Tips in Your Massage Studio
Do you accept them?
Do you expect them?
Welcome back to another Monday with the Mavens. We created the Massage Mavens blog to connect with and educate self-employed massage therapists working to grow as business owners.
It can be lonely working for yourself – and we’re here to remind you that while you’re in business for yourself, you don’t have to be in business by yourself.
While we cater our content to independent MTs, all massage therapists are welcome here; whether you run your own independent massage therapy studio, you contract in a clinic, work in spa, or you are still in school.
Tips in Your Massage Therapy Studio
For starters, anyone who has not yet read “Massage Is Weird” by Ian Harvey is missing out. He’s been an LMT since 2006, runs a YouTube channel (Massage Sloth) and has a Masters in Psychology. “Massage Is Weird” is a fun and quirky business development book that also, incidentally, includes my very same opinion about tips.
So I’m not going to give you my own two cents about tips; instead, I’ll give you his. 😉
More or less, it goes like this:
1. Charge what you want to make.
Set your rates appropriately so that your sessions pay your bills.
Private Practice is a confusing space for many clients: they know you set your own price, so they assume you set your prices where you needed to to be able to pay yourself better than Massage Envy pays their people.
Private Practice also means different things in different industries – and massage is a weirdly situated industry that straddles the line between healthcare and personal services. People don’t tend to tip their Chiropractors, Physical Therapists, or Physicians…and if they see us as healthcare, it doesn’t occur to them to tip us, either. And that’s ok.
2. Don’t expect or ask for tips.
Having a discrete Tip screen at checkout is one thing, but verbally asking clients, point blank to their face, if they want to tip you is uncomfortable for the client…and it *should* be uncomfortable for you, as well.
3. Don’t resent your clients if they don’t tip you.
You’re in private practice, and your rates are clearly posted. If you want to make more money, charge more money. Don’t expect your clients to read between the lines.
3. Don’t reject a tip if it does come your way.
Some clients show their love with a hug. (One of mine shows her love with a bottle of Bourbon on my birthday. Cheers!) For the clients who show you their appreciation by giving you more money – accept it with a genuine and sincere “Thank You,” and move on.
When was the last time someone made you cookies that you weren’t expecting and didn’t ask for? You still accepted them with grace, right? Because 1. Cookies are Awesome! And 2. It’s rude to decline a gift. You wouldn’t return the cookies…so don’t return the tip.
Ian’s book is available here, btw. I highly recommend it.
**This is not an affiliate link. I just like the book.
All in all, what are your thoughts? Do you agree with Ian? Or do you have your own stance on tipping policies within a private massage therapy studio?
Thanks for stopping by!
As always, we’d love to hear how our content has helped you improve either your studio, your mindset, or your revenue as a self-employed massage therapist.
Rachel Martin, LMT, is an independent massage therapist living in Denver Colorado. Having built her solo massage studio to capacity, she now spends her free time helping other massage therapists do the same. Check out Six Figure Studios, Queen Street Marketplace, and The Techy MT to learn more.
