Massage Therapist - Why Should I Buy From You?
Every potential customer will make a decision to purchase a product or service when the seller clearly identifies the answer. What makes your massage therapy services different from the therapist next door?
In order for a consumer to purchase your services, your potential customer must learn the answer to “why should I buy from you”. It is your job as a massage therapist to effectively communicate this reason. Zig Ziglar, a world-renowned sales trainer, explains, “People usually buy on emotion and then they justify it with logic.” Benefits are the language of emotion. Features are the language of logic. Even people who insist they buy logically or based on features do so because that’s what makes them feel better.
There are many massage therapy modalities and it is true the more modalities for which you are trained the more valuable your massage practice ~ your brand ~ will be. This is simply because the more techniques that you are skilled with will define your specific massage techniques into something that is entirely unique.
It will also be easier to find that specialty that makes you unique for your brand. Regardless of the modality used, your service should be delivered in a tangible way that is completely aligned and consistent with all of your claims.
What are Your Features and Benefits?
Features are characteristics of the product. For massage therapy, it is good to consider the common elements of the services offered regardless of where one may receive services. For example, these are some features of massage therapy from a customer’s perspective:
* Swedish massage - effleurage, petrissage, friction, vibration, percussion, and passive and active movements.
* Draping - sheets, towels, or other linens.
* Products - oil, lotion, cream, or other product used.
Benefits are positive values to the customer. This is that special something that makes your product unique. It is the superlative promises that nobody else but you are the best at this promise. It’s so important that everyone would want to market this service too. And it has a believable reason why you can claim that yours is superlative and important.
According to the May 2006, “Massage Therapy Fast Facts” provided by ABMP:
* According to the May 2006 ABMP Massage Therapy Fast Facts survey report, “The Annuals of Internal Medicine reported in 2003 that massage therapy was effective for treating persistent back pain, as did a 2000 report by the Canadian Medical Association Journal .
* Research has shown massage reduces carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms. The Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 2004.
* Premature infant massage in the NICU was reported in Neonatal Network to be effective in increasing weight gain, improving development scores, shortening hospital stays and improving parent-baby bonding (2003).
* In 2005, Cancer Control reported massage therapy effectively reduced stress and anxiety in cancer patients, with a promising outlook for pain control and management of other symptoms.
* Oncology patients show less pain, fatigue, nausea, anxiety and depression following massage therapy, according to a study by Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 2004, and a report in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship , 2002.
The AMTA also highlighted in its “2006 Consumer Survey” dated October 23, 2006 other medical benefits of massage therapy, as listed below:
* A study by the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami found that after five weeks, a group of 26 employees who had twice-weekly, 15-minute massages in the office fared better than a control group of 24 employees who were just told to close their eyes and relax. The massaged group experienced reduced stress and improved performance, while the control group did not. Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami .
The therapeutic benefits of massage continue to be researched and studied, with several recent clinical studies, sponsored by The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
* The effect of massage therapy on depression, quality of life and plasma cortisol levels in subjects with advanced HIV disease.
* Massage therapy’s effectiveness in helping pre-term infants show greater daily weight gain and are discharged earlier from the hospital.
* The effects of in-home, family-administered massage and in-home relaxation training on measures of physical status and healthcare utilization in a sample of African-American adolescents age 15 years and older and adults with chronic pain associated with sickle cell disease.
By focusing on selling your benefits that are enhanced by the features, you will be able to effectively answer the question ~ Why should I buy from You?
From providing therapeutic massage and spa treatments to building a massage therapy brand to a local massage therapy chapter, Cherisa Chapa, LMT provides multiple services to the industry of massage therapy through her web site, http://www.chapaenterprises.com Join her discussion forum at http://letstalk.brandmassage.com
Tags: marketing massage, massage business, massage therapy
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