by Coach Cary Bayer
There is no time that a client appreciates a healing session more than at the moment he has to leave your table, couch, or office. (The only possible exception is when, in the case of bodyworkers, he's injured and needs relief from pain, or, in the case of psychological and emotional counselors, he's in the throes of an emotional crisis. So when I recently polled some licensed massage therapist clients, whom I recently started coaching, I was astonished to discover that quite a few have regularly failed to take advantage of this ripe moment. Allow me to explain.
For your clients who are not in the habit of booking another session with you for the following week it's important to ask two questions. The first question for most healers to ask a client leaving their room is, "How do you feel?" Most facilitators are pretty good about doing that while holding their scheduling book in their hands. (Some therapists, however, are shy about having their book in their hands when they ask this question.) Most clients who've just been massaged, for example, usually reply by saying something like, "Great." (I know some therapists who then change the subject from the client's peace by talking about the tensions in his shoulders that they weren't able to release. Talk about ruining a moment!) At this moment, a large percentage of therapists fail to ask the critical follow-up question--"Would you like to feel great like this next week?" The key is to use the exact same words that your client uses-great, terrific, really peaceful-whatever.
The question that I've suggested that you start asking when your client leaves your room is a two-part question, the first part of which, we've just seen, is clearly a no-brainer. Of course your clients wants to feel this great. If he's used to coming in for healing sessions every two or four weeks, then the second part of the question-would he like to come in the following week--can be challenging to him. The challenge is usually on one or more of three different fronts:
A) Does he have the time?
B) Does he have the money?
C) Does he think he deserves to feel great like this on a weekly basis?
As for whether he has time for a session the following week, only your client can make that determination. But by bringing to his awareness that he's now feeling great, as a result of having just had a healing session, he may juggle his schedule around; after all, how many of the things that he already has booked are going to make him feel as great? Probably very few, if any.
As for the money part, let me just say that far too many therapists make the error of taking responsibility for a client's financial decisions. So I'll say it simply, "The person in charge of your client's financial decisions is your client, not you. If he feels that he can afford it, he may opt for a session the following week, if he feels that he can't, he probably won't. You might not be able to help him on this score unless you take credit cards that allow him to pay in the future for the treatment he receives the next week.
As for the deserving piece, this is where you can do your client a major service. You can help your client see that he deserves to feel good-often. When was the last time that he felt so good? When did he feel such peace? Chances are that it's been quite some time-he might not even remember. You're a facilitator for clients, inspiring them to live a life in more peace and harmony.
You've nothing to lose by asking your clients if they want to feel great the following week. As Jesus said, "Ask and you shall receive."
Cary Bayer (www.carybayer.com) was keynote speaker at the 2006 American Massage Therapy Association national convention. Widely known as The Business Coach for Massage Therapists, Cary is a Life Coach; CE provider licensed by NCBTMB and Florida Dept. of Health's Board of Massage Therapy; and faculty member of Massage Business University, he writes for Massage Today, massage publications in 14 states, and a syndicated column, "Life 101," that runs in wellness publications. His 27 publications include 11 specifically for massage therapists. He's coached some 150 LMTs and dozens of alternative healers. His CE seminars, "Build a $100,000 a Year Massage Business" and "Healer, Heal Thyself," are very popular among alternative facilitators.
Posted: 10/30/2009
