My main problem seems to be keeping the majority of clients coming for more than 2 or 3 visits.

Is there a certain phrase or seed that can be planted in their minds from the initial contact that will have them returning for week after week month after month?

Find out Why

As a first step, I would want to find out why they are not coming back.

• Have you healed them so well that they do not feel they need it?
• Are you doing something they don’t like (maybe become too familiar)?
• Do they feel it is getting too expensive?

How to find out? Call them and talk to them a certain time after they have been with you.

Take the Lead in Making Contact

Either they tell you something that you can change for the better. Or you might actually find that your calls result in many of your clients coming back.

Turn that into a system where you make contact in a variety of ways.

• send cards
• phone
• email
• send a text message

The Passionate Training has a section on how to set up that system.

Lock them in

Most humans are lazy. Taking action is an effort. So you need to take away the effort for your clients to come back.

Here are some possibilities:

1. Book them into the next appointment when they leave
2. Call them a certain time after their last visit, inquire how they are feeling, offer a new appointment
3. Book them into a recurring spot (e.g. Wednesday at 10am every fortnight)
4. Sell a pack of 10 appointments for a reduced price (payable upfront)

But the most important first step is to find out why they are not coming back. If there is anything you can learn from that to improve your service, you’ve gained a lot.

If you have not yet received my free report: The 7 Biggest Business Mistakes Health Practitioners Make, just enter your name and email and I'll send it to you. Name: E-Mail: I respect your privacy and will never sell, share or pass on your details.

One more week to get in your best massage marketing (or spa marketing) question.

We had so many excellent questions. It is going to be hard to find the best. Here is what we had so far:

• What is the biggest difference between spa marketing and massage marketing? by Lorraine Bloom
• We plan to move out of the city into a rural area in the next 6 months, is it worth trying to build up my practice before that, and learn some skills (not to mention, building my confidence) that will make it easier for me to build my practice again once we move? by Catherine
• Practice management software? Any ideas on what to choose? by Jodie
• What is the best way of attracting new business (apart from word of mouth)? How do I go about promoting myself? by Gizelle
• Do you think it’s worth running a natural health ‘open evening’ to discuss health issues and as an aside promote my practice? by Hannah Hempenstall
• How do I develop a relationship with health care practitioners who may not be familiar with the modality I practice? by Jocelyne Chevrier
• A common problem is smoothing out the peaks and troughs where one week is very busy followed by a very quiet week. What do you suggest for achieving or a more consistent workflow? by Krishna
• How can you build credibility in a massage practice? by Peppy Burmer
• How can I build a practice quickly? by Eva
• What should I focus on? by Roland Myers
• I’m no good at selling myself. by Katherine
• How can I discipline myself to contain my treatment times and not overrun allocated session time? by Peter
• I’m about to take on my first staff member - how can I best ensure their loyalty to me, as well as maximise client loyalty to my business, rather than the new therapist (and any other therapists that follow!)? by Paula
• New practice - unsure of repeat biz as yet. by Rodney
• What am I responsible for? by Amanda
• What is the best way to advertise? Reuben Gill
• How can I make money without reaching burn out? by Michelle
• Working from home - a lonely existence? by Tara Jonson

If you’ve got anything to add, ask away in the comments (or send me an email). I will answer your question and you have the chance to win a Passionate Training.

Advertising can work, but you need to have a decent budget and plan to run more than one ad.

We have got these $40 ads in our local newspaper. A whole page is full of business card size ads. Whenever a massage practitioner was not to be deterred from using them, the results were disappointing. There was hardly any response.

However, it was possible to receive an editorial with it if you booked a certain number of ads. That worked and kept bringing clients in for weeks after it ran. More about editorials later, today something about ads.

• Include an active call to action
• Entice readers by offering something valuable
• Create urgency by putting a time limit on your offer
• Go for the biggest ads you can afford
• Make the ad look like similar to editorial
• Repeat the ads regularly (at least 7 times)
• Measure your results
• Negotiate an editorial while you place your advertising

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It is Christmas Eve.

Wishing you the most wonderful days with your family. Enjoy the time off and create a great vision for 2008.

I wanted to leave you with a few massage marketing tips:

1. Spend a few minutes each day, reviewing your vision.
   It acts like a beacon for you to keep on track. It is so easy to lose sight of it in the daily tasks.

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