Guest Post Author: Eileen Ryan
Sidebar: The whole deep-discount-to-attract-clients thing doesn’t work in one’s favor in the long run. In addition to not generating the money needed for expenses (never mind making a living), what you get is a collection of clients who simply expect cheap rates for bodywork. You get a bunch of clients who don’t value your work and therefore don’t value you. Don’t go down that road. So if you’ve been thinking about considering the possibility of maybe making a definitive statement, getting an MT neighbor should kick you into gear.
2. Opportunity to grow stronger. If your neighbor is a good therapist and someone you feel you can trust, the two of you have the chance to strengthen each of your practices. Talk to your neighbor. What kind of clients they like to work with? Would your neighbor be interested in doing some marketing with you? Teaching some classes? If you develop a business friendship, maybe you can help each other out handling vacations and emergency clients. Maybe you can trade work on each other since you’re right next door. Maybe you trust them enough to send overflow clients to. Perhaps they have training in a specific area that would benefit one or two of your clients. At the very least, you could pool your resources. You could share what you know about other local therapists worthy of recommendation. You could order together from supply companies and save on quantity discounts (which we have, by the bye :D) and on shipping.
3. Opportunity to show your professionalism. If your neighbor is not someone you can work with, that’s okay, too. Businesses reflect the personalities of their owners and vice versa. I’ve found this is especially evident in massage therapy / bodyworking practices. If you think and if you plan carefully how you will present yourself to the public, you will look welcoming, confident and competent. If you are next door to someone who is flapping and hollering and throwing deep discounts all around, your practice’s personality will be magnified. Really. Who is going to keep going to a loud, disordered person? Probably no one you want on your table anyway. It’s the whole “Go placidly amid the noise and haste” thing.
Last week I spoke with a charming new massage therapist. She was just about to sign a lease for her first studio when it was discovered the space next door was also to be leased to a massage therapist.
Her husband, bless him, was all for finding another spot and/or reading the landlord the riot act. The question was whether to continue in that space (which she liked) or to move on.
I say, if you like the place stay where you are.
You know as well as I that massage therapy practices are not like grocery stores or hamburger stands. As a rule, most people don’t haul in to your parking lot on the spur of the moment expecting to find what they need. People who are looking for bodywork are more likely to find you through friends or through another trusted source.
Another massage therapist in your community is a competitor, but they are not more of a competitor because they are your neighbor.
Here are three reasons why a massage therapist neighbor is an opportunity:
1. Opportunity to attract the clients you want. When you have similar businesses next to each other, potential clients need an obvious reason to choose one or the other. The easiest, most reasonable thing to do is to speak directly to your ideal clients. I know, I bring this up a lot. That’s because it works. Let’s say my MT has suddenly retired to Bali. I have no idea who to go to now for my neck/upper back issues. I remember I’ve seen a couple therapists near my grocery. I’ll check for a phone number as I drive by … Ah! There they are. One has a sign saying “Massage Therapy — $25 for first session.” The other has a sign reading “Massage Therapy — Specializing in [Neck and Shoulder] Work.” Who would you call first? Right.
Sidebar: The whole deep-discount-to-attract-clients thing doesn’t work in one’s favor in the long run. In addition to not generating the money needed for expenses (never mind making a living), what you get is a collection of clients who simply expect cheap rates for bodywork. You get a bunch of clients who don’t value your work and therefore don’t value you. Don’t go down that road. So if you’ve been thinking about considering the possibility of maybe making a definitive statement, getting an MT neighbor should kick you into gear.
2. Opportunity to grow stronger. If your neighbor is a good therapist and someone you feel you can trust, the two of you have the chance to strengthen each of your practices. Talk to your neighbor. What kind of clients they like to work with? Would your neighbor be interested in doing some marketing with you? Teaching some classes? If you develop a business friendship, maybe you can help each other out handling vacations and emergency clients. Maybe you can trade work on each other since you’re right next door. Maybe you trust them enough to send overflow clients to. Perhaps they have training in a specific area that would benefit one or two of your clients. At the very least, you could pool your resources. You could share what you know about other local therapists worthy of recommendation. You could order together from supply companies and save on quantity discounts (which we have, by the bye :D) and on shipping.
3. Opportunity to show your professionalism. If your neighbor is not someone you can work with, that’s okay, too. Businesses reflect the personalities of their owners and vice versa. I’ve found this is especially evident in massage therapy / bodyworking practices. If you think and if you plan carefully how you will present yourself to the public, you will look welcoming, confident and competent. If you are next door to someone who is flapping and hollering and throwing deep discounts all around, your practice’s personality will be magnified. Really. Who is going to keep going to a loud, disordered person? Probably no one you want on your table anyway. It’s the whole “Go placidly amid the noise and haste” thing.
In conclusion
Tell people who you are. Tell people what you can do. Show people what you can do. Keep your name out there. Talk to the people you want to have on your table / chair in their language. After that, keep in mind that with a reasonable amount of marketing forethought on your part, a similar practice next door to you will not hurt you. And it just may help.
All my best,
Eileen
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