with them can influence your practice success immensely, regardless of clients’ experience in other areas.

I know several practitioners whose technique skills are just average, but their client-management skills are so well-developed, they have the busiest practices. The massage profession is filled with practitioners who keep taking the latest-greatest hands-on approach that promises big success, only to find out it wasn’t the key they were hoping it would be. If it was, surely there would be a large group who can truthfully say, “We learned this approach that’s so impactful, it’s all we needed to create flourishing practices.”

One thing is for certain about having great client-management skills: It leaves you feeling confident and has clients trusting your overall professionalism. This inspires clients to follow your recommendations, retain care longer and refer others, which are foundational to having a more fulfilling practice. This is proven time and time again in highly successful and well-respected practices.

If you feel stuck or intimidated to make important changes in your practice, one simple technique that can motivate you to move forward is imagining how regretful you may feel in a few years if you don’t act on them, and how glad you will feel if you do. As easy as that sounds, it can be a powerful game-changer.

When you are ready to improve your strategies or skills, you don’t have to do it alone. Teachers, mentors and courses are available to help you.

As you can see, many components contribute to your practice success. We touched upon a few important ones, leaving two more catalysts: persistence and practice.

Whatever procedures you learn to help you achieve more satisfying and lasting success, please avoid the all-too-common mistake of not practicing their implementation. Applying a new procedure doesn’t mean just giving it a try or two and then giving up on it if it feels awkward or challenging.

On the contrary; it’s important to persist in practicing and refining it. Whether you are implementing new hands-on or client-management skills, give them a fair period to see how well they can work for you and your clients.

Persist in Practicing, Refining and Mastering Skills​

Many practitioners reach higher levels of success not because they are smarter or more talented, but because they persist in practicing, refining and even mastering important skills.

It has been said that success is a journey, not a destination. There always exist areas in need of improvement. Think of your success journey as ongoing opportunities to seek newer and better ways of doing things. Sometimes just a little tweak is enough to create a big shift in your success. That little “extra” you put into learning and practicing a skill is often the difference between an ordinary practice and an extraordinary one.

There’s a saying: “If becoming successful is important to you, you will find a way to make it happen. If not, you’ll find an excuse.”

Now you know a basic formula for creating a successful massage practice: Commit to fulfilling your passionate purpose, plan out your course of action, and practice refining skills that help you improve upon essential areas. Once you do, you’ll be on your way to a far more satisfying and rewarding practice. You’ll be glad you did. So will your clients.

About the Author​

Michael Koplen, DC, LMT, is a massage therapist, author and teacher. Dr. K is a faculty adviser-teacher for the American Institute of Medical Massage and Health Care Medicine Institute. He actively treats patients clinically in an integrated care practice in Santa Cruz, California. He created Masters In Massage Institute, where several top teachers bring the most advanced client-management skills to the massage profession.

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