Business cards are for exchanging

A business coach for massage therapists, I’m not going to tell you what to put on your business card.  Designers are far more capable with layout and graphics than I am.  I’m going to tell you how to use this card.

Let’s look at a typical place you give out this little piece of ID: a party.  You’ve given it out so often and nothing ever came of it.  You used it incorrectly.  Let’s look at a correct and enlightened use of that card.

Let’s say you’re talking to some guy at the guacamole dip.  You’ve talked about what you do and he expresses interest, so you automatically give him your card.  He now has a way to contact you–but you have no way of contacting him.  If you’re a woman in her mid-40s or older—you may remember a time before the advent of cell phones, pagers, and voicemail—when you may have sat beside the phone waiting for a certain guy on whom you had a crush to call. You felt the vulnerability of being reactive.  Now I’ll show you how to be proactive.

Change the adage “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” to  “When in America, do as the Japanese do.”  They trade business cards.  A Japanese businessman expects to receive a card from whomever he’s giving his to.  Say to the guy at the guac dip, “As for cards, I love the civilized Japanese tradition: I give you my card and you give me yours.”

Then say, “Think about if you’d like to get relief from that pain in your (insert here whatever his pain is, he’s no doubt told you and probably even showed you), and if I haven’t heard from you within a week, I can make your life easier and give you a call.  Would you like that?”

Instead of being that disempowered teenager years back, you can be an empowered adult massage therapist and call him.  I’m not saying he’ll be your client if you call.  But if you don’t, he probably won’t.

Service is everything

The Giant grocery store in Silver Spring, Maryland is unlike every other supermarket I’ve ever been in throughout the country–it lacked a customer relations department.  That’s because Giant has awakened its inner giant: it has a Solutions Center.  The difference is palpable.  Customer relations are what stores offer, solutions are what customers desire.  

Massage therapists can immeasurably benefit from this significant distinction.  LMT ads in wellness magazines, often feature just business cards plunked down in the publication.  They communicate what the LMT does, rather than what the prospective client receives.  Advertising in this way is a missed opportunity and a waste of hard-earned money.  

What LMTs need to understand is that most people wouldn’t recognize their myofacial if its release hit them in the head.  “Neuromuscular” sounds technical for someone who just wants some relief from shoulder pain. Massage therapists should conduct shop talk with other therapists, but should use plain English to clients and prospects. To paraphrase the old acronym: KIST—Keep it Simple, Therapist.

If you meet me at a party and you ask me what I do, I won’t tell you that I’m a life coach—even though that is what I do.   Instead, I’ll tell you that I help people create breakthroughs in their finances, businesses, and relationships.  In other words, I describe the results that someone can expect by working with me.  That gets people’s attention quickly. 

If I meet you at that party and I ask what you could tell me that you relieve pain from people’s bodies.  And if I’m feeling pain in mine, you can bet your sweet myofacial that you’ll have gotten my attention in the proverbial New York minute.

Wouldn’t you love owning a business where everyone wanted what you offered?  Even giants like Microsoft aren’t in demand by everyone. But there is a business desired by virtually every adult–it’s called massage therapy.

That’s because everybody has a body.  And most of those bodies are in lots of pain and dis-ease.  Very few of the 150 LMTs whom I’ve privately coached recognized this when I started working with them.  The absence of this insight causes LMTs financial struggles.  Realizing that virtually everyone wants your service makes you enthusiastic and bold.  (Enthusiasm and boldness create new clients more effectively than clever marketing.) Tell someone at a party that you’re a massage therapist, and she’ll likely express interest.  At this point, many shy LMTs laugh and reach for the spinach dip.  Others, who might be a little more confident, reach for a business card.  The even wiser therapist reaches for her appointment book and asks when she’d like to come in for some relief.  Landing a new client can be that simple.

That’s why it’s important to get into conversations about what you do, the second question strangers ask.  Don’t just give your card and ask her to follow up.  Try playing a new business game, targeting one new client from your yoga class, or party.  Some consider this audacious. I don’t encourage dropping business cards everywhere, but I do encourage adopting four easy strategies:

1) Recognize that every adult is interested in relief from physical pains and/or desires deep relaxation.

2) Tell people what you do when asked; if they’re interested, wait for them to say they’d love a massage.

3) Then, take out your appointment book and schedule a session.

4) Stay open to the reality that this can happen anywhere at any time.

People at a party are all potential clients