There is only one of you and hopefully many of them. If you are a massage therapist with your own practice, chances are you need new ways to streamline your business administrative processes. Your time is better spent in session, working out knots and relieving tension, not sitting behind a desk staring at a computer screen. Unfortunately, you can’t just ignore phone work, appointment scheduling, marketing, and customer follow-up. These are necessary tasks for the success of your business. However, for most small massage practices, outsourcing the work or hiring an assistant is cost prohibitive. The solution? Harness the power of technology to automate your massage business as much as possible by doing the following:

• Create and maintain a well-designed and informative website -In today’s market, having a website is not an option. it’s a must Customers assume that a “successful” business will have a web presence, and of course you don’t want to let them down. Your website must provide an accurate description of your services. Whether or not to include a price list is a matter of preference. Most spas and therapists do. Keep in mind that many clients will make their decision to schedule an appointment with you based on the types of services you offer and at what price. Include your available appointment times and instructions on how to schedule a session. An FAQ section with the most common questions (i.e. what to bring to a session? Are credit cards accepted? What to expect during the first session? etc.) will allow you to easily address client concerns and effective.
• online dating schedulers – Booking an appointment for the first time with a new client can sometimes take more than thirty to forty-five minutes. New clients often have questions. Of course you want to take the time to answer their questions and make your customers feel comfortable. Whether it’s through your website’s FAQ or if it’s a specific medical condition, when they come in, you need to address customer concerns. The interactions you want to avoid are clients sharing with you the details of their busy schedules and explaining why they want to come in on Saturday at 2:00 pm instead of Saturday at 11:00 am With an appointment scheduler in online, clients can review your availability and schedule their appointment accordingly. If they need to reschedule, that can be easily done online without the embarrassment and stress of them calling to speak with you. Online appointment schedulers not only help you automate your massage business, but also empower your clients.
• Virtual Phones – No one wants to sit in an office and wait for the phone to ring. Chances are, if you’re in your office, you’re in a session, and if you’re not in a session, you’re doing marketing, running errands, or taking care of personal business. With standard business phones, your best option is to forward your number to your cell phone. If you run your business from your cell phone, you are forced to have two cell phones, one for work and one for personal use, or you risk mixing business calls with personal calls, which is not a good thing. The best solution is to use a virtual phone. For just $4.88 a month you can use phone.com’s virtual phone service and project a professional image to your customers. Your calls can follow you anywhere. You have the option of an automated attendant, unlimited voicemail boxes, call screening, call transfers, after-hours greetings, etc.
• Email marketing (using autoresponders) – Following up with customers after their first session couldn’t be easier if you use an autoresponder. Automated responses allow you to pre-write messages for customers, save them within your account, and then schedule a time to send them. The software does the rest. So, for example, you could set up a Campaign which automatically sends a welcome email to all new clients, then sends a what to expect email two days before a scheduled appointment and a follow-up email the day after a session. Are you organizing a special offer or want to wish customers happy holidays? You can send a mass email (using a pre-designed graphic template) to your entire customer list. It’s easy to stay in touch and follow up with clients when done the right way.
• Text messaging services – Lastly, effectively staying in touch with an always mobile customer base is essential to automating your massage business. Customers need to stay informed and connected. What better way than their cell phones? (Most people won’t leave home without them.) With emails, websites, virtual phones, and online schedulers, you trust the customer to take action to receive your communication. They must check their email, surf the Internet or call a number. With text messages, you can take the communication directly to them. No additional steps are needed. Do you need to remind a client of an appointment? Send them a text message. Do you want to inform them about your referral program? Send them a text message. Need to advertise your Valentine’s Day special? You got it… text them. With free texting services like textmarks.com, you can get the word out to hundreds of clients at once and focus more of your energies on providing the best massage experience possible, not chasing clients.