If a Massage Envy franchise has moved into your neighborhood, you might be feeling some competitive pressure. After all, Massage Envy franchisees have the guidance of a national brand to help them attract new massage therapy customers. But don’t be intimidated. Most of the strategies that Massage Envy uses aren’t top secret. You can learn these strategies and use them for your business too. 

For example, most franchisors like Massage Envy have specific standards for the appearance and maintenance of each franchised location. That’s because they know that customers like to know what to expect before they arrive at a business. They also know that how a business looks influences people’s overall impression of its quality. 

Appearances matter

Imagine if you were choosing between two restaurants that both served similar food. Outside the entrance to one of the restaurants, you notice an empty drink cup and a food wrapper discarded on the ground. The windows of the restaurant are covered with posters advertising various specials so you can’t see inside. The other restaurant’s entryway is tidy and looking through its windows, you can see that the interior is neat as well. 

Which restaurant would you choose? 

Are you trying to grow your massage therapy business? If so, don’t overlook the incredible power of customer experience to increase your revenue. Building a base of loyal customers is a cost-effective and professionally rewarding way to maximize your time and your business’s profitability. 

Loyal clients book more appointments, are more likely to recommend you to their family and friends, and will often post positive online reviews about you. Plus, when you have a steady base of loyal clients, you can spend less time seeking and onboarding new clients and more time doing what you do best--helping people feel better. 

Building loyalty requires delivering an extraordinary experience for your customers at every step in their journey. It begins before the first visit. 

Delivering a positive customer experience before your client’s first visit

Today’s consumers want both convenience and a personal connection. Before their first visit, your clients are already judging their experience based on how much effort it costs them to see you and how interacting with you and your business...

Are you frustrated by no-shows at your massage therapy business? When clients fail to show up for an appointment or cancel at the last minute, your business loses time and money. No-shows also disrupt your day and can interfere with your client’s treatment progress. What can you do to prevent no-shows? One of the easiest and most affordable methods to prevent no-shows is to use appointment reminders. We’ll explore your options below...

Using appointment reminders to reduce no-shows for your massage therapy business

While there are many reasons for no-shows, forgetfullness is one of the leading causes. Multiple studies have found that, particularly when people book appointments several days or even weeks in advance, they simply forget about them. You can reduce no-shows at your massage therapy clinic by sending your clients well-timed appointment reminders. 

When you send an appointment reminder it also gives your clients an opportunity to reschedule an appointment if their plans have changed. This helps you better manage your time and prevent revenue loss. The sooner you have notice of a potential cancelation, the sooner you can...

Operating a massage therapy business is fulfilling and challenging. Your work helps your clients improve their physical health and overall well-being. But, your business’s growth may be limited by the time you have available to serve clients. One way to increase your revenue is to implement scheduling strategies that enable you to serve each client efficiently without sacrificing customer experience. So, what are some scheduling best practices that you can use to boost your massage therapy business’s profitability? 

We share our favorites in this article. But first, here’s a look at how improving the way you handle scheduling can improve your business.

How improving your scheduling process increases revenue and elevates client experiences

When you reduce the amount of time you spend returning calls and fielding questions about appointments, you increase the time available for revenue-generating activities. If you spend just 30 minutes less each day on admin tasks like scheduling, reminders, and returning phone calls, you’ll gain 10 hours every month. That opens up the potential to book (and bill) 10 additional 1-hour treatment sessions.

Even if you're not quite ready for clinic management software, we can help! We've put together a printable SOAP note template that you can use for clients that are visiting you to resolve a specific pain point.

Of course, successful massage therapists find that running their business via pen and paper is simply not scalable. As they get more clients and book more appointments, the paperwork starts to pile up, becoming difficult to keep organized and even taking up too much physical space in cabinets. Once you switch to clinic management software you'll find:

1. You spend less time managing paperwork
2. You spend more time caring for clients
3. You feel the relief of being more organized

If you are ready to see how clinic management software can make your life easier, you can click here to try ClinicSense for free.

