Massage Policies and Procedures

Creating your massage policies and procedures is one of the most important things that you can do for your massage business and for self care to sustain you.

Creating a set of clear massage policies and procedures for your massage business can do more for your massage practice than some marketing practices. The clearer you get about what you do and who you want to work with and how you want to create a healing relationship, the more in line you become with your inner being. This usually leads to filling your massage practice with ease.

Some policies that you want to think about and create are:

-What to do when a client does not show up for their appointment.

-What if they call at the last minute and cancel their appointment? How much cancellation notice do you require in order to be a profitable business?

-What if a client is late for their appointment? How much time will be allowed for their session? How much will they be charged for that session?

While setting these massage policies is one thing, enforcing them is another. You will be challenged by many variations and reasons why a person may not be able to make it to a massage appointment.

The thing that you have to decide is just how much leeway you are willing to give in order to keep a client. While you may at first think that making exceptions for late or missing clients will get you more clients, you really have to take into consideration if they will be worth it in the long run. People who are notoriously late and unwilling to pay for your time are really saying that they don't value your time. This is draining for a massage therapist to deal with. It takes more time and energy to work with those people when there are many who are willing to be on time and pay your required fees. Some clients who are usually late may not be willing to pay for their commitments. You also need to find out what that means about how they think about their health. People who do not respect your time are usually falling into the victim mentality.

So taking time to set your massage policies and procedures and reviewing them every so often to make sure that they fit your massage practice will help you create a practice that will support you both financially, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Other policies also have to do with setting boundaries for doing business and are more about keeping you safe. Engaging in Dual Relationships which includes dating clients, becoming friends with clients, selling retail or other products to clients also challenge the therapeutic relationship. Because touch also has a way of bringing up emotional issues for clients it is important to be able to maintain these boundaries and deal with the feelings that come up as a result of these challenges.

Taking clients that pay for their massage sessions through their insurance company also creates another dynamic related to healing. Whether from a motor vehicle, injury at work or an injury or condition that is covered by their personal insurance it is important to really have clear policies regarding payments, late fees and cancellation fees as clients with insurance seem to be the first ones to not want to pay for missed appointments. Having insurance companies pay for massage sessions also creates another dynamic around taking personal responsibility for healing.

Read more about creating massage policies and procedures for your massage practice at www.thebodyworker.com

Massage Cancellation Policies - what should they say and how much should you charge?

While it may seem simple to create your policies and procedures, it is often difficult to implement them effectively. This is what a peer supervision group is really best for. It is a process of learning to set your fees and ask for what you need and knowing what it is that you need in the first place.

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