Make the Most of Massage

Author: Mark Liskey

  • Covid-19 Massage Updated Plan: Text to Keep Clients Safe

    Covid-19 Massage Updated Plan: Text to Keep Clients Safe

    Before we jump into safety I want to show you how safety works into my Covid-19 Survive to Thrive updated plan. There are 5 steps to this updated plan.

    1. Work as safely as possible now.

    2. Plan for another shutdown.

    3. Renegotiate to a lower rent or look for another place.

    4. Raise prices.

    5. Build for post-pandemic.

    The key to executing this plan is to NOT look at it as a recipe.

    What I mean by that is start with step #1, but have the other steps going on in the background.

    It’s not as hard as it sounds because the steps are interconnected.

    Steps Are Interconnected

    For instance, step #1 (keeping your clients and yourself as safe as possible) is also connected to step #2 (planning for another shutdown).

    How?

    Right now you can use your emphasis on “safety first” in your advertising to bring in more clients. So, you’re padding your client list to have more to draw from after the next shutdown.

    Also, “safety first” is an advertising strategy that can be used in step #5 (building your massage business post-pandemic) because advertising safety will be a big seller even after the pandemic is over.

    Step #2 (plan for another shutdown) is related to step #3 (renegotiate to a lower rent or look for another place to rent) because you are trimming expenses now to recoup increased supply costs and should there be another shutdown, you’ll have less to pay out in rent.

    Okay, that’s some of the ways the steps are interconnected. It will make more sense as you work the plan.

    This week I’m going to continue with step #1 (work as safely as possible) because right now, it’s the single most important thing we can do for ourselves, our clients and society—and our businesses.

    Work As Safely As Possible

    We are non-essential workers expected to take frontline worker risks.

    That is not a political statement.

    That is a fact.

    We can’t social distance to do our job.

    And we are in close contact with a person for 60 to 90 minutes.

    Previously I had talked about how massage therapists can mitigate risks in the massage room. My conclusion was that everyone, clients included, needs to wear masks.

    I also shared how I was a bit shell-shocked on reopening day because I wasn’t trained as a medic. Okay, that was a bit dramatic, but there was a whole lot of safety that was going on that I had never done before.

    Mary Fowler, a massage therapist in a county over from me, was not shell-shocked on reopening day.

    Why was Mary calm, cool and collected her first day back?

    In an interview she told me it was because she was built for a pandemic.

    Okay, that’s my commentary.

    Mary said it was because of two things. One, Mary works at a dentist’s office as well as having her own massage practice. The dentist’s office reopened before her massage office did which gave her a lot of reps in a medical-safety protocol situation.

    She also said that she loves barking orders. And the combination of the two things made for a great reopening day.

    Wait, I love barking orders and I thought I had done a pretty good job bossing people around reopening day, but I was way stressed.

    As I talked to Mary, I realized that I had made one big mistake.

    I barked my orders when the client got there. Mary barked her orders before the client got there—in a text.

    Mary’s Text and My Text

    Here’s my text to a client about what she should do when she arrived:

    Hi Amanda, when you arrive tomorrow please stay in your car and I will text you when it’s okay to come in. We are limiting the number of people in our office at one time. Thanks!

    Here’s Mary’s text:

    I am looking forward to your massage appointment!

    Add date and time

    Please bring your signed intake form. It can be found on my website, hands2nurture.com on the “Contact Me” page. It is page 3 of the Intake form. This needs to be completed for each massage session.

    Please remain in your car when you arrive.

    Have your mask on. It must be worn the entire time until you return to your car. I will be wearing one as well.

    I will come to your car to take your temperature and your completed form.

    With your mask on, you will walk right through to the session room.

    Hand sanitizer is available for you to use.

    Please do not bring any belongings other than your phone, keys and method of payment into the session room.

    My priority is keeping us both safe and well.

    Okay, to my credit, I explained our other safety procedural details when the client walked into the office.

    But looking back I now realize that having to explain the other safety procedural details to the client was part of the shell-shock feeling, as in just one more thing to remember to do on my safety protocol checklist.

    I also think that writing a detailed text would have forced me to go through all the procedural steps over and over in my head and that would have made the whole safety protocol feel more familiar to me.

    Granted, nothing is going to teach you like experience, but a detailed text would have been good mental rehearsal.

    Here’s another tip that Mary had for me that would have helped me out: Clear out the waiting room.

