If you have massage therapy in your chiropractic practice, we are now entering the single best “season” to increase massage therapy services and profits. And if you don’t have massage yet (or if your production and profits from massage are flat), read on!  This is an ideal opportunity to increase (or start) boosting massage revenues. Best of all, this is an absolutely great time to help your patients, their family, friends and co-workers explore the benefits of massage therapy in the safety, comfort and convenience of your chiropractic office!

Let’s dive right in to the details:

The Best “Season” for Massage

The peak massage “season” that we are talking about isn’t technically a traditional season, but more like four months of massive opportunity to promote your massage business inside your chiropractic office.  The season starts in November with ties to Thanksgiving, picks up speed with ties to the December holiday season featuring Christmas and Hannukah, keeps rolling through the New Year and then gets a final push from Valentines Day in February.

Why is this time of year such a great opportunity for massage?

Obviously a massage can benefit your patients at any time of the year, but in these months you can easily expand massage because of the seasonal ties to GIVING.

And the single best way to do that is to give your patients a clear, direct and simple way to give the gift of massage.

Here’s how:

Promoting the Gift of Massage In The Giving Season 

In November, the theme is “thankfulness.”  Encourage your patients to thank someone they appreciate by giving a massage gift card (or gift certificate).  A simple reminder will spur on the purchase of these gift cards and the increase of massage profits along the way.  You can add some fuel to the fire you are starting by expressing your thanks to your patients and offering a special discount on massage on the week of Thanksgiving. Since schools are out, it’s a great time to have students try massage and you’ll catch parents who are off of work for the holiday as well.

But the fun is just starting because in December, you are hitting the single best time of the year to sell massage gift certificates as a holiday gift.  Start promoting the idea at the beginning of December.  If you want to incentivize your patients, offer a discount for multiple gift certificate purchases and/or a timeline where they can get the massage gift cards at a reduced price.  By the time you are a week or two away from Christmas, massage serves as an easy conversation with your patients. Simply ask them what they are getting their spouse or significant other for the holiday — and offer a massage as a perfect gift idea.

In January, we get a little selfish with the giving – but for a good purpose.  It’s well known that those looking to get in shape or take the reigns on their health choose January as a time to reset their goals.  Encourage them to start the year off right with a massage.  Want to go against the grain?  If you like to use some humor to get a hold of your patients attention, January is also the perfect time to poke a little fun at the lousy Christmas gifts your patients received. A snarky little ad or email pointing out the obvious will work:  “Another ugly sweater for Christmas? Give yourself something great instead.  Book a massage now!”

Finally, we move into the home stretch in February where you can promote massage as a wonderful Valentine’s Day gift.  Here, the stereotype of the clueless husband or boyfriend often applies because they are unprepared for the holiday.  Repeat the pattern from Christmas and ask them what they are getting their spouse or girlfriend and help solve their lack of preparation problem with a massage gift certificate.  To be fair, the shoe often fits on the other side of the fence, so don’t forget to pose the same question to your female patients, they love the idea of giving massage gift certificates too!

Corporate & Community Massage Can Boost Your Business As Well

While all the above ideas can certainly benefit your patients, don’t leave out the rest of your community who are not yet your patients. They need massage too!

A sandwich board sign, banner or local ad can help you reach your neighbors with all the same promotional ideas, but now you are getting your message in front of a group of people who have never visited your office!  The same rationale applies to them so why not use this season to increase your advertising and your new patients – many of whom will start with massage and move over to chiropractic as well.

Finally, don’t forget your local companies!  They are a great source of massage patients and an excellent fit for holiday promotions for massage.  Local businesses often hold holiday parties, give employees a holiday bonus and are looking for creative ways to express their appreciation for their workforce.  You can easily help them solve this dilemma by offering bulk massage gift certificates at a discount, on-site massage opportunities or chair massage to relieve the stress of their labor force.

Start by asking patients that run their own business, work for large companies and/or are part of the Human Resources department. You’ve already got a foot in the door at these companies through the connection of your patients. But don’t stop there.  Your massage promotional offer can be the perfect way to make a company’s day or help them bring a positive experience to employees.

The Science of Doubling

I can tell you from experience that 98% of chiropractors who have a thriving massage department don’t get their spontaneously. Rather, they are systematically promoting massage through a strategic series of steps (like the ones above) as well as a continual emphasis on internal referrals to their massage therapists.

Since the original publication of my Build a $300,000 Massage Practice in Your Chiropractic ClinicI’ve been fortunate to receive a ton of feedback over the years on how well massage works in the chiropractic setting and we’ve now been able to help chiropractors in all 50 US States and 9 Foreign Countries to build or boost their massage business.

In this respect, we’ve repeatedly seen that the “doubling” effect can easily happen in a period of time as short as four months.  And it can certainly happen in these four months.  Here’s why:

From our research and from talking to chiropractors all over the country, the average DC employs a massage therapist who is only seeing 10-12 massage patients per week or generally less 50 visits per month.  This is approximately half of the therapist’s potential and, depending on your patient volume, it may be a tiny fraction of what your practice can produce.

So now run these numbers:  Sell just one gift certificate per week for the duration of these four months and you have 16 new massage patients.  Well, if these patients all came in on one week, you’ve more than doubled your massage practice instantly (at least for that week).  The good news and the good news is this: they won’t all come in during one week (so you don’t have to worry about swamping your therapist) AND they all won’t come for just one visit.

And, it’s highly likely you will sell more than one gift certificate per week with some robust promotion to your patients.  Add in your community, referrals, repeat business and you can easily see how this season can be THE season to boost your massage business to the next level and beyond.

So what are you waiting for?  Get started promoting the best “season” for massage today!

Need More Help?

If you having trouble getting your massage department off the ground or if you haven’t started it yet, there’s more help available!

Use the above ideas to give your massage a boost, but don’t stop there.  Many chiropractors simply don’t have a great system for incorporating massage into their practice and many more have procedures that are clunky or doomed to fail from the start.  Massage works — and it’s a perfect fit for most chiropractic offices.

But you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make it a thriving part of your practice: our Build a $300,000 Massage Practice in Your Chiropractic Clinic  is now in our 3rd edition of helping chiropractors all over the globe to build a profitable, powerful massage practice inside your chiropractic office.  If you feel that you don’t quite have the blueprints to build your massage business to its full potential, pick up a copy today and you will!