Page 194 - Massage Therapy School Program

Massage Therapy and Retailing: Make it a Win‐Win‐Win!
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
RETAIL REALITY
PRODUCT IDEAS
A TWIST ON TRADITIONAL SALES HEALTHY SALES
BUY WHOLESALE
MARKETING MATERIALS AND SAMPLES SALES TAX
SELLING PRODUCTS IN A GROUP PRACTICE THE THREE C’S OF EFFECTIVE SALES MERCHANDISING
CLOSING THE SALE
FOSTERING ONGOING SALES
DRIVE YOUR OWN BUS
SUMMARY
TOP 10 TIPS ON RETAILING
ITEMS TO SELL
INTRODUCTION
Relying on just hands-on work as your source of income can be physically, emotionally and financially risky--particularly if your work requires intensity. You can easily add another source of income by retailing products that are sought after by your clients. You’ll appreciate the additional revenue and they’ll appreciate having access to products that aren’t easily available to the general public.
For instance, there are wonderful topical treatments and self-care tools that your average clients can’t find at their local health emporium. Many of these products aren’t even directly available to the retail consumer—they must be purchased by a practitioner and then sold to the client.
“Product sales is a natural extension of the standard of care and healing already associated with wellness practitioners,” says Lynda Solien- Wolfe, LMT, director of education at Performance Health, the makers of Biofreeze® Pain Reliever. “Clients will trust your recommendations, especially for those products used in the therapy itself. Biofreeze products were the first products I sold when I started my practice in 1994, and they greatly increased my bottom line.”
Massage therapist Robert Flammia of Berkeley, California, sells a variety of gels, balms, books and massage tools. He enjoys selling products and most of them fit his “win/win/win” philosophy. For example, he bought an inventory of Hurricane On the Bayou CDs. The Audubon Society and New Orleans residents win because of money generated from the inventory purchase. Flammia wins by feeling good for helping them, and the revenues help pay his rent. The clients that purchase the CDs win because they get to enjoy good music and know their purchase is also helping the people of New Orleans.
Flammia also sees product sales as a way to increase his massage practice: “Selling touch is perhaps one of the hardest things to sell because it’s so invasive on the psyche and body of the unknowing recipient. Selling items, whether physically or psychologically related to touch, is a much easier icebreaker.”
Two major ways to increase revenue in your practice are to increase the number of clients you see and to increase the amount you sell to clients. Selling products in your practice is a great way to work smarter—not harder. You already have a relationship with your clients and retailing is simply another avenue of supporting them in their wellness.
Product sales add value to your treatments, extend the treatment and benefits at home, and increase your bottom line. Retailing can actually increase the frequency of clients booking sessions. When clients use a product at home, it reminds them of the treatment they received and that usually inspires them to book another session. Plus, if they share those products with friends, those friends may become clients.