    Waiting Rooms Are Obsolete

    My goal was to get the client to go from her car directly to the massage room and not stop in the waiting room.

    The challenge I faced was that all my regulars were used to stopping in the waiting room and either waiting for me or chatting with me before they went into the massage room.

    And I had done nothing to the waiting room to discourage that behavior.

    Magazines were on the glass table.

    Chairs were around the table.

    The room still said “sit down and relax”.

    And clients in the waiting room meant that the waiting room needed to be disinfected.

    More disinfecting meant more work and more stress.

    From her experience with the dentist, Mary knew to clear the waiting room out at her massage office.

    By the way, Mary was ahead of the curve. Before Covid-19 hit, she would always lead clients to one section of her waiting room to talk, take money and book appointments. That section was an area that was contained and easy to clean.

    Now our waiting room is cleared out, and guess what I’m going to be doing from here on out?

    You got it—I’m going to be barking out orders through texts.

    There will be less rules explaining and reinforcing that I’ll need to do face-to-face, and it will be another layer of CYA in addition to our waiver that I have each client sign.

    Thanks, Mary!

    Next week we start the process of raising our prices.

    If you want my latest info about Surviving to Thriving during Covid-19, sign up for my email list. It’s free:-)

  • Covid-19 Massage Reopening – Clients Must Wear Masks

    I’m just going to say this about our reopening day: Holy f***!

    First, will my ears go back to normal or are Dumbo-mask-ears now part of the badge of honor for doing massage in the Covid-19 era?

    Second, did I actually lose 15 pounds of water weight between my eyes and chin?

    Third, clients touch a lot of sh**.  

    And this one is specifically directed to my client Doug: Dude, you coughed directly on my freakin’ arm. Seriously?!

    I know, I was talking big a couple of posts ago. In fact, I was sort of taking a victory lap around the track before our reopening day even happened. After all, I’ve been doing this massage thing for nearly 30 years.  

    But, yeah, Mr. Veteran Massage Mark was a little shell-shocked on Reopening Day.

    And it wasn’t like I hadn’t prepared myself for reopening.  

    As soon as the first client arrived in the parking lot I went through my checklist.

    Mask?

    Check.

    HEPA air filtration system on?

    Check.

    Windows open?

    Check.

    Text the client to come in.

    Check.

    Send client straight into the room.

    Check.

    Take the client’s temperature.

    Check.

    Client on the table with mask on.

    Check.

    Get less than 6 feet away from away the client, no, actually get as close as you need to get to the client’s Covid holes—all three of them!—to do your job even though you’ve stayed 6 feet apart from everyone in your life except your wife for nearly 4 months.

    …

    I repeat get less than 6 feet away from away the client, no, actually get as close as you need to get to the client’s Covid holes—all three of them!—to do your job even though you’ve stayed 6 feet apart from everyone in your life except your wife for nearly 4 months.

    …

    Hello?

    Oh f***, okay, check.

    This is the tough one, right?

    There are solutions for Dumbo ears, like stop shrinking your cloth masks by putting them in the dryer.

    Even raisin face can be addressed by putting more time in between clients so that you can walk around outside with your mask off.

    But addressing prolonged potential exposure to the virus when our jobs require us to be in a massage room for 60 minutes or more is not something we can change.

    Which bring us to this question: Does increased exposure to the virus increase the chances of you getting it?

    According to Dr. Ananya Mandal, M.D., the answer is yes.

    However, it should be pointed out that she is referring to frontline medical workers who are working with patients who are infected with Covid-19.

    In theory, a massage client who may have Covid-19 will be presymptomatic (has Covid-19 and is not exhibiting symptoms yet) or is asymptomatic (has Covid-19 but symptoms never develop).

    In other words, Jamal is not walking through your door and getting on your table with a fever and a dry cough.

    So, from the get-go we are going to see way less people walking into our massage room infected with Covid-19 than medical workers will see.

    But here’s the thing, research suggests that asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 could account for 30% to 45% of Covid-19 cases.

    It’s really hard to find the asymptomatic cases if you’re doing everything right, like “screening, case investigation, contact tracing and isolation of infected persons during periods of community transmission.” (Source)

    And when you’re not doing such a good job, like in the US, then we, massage therapists, have to accept the risk that the person who gets on the table could have Covid-19 and be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic.

    So, let’s play that out. An asymptomatic or presymptomatic Covid-19 walks in your door for a 60 minute massage.

