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Finding new ways to infuse experience and profitability into a practice is how many achieve success. The beauty about adding chair massage to your repertoire is its adaptability. With the ability to work just about anywhere, a myriad of opportunities await the practitioner administering chair massage.
As a professional in business, a therapist typically asks the question, “How do I get clients to come to me?” This initial question drives the majority of advertising and marketing attempts. However, performing chair massage changes the initial question to, “Who would want and benefit most from massage?” Once a practitioner answers this, the goal then becomes bringing your chair to those you’ve identified as wanting and benefiting most from massage.
To spark your thought process on where you might aim to bring your chair, our experts have compiled some popular locations abundant with those who are likely to want and benefit from bodywork:
1. Sporting Events – While athletes are prime candidates for massage, it can be a challenge encouraging them to visit a massage office. High level sporting competitions are the perfect venue for setting up a massage chair. Whether it is the Olympics, karate championship, soccer competition, golf tournament or track meet – athletes reap the benefits of pain relief and enhanced performance when receiving massage before, in-between and after activity. Local sporting organizations are a good place to begin seeking information on the logistics of chair massage at a sporting event.
2. Expos, Shows and Conventions – Typically housed in large, sprawling spaces, these events require people to be on their feet or in a chair all day long. Home and garden expos, trade shows, health and wellness fairs and professional conventions are just a few examples of events where participants attend for the entire day. An easily accessible, quick chair massage can relax tense muscles while rejuvenating the recipient to tackle the remainder of their convention, expo or show. Venue marketing managers, event planners or professional organization directors can be valuable people to contact for setting up chair massage at such an event.
3. Business Offices – According to David Palmer, instructor of the Institute for Integrative Healthcare Studies’ Chair Massage Fundamentals continuing education course, most office-related physical symptoms can be attributed to a loss of circulation. Tight muscles caused by stress and sitting behind a desk all day, especially at a work station that is not ergonomically designed, can impede blood and lymph flow through the body. Bringing chair massage to an office can relieve the mental fogginess, decreased energy and susceptibility to repetitive stress injuries (such as carpal tunnel syndrome) common in today’s work environment. Contacting the human resource department of the business you are considering is a good place to start for offering chair massage services. Be sure to emphasize the benefits of your presence to the employer such as increased productivity and retention rates, decreased absenteeism and ergonomic-related injuries, and lowered employee stress levels.
Depending upon the situation you perform chair massage in, being reimbursed can take on several different forms:
4. Direct Client Payment – Charge clients for short blocks of time. Those who really want it will happily spend $10 for a 10 minute badly-needed massage.
5. Second Party Reimbursement – Contract with the company, sponsor or organization to give chair massages for an agreed upon block of time. In this type of agreement, the client does not pay directly for your services. Instead, the company, sponsor or organization pays the therapist and uses chair massage as their marketing tool.
6. Volunteer – While this is not financially rewarding immediately, offering short, free chair massages introduces those who wouldn’t ordinarily sign up for massage a chance to experience massage therapy. This is a great way to distribute your business cards to those who might be interested and get new clients in the process.
Some additional tips to consider when offering chair massages to the public:
7. Get Permission – Whether you are volunteering, being paid by an organization or charging for your services independently, always make sure you have permission to work at your desired location.
8. Insurance – Most responsible companies will require you to have your own liability insurance. Discounted policies are typically offered when you belong to a professional organization.
By working with some of these eight tips, you can successfully bring massage to those who could really use it. The ability to perform chair massage in just about any location can change the way the public perceives massage therapy. Through experiencing its benefits on-the-spot, people who ordinarily wouldn’t seek bodywork can easily become long-term clients in your massage therapy practice.
Earn continuing education credit for this article contained in our Benefits of Onsite Massage series. Click here to enroll.
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