Pricing

Pricing Overview: Using pricing to maximize revenue and bookings

Pricing your services with supply and demand is unnatural initially for many massage therapists. After all, you often went into this field due to your interest in health and energy and helping people to feel good.

However, it is difficult to make people feel good and truly appreciate what you do for them if you are unable to make a living doing what you love to do. Many massage therapists who do not understand how to price at a level that allows them to continue sustainably, find that they either physically wear out from trying to do too many hours of massage weekly, or they find the stress of insufficient income causes them to leave the field. Either way, your clients can’t enjoy the benefits of your massages if you do not charge enough to make a living and take care of your own body.

Goals:

With pricing, the goal is to improve revenues by improving pricing where people are willing to pay and improve willingness to purchase where they are not.
• Improve income by identifying opportunities to offer services with higher value (more targeted, improving “brand”, more rare)
• Improve utilization by lowering price to move appointments that don’t sell

Toolkit:
• Timing: People are often willing to pay more when they wait till the last minute
• Differentiation: People are willing to pay more if you offer a scarce service or one that is more targeted to their needs
• Reputation: People are willing to pay more for brand reputation or top ranking
• Bargain: People are more willing to buy with discounts and coupons, where they think they are getting a deal

Example resources
• Comparison shopping: How do your prices stand up to other therapists in your areas? Check out their websites or perform a local search on HealthShoppr.com
• Calendar analysis: What times have you found to be popular with your customers? When are you generally not booked? See if discounts during slow periods improve your bookings or try advertising at higher prices in your profile on HealthProvidr.com