    Is there a greater chance of you getting Covid-19 from being in the room with that person for 60 minutes as opposed to 60 seconds?

    Yes.

    “A higher viral infective dose or more viruses a person comes in contact with can result in a higher risk of infection, and in some cases, the infection may be more severe compared to others,” says Dr. Mandal when talking about viral transmission.

    The more severe infection part could be that more cells get infected when there’s more viruses present to infect cells.

    The higher risk of infection is about probability.  

    An asymptomatic client gets on your table for 60 seconds and there are 12 to 20 breaths of his viral aerosols in the air.

    If that same asymptomatic client stays on your table for 60 minutes, then there are now 720 to 1200 breaths of his viral aerosols in the air.

    Which air do you want to be in?

    It makes sense that your chances of getting Covid-19 are higher in the 720-breath air.

    The ultimate defense against exposure and transmission of Covid-19 through pre-sypmtomatic and asymptomatic people has been 100% removed because we can’t do our jobs 6 feet away from the client.

    So, we need our next best line of defense: masks.

    A while back two hair stylists in Sprinfield, Missouri tested positive for Covid-19 after interacting with 140 clients and 6 coworkers.

    Here’s the important thing: No one they interacted with was known to get Covid-19.

    How did that happen?

    Most experts think it was because both the hair stylists, fellow employees and customers wore masks.

    Studies seem to be supporting this conclusion.

    That’s worth repeating: In the hair stylists’ impromptu experiment experts think the reason why customers and workers alike didn’t spread Covid-19 was because they were wearing masks.

    There’s no other way around this: Clients must wear masks.

    Admittedly, the first day I made an exception to the client mask rule because a particular client was having a hard time breathing in his cloth mask when he was face down. But that was easily remedied the next day with another client who had the same issue by providing him with a disposable mask.

    Having disposable masks assures that no one will be turned away for forgetting to bring a mask.

    That said, it doesn’t necessarily help with the client who wants what he wants.

    If you’re not a fan of saying no to clients, especially long-term clients who think that not wearing a mask is part of their special privilege package then you’re going to want to do this: Put up a sign in your office that states masks are manditory.

    A “Masks Are Required” sign reinforces masks as the norm, not the exception. It sets the stage for compliance.

    By the way, do you know what reinforces masks as the norm better than a sign?

    More signs.

    Put the “Masks Are Required” signs on the building’s front door, in the bathroom, down the hallway, in your waiting room, in your massage room, on your client…you get the point.

    Speaking of establishing new norms, we now have Covid-19 Policy Notifications form for the client to sign.

    It has a dual purpose. The client is made aware of the risks and the requirements for getting a massage now. It’s also a potential way to help protect ourselves and our business should someone accuse us of negligence.

    We get this out to the client (email or text) before the client comes in to give the client time to digest the rules. If the client doesn’t want to comply, he can then contact us and cancel his appointment.

    One more thing about signs—they’re cheap to do.

    Ours are done with our printer on regular copy paper.

    It’s probably the cheapest intervention that you can do with potentially the biggest safety bang for your buck.

    So, you got the signs, you got the waiver, and you can call me to yell at (or fire) your client who refuses to wear a mask—but what about the type of mask you’re going to wear?

    Here are three tips when picking a mask.

    (1) Multiple layers are better than one.

    (2) How well the mask seals around your face is important.

    (3) Mask with valves for exhalation are not good.

    This NPR article provides a comprehensive analysis for choosing a mask.

    Personally, I double mask.

    My first layer is a disposable mask and my second layer is a cloth mask. You might think that this would be too hot, but surprisingly it’s not AND the disposable mask feels better around my nose (makes the skin less itchy) than a cloth mask alone.

    Why do I double mask?

    I consider my wife, Lisa, to be high-risk because she’s a Covid-19 long hauler (someone who had Covid-19 and is still dealing with Covid issues weeks/months later).

    We’re not sure if she has antibodies yet (and if she does, no one knows if antibodies equal immunity).

    I’m going to do everything I can NOT to bring Covid back home.

    So, yes, I will continue to keep a window open in the massage room.

    I will continue to crack open the massage room door if the client is comfortable with the door being open.

    I’ll continue to run the portable HEPA air purifier by the client’s head.

    But most importantly, I will wear a mask and my clients will wear masks, too.

    If you want to my latest info about doing massage in the Covid-19 era, sign up for my email list below.

