The Power Of Upselling For Massage Therapists

Upselling is a way to maximize your revenue on a per appointment basis. As a massage therapist, you can only handle so many appointments in a day, so it’s important you’re getting the most out of each appointment.

Upselling is a sales technique where the seller encourages the customer to purchase more expensive items. The classic example is the fast food upsell of “would you like to supersize your order”? The fast food restaurant is increasing their profit simply by offering you more. So how can this concept be used in massage therapy?

To start, keep a close eye on your schedule. If you have an extra 15 or 30 minutes available after your current appointment, let the customer know that they can add on additional minutes for a small fee. It doesn’t take an aggressive sales approach, just a simple: “Mary, I have some additional time in my schedule today. If you’d like to add an additional 15 minutes to your appointment, just let me know. The additional time would be an extra $10.”

You can also try to upsell when the client is calling in to book their appointment. After finding a time that works for them, again, a simple: “Mary, I can fit you in for a 60-minute treatment at 10am. It looks like I actually have an additional 15 minutes available then. Would you like to come in for a bit longer this time? You can extend the treatment for $10. ”

The great thing about this type of upsell is that your treatment room is already entirely set up, so there is very little cost to you for adding an extra 15 minutes to the treatment.

A second method of upselling is through treatment enhancements. Sticking with the fast food analogy, this would be along the lines of “would you like cheese on your hamburger”? In the context of massage, an enhancement can be a hot stone add-on, an aromatherapy add-on, etc. Simply let the client know what’s available to them, and if they say “no” then you can simply reply with “Ok, great, I just want to make sure you know all of the options I have available”. You can also post signs in your waiting area that show-off a menu of your enhancements.

If just one client per day takes you up on an upsell, either by adding time to their appointment, or adding an enhancement, you’ll be earning a few extra thousand dollars a year!