With over 1,100 locations in the United States, Massage Envy may seem like an intimidating competitor for massage therapists operating their own businesses. The brand is recognizable and franchisees benefit from centralized recruitment and marketing campaigns. Clients value Massage Envy for its convenience and affordability. Plus, the Massage Envy membership structure is designed to quickly lock new clients into a year-long commitment that may prevent them from shopping around. 

How can independent massage therapy businesses compete against the power of a nationally-franchised massage therapy brand like Massage Envy? 

Answer: By delivering what its service spas can’t. 

Don’t try to out-advertise Massage Envy or undercut their prices. Instead, differentiate your massage therapy practice by delivering something else: consistently professional services with a personal touch. 

Maintain continuity of care by nurturing positive client-therapist relationships

Sometimes called “the fast-food of massage therapy,” Massage Envy’s franchised business model is built delivering a limited number of services to a high volume of clients. Clients who purchase Massage Envy memberships may choose from a specific set of services which include non-medical massages, full-body stretches, or skin treatments. Massage Envy staff members work evenings and weekends and clients can often book appointments on short notice. Massage Envy customers sacrifice personalized care for treatments that are inexpensive and available on short notice. 

You can easily set your massage therapy practice apart from this franchised brand by...

Are you losing potential revenue due to unused available treatment hours at your massage clinic? Asking your clients to rebook before they go is an effective strategy to stop this loss.

When you rebook someone, you are capturing them in a moment when they are most likely to say yes. After all, they have just enjoyed a positive treatment experience and are feeling great. Plus, your clients are more likely to continue their treatment plan if you make sure their next session is on their calendar before they have a chance to forget. 

In this article, we’ll unpack four steps that you can use to get your clients to rebook and increase your clinic’s fill rates. But the process of getting more rebookings isn’t just about filling your schedule and increasing your revenue, it is about building mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with your clients.

Everybody wins--When you implement the following steps, you educate and partner with your clients to help them develop the wellness routine that’s best for them.

Step 1: Communicating the value of the service you provide

Your clients are more likely to want to come back for another session if they understand why it is beneficial for them. This requires communication. So, the first step to rebooking a client following their treatment session occurs well before they reach the checkout counter. 

During each client’s treatment...

No-shows and last-minute cancellations are a problem for most service businesses, including massage therapists. While the causes of these short-notice or no-notice cancellations vary, each one comes at a cost to your business.

When a client doesn’t keep their appointment and doesn’t provide you with enough notice to fill that slot in your schedule, you lose time and money.

That’s why it is important that you have a policy in place to reduce client cancellations and no-shows. With a bullet-proof cancellation policy, you’ll have fewer empty spots on your schedule and spend your time more efficiently. You’ll also earn more revenue, and be able to serve more clients.

So what are the key elements of an effective no-show policy?

Use the following steps to develop a cancellation policy for your massage therapy practice or to improve the effectiveness of the one you have:

This week we're excited to announce a new feature!

You can now receive notifications of new appointments, rescheduled appointments, canceled appointments, and online gift certificate sales to your phone!

To enable mobile push notifications:

1. Download our app for Apple or Android (if you already have it downloaded, make sure you update to the newest version)
2. Login and click the icon in the bottom right corner (that looks like a business card)
3. Tap on Push notification settings

If you have any questions, please submit a support ticket and we'll be happy to help!

We have an exciting new feature to announce today :)

Until today, the only way for a client to pay an invoice online was to pre-pay for the appointment at the time of booking. Starting today, you can email an invoice to the client after the appointment and give them the option to pay online.

Here's how:

1. Open the invoice you'd like to send
2. Click on Email Invoice
3. You'll then get to choose if you'd like to ask the client to pay online or not
4. Once you've made your selection, the invoice will be emailed to the client

If the invoice has already been paid in full there will not be an option to ask the client to pay online (because the amount due is $0).

This feature is available on both our Grow and Pro subscription plans.

If you have any questions, please submit a support ticket and we'll be happy to help!