    It’s free:-)

  • Covid-19 Massage Reopening: Rebuild with Online Reviews

    Isn’t amazing how much you feel the love from clients when you go back to work after months off, isn’t it?

    But the question is: How do you keep the love flowing, flowing so much that you’re drowning in it?

    And how do you find the time to work on keeping the love flowing while you’re rubbing clients, getting more masks, disinfecting tables and doing twice as much work laundry than pre-Covid?

    Well, you pick a client-bringer-in-er that gives you a big bang for a small investment of your time.

    It’s called get more online reviews, and it only involves you using your mouth and a finger or a few fingers.

    First, how do reviews lead to more clients?

    Think about how you shop online. You look up a business or product, and then what do?

    You look to see what the reviews say.

    Reviews are deal closers. Good reviews mean the customer is calling you and not calling the business above or below you.

    Also, reviews play a percentage in your Google My Busienss (GMB) ranking. It’s not a big percentage (15% according to MOZ), but nevertheless, reviews count.

    With Yelp, a review platform, reviews are its lifeline.

    And good Yelp reviews helps with your Yelp presence.

    By the way, why worry about Yelp?

    Search “massage near me” and see where Yelp ranks in the organic search.

    Consistently, number one.

    So, you may have guessed by now that we’re going to get more reviews for two, free online-platforms—Google My Business (GMB) and Yelp.

    Yuck, reviews, that means I have to beg clients to say how much they like me.

    Actually, no.

    This is the perfect opportunity to tactfully explain to key clients, regulars and clients who come in sporadically but love your work, the impact Covid-19 has had on your business.

    Here’s how it’s impacting our business: (1) reduced number of clients we can see in a day because we have to space them out, (2) increased operating costs (disinfecting supplies, more laundry,  new equipment and PPE)), (3) past work-stoppage (4) projected work-stoppages.

    Don’t overlook number 4 if you’re in the US because a lot of the states are going in the wrong direction right now, and we haven’t even hit the second Covid wave due in the fall.

    Asking for Reviews

    After you explain the impact Covid-19 has had and will continue to have on your business you can then lead into how a review could help you out.

    It could be something like this:

    “Tylese, I don’t like asking favors, but I couldn’t work for months and it’s a strong possibility that I may be in the same position in the fall, is there any way that you might do an online review for me? If not, no biggie—we’re good. But if you can it could really help my business out.”

    By the way, the intro regarding how your business is doing will more than likely come up naturally with key clients. They’ll ask you from the get-go because they don’t want you to go out of business.

    If a client does ask you how your business is at the beginning of the session, I wouldn’t hit up that client for a review right away. Wait until the massage is over and then circle back.

    “Hey Tylese, you got me thinking earlier when you asked me how my business was doing. There’s something that could really help me out. My friend who helps me with my website said that I needed more online reviews…”

    Are you starting to feel like this is do-able?

    Eventually you’ll find the words.  You just have to start your mouth moving. And once you start hearing yourself talk out loud, you’ll figure it out.

    Okay, now we need a simple way to send them to the review site with zero barriers.

    GMB Reviews

    For GMB we’re going to do this:

    Go to your GMB account and click on Share Review Form:

    • GMB Share Review Form.png

    It will allow you to share your review form via a link on popular social media and also through email.

    If you want to text a client your review form use the GMB app on your phone.

    Download that here if you need to.

    Scroll down to Get More Reviews.

    Then click on Share Profile.

    Yelp Reviews

    For Yelp we’re going to do things a little different. First, Yelp wants organic reviews. They don’t like it when reviews seem forced, and they’ll flag these reviews.

    So, you’re not going to send your clients to Yelp to do a review unless that person is a Yelper and has a history of reviewing businesses on Yelp.

    Instead of sending most clients to Yelp, you’re going to put a Yelp badge on your website Homepage.

    The badge alerts customers and clients that they can leave a review.

    Here’s where you go on your Yelp Business page to get your badge.

    • Yelp Accelerator Badges.png

    If you don’t have a Yelp Business page, go here.

    If you ran a Groupon you’re going to put a link to your reviews on your website, like we did on our homepage.

    You can also pull a couple of testimonials from your online reviews and put them on your website.

    So, in between disinfecting and changing your mask ask for reviews to keep that phone ringing during this massage reopening.

    And, yes, this is part of ramping up to raise our prices.

