How I Teach Front Desk Associates Who Have Never Had A Massage How To Talk About Massage

The method I use to teach front desk associates the benefits of massage therapy, why it’s important, and how to communicate the benefits to lead to consistent clientele. Many of the front desks associates I have hired usually haven’t experienced massage regularly (like many of our new clients). So, how do we take someone who’s never received a massage to then professionally and accurately speak about massage therapy to create long-term clients?

First, I’m going to modify this training by not doing a deep dive into what the benefits of massage are. I’m going to be assumptive and know that you are aware of the benefits of massage. Once we establish the benefits of massage we will connect this to how they may be affecting clients’ daily lives.

For this example, I’m going to be using “improves sleep” as the benefit of massage.

I would then ask my new hire what are some things that could be causing someone to have “bad sleep”, inadequate sleep, inconsistent sleep, sleep that is not restful or restorative. The answer would be: too much caffeine, irregular sleep patterns, allergies, etc (could be so many things!)

Now that we know the benefits, what causes it, I ask how does “bad sleep” affects our daily lives?

Lack of sleep can cause poor concentration, if we have poor concentration then we may not do our jobs effectively. Say for this example our potential client is a bus driver. Concentration and the ability to make decisions clearly when driving a larger vehicle with many people in it are important for the safety of everyone.

To tie it all together: If having regular massage results in getting better quality sleep or more consistent sleep and that results in clear and improved concentration to effectively and safely do your job as a bus driver that is the benefit that you are connecting for your client to recommend receiving consistent massage.

You are communicating the benefit of the benefit.

When we are communicating with clients, we are talking about the benefit of massage, how that benefit relates to them, and how it benefits their daily lives. It’s easy to be a robot and say, “Increase circulation, range of motion, flexibility, reduces stress…” But that doesn’t make it personal and customized. If you’re not truly listening to the client and helping them to connect to the benefit to something they’re telling us is an issue. We are doing them a disservice.

Then I go into my rant of why it’s important to properly book and have a full schedule.

Why I’m sharing this here:

Many massage therapists want to move away from having clients view massage as a luxury or a special occasion event. Understanding how to communicate the daily benefits from a massage session helps to magnify the benefits of receiving massage therapy consistently and we will be able to move our industry and our clients away from the luxury and special occasion myth. This is how you get consistent clientele by sharing how you impact their daily lives.