Advice From Industry Experts
April 29, 2024
Davonna Willis has built a thriving 6-figure massage business, drawing on over 20 years of experience in health and wellness. As the founder of Blue Skyes Massage & Wellness Center and 4 Nineteen Education & Training, she's established herself as a leading entrepreneur, educator, and advocate for health and wellness.
At a recent Lunch & Learn, Davonna shared her insights on building a 6-figure massage business. Her practical advice covered everything from time management and administration to client retention and building a team.
This article recaps what we learned, which includes:
Let's explore how Davonna's insights can help you build a thriving massage business.
Watch the full recording of the lunch & learn here:
Davonna knows firsthand the challenges solopreneurs face in balancing their work while running a successful business. During her talk, she emphasized the importance of working smarter, not harder. She gave advice on time management, strategic delegation and creating multiple revenue streams from services, retail, and memberships.
Many massage therapists excel in hands-on work but struggle with administrative tasks. Davonna suggests setting aside specific days for those duties. These are the tasks that are going to move your business forward. Set aside time every week for:
Don’t forget, software like ClinicSense can do the heavy lifting for you. With financial reports, automated follow-up emails, and retention analytics, you can get a lot done in a short period of time.
Offering services and products that don't require manual work is an effective way to boost revenue without increasing effort. For example, in Davonna’s practice she offers ionic footbaths and corrective exercise to provide additional value to clients. She has a friend who charges a fee for additional “nap time” after the massage. While one client is taking a paid nap, he’s treating another. That all adds up to more profit in less time.
Beyond services, selling retail products that align with your business can significantly increase revenue. Consider offering essential oils, dry brushes, or other massage-related items that complement your services. You can also create special packages or membership programs that provide recurring income while encouraging client loyalty. By diversifying your revenue streams, you can build a more sustainable business without overworking yourself.
Eliminate unnecessary busywork by using software to automate tasks like appointment scheduling, billing, and client communication. This approach streamlines your operations, freeing up your time for more valuable work.
If you have a budget for it, hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) for a few hours a week can be a game-changer. Davonna had great success using a VA to call clients who hadn't booked recently, encouraging them to reschedule. This strategy helped fill her schedule without requiring her personal time. This allows her to focus on delivering quality massage services and growing her business.
Davonna emphasizes the importance of relationship building. Massage therapy is such an intimate experience; truly connecting with your clients is what leads to retention. That means taking your time with clients and communicating with them throughout the process.
In Davonna’s wellness center, her staff have a 80% retention rate goal. Here’s their strategy for hitting that mark:
At the beginning of the session, take 5 minutes to talk with the client. Learn about what’s bringing them in, and create a goal for the session. If the client remarks on feeling something significant during treatment, make note of that. At the end of the session, review your findings, relate it back to what they said, and then outline a treatment plan. Get them to commit to that plan and book their next appointment before they leave.
Every month, they review their numbers to see if they’re hitting that 80% mark. You can’t improve if you don’t know where you’re at.
Getting clients to commit to a 3 month membership, at the outset of treatment, is a winning strategy for Davonna and her team. Their 3 month membership is priced around whatever treatment plan the therapist creates for reaching the clients goals - be it weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly sessions.
After that 3 months, many clients opt to keep their membership because they enjoyed the experience. That’s recurring income every month, and it was a big help during COVID when her practice was closed. People kept their plans in place because they were loyal to her and her business. That’s what strong relationships can do for you.
Start with the clients you already have. When you consistently provide value, especially if it’s in a shareable form like an educational newsletter, your clients will share their expertise with their friends. That’s why Davonna makes email marketing a priority. She shares valuable insight into improving your health and wellness with her email list on a regular basis. She also uses that same content on her blog and social media; so more people see it. This leads to a lot of referrals and new clients.
Many massage therapists know they should regularly post on social media, but it’s hard to keep up with it. Davonna suggests hiring someone to do this for you. It’s a small expense for something that brings in paying clients. Let someone who’s good at that stuff do it, and focus your time on building your in-person network.
Word-of-mouth marketing is key in massage therapy, and that makes your network one of your biggest assets. If you want to grow your practice beyond yourself, committing time to building your network can help get you there. That’s how Davonna built her 6 figure business.
The secret to networking groups is not about people getting to know your business; it’s about people getting to know you as a person. This comes back to building relationships. Someone is more likely to recommend you if they really know and like you.
Davonna dedicates an afternoon every week to networking. She meets one-on-one with people from her networking groups to really get to know each other. This approach has helped her create a lucrative referral network with other healthcare providers.
In her talk, Davonna mentioned that you can build a team even if you’re a solo-practitioner. Your team doesn’t have to exist inside your practice; they can be people you refer clients to. Through networking groups, Davonna met a personal trainer and naturopathic doctors that she collaborates with. She refers clients to them, and they refer their people to her.
You can do something similar, but you have to get out there and meet people. Davonna suggests looking at every networking group in your area. Try a few out to find one that feels like a good fit. She highly recommends your local chamber group, and you can also find a lot of networking groups on meetup.com.
We asked Davonna how she stays motivated to consistently do the work of growing her business. She told us that she always has an accountability buddy. Often that accountability partner is from one of her networking groups. They meet a couple times a month to talk about their goals and progress. That helps keep her on track.
Consistency is key to your practice. The strategies Davonna shared with us only work if you do them consistently. Sticking to a schedule helps ensure it happens. For instance, on Mondays Davonna does her bookkeeping and marketing. On Thursday afternoons, she networks. Those things are scheduled just like massage appointments.
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