    Let’s give that another month or two. In the interim, we have some more things to do to lock in more customers during this particular reopening phase.

    If you want my latest weekly information, sign up for my email list below. It’s free:-)

  • Covid-19: New Massage World—Sell Safety

    Covid-19: New Massage World—Sell Safety

    What is the first thing you should do to sure-up your customer base during the phase-in?

    Not this.  

    Glad to be back on your table, Mark!

    Glad you’re here, Marvin. By the way, there’s a helluva lot of laundry to do now and I have to space clients out and I have no idea if there’s going to be another shutdown so I’m going to need to charge you another $5/hour. So, how’s Keisha doing? (Raising your price happens in a month or so.)

    The first thing you need to do is to have and execute the best Covid-19 safety policy in town.

    I see you nodding off. Preventing sickness and death is sooooo April, especially since you simply have to assume that you’re helping to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and you can’t actually see the impact of your safety measures on the health of you and your clients.

    But here’s the thing, most clients will assume that your safety measures are helping, too.

    And that is a huge psychological comfort for your regulars, especially those who are on the fence about coming in.

    Granted, some of your massage junkie clients won’t care how safe or unsafe you are.

    And some regulars may even put up a fight.

    I anticipate a couple of scraps with old-time clients who think they’ve earned special privileges.

    Oh, come on, Mark, you don’t have to wear a mask with me!

    Actually, I do. It’s mandated.  (By the way, if I were in a state where it wasn’t mandated, I would lie and said it was. Or I would say it was mandated by the state massage board. Or I would just say that it’s my policy to ensure everyone’s safety.)

    Really?! You have to check my temperature?

    My bad, Tom, I forgot that you don’t care if you get me sick.

    Sorry, I meant to say…

    It’s for everybody’s safety. I check my temperature, too.

    (Eye roll from Tom.)

    And that’s when I hit him with that’s it’s going to cost him 5 dollars more an hour.

    Haha.

    Besides keeping clients, a kick-ass, Covid-19 safety protocol can be great advertising, too.

    When potential clients hit my website I want them to know that we’re taking their safety more seriously than any other outfit in town.

    I’m not going to overwhelm website visitors with policy. I’m going to point out key safety features we’re employing, like forehead temperature checks, masks, disinfecting and limiting the number of people we have in the office at one time.

    And I’m going to give them clear direction on how the appointment will go down so that there is no confusion or ambiguity in their minds.

    Basically, I’m addressing these barriers that may be preventing that person from calling:

    (1) Is massage safe?

    (2) Is this place safe?

    (3) How safe is this place compared to other places?  

    Now the last thing I need to need to connect all the dots with my safety advertising strategy is to tie it into my Google My Business (GMB) page.

    Massage Safety on Your GMB Page

    For those of you who are not familiar with GMB, it’s what shows up in a local search.

    Search Google for “pizza near me”.

    What comes up are three businesses in a box, in this case, pizza shops that are near you.

    That’s GMB, also known as a local search.

    Now replace “pizza near me” with “massage near me.”

    That’s when you come up (if you’re Googling near your office).

    In order to access your GMB page (where you write and change things), you need to have claimed your business.

    If you haven’t claimed your business, go here. Do the few steps necessary to claim your business.

    Once you do or if you already have access to your GMB page, sign in and look at the tabs on the left. Click on Posts.

    Now, look at the post tab in the top-middle of the page. See the Covid-19 Update? Click on that.

    It’s for Covid-19 work status (as in, when will you be back to work), but I also add our Covid-19 safety information—masks, temperature checks, disinfecting, and limited contact with people in the office—here, too.

    You could also write your safety info post in the Update tab.

    But if you write the post in the Covid-19 Update tab, that post will become sticky and always be the first post the viewer sees.

    Boom. You’re done.

    You’ve optimized your safety message on your website and GMB page. By the way, here’s my GMB page.

    Lastly, I’ve also texted my regulars to let them know how I plan on keeping them safe, and I’m going to send out a safety email to our email list as well spread the word on our Facebook page.

    For our full safety plan check out: Covid-19 Safety and Operations Plan.

    Okay, hands in.

    Let’s keep ‘em safe as possible.

    Ethically it’s a no-bainer.

    And for advertising it’s a no-brainer, too.

    Next we need to get more reviews before we raise our price to cover increased overhead.

    That’s in the next post.

    If you want to get my latest info, sign up for my email list. It’